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