Intense

Last Monday I was in Rio and the Linha Vermelha, the main road between the city and the airport was closed for several hours on account of a shootout between police and drug traffickers in one of the nearby favelas. Which made getting to the airport a speedier proposition on Tuesday because, according to my taxi driver, people were scared to take the road.

Then to get back to London just as the Olympic victory is announced and hear the Red Arrows fly over my flat just as the radio announcer is describing them, followed by the chaos of Thursday and the difficulty in contacting friends and family after the bombings - two of which occurred in places I use virtually every day - Russell Square tube and Tavistock Square.

As of Monday morning Tavistock Square and the Institute remains closed.

Then the temperature climbed at the weekend here, bringing out the hot and sunny weather and making it possible to walk around the city at 10pm with nothing more than a T-shirt.

What a week.