Last day in Rio. Or so I believe. I am on the plane right now sitting on the Tarmac for an hour because there's an issue with the brakes. No idea when it will be fixed. Will we lift off tonight? Will we spend the night here? I care not to think about it. So in the meantime I queued up Les Mis on my iPad for the 5th and final time. Yeah, it took me five times to get through it. I still don't get it. I can't get past Russell Crowe singing. It's distracting and he's not very good. I can't handle all the singing. It bores me stiff, and watching it is like walking knee-high through mud. Why all the British accents? It's a movie about France. I saw the play once, I forgot what it was about. Some people love the movie. If you're one of those people, please help me understand why. I mean no offense, it's just not for me. I have Argo and Zero Dark Thirty left on the iPad to watch. That's more my speed.
So this morning after breakfast I finished packing up and left my bags in the foyer for the day. I didn't have to be at the airport until 7. This time I headed the other direction on the metro, north, into Centro which is the downtown business district. There is a collection of colonial-era buildings so some photography and exploration was in order. I was warned that Centro has some rough spots and not to sport my camera, so I scaled back my adventure just a bit.
After a tasty lunch of yakisoba at a sidewalk cafe (I believe the first one I stopped at for kibe on my first day) I went first to the Teatro Municipal which I discovered had a guided tour starting in less than a half hour. I inquired about a tour in English, but the ticket agent didn't speak English and pointed something about "one". One what? At one o'clock? Today? Or yesterday? Or only one guide? Whatever, I figured I'd wing it and follow everyone else at for the 2pm tour even if it was in Portuguese. I can still catch a few words and I just wanted to get inside for pictures. But the guide asked if anyone spoke English, a few of us raised our hands, and the separated us and gave us an English-speaking guide. Nice.
It was a beautiful building, modeled after the Paris Opera House. It recently underwent a renovation and it glistens in gold and red in the interior, with marvelous stained-glass windows representing the Muses of music, poetry, and dance. The lower level is based on Persian design, to my surprise, as I haven't seen this motif in many western buildings. For only $5 it was a good way to spend an hour on a rainy day. Afterward I walked across to the National Library that had a stunning multi-level interior, but my motivation for more exploration was starting to wane. I walked around downtown a bit more, stumbled upon the US consulate, but as the rain came down harder, it was time to head back to the B&B.
My driver was waiting for me when I returned. I learned a few days ago that his motto is that if he's not early, then he is late. So he is always early. By at least and hour this time! Washing my face and hands was a priority, then changing clothes for the plane, packing away my day bag, some re-arranging, then we were on our way to the airport 20 minutes ahead of schedule. We passed the Sambadromo again and I managed a couple pictures through the rain-dotted car window. Then past the national soccer stadium amidst some rather congested traffic. It took us nearly 80 minutes to go a few miles so I'm very glad we were both early so I could arrive at the airport on time. Through a spattering of Portuguese and Spanish, my driver Hector and I exchanged names, talked about our jobs, some of the neighborhoods we passed through, and other chit-chat.
Rico's international airport terminal is by no means my favorite in the world. For its sake I really hope it's under construction, as there were only 2 very slow snack bar with not enough tables, one souvenir shop, one duty free shop, one restroom (no kidding, and my bags didn't fit in the stall with me so I had to pick and end stall and leave them outside my door, gah!), not enough seating for everyone, no official airline desks, not staffed, and not enough trash bins, so trays from the snack bar were everywhere. They removed most of the wall outlets so there was only one charging station that was kept busy as we piled on top of each other. One dude with a southern accent plugged in his iPhone then walked away to the snack bar. Someone should teach him a lesson and moved it. He also assumed everyone spoke English. We then boarded a bus which took us to our plane (typical for international airports), but it was raining and we had to climb wet shaky steps with our bags. I felt badly for the elderly passengers that didn't have a ramp or other means to get onto the plane.
And that brings us to now, 2 hours sitting on the Tarmac while I see one of our landing gear tires on the ground. The new brakes have arrived in wooden crates, so now I know what airplane brakes look like. Lots of staff and technicians I spy out my window. It's going to be a least another hour delay, and we'll get into New York by 10am if we're lucky. At least dad doesn't have to get up at the ass crack of dawn to pick me up. Bright sides: I have enough Xanax to put me out so I'll have no idea how much time passes; I didn't check luggage if we get moved around; I have an 11 hour (now 8 hour) layover in New York until my Chicago flight, so plenty of time; and if I miss that, flights between Chicago and New York are every hour on the hour, if not from JFK, then from LGA, which dad can drive me to. And I still have Sunday to get home if I get stranded here or in New York. Allison had keys to my place so she or Dennis can check on Jude, or the pet sitter. An my visa is multi-entry for 10 years so if I'm here another night, perhaps passport control won't be a big deal. I've slept in plenty of airports and I have a pillow, and plenty of clean knickers. So it could be worse. I tend to pack for the worst-case scenario.
Update: Can't fix plane tonight. Sent us to gorgeous hotel on the beach. Hot shower, no mosquitoes, buffet dinner at 2:30am, great staff, and all the bonuses I mentioned above turns out I actually need. Flight scheduled for 1pm, in JFK at 9pm. Will miss 5pm flight to Chicago so I don't yet know how or when I'll get home, or how frequent Internet access will be. Texting is expensive. My sister can post my updates or FB IM her for details. Got a hold of pet sitter and she's checking on Jude another day. At least I have another day to work with! Now can squeeze in an hour at the beach before the bus comes to bring us back to the airport? More details to come, but AA has been efficient and fantastic.
Day 7 post to come... Stay tuned.
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