Home in Time for a Birthday

I’m now in SFO 22 hours into my travel day. First things first... happy birthday dad! Dr. P. turns 69 today. Hopefully by the time I make it home in four more hours I’ll have enough energy to celebrate with the Thursday Night Crew. Below are a few more stories from the trip that I failed to document and I’d like to remember 20 years from now.

I’ve never been on a flight where a person going crazy led to a delay... until today. On my flight from IAD to SFO a passenger went straight up nuts. He was one of the last passengers on board and his first aggravation was that he couldn’t find a place for his bag. Eventually he got it put in a closet and went to sit down and realized his seat was wet. At this point he started yelling about how he was on his way home from Argentina and the power went out on his last flight and he couldn’t watch the TV and now his seat was wet. He started yelling at the flight attendants and freaking out about how he has flown United for 30 years and paid $8,000 for this flight. The customer service was unacceptable and heads were going to roll. They eventually talked the guy into going out to the jetway to discuss options. About five minutes later maintenance guys showed up and swapped out the cushions. We eventually departed IAD about 15 minutes late.

In the middle of the flight I got up to use the restroom. I ended up talking to one of the flight attendants. Inevitably the guy going crazy came up. I was thoroughly entertained to know that the passenger manifest said the guy had NO status with United (certainly minimizing his 30 year statement) and he did not pay full fare. Upon landing in SFO I got to experience something else new on an airplane.

Fortunately I didn’t have to actually use an oxygen mask, I just got to see what they looked like when falling out of the ceiling. Now I just need to come up with a way to go down an exit slide without being in an emergency.

Three other funny stories from Brazil are as follows:

I think many Americans have the image of Brazil being a sexualized place. The women and beaches are both supposed to be beautiful. Upon arrival in the TAM lounge in São Paulo I hopped on-line to send a few arrival emails. I was greeted by this Yahoo home page. Our stereotypes, at least in this instance, seem to be accurate.

Saturday night was the end of daylight savings time in Brazil. The hotel wanted to be very sure that all of its hotel guests knew this. They slid a note under the door and called and left messages on the phones for guests to call in and receive a message. When Scott called to ask about his message on the phone I heard this:

Scott: “Hi. I was told to call for an important message.”

OP: I can’t hear her.

Scott: “Oh, so is this something they are doing just in the hotel?”

OP: I can’t hear her.

Scott: “So the time will be different in the lobby?”

OP: I can’t hear her.

Scott: “So you mean the time in the whole city is going to change?”

OP: I can’t hear her.

Scott” “Oh wow. So this is like a country thing. Thanks.”

I had no idea Scott was this type of a smart ass. It caught me totally off guard and I was thoroughly entertained.

Another great Scott line from our trip was when we were coming back from one of our adventures. He wanted to take a nap and I was going to go and do some exploring or something. He said, “It’s really too bad how much your diabetes slows you down.” I think I effectively managed to wear out another travel buddy.

It’s now time to board my last flight home to Eugene. I’m thankful to have had another great travel adventure. I’m home for all of 16 hours before going to Portland for a hockey game tomorrow night. The next blog entries will be my trip to AZ with J2 to see Joe and Han-Mei and some spring training games this weekend.

Be back in five days!

Katy

Bye, Bye, Brazil

I hadn’t seen a sunrise on my balcony yet, so I decided to set an early alarm to get up and check it out. The sunrise wasn’t incredible but it was decent. Below is one of the best pictures I took to document it.

After sleeping a few more hours I went to breakfast with Scott. We didn’t get out as early as we wanted today for volleyball. We knew the match started at 10 AM and we made it there by 10 AM but unfortunately at that point the stadium was already full. This is where we “watched” the match.

As noted above we joined the queue but ended up not getting in until just after the match had ended. It certainly would have been more fun to see the actual match but getting inside to see the court and set up was still enjoyable. If you look closely, you can see the Christ the Redeemer Statue looking over the city.

We made it back to the hotel by noon to shower and pack up. By 2:15 PM we were on our way to visit Trish and Richard before heading off to the airport. I enjoyed seeing how expats live in Rio. Scott and I both felt that Trish and Richard’s place seemed like it was in the suburbs. The apartment buildings were more spaced out, the units themselves on average were significantly bigger than anything downtown and we saw actual large grocery stores with parking. Trish and Richard’s unit was a four bedroom place with at least three baths. There was a golf course on the grounds and their balcony had a view of the ocean even though the building itself was set back a ways from the water.

We spent a good two hours talking before grabbing a car to the airport. Trish had a voucher given to her by BP for a car service, so our ride to the airport was free. Big Oil saved us at least $50 which was nice.

The Rio airport is dated. I’m not sure how it will even begin to handle all the traffic that the 2016 Olympics will bring. I don’t think there are currently plans for significant renovations, which seems crazy. It will be very, very, interesting to see if the airport will be able to handle the passenger increase.

After saying my goodbyes to Scott I made my way through customs. There were not that many people in line but it still took a solid 25 minutes. Once inside I checked out the two clubs for which United passengers were allowed access. First was the “Sala VIP” or “Smiles” lounge. The food wasn’t great but there was a lot of space and easily accessed US electrical outlets. I drank a Pepsi Light, worked on the blog and then made my way over to the TAM lounge. This TAM lounge was bigger but less nice than the one in Sâo Paulo. It also had a thoroughly entertaining sign by the bathroom.

The flight over to Sâo Paulo was roughly 40 minutes. I spent nearly the entire flight looking out the window because of the beautiful storm that was next to us. Some are scared of flying in lightening, I personally enjoy seeing God’s power and creative streak up close and personal.

The layover in Sâo Paulo was just long enough to get another drink in the United Club and be frustrated by the slow internet access. I’m now cruising at 35,000 somewhere over Central America. Overall my first trip to Brazil was fantastic. The sign of a great trip is when you can’t think of a single low-light. I suppose my only regret is that we didn’t make it to a soccer match. I guess that just means I’ll have to put my ten year Brazilian visa back to work in 2014 for the World Cup!

It’s time for some airplane sleep. I’ll write a final wrap up post tomorrow.

Katy

The Beach Bodies of Rio

This morning the alarm went off early! When I opened the curtains at 8 AM I was greeted by a dense layer of fog. I couldn’t even see the ocean that was within a stone’s throw of my balcony. I was up this early because I wanted to try and take another picture at the military club in hopes of having the sun better positioned. Being that I could stare directly at the sun, which looked like the moon because of the density of the fog, I decided it would be in our best interest to sleep another hour and see what the weather did. Upon my second wake up at 9:15 AM, the fog had cleared. We ate breakfast, got cleaned up and took a cab back to the Military Club.

It turned out that yesterday was actually better lighting on the Cristo even though we were at the club two hours earlier and the sun was in a better position in the sky today. There was one other court I had seen that I wanted to check out to confirm I had already taken the best shot possible. The court was less than a mile away, so Scott and I decided to walk it.

The walk was very pleasant because we were out of tourist central and interacting more with locals. We perused what looked like a Saturday Farmers market filled with lots of fruits, veggies and a few meats that I’m sure Mom would say were not properly refrigerated.

On our walk we also saw a bunch of VW Vans. I was downright shocked by the number of VWs around Rio. They all look like the van from the 70’s that you are all mentally picturing. What I’m not sure about is how all of them magically appeared in Brazil in 2012. They are seriously EVERYWHERE. They serve as the main vehicle beach venders use to transport their chairs, umbrellas and gates. They transport alcoholic cargo and serve as a structural support for farmers market stands.

After 20 minutes or so walking around Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas I found the other hoop I wanted to investigate. This hoop appeared to have a great angle at the Cristo but I couldn’t be sure because it was behind a fence with a locked gate. The Cristo was also still hiding in a bit of a haze. Before doing anything rash I took Scott on a recon mission. I explained how previously I’ve failed to thoroughly investigate entrance and exit points on hoop climbing expeditions and that I’ve learned it’s best to conscientiously think through all options before making any moves. To this end Scott and I circled my target outside the fence three times. This particular court seemed to be located in a strange shmorgishborg of government type buildings. Part of it seemed like a school but then another part seemed like either super low income housing for roughly four people or some kind of sadly run government looney bin. I know that seems like a weird assumption but I say it because there was literally one guy wondering around the periphery of the court on the inside of the fence mumbling to himself. If I had seen him in Eugene I would have assumed he was high on meth because that’s what it looked and sounded like (he was talking to someone that clearly resided only in his mind).

After casing the joint I determined that if I climbed the fence at the easiest entry point I was going to trap myself in the compound without entrance to the court. In the end I determined my best bet for a chance at the shot was going to be to just climb the higher chain linked part located directly by the hoop. Now the question in my mind was did I want to climb the fence now or at night when much of the photo would be dark but the Cristo would be glowing? I decided since the crazy old man was still pacing and the Cristo was surrounded by a little fog, I would try again later, preferably at night.

Satisfied that I had cased the situation to the best of my ability we hailed a cab and went to the Leblon Shopping mall. Scott had a few things he wanted to look for and I’m always amenable to a shopping mall. The mall turned out to be a very high end, high priced mall without a whole lot of local items of interest. Well that’s not entirely true. The people watching was quite entertaining. The woman below was my favorite. I’m not sure if I enjoyed her outfit or watching Scott chase after her to take a picture more.

Next on our Saturday agenda was walking the Ipanema section of the beach. When most Americans think of Brazil they think of the scantily clad beach scene. The scene did not disappoint. One thing that surprised me, however, was that the average Brazilian woman is not that amazing looking. As crazy as it sounds I honestly thought every Brazilian woman wearing a fio dental (literal translation = dental floss) was going to be gorgeous. Clearly that was not the case.

The men on the whole were considerably more fit than the women. Scott attributed much of that to the fact that Rio is known for being home to a significant gay population, especially during Carnaval season. I’m still not sure any man short of an Olympic swimmer should choose a sunga (speedo) as his swimwear of choice. Regardless, playing the gay or straight game walking down the beach easily entertained us for an hour. This group caught both of our attention. I thought they were straight and Scott thought they were gay.

I hate to say it, wait, no I don’t. Sorry Scott, these boys play for my team.

The beaches of Rio are certainly an experience. I’m glad that I’ve seen it. If you look at the two pictures below, you will have “seen it” as well. Ipanema and Copacabana didn’t have a great break for surfing or boogie boarding (I’m sure those exist on other beaches somewhere in Rio). They were also ridiculously crowded. Umbrellas of strangers are touching everywhere you look. In terms of a beaches I would like to frequent in the future I’ll take Australia, Hawaii or even the Jersey Shore over Ipanema or Copacabana any day.

When we got back to the hotel this afternoon Scott took a nap and I went swimming in the ocean. I love the ocean. I tried to talk Scott into coming with me to no avail. In his words he doesn’t like to swim in places that are “dirty”.

The water wasn’t pristine upon my entry but that’s not what was unusual about the experience. I’ve never swum in such extreme temperature pockets in my life. I was basically swimming in place 50 feet out from the shoreline. Different pockets of water would come through that were warmer than a bath and then others that felt like I was swimming in a polar bear plunge would quickly follow. I’m assuming it had to be some form of funky riptide but the strange part is that I wasn’t drifting and I wasn’t trying hard to stay in the same place. After 20 minutes or so I said goodbye to the water, went back to my room and cleaned up for our evening shenanigans.

Somehow during the day I talked Scott into agreeing to return to the court we explored this morning at night. I thought it would be quite cool to try and capture a picture where the Cristo was glowing. I would have gone by myself but the safety concerns in Rio had me thinking strolling by myself at night would not be smart. I thought it might be good to try and talk Diego into going with us as well in the event that we needed a native speaker to explain what I wanted to do. Diego had a date in the early evening but agreed to meet us at 10:30 PM. We decided to head out for souvenir shopping at 8:30 PM with the plan to meet up for dinner and hoop hunting with Diego after.

When we left the hotel there was an insane amount of traffic around our hotel unlike anything we had seen during the week. We decided to walk a bit in order to try and find a van that wouldn’t have to fight as much traffic.

Once we rounded the curve by our hotel we realized what the traffic jam was all about. The road in front of the Leblon beach was closed for the blocco seen below.

I was excited to run into this because it was one of the last block parties of the Carnaval week. It gave me a nice taste of the craziness without causing any retinal damage from which I’d never be able to recover.

One concern I had about waiting to go after my night Cristo shot was that He might not be lit past 11 PM. I discussed this with Scott and we decided that we had time hoop hunt prior to meeting to Diego, so we went for it.

Upon arrival at the court, we again scoped the scene. The crazy guy wasn’t anywhere to be seen (or heard). It did sound like some people were milling about in the same random housing unit but no one was outside. I decided to go for it. I climbed the fence at this entry point.

Scott held my stuff and patiently waited for me on the outside of the fence. I ended up spending a solid 10 minutes on the inside because I wanted to be sure I didn’t feel compelled to climb the fence again. I’m not super well versed in shooting at night, so I felt compelled to try lots of settings, flashes, etc. Scott and I were both slightly concerned the flashes might lead to some curiosity seekers coming out to investigate the light changes but it never happened. I climbed back over the fence filled with a rush from being a rebel and excited by the potential of the photos I had taken.

We hailed a cab and made it back to the beach district by 9:55 PM. We still had time to shop, so we hit up the local tourist market on the Copacabana stretch of beach. Scott and I both bought a few souvenirs and presents before making our way to meet Diego at his apartment.

At Diego’s apartment Scott told him about our hoop hunting adventure. Diego declared me as crazy. He said “they could shoot you”. I’m still not sure if he was entirely serious. I will concede climbing that fence was probably not the smartest decision I’ve ever made in my life BUT I’m glad I did it.

Diego took us to a place called Fellini Cafe. It as a buffet style place where your meal price was based on weight. They had a large assortment of food from steak to sushi. Everything I tried was really tasty. We also had another round of really fun conversation.

My favorite part of dinner was probably when Scott went off about how Hollister is a brand for teenagers. Scott’s friend Tom, who is 27 likes to wear it, and Scott is categorically opposed. This discussion went on for a while. Eventually Diego, who is 35, said “Scott, look." And he pointed to himself as seen below.

After dinner we walked back through the leftovers of the blocco. It certainly looked like the people had enjoyed themselves. We had fun people watching and eventually found ourselves back on the main beach street in position to catch a van home.

Today was another great day in Rio. I can’t believe tomorrow I’m already heading home! Scott and I both have evening flights, so our plan for the morning is to go out and try to catch some of a beach volleyball tournament on Ipanema and then we are going to visit some expats he knows from Texas who are currently living here while working for BP.

Until tomorrow,

Katy

Cristo Redentor

Scott and I were up and at them at a reasonable hour this morning. We hit breakfast a little after 10 and then went hoop hunting. As regular readers know I normally enjoy exploring a city by foot or bike to find hoops. It allows me to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of a place. In Rio I was worried about the safety element, so I decided to do some internet research. I located a hoop that had a chance of including a view of the Cristo.

I decided today I wanted to save time and pay up to take a cab to the hoop hunting area. The concierge estimated that it would cost 20ish Reals and it was worth $10 to me to save what probably would turn into an hours worth of time going by public transport. In front of the hotel there happened to be a taxi with British flag decals in the window. I assumed this meant the cabbie spoke English. Fortunately I was correct. Luiz’s English wan’t perfect but it was pretty darn decent. On the ride to the hoop we heard all about his daughter who married a finance guy from Pittsburgh. She has two very cute sons (he gave us pictures to look at) and the family lives in Denver. Later in the ride we learned he also has another daughter that lives in London.

As we approached the location of the first hoop, I quickly realized this court was going to be on lockdown. Since Luiz spoke such good English I decided to ask him if he would park the car, leave the meter running and join us on our adventure. I told him I wanted to take a picture with a basketball hoop and I needed him to ask the guards in Portuguese if they would allow us inside to do it. He agreed and I was very happy about it. We parked and proceeded to the first entrance. He asked this guard if we could go inside. He said we would have to ask the next set of guards. These guards seemed amused and happily let us inside. It turned out I wanted inside a military officers club. To this end I am extra happy that we had Luiz to ask for us as opposed to resorting to climbing fences.

We wondered through the club and after a few wrong turns found the hoops. It was a great shot. The lighting wasn’t ideal because it was a little later in the day than I had hoped it would be but I was still quite excited with the stop. On the way back to the gate I gave Luiz more details on what I was doing, explaining I was making a book and had pictures with the Statue of Liberty, Eiffel Tower, Taipei 101, etc and a basketball hoop and that I wanted one with the Cristo. When we walked back through the entrance I could tell he explained more of this to the guards because he said “Eiffel Tower”. They all smiled and seemed to like the idea and that they had helped. It was either that or they thought I was crazy. Either one works for me. I got my shot and I’m very happy about it.

After this Luiz drove us to the entrance for the Cristo. I thanked him again and paid him 30 Reals. This meant our mini-guided tour cab ride to the Cristo only cost me $20 more than public transport would have. It’s entirely possible that is the best $20 I’ve ever spent.

Yesterday during our trek through the favela Michael and Oscar told us that it was worth paying a little more money to ride in vans up to the Cristo than waiting to ride the train. The train evidently didn’t offer that great of views and the line was known to take forever. We arrived at the ticket kiosk at 2 PM and if we wanted to ride the train our car wouldn’t depart until 4:40 PM. We took the vans.

There is one van transfer involved in the middle of the ascent up the mountain. I’m not really sure what the purpose of this is but my best guess is that it allows more people on the dole and companies on the take. Most things in Brazil seem to be run in as inefficient way as possible and this seems to be just another example.

The Cristo Redentor as they say in Rio was a site to behold. It really is a beautiful monument. Scott and I were both surprised at how clean the sandstone appeared. A sign said the statue which was finished in 1931 (they started it in 1922) had been renovated in 2010. Two years after its most recent renovation it was still looking quite good.

The top of the monument was certainly crowded. Everything I read prior to the trip said it would be. I don’t know if there is ever a slow day at this particular attraction. That being said Scott and I managed to get a few nice pictures and feel like we completely saw the site.

The views, like most other places we’ve been in Rio, were beautiful. Scott and I still think that Sugar Loaf had our favorite vistas but it is possible that’s simply because we saw those first and it seemed novel at the time. Something I didn’t anticipate was that there was a mini chapel inside the base of the Cristo. Many were peacefully sitting inside saying a prayer. I’m pleased to say that I can now mark visiting Christ the Redeemer off of my bucket list.

We decided to take the bus back to our hotel. It, like pretty much all other busses we rode, was ridiculously packed. The picture below shows a typical line to load a bus. One thing that surprised me about the bus system in Rio was that people didn’t seem to honor normal rules of seat etiquette. For example, on one of the rides a woman who had to be at least 8 months pregnant was never offered a seat by any of the myriad younger guys who were sitting down. I would have given her my seat but I was already standing.

We made it back to the hotel around 5 PM. I spent the early evening blogging by the pool while Scott worked out. At 9 PM we went to a very fun Thai place called Nom Thai. Our concierge told us we couldn’t get a reservation but that we could try stopping by the restaurant. Fortunately when we arrived there were still two available tables. We were quickly seated and enjoyed a leisurely meal with great conversation in a super fun environment. When we finished eating at 10:30 PM there was a long line of people waiting to be seated.

At dinner Scott informed me that he had some more friends he wanted to go out and meet. I told him I was game for it but regardless of when we got to bed, he had to hold up his end of the bargain to get up with me and go hoop hunting in the morning. He agreed to my terms and made plans to meet his friends 11:30 PM. This left us an hour to kill. We chose to walk the beach, burn off part of dinner and make room for whatever was next.

We didn’t end up eating with Scott’s friends but rather just chatting with the guys in front of a cafe for 45 minutes or so. Two of the fellows were locals, one was a New Yorker (Joe) working as an ambassador at the US Embassy and another was a Brazilian who is currently living in Austin (Tiago).

Scott and I made it back to the Sheraton a shade after 1 AM. I’ve now written this and the clock is creeping toward 2:30 AM. I need to grab a few hours while I still have a chance before the alarm rings for hoop hunting!

Until tomorrow,

Katy

They Don't Care About Us

Some of you know but most of you don’t that Scott is a master when it comes to maximizing the potential of award programs. On this trip he arranged for his room to be reserved in his friend’s name and his name. The key here is that his friend is a Platinum member of Starwood’s rewards program. This allowed us to access both free internet and free breakfast every morning. This free breakfast was key because it worked as an excellent incentive for the both of us to get up before noon.

Today we each made it to breakfast by 10. We had plans to meet Scott’s friend Diego at his apartment at 12:30 P.M. Diego is a guy Scott met through his couch surfing community. For those wondering, couch surfing is a website that connects people who want to travel on the cheap. Diego is a native Brazilian with fantastic English. He wanted to take us to a favela, which is basically a Brazilian slum, and show us around. I thought this sounded awesome assuming it was safe. Diego ensured us it was as this was a “pacified” favela. To instill confidence he told Scott earlier in the week that “It’s even totally fine to bring your phone or camera.”

We initial thought when leaving the Sheraton that it was going to take us an hour or so to get to Diego’s apartment. It actually took 15 minutes, so we decided to walk the Copacabana section of the beach for a bit. We stayed primarily on the path at the back of the beach, so we didn’t have too many insane swimsuit encounters. We eventually made our way to Diego’s place.

We chatted for a bit and then checked out Diego’s media room, aka his bedroom. Diego’s obsession with American movies and TV shows is amazing. Below is a picture of his media library that he shows on his gigantic blue-ray Epson projector that he bought for himself as a birthday present. Diego credits the quality of his English to the time he has spent watching American television. At one point Scott and I were laughing when Diego dropped the line “no pecs, no sex.” We both said we had never heard this and we wondered where he got it. The answer? Jack on Will and Grace.

At 1:30 PM we met two more of Diego’s friends, Michael and Oscar (from NYC), at the subway. I like that we road the subway since we hadn’t done that yet. Rio is a sort of ghetto city and it certainly isn’t clean, however, the subway is surprisingly nice. The subway didn’t appear to go that many places but if it happened to stop near your destination, it seemed to be a good transportation option.

We got off at the Botafoga subway and walked to the Dona Marta Favela. This is the Favela where Michael Jackson filmed his music video for the song They Don’t Care About Us. It is also the favela Madonna visited while in Brazil with her 20 something Brazilian dancer boyfriend three or so years ago.

This favela has a cable car that can take residents or visitors to the top of it. At least on days where the cable car is working. Today did not happen to be one those days, which meant we were hoofing it to the top. I actually enjoyed the hike tremendously. I’m not sure Michael, who was a little overweight, felt the same way.

Like many other places I have been with poverty (not US “poverty” but real poverty) I was uplifted by the joy of the children. Throughout our hike we encountered many cute kids entertaining themselves with whatever they had. We saw a girl joyfully playing in a water bucket, what appeared to be two brothers playing with homemade kites, and a shy girl hiding with her dolly.

The views 80% up the climb where the Michael Jackson shrine is located and at the top of the favela were both gorgeous. The top of the favela also included one surprise which was a fairly nice and new appearing mini turf soccer field installed for the people of the favela. Diego thought the government paid for the refurbishment but he wasn’t certain. The little kid pictured below was remarkably good. Diego said many families like to try and get their sons interested in the game because soccer is considered their one shot out of poverty. Sadly favela kids traditionally have had no access to an education.

After trekking back down the mountain we grabbed some refreshments inside the Shell gas station across the street. Shockingly the bathroom in the Shell station was one of the cleanest I saw in all of Rio. The snacks were tasty too. Diego said every foreigner had to try a Brigadier ice cream bar because it is the best ice cream bar on earth. Having now tasted it, I find that statement hard to dispute. If you visit Brazil, be sure to try one of these.

After refreshments I made all the boys go on a four block detour before returning to the subway. At the top of the favela I spotted a basketball hoop that I thought might have a view of Christ the Redeemer. We found the hoop without too much difficulty but unfortunately it was located in a German school that was locked down because the students were on vacation for Carnaval Week. Diego tried very hard to talk the security guard into letting me inside but he wouldn’t budge. He told Diego it wouldn’t bother him but if his superiors watched the security tape he would get fired. I understood this and wasn’t too disappointed because I was hopeful about our likelihood of finding other hoops that worked. I did, however, appreciate the zest with which Diego tried to talk the guard into allowing entry.

After riding the subway and a ridiculously crowded bus, Scott and I were back at the hotel. I downloaded my photos and worked on this here blog entry. We got cleaned up and then headed out for dinner in Ipanema to a restaurant called Vieira Souto Restaurante. Upon our arrival to the restaurant’s entry the gatekeeper told us we couldn’t enter. Scott countered with a “why”? And he went to get another staff member. The gate keep said something and appeared to point to Scott’s legs and my feet. I actually had on a skirt but was wearing flip flops and Scott was in shorts. The second guy acknowledged it was okay for us to come in with a wave. Neither of us ever figured out what the offending piece of clothing was.

Our dinner experience wasn’t that great, especially when one considers that it cost us $65 a person. Food in Rio is expensive everywhere but Scott and I both left feeling the meal was overpriced for what it was. We were initially served the wrong appetizer. Scott had ordered calamari in ink sauce. I knew I wasn’t a fan of the ink, which is supposed to be a delicacy, but Scott wanted to try it, so I agreed. The picture below illustrates the huge problem Scott noted with this calamari. Not only was it covered in ink sauce but “It WASN’T FRIED.”

There was only one way to cure our less than amazing dinner. We stopped at McD’s for some good ole’ ice cream sundaes. We had some more great conversation and then made our way to a van for the short ride back to the Sheraton.

It’s now passed 1 AM and I’m wiped. Tomorrow we are headed to Cristo Redentor aka Christ the Redeemer.

Until then!

Katy

Welcome to Rio

Good morning. I’ve just woken up upon landing in São Paulo. Overall the nine hour flight from DC was pretty nice. Neither the food nor the service were fantastic but I was pleasantly surprised to find out that my plane had been updated to the newer 777, which meant a fully flat bed in business class. I was disciplined and didn’t allow myself to start playing Tetris. I did watch the movie 50/50 while eating and then I slept for six hours until final descent.

I knew upon landing in São Paulo I was going to have to deplane even though the same aircraft was scheduled to take me to Rio. After exiting the plane a United employee directed all Rio passengers to a holding area. He didn’t really tell us anything about the area, so I decided to explore what appeared to be a giant glass cube. It turned out there was a narrow hallway that led to a Duty Free store. By the Duty Free store there was a sign that said there was a club lounge upstairs. It looked like the upstairs could be accessed without doing anything customs related, so I decided to see if the club was associated with the Star-Alliance. Once upstairs I saw there were a few options. One of the clubs was run by TAM airlines and the gold star was on its sign. I decided to try and get in. The lady welcomed me inside but also informed me that there was a United Club around the corner. I only had 15 minutes, so I decided to just stay in the TAM lounge. I enjoyed a Coke Zero, shot off a couple quick emails and made my way back to the gate.

The flight to Rio from São Paulo is ridiculously short. In-air time was something like 28 minutes. Business class had next to no one in it, so I jumped into a window seat and enjoyed the view. I was surprised by how large the city appeared. Dilapidated looking homesteads just seemed to go on and on and on. I was also surprised that even at quite a low altitude (meaning close into the city center) many of the communities were served by one main paved road and then myriad dirt streets. For some reason I had in my head that Rio would be a more industrialized place than it seemed to be from the sky.

Scott had warned me that upon his entry into the country in São Paulo the customs line took 90 minutes. I didn’t have this problem. My plane landed a few minutes early at 1:25 P.M. I was through customs by 1:35 P.M. I then proceeded outside to meet my car that Scott had arranged per my Dad’s last minute freakout about my potential safety in one of the world’s supposedly most dangerous cities.

The ride from the airport to the hotel took only fifteen minutes. My driver seemed very nice but he didn’t really speak English. Scott and I had planned to meet at the hotel. I was worried since I made it to the Sheraton within 50 minutes of when my plane landed that he wouldn’t be there. As luck would have it I ran into him right by the elevators.

After chatting and cleaning up a bit, Scott and I decided that since I was plenty awake enough we would head over to Sugar Loaf. I hadn’t heard of it prior to planning this trip to Rio but I had unknowingly seen it in Hollywood. The tram scene in the James Bond movie Moonraker starring Roger Moore was filmed there.

Scott had been in Rio a few days prior to my arrival, so it was great to jump right in with someone who knew a bit about how to get around. Instead of paying fairly exorbitant taxi fares, Scott learned some bus and van routes. Both the bus and the van are thoroughly entertaining to ride. The way they drive and cram people in is unlike anywhere else I have been. The payment system on the buses is also insane. There is a person that sits one third of the way down the bus with a turnstile. You stop and pay that person, who very slowly makes change and then lets you pass. Once the line of people waiting to pay makes it inside the bus (there always seems to be a line extending out the door at EVERY stop), the driver takes off. A sporadic driving style gets very interesting when every seat is filled and north of 40 people are standing in the bus aisle.

The views at Sugar Loaf really are awesome. To that end I will let the pictures tell the story minus one funny anecdote. Scott likes to take staged candid (I know that’s a paradox) photos. In the photo of him below I counted “one, two, three.” I then laughed and said... “That was stupid. Your back is to me.” He then said, “Even better. I actually smiled.”

We came back from Sugar Loaf, got cleaned up and went out to dinner. We made it to the restaurant, Braseiro da Gavea which is a traditional Brazilian place, around 10pm. We were seated upon arrival but the place was busy, as were all the other places nearby. Evidently 10pm is about when people go to dinner in Rio. Below is what we ate for dinner after being served the equivalent of pretty much the best hot dog I have ever tasted for an appetizer. The meal was called Picanha ao Braseiro. The funky looking dish on the back left was some kind of grain covered bananas that were actually pretty good.

We are now back to the hotel and it’s around 12:30 A.M. After spending the previous 24 hours flying, I am beat but very pleased to have packed a full day’s worth of activities into my arrival day.

Until tomorrow,

Katy

Off to Rio de Janeiro

This morning I was up and at them after an hour of sleep to catch a 5:45am flight to SFO. For some crazy reason I didn’t sleep much on that flight. It may have had to do with the fact that I was watching this awesome sunrise (the picture doesn't remotely do it justice). We all know I never see sunrises unless I am on my way to bed.

After a super quick stop in the United Club just to grab some yogurt I made my way to my gate for my flight to IAD (Washington Dulles). I fell asleep before we took off and slept a solid three hours. When I woke up I was quickly given breakfast, which was actually decent. I watched 20 minutes of NCIS while I ate and then slept another hour before waking up upon landing in DC. I’ve now managed to kill a nearly six hour layover in what felt like fairly little time. I’m looking forward to posting my next entry from a country I’ve never visited!

Until Rio!

Katy