Thursday, 7pm
Rio de Janeiro Airport

Waiting, waiting . . . But at least I'm at the airport.  Pre-arranged car arrived at hotel on time for 45 minute drive to airport.  Check-in was quick and efficient, but there aren't many services here, so I'll pass some time blogging (at least the wifi is free).

I did learn why I get two free bags on these Delta flights as opposed to the usual one (with Amex card).  Brazil, Japan, Australia forbid airlines from charging passengers for two pieces of luggage each.  So next time you plan to fly with significant baggage, you might want to consider some re-routing.

Back to Rio:
Wednesday, 5 March 2014

Today is the only day I get to go on one of the tours I pre-arranged. The others, on Monday and Tuesday, were cancelled by the local company because of the difficulties of driving during Carnival.  You think that Expedia would know about this--after all they act like a travel agency--instead of just booking the tours without double-checking.  I shall give them the what for when I get home.

Today's tour begins with a personal pickup at my hotel at 8am.  I'm the first person on the bus and we make several more hotel stops before the tour itself begins.  But the guide, Leo, is pleasant and knowledgeable, and keeps me posted about what's going on.  He says I look like some one from some old rock band but he can't remember the name.

After the bus is loaded we head from Copacabana through two long tunnels into the old Cento area.  We don't see much because many streets are still closed, but I walked around here myself on Monday. We do make a stop at the Metropolitan Cathedral, a huge concrete monstrosity that is a duplicate of the one in Liverpool, England. Inside, the colorful stained glass helps make up for some of the austerity of the construction.

From here we drive to the residential and former-military area of Urca, one of the most pleasant in the city.  We are here to ride the two cable cars up to the top of Sugar Loaf for views of all parts of the city.  The panoramas are magnificent, and the buildings always look better from a distance.  There are mountain karsts, jungle, and beaches--all abutting against each other. What space is left is filled with buildings of all kinds in all kinds of condition; there doesn't seem to be an inch to spare. It is all quite beautiful--but really, how many beaches does one city need.

After coming down from Sugar Loaf we return to Ipanema for a restaurant lunch (fish, beef, pasta, or salad).  It's all rather hectic and the food is tolerable.  After lunch we get a new bus and driver, Anna, who is quite good at cracking the whip.  We also get a bus-load of other passengers, many of whom are drunken 30 something's from the States, whose behavior is rude and obnoxious. But we are off to take the cog railway up Corcovado to the bae of the Christo Redentor statue, the most ubiquitous image of the city.

I'll continue with the tour in the next entry.