Do you like air travel in this day in age? I could write a book on it. I've actually come to a point where my journey through an airport and following of airport protocol is mechanic. But this flight to Brazil was by far the longest I had ever taken. Prior to this, my longest was to Greece -- 8 hours. Our flight to Brazil was through Air Canada, which lands in Sao Paolo and then we had to switch airports to fly to Rio. A total of about 15 hours travel time (fortunately with only a 3 hour time difference). AND, because of all of the drama with trying to get our VISAs really quickly (have you ever tried to muscle a foreign authority into doing something quicker over the phone??), we now had an itinerary that required us to fly overnite, make our connecting flight and then roll off the plane and right into the last day of Carnival festivities....
Thank goodness for sleeping pills (not mine). And thank goodness for short legs (mine).... I tell you.
In Toronto, I pleaded with the check-in staff to give me a window seat (no one to climb over me and wake me up) and they obliged! Even though when I did my electronic check-in all of the window seats were spoken for. Check-in staff really do have the power to make all sorts of things happen.... become their friend! It worked for me!
My seasoned traveler friends had suggested the following -- eat dinner on the plane, pop a sleeping pill, put on headphones with music, pull on an eyemask... and you'll wake up at your destination well rested. I couldn't afford to toss and turn, so after a meal of brown sludge (which apparently was beef, though the other brown sludge which was chicken basically looked the same), I did as I was told.... and I woke up in Brazil!
I barely remember Sao Paolo. I remember going to claim my luggage and seeing a lot of tanned skin everywhere. And it was the first time in my life I had seen so many female travellers in STILLETTOS. It was borderline ridiculous.... we're talking full-fledged party shoes. Also, there was a soccer game being broadcast at the luggage claim area, which had most of the mens' attention. This was Brazil! We found our way to the other airport, which was a loooooong airconditioned busride away. And we sampled our first Brazilian fare in the terminal. I wanted a coffee more than anything and couldnt find any iced kinds! Even in the 35 degree weather, your options were espresso or MATE -- ice tea. And of course, empanadas!! Mmmmmm.... This was the start of a feeding frenzy as I decided I had to try EVERYTHING I could while away. Once on the VARIG flight, I sampled another Brazilian original - Guarana pop. It's their national drink and tastes surprisingly like gingerale.... I also realized that I was in trouble with the minimal amount of Portuguese I knew....
So, we were cautioned against jumping into random cabs at the Rio airport, especially given our conspicious gear. We ordered a cab from inside the airport and within a half hour, were at our hotel in Botafogo. A quick shower and I might have blinked my eyes a few times... before we were rushing out the door for our first shoot!
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