Lapa is a district in Rio which is near Santa Teresa. It has a street party every thursday, friday and saturday which absolutely rocks with live music and lots of drinks. It's where all the Brazilians go and is great for getting a true feel of Rio.

Lapa

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The Lord Jim Pub was founded by the late Jim Phillips and his wife, Annie, in 1974. It was once a favourite haunt of Ronnie Biggs and today is one of Rio's most popular nightspots with both expats and a young Carioca crowd. If you're looking for somewhere to watch the English Premier League, Series A, La Liga or the Champions' League, The Lord Jim shows two, sometimes three, premiership matches a week and four Champions' League games every round on its big screen. And following our long-awaited Ashes triumph, cricket junkies will be able watch live coverage of England's winter tour to Pakistan.

The pub has a selection of imported draught beers including Guinness, Heineken and Old Speckled Hen, and, if you feel like a taste of home, the pub grub menu includes full English breakfast, fish and chips and a selection of pies, steaks and curries. If you're staying at the Copacabana Palace, Annie Phillips is still around, working as hospitality manager.

The Lord Jim Pub is at Rua Paul Redfern 63, Ipanema, a block and a half back from the beach, near the Jardim de Alah, between Rua Prudente de Moraes and Rua Visconde de Pirajá. You can't miss it. There's a working red London 'phone box outside. Tel. 2259 3047, www.lordjimpub.com.br

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It's an "Amazonian power-berry" (whatever that means) with five million times the anti-oxidants of blueberries and guarana and other good things. I had it from roadside stalls, made into a grainy purple ice-slushy, and it was uniquely refreshing and energizing. It tastes like blackberries and chocolate, mixed.

All over, or ask for ah-sigh-ee

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Re the above recommendation - I agree fully, but also recommend trying their caipinha or caipiroska with seriguela, a citrus-like fruit that you just don't get over here. It's delicious!

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It's small and the decor's slightly suburban and anodyne, but for a proper education into the glories of the caipirinha there is no better place than the Academia. 500 varieties of cachaca from all over Brazil are available, as well as caipirinhas made with passion fruit, lemon and an assortment of fruits in addition to the traditional lime. (Do try the version made with Providencia cachaca and brown sugar.) Many of the brands are available to take home - the prices are higher than in the supermarkets, but still very cheap by our standards and the selection is hard to beat. The food's decent, too.

If you're strolling there from Copacabana or the area of Ipanema that abuts Copacabana, stop along the way at always-packed Bar Bracaranse for an icy chopp (draft beer and a plate of croquettes made with shrimp, manioc and a lovely, gooey Brazilian cheese called catupiry.

Academia da Cachaca Address: 26 Rua Conde de Bernadotte Phone: 021/2529-2680 Bar Bracarense Address: Rua José Linhares 85B, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Phone: 021/2294-3549

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