Brazil: Days 2-4 in Pictures

I feel like I'm way on top of this, I haven't even received a message that pictures haven't been put up yet. So to reward you, pictures! (Edit: I started writing this post this morning and have since received a message from one of you--cough, mom, cough--to remind me about pictures, so I guess I'm not doing as well as I thought)

The chandelier in the lobby of the Banespa Building, Gustavo our guide! and stairs to the lookout point

While waiting in Brazil, you must watch soccer; it's a rule. Then the views from the top of Sao Paulo's version of the Empire State Building (the Banespa Building)

Me and Gustavo, Karl and Davina

DO YOU SEE ALL THE SKYSCRAPERS?! RIDICULOUS.

Group photo! Pablo, Davina, Karl, Daniel, me, and Larry. And yet again, more skyscrapers. 

This is a 360 look. Skyscrapers everywhere!

And that was our trip to the Banespa Building

The Bourbon Street style market of cheap knock-off goods. That's the official name we gave it.

Our lunch was so delicious! Famous Sao Paulo bologne sandwiches in the Mercado Municipal

Vila Madalena = CRAZINESS

You may not be able to tell but that young man is helping the older woman cross the street. While drinking a beer. Multitasking! And then this guy and his shirt....

Larry gets married!

The flight to Natal!

Yeah... someone decided that we didn't need to enter the terminal. So they chained the door closed and locked it. Thanks, guys.

The views from Madeh's apartment, our wonderful host in Natal.

Camaroes! The group: Carl, Madeh, me, and Daniel. My caipirinha... so good!

My belly was so full. But I don't regret a thing.

US Soccer party prior to the game. It was nice, but you know, just nice.

More from the US Soccer party. Some people got all dressed up! And the sign in Portuguese reads: One Nation. One Team.

The stadium! And a pic of the random Wise Men that were splattered around the city.

The American Outlaws know how to get people pumped up.

SO. MANY. AMERICANS. Like 20,000 or 20% of that for this shindig

A rousing rendition of "I Believe"

Daniel and I and then Sarge.

Selfie! (Daniel, me, Carl, Madeh) And even Obama came to watch the big match! And me posing with the big head of Ian Darke, our beloved announcer.

The walk to the stadium. 

We made it to the stadium!!!

I may have taken way to many pictures. But hey, Michael Bradley!

We <3 p="" the="" usa="">

Timmy Howard! The best goal keeper on the planet. And then his just as awesome back-ups.

The team is on the field!!!

The stadium is starting to fill up :)

I spy, with my camera zoom, the USA players!

IN JURGEN WE TRUST

Walking out for the national anthems.

Ghana has some style.

But not enough to overcome us! WE WON! GO USA!

We spotted the English team's bus!

Copacabana and Larry, me, Karl, Pablo, and Daniel outside of our dinner establishment of choice for our first night in Rio: Cervantes! Delicious filet mignon, pineapple, and cheese sandwiches.

Davine takes my place. And then the boys play with the olive oil can that is designed so poorly that half of the oil runs down the side and half actually goes onto your intended target, which in our case was a salad.

Pictures from us having fun in Baixo Gavea in Rio! Tons of people celebrating a Brazil non-loss!

 And that is that ladies and gentleman. Thanks for your patience and I'll be back soon with the tales of our time in Rio!

Days 3 & 4: we beat Ghana!

Obviously that's the biggest thing I can tell you about the last two days. But you probably (hopefully) already knew that. 

Day 3 was spent preparing to go to Natal for the USA-Ghana game and then dealing with an ATM emergency since both mine and Daniel's Schwab cards wouldn't work. This always happens when you're in a time crunch doesn't it? But have no fear, Schwab customer service to the rescue! They fixed the issue and we only had to do two more round trip trips to Paulista Avenue (about 1 mile total both ways). 

Other news from day 3: Larry went to pick up his tickets and let Daniel get Starbucks. This is important because Larry had told me both on day 1 and day 2 that I could not have Starbucks. So I'd just like to point out this hypocrisy! And while I agree that I wouldn't want to eat/drink at American chains while we're here, Starbucks is the only place with iced coffee. Let me have my iced coffee, Larry! 

Day 3 ended with Daniel and I hopping on a plane to Natal. We arrived at the unhappy hour of 2am and then had the cab ride from hell who couldn't find the place we were staying. He was literally calling his friends to figure out where the address was. You have one job, cabbie, one job, and that's to know your city. K, thanks. 

So of course when we found the lovely apartment of Madeh, our lovely host for the evening who so graciously woke up to let us in, we immediately crashed. And didn't wake up until 10 am when we decided to get ready for our exciting day ahead. 

And what was so exciting about day 4, do you ask? IT'S GAMEDAY! Time to play Game 1 for the USMNT! So we got dressed, put our gear on and headed to a US Soccer fanfest. Which turned out to have a good number of people but not so much a good atmosphere. We stayed there to watch the German demolition of Portugal and then headed to the American Outlaws pregame party. 

And let me tell you, the AOs know how to get people pumped up for some soccer. We arrived about 3:30pm and spent the next hour and a half singing USA songs and chanting cheers with about 1000 of our closest friends. It. Was. Awesome. 

We then walked the couple blocks to the stadium and by this point we were theoretically peeing our pants in excitement (theoretically because it didn't happen but dramatic effect people!). Upon entering the stadium, it was all awe because we were finally here! The reason we came to Brazil! And it did not disappoint. 

Along with approximately 20,000 other USA supporters, we watched the fastest goal ever scored by the USA and went crazy! I hugged strangers, that's how crazy we went--we couldn't believe we had struck so quick! Then it was our job to hold on and cheer on the team, which we did--and my voice can attest to this. Once Ghana scored to tie it at 1-1, I loved how we responded and what do you know, 2 minutes later we were back up!

Today has just been so memorable and so worth the extra money to go to Natal for the first game. And we got three points!

Now to get on our flight to Rio to join up with the rest of our group, and then Spain vs Chile at the famed Maracana on Wednesday!

We woooooooooooooon!!!! Goooooooooooaaaaaaal John Brooks!

And sorry, just got into Rio but I promise pictures soon!

Day 2: Larry gets married in Vila Madelena

Day 2, oh day 2... it was quite eventful. It all began with a plentiful breakfast of fresh fruits, pastries, and sausage at the hotel and it only got better from there.

My Brazilian friend Gustavo met up with us at the hotel and the journey around Sao Paulo began. First we decided to go towards the city center and be touristy so we headed towards what my guidebook called, the Empire State Building of São Paulo (which Gustavo laughed at). It was freeeee which we all know I love, and just a small wait to get up to the top. All in all, we went up 36 floors and had a fantastic view of the city! I have never in my life seen so many skyscrapers. It's literally mind-boggling. We only had 5 minutes at the top so we made the most of it and took tons of pictures (to be posted at a later date, since I'm currently without my laptop). 

After that we took a stroll down one of the streets known for having cheap souvenirs and the like because we wanted to look for Brazil jerseys. I'm trying to think of the best way to describe this street, it's like a cross of Bourbon Street in New Orleans and a stadium. They were hawking horns and it was SO LOUD because they all wanted to show off how loud their horns were. Not pleasant for my ear drums. However, it was cool to walk through but I didn't quite enjoy being called a gringa. Because here I thought I was fitting in! (Jokes)

After that energizing stroll we passed a man who was passed out on our way to our lunch destination at the market. This was another of Gustavo's recommendations and it did not disappoint. We had these famous sandwiches that were HUGE and oh so delicious. Graceful I was not while eating these but somehow managed not to get anything on me. At least that I know of. 

After that we headed back to the market (again passing the man who was passed out, at least that's what we're hoping it was) so we could buy jerseys before heading off to another part of the city to watch some games. 

Our destination for the game-watching is called Vila Madelena and it was pumping! It was all of these bars right next to each other and of course they all had the game on. It was impossible to find a table without an enormous wait, but no fear, you can stand in the street and watch with the thousands of other people in the area. So that's what we did. We also had some more caipirinhas but kiwi ones this time (I didn't even know there was such a thing) and omg delicious. We ended up staying in Vila Madelena until late so pretty much ended our night there. 

However, other items of note: Larry found himself a Brazilian girl (or three) to talk to and even found himself getting "married" to one of them! He got surrounded by these other guys who said that Larry and this girl we're getting married and starting pulling females from the crowd to be bridesmaids. They lit some candles or something and then pronounced them husband and wife. You can't make this stuff up. 

All in all it was a very satisfactory day, all thanks to our fabulous guide Gustavo! 

And sorry there aren't any pictures yet, I don't have my laptop because Daniel and I are waiting on our flight to Natal. USA-Ghana tomorrow!!!!!!! Look for us on tv, yeah? 

Day 1: Schmoozing with the USMNT

Okay, we didn't actually schmooze with the team but we did find out while in our taxi from the Sao Paulo airport to our hotel that the USMNT (US Men's National Team for the news) was only a block away from ours! And there were cameras which indicated to us that something was about to happen. So we got to our hotel, checked our luggage and quickly made our way to the team's hotel. And what were we greeted with was some of the players doing interviews! So of course we took pictures. And Larry even got acknowledgement from Tim Howard when he yelled, "Timmy, you're my boy!" #greatsuccess

Graham Zusi, Brad Guzan, Deandre Yedlin

Tim Howard x 2, Matt Besler

Us in front of the hotel and then the USMNT bus

After that exciting start to Sao Paulo, we walked to Paulista Avenue, one of the main streets in city and explored. We also tried to get a Brazilian phone plan but alas no such luck just yet. So we walked very very far to a restaurant Daniel's friend recommended buuuuuut it was ridiculously expensive so the walk was all for nothing! My poor ankle was unhappy. But coincidentally, nearby was a restaurant from the guidebook that I had written down that was much closer to our budget. So to the buffet we went (I mean, we are Americans so buffet's are definitely our style).

Following lunch, we went to the FIFA Fan Fest to watch some soccer. We stayed for the entirety of the Spain-Netherlands game, which for Pablo was not a good result. If anyone saw the Orange beating the Red 5-1, they're lying. And you kind of have to feel bad for Iker Casillas because... wow.

Since Pablo needed some cheering up we went to a bar on our way back to the hotel and had our first Caipirinhas! And Larry and Pablo had a very ridiculous conversation with the waiter who was excited Larry knew some Portuguese and that Pablo kind of understood from being Spanish. But really, they had no idea what he was blabbering on about. But that's life.

Caipirinhas!

And so now on to Day 2! We can definitely say the first day was a success: only took us 40 minutes to get through customs and baggage claim, we saw the USA team before they left for Natal (where Daniel and I are heading on Sunday night!), and had caipirinhas.

Pre-Brazil: Musings of a Business Traveller

This is funny to think about, especially since it's my first time in business class. These are the things they don't tell you:

1. The towel is for your hands, not for your face (although it feels good on your face)

2. The light thing that you don't know how to turn on? Yeah, there's no button. It TWISTS on. Totally intuitive. 

3. You are going to eat really, really well. I'm talking like 4 courses here. I probably gained 5 pounds just from each of these trans-Atlantic flights. 

   a. Your napkin is your friend. Don't spill balsamic vinegarette and chocolate syrup on your white t-shirt. 

4. The bed is wonderful, but like most things, not quite as wonderful if you're tall. 

5. You can literally have whatever you want! It's all freeeeeeeee (unless you order from the skymall magazine, but who does that?)

6. There are outlets. Give me all the electronics. I will charge them all!

7. There is no wifi. So really, it's business class but you can only draft emails, not actually send them. 

Hopefully if you ever travel business on one of these planes, you will now be prepared. These are pearls of wisdom, I'm telling you. It's all about managing expectations (mine were exceeded). 

And now I'm 90 minutes out from Cincinnati and feeling pretty darn good. I'll probably get served food (how are all the people surrounding me not obese?) again in a bit and then I'll be landing and then I'll be going through customs and then I'll be hopefully running home only to be back at the airport because BRAZIL. 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEK

But with all that said, Newcastle was fun! And I really hope I get to go back again. It was lovely getting to meet my coworkers that I've talked to many times on the phone but never seen in person. And they were all awesome! 

And I definitely want to do this business class international travel again. Why does it have to be so expensive?!

Anyway, more updates forthcoming. Less than 18 hours until I'm in BRAZIL! World Cup here I come!

61 days

That's all there is until one of the greatest sporting events on earth. And with that, we have our first promos! It's anyone's guess how much time I will waste watching US Soccer and World Cup videos. But so y'all can get a taste, here's the most recent promo from ESPN. Enjoy!