Sao Paolo

From the famous American Airlines lounge at Guarulhos Airport comes the final post of this trip.  After getting up at 3 freakin' AM to catch my flight from Iguazu to Sao Paolo, I was forced to use the aforementioned taxi mafia since local buses don't run at 3 AM.  Well, the hell with Foz do Iguacu city, then!  Anyways, arrived once again at Campinas (again, no jokes please) and took a free Air Azul shuttle to within 15 minutes of a subway line.  Arrived at my hotel (Feller Paulista) around 9:30AM and they were kind enough to whisk me up to a gorgeous room in what might be considered the "Beverly Hills" of Sao Paolo. Now how many of you knew that Sao Paolo is not only the largest city in S America, but the third largest city in the world, behind only Tokyo and metro NYC?  I didn't.  I really didn't have much of a plan for SP, except that I had to fly out of here in 60 hours.  But, man, this city is one huge WOW!  All I did was walk about, eat at some fine restaurants and enjoy one of the best jazz clubs in the universe (for both nights I was in SP).  Those who think of Brazilian jazz as bossa or samba are sadly mistaken.  That stuff is for the tourists.  The younger players have a wonderful feel for jazz history from big band to free and psych jazz.  In short, I was completely blown away.  My new home club in SP is Jazz Nos Fundos, which is in the funkiest, crappy parking garage you could imagine.  The interior is concrete with minimalist decor, but the bookings on the nights I was there were first rate, the audiences attentive at the right times and boisterous at the right times and the cover was around $10 with $3 beers.  A frugal jazz fan's delight!  And moving about SP was much like moving about NYC; fast and furious and much to my taste, though this old body isn't quite up to what the old mind demands at times.  All in all, a great trip to Brazil and one that I'll fondly remember always for the people, the cuisine, the sport and the culture.

Rooftop Pool at Hotel Feller.  Lots of Big, Tall Buildings

The flute player played at least seven different instruments during the set

That's a percussive instrument, not a guitar.  Above shots all from Jazz Nos Fundos

Iguazu Falls

While I enjoyed Rio, I was looking forward to getting away to a more natural spot, that spot being Iguazu Falls, one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World; or as Eleanor Roosevelt said upon seeing Iguazu, "Poor Niagra".  I can hardly begin to describe how awesome these waterfalls were.  They stretched at least a mile across.  But first, upon taking an Uber to the Santos Dumont airport in Rio (Santos Dumont is considered by many to be the father of flight, not the Wright Bros), I hustled through security and my special hideaway wallet fell off my belt when I removed it for security.  Didn't discover it until I reached the interim stop on the way to Foz do Iguassu, Campinas Airport (no jokes please, I've already used them all up).  The airline folks were kind enough to call security in Rio and find that my money pouch with my CCs and about $400 in cash had been turned in; unfortunately, their policy didn't allow them to simply put the pouch on the next flight and I must have spent 5 hours with them, my former landlord and Sedex (the courier) as I waited three days to finally reacquire the pouch.  A friend came to the rescue and wired me $300, so I wasn't destitute.  Anyways, the friendly city of Foz do Iguassu, Brazil, was kind enough to have a very efficient bus service from the airport to town (to counter the mafia-like cab operation) and I was at my hotel in about half an hour.  Since it was getting late in the day, I wandered around and wound up eating at a very high quality churrascuria.  They must have offered 20 different cuts of beef, chicken, pork and lamb and I'm sure I ate a kilo of meat....or what might be healthily deemed a year's worth; oh, and there was the excellent bottle of Malbec.  Got up early the next day and once again took the bus out past the airport to the falls and spent the day hiking about and viewing the falls from many different angles, including being able to get within a few feet of the base of the falls.  Afterwards, visited an amazing bird park just across from the Falls entrance.  They must have had every bird from Brazil there and it was well worth the couple of hours spent walking the 5 acre park.  And that was just the Brazilian side, so the next morning got on a small tour bus and headed for the Argentinian side.  Anyone who knows me knows how much I hate organized tours, but in this case it seemed the best way to make an international border crossing, as the driver handled all the paperwork and, apparently, drivers get priority at immigration which involved exiting Brazil, entering Argentina, exiting Argentina and re-entering Brazil, all on the same day.  Well worth the extra $20 I had to pay versus trying to do it on my own.  The Argentinian side is generally regarded as the best side to see the Falls, though to do it properly, one must hike about 5 miles on well-graded trails that take one to the tops of falls, the bottoms of falls and everywhere in between.  I sprung for the boat ride which takes you underneath the falls where you get completely drenched.  Really, they should have let us all get naked, leave our clothes at the launch and then towel off when we returned.  Man, that boat ride was the ultimate E ticket and really gave one the opportunity to feel the fierceness of those falls

On the Boat to Get Soaked

The Bird Park

Argentina Border

The Rest of Brazil

For me, the rest is only Iguasu Falls and Sao Paolo.  This is such a huge country that I imagine it would take a couple of months to see it properly.  I must say that until my final meal in Rio, I was very unimpressed by Brazilian cuisine, but that's what happens when you eat in or near sporting venues and dining becomes something you do to just keep alive for sports events.  On my final night in Rio, I was able to eat the famous feijado in a good restaurant in Santa Teresa, a lovely hillside community full of old villas.  The picture below does no justice to the quality of the food, but what you see is tapioca flour, collard greens, hot peppers, rice and orange slices with the centerpiece being a stew consisting of two huge chunks of beef, half a pound of sausage and black beans in a very tasty sauce.  It was simply brilliant and the sort of dish that everyone makes and that every makes differently.  This one was very high quality compared to a lower quality version that might be 90% beans and a few tiny chunks of poor quality meat.  As almost always in life, you get what you pay for.

Post Olympics

The Olympics were most enjoyable.  Very tiring with 15 sessions, but I'd surely do it over again.  Yesterday I decided to go out and see the town.  Unfortunately, it started raining really hard late in the afternoon and I had to eliminate my club plans since I was drenched.  What a beautiful city this is!  Had plans to head up to the Christ the Redeemer statue, but the park service was kind enough to advise me to not buy a ticket since it was cloudy up there.  At least I got to see it from Ipanema at a point when the clouds broke for a few minutes.  Will try to go up there again today, but not looking good since it's raining and cloudy at the moment.  A few final thoughts before I head to Iguazu Falls tomorrow.  1) Haven't seen a mosquito, so I'd surmise that it's safer right now in the Rio winter than it is in Miami 2) While I've exercised the usual big city caution, at no point have I felt threatened 3) But I have been robbed!  Went into a secured Bank of Brazil ATM and someone had inserted a card reader into the machine.  I covered my hands when I punched in my PIN, but they must have clever cameras since within 10 hours there had been 7 charges totaling $350 against my card.  I get emails when it is used, but all uses occurred between 5AM and 6AM this morning.

My Single Brazilian Souvenir.  Made From Fish Skin from the Amazon

  Fortunately, Fidelity will reimburse my losses and I always carry a second debit card, so I won't have to beg on the streets.  I've been traveling with this same Fidelity debit card for 20 years and haven't gotten breached until yesterday.  I guess my mistake was using it on the weekend even though the booth required a card to enter, obviously no one was checking the machines for card readers.  Oh well, at least my money will be returned after the 10 day security search.

Ipanema.  Few on the beach given that it's both winter and cold

The NBC Broadcast Facility at Copacabana--Lots of Security at the Entrance

A Visit to the Hippie Market and A Chance to Try  Acarajé (mashed peas formed into balls), stuffed with Vatapá (paste made from shrimp and cashews). It's strong stuff but worth trying if it will be your only chance to eat traditional Bahian cuisine while in Brazil!

The Famous Maracana Stadium At Night

More Rio

Yesterday was a pretty fantastic day for us track and field fans.  After the morning world records, we got to see a scintillating women's shot put which was won on Michelle Carter's final throw, duplicating her finish at the World's Indoors in Portland in March.  The crowd was amazingly sparse and Rio's plan of holding back tickets from international buyers until the last minute seems to have back fired.  The morning session today with Usain Bolt in a preliminary heat was pretty packed, despite the relative insignificance of the heats.  Guess folks just want to see a star in action, much like I did when I watched Phelps the other day in a prelim.

A little more about my living quarters.  I'm in a 5th floor apartment about a 20 minute walk from the stadium.  A nice middle class area, though one needs to be careful at night according to my landlord.  I've got my own room and private bath and, unusual for an AirBnb, breakfast is included.  Street noise is a bit bothersome, but earplugs and the white noise machine do the trick.  Food here in Rio isn't all that good.  Pretty basic rice and black beans with uninteresting cuts of meat.  The big thing here is buffets and they're quick and not all that bad.  One can eat a sizable meal with a large beer for around $5-6.  I've been using foot power, train and Uber to travel to and fro, depending on which section of the stadium I want to start and finish with.  As a single traveler/fan, I've been moving all over the stadium with an old press pass from this past year's NCAA indoors and most of the ushers aren't challenging it.  Always difficult to properly watch track and field in stadiums built for football (or futbol).

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Was surprised to find myself on American TV yesterday thanks to a friend who grabbed a  few screenshots when I was sitting next to Ashton Eaton and watching his wife perform

 These long days tend to be difficult, with two trips to the stadium each day and sessions which end close to midnight and then begin the next morning around 9:30AM.  Doesn't leave much time for sleep and the break in between sessions is about the only time one can eat properly.  I do like that some of the streets near the stadium are blocked off and residents are selling beer, caparinhas (the national drink) and various grilled snacks.  The police and military presence is heavy around the stadium, but one can go a few blocks away and you're on your own.  Walking to and from the stadium after dark is out of the question.  Then again, the train costs about $1 and a 10 minute walk home late at night, but for $2 I can go door to door with Uber.

The Road to Rio

Wasn't planning on this blog, but with all the great Olympic events going on, thought I'd share.  My trip began with a wakeup at 5:45AM  and a taxi to the Eugene airport.   From there onto Seattle and a five hour layover followed by Dallas, Sao Paolo and, finally, Rio almost 30 hours later.  Best move of the day was flying business class on American.  Nice flat beds, very private pods, good food and a very attentive staff.  Thumbs up American!

In an almost unheard of experience, my Airbnb landlord met me at the airport.  This is the first time I've shared an AirBnb, though I have my own bedroom and private bath.  Pablo is a great guy and his friend Germano is also with us for a few days.  Its been fun hanging out with them and learning a bit more about the Brazil most tourists don't get to experience.  Also a huge plus that I can walk to the stadium whereas friends in Copacabana are taking an hour in each direction.  Since there are two sessions most days, living nearby is a huge plus though the services aren't what they might be in the hotel zone.

Yesterday I decided to see a few events not called track and field.  Went out to the huge Olympic Park at Barra and watched swimming prelims in the afternoon and boxing in the evening.  Was lucky enough to see Phelps in one of the heats.  The trip out and back took forever, but it was worthwhile.

 Today, Friday, marked the opening day of track and field and I witnessed the greatest opening AM session in track history, with not one, but three world records set or tied.  The main record was Ayana's 10,000 win.  Not only did she take down a 23 year old World Record, but she did it by a huge 14 seconds.  Another bonus is that most of us knew that the old record was dirty as the Chinese woman who set it later confessed to being part of a Chinese doping regimen.

The Flag of the Republic of Eugene

 And the records didn't stop with Ayana, as not one, but two heptathletes took down the World Record in the heptathlon high jump.  I was lucky enough to sit right behind Ashton Eaton, a guy I've known since his college days.  We exchanged a few words of greeting, but he was quite tense watching his wife jump and in the past he's mentioned that it's harder for him to watch than perform.  Pretty spectacular morning, after which I walked the 25 minutes back to my apartment, stopping for lunch along the way.  I learned the hard way that I need to translate every part of a Brazilian menu.  What I thought was beef was actually beef liver.  Yuck!  I haven't eaten liver in over 40 years!  At least the beer was tasty and it was an enormous meal for less than $5.

World Record Holder Ashton Eaton Shouts Out Encouragement to His Wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton