A NIGHT IN Rio!
Sometimes we travel to escape other people. Sometimes we travel to feel bang in the middle of things. At the start of the year, depleted after a particularly gruelling work project, I hit upon the perfect prescription for my next trip: I needed a party. And not just any party. One of the most glamorous, hedonistic and iconic celebrations on the planet: Rio de Janeiro’s annual Carnaval. If this didn’t help me get my mojo back, nothing would.
By stealing myself away to Rio, I was putting myself in the hands of the party pros. The first carnival in Rio took place in 1723, a relatively civilised date dreamed up as one final chance to gorge before the 40 frugal days of Lent began. (The word “carnaval” is derived from the Latin carne vale, “farewell to the meat”.) Brazilians,
