tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28793393787652915632024-03-05T20:28:32.194-05:00Katee's TravelsKateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-22988808321701484612015-06-24T16:41:00.000-04:002015-06-29T17:02:29.031-04:00Day Sixteen – Rio 2016 and Travel<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We saved the best meeting for last!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since Jamie, Alex, and I had a different flight
than the rest of the group (we had to one-way to Sao Paulo and then take our
return flight), we didn’t take the Metro to the Rio 2016 building with the rest
of the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead, we hailed a taxi
from the hotel and loaded up our luggage and went to the Rio 2016
location.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon arriving, we went through
metal detectors, and then our luggage was placed in a locked room accessible
only by security, so we knew that it would be safe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gus and Marcello gave us an overview from the
perspective of Rio 2016 Venue Management’s challenges, design, and plans for
the games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was great to get an
overview of their plans for the venues and also for the legacy items that are
going to come from the games, including one of the buildings being turned into
4 schools (whose locations are still TBD).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We were given a quick tour of the building, including being able to see
the different Olympic Torches that were used over the past 10-12 games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span><br />
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</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When our meeting was done, Jamie, Alex and I collected our
bags, hailed a cab, and made the (long, treacherous) trip back to the US!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a great trip, but I was excited to get
home and sleep in my own bed and stop living out of a suitcase!<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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</span></span><br />Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-89563966398195257822015-06-23T16:41:00.000-04:002015-06-29T17:00:43.967-04:00Day Fifteen – Nike and Samba Show<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Raul from Be a Local met us in the hotel lobby to lead us
to the Nike store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, we would
experience the Metro!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It ended up
working better than I expected, we even just “missed” the timeslot of the
all-women’s train (6-9a) by getting on the train at 9:03a.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s clear that the Metro isn’t as built up
in Rio as it is in like, Boston, as we had a long walk from where we
disembarked to the Nike Store.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We started at the Nike store that mainly focused on
runners.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were led up to the third
floor conference room where we received a presentation showing us the past FY
and the 3-year (through FY 2018) plan for Nike in Rio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The idea of Glo-cal, which Nike is using to
combine Global and Local together seems to really be working for the thirty
year old brand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After the presentation,
we were taxied over to the main Football store for Nike, in Ipanema.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There we were able to try on soccer boots and
test them out on the third floor turf and see how Nike ID works.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our Nike ambassador, Hector, spoke perfect
English, and we learned that he was an exchange student in Maine at Oswego Lake
a few years ago!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fortunately, when we
were done at the Nike store, we learned that we were just 5 blocks from our
hotel, so we were able to walk back to the hotel.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">While the rest of the crew spent their afternoon on the
beach, I laid low in the hotel room with some stomach distress.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was the first time my stomach was upset
over the trip, so I consider that a success!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>That evening, though, I was prepared and ready for our 7pm pickup for
the Samba show.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were taken to a venue
where we were served dinner on the first floor and then went up to the second
floor for the show, at 10p.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The show was
less Samba and more Brazilian dance-esque.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The boys were in their element with all of the thongs being shown by the
women!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was fun, though, and they did
a great job with all of the costume changes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We got home relatively late, so we called it a night and
went straight to bed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-72378509928054442282015-06-22T16:39:00.000-04:002015-06-29T16:58:38.299-04:00Day Fourteen – US Consulate and Octagon<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After making it through the weekend in Rio, we picked back
up on doing educational activities.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our
first stop was at the US Consulate.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There,
we were received by a bunch of members of the Olympic Coordination Committee
who gave us an overview of their involvement of bringing US Citizens in both
prior to and for the Olympic Games and their plans that are in place for the
Rio 2016 games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We then traveled over to Octagon Brazil, where we learned
about how they approach Sports Marketing in Brazil with athletes, consumers,
and their large-brand customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
most interesting part of this talk was the research that Octagon has put into
finding what drives people, called Passion Drivers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have identified 12 passion drivers that
they use to help them define targeted promotions for their customers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was extremely clear that these guys have
the experience and knowledge in what they are doing and they’re doing it well,
even with their client, Michael Phelps!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We ended up with an open rest of the afternoon (our meeting
got bumped by a visit from the President of Brazil), so we got back to the
hotel and most of us went our own separate ways.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-35163389573490555982015-06-21T16:39:00.000-04:002015-06-29T19:34:32.595-04:00Day Thirteen – Tour of Rio (Christ the Redeemer, Escadaria Selaron, Sugarloaf)<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Originally, our itinerary had us planning to go to the
Ipanema Hippie Fair on this morning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, after talking to our tour guide Alex, we learned that the fair
is open from 10a-6p, so we didn’t have enough time in the morning before our
planned activities to go and get back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>So we decided to wait and see if there was time when we were done with
our Tour of Rio.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Alex was our tour guide again, and picked us up in a van
provided by Be a Local.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started first
by driving up the hillside to Corcovado, the mountain that has Christ the
Redeemer at the top of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After
ascending many steps, we were able to be directly in front of the statue that
we were able to see from our hotel window (drastically different in size,
though!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After leaving CTR, we drove through a few small sections of
the city, including a stop in Sta. Teresa village, where we were able to get
out of the van and visit a local art shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>We walked a bit around Sta. Teresa and then got back onto the bus and
headed over to Escadaria Selaron, also known as “the steps” in Rio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jo mentioned that the steps were featured on
an episode of The Amazing Race, but that’s not a show that I watch
regularly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These steps were formed by a
Chilean artist, Jorge Sealron, in the 1990s, when he started to repair the
steps outside of his house and covering them in colorful tiles, which ended up
coming from all over the globe.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In
total, there are 250 steps with over 2000 tiles from over 60 different
countries.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We even found a Maine tile!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">A</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">fter the steps, we headed over to Sugarloaf, which is
located on Guanabara Bay.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally,
Sugarloaf was thus named by the Portuguese people who came upon Brazil by
ship.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The mountain was white, because it
was covered in seagull poo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Today, the
mountain is regular dirt (brown) colored, as locals harvest and sell the
seagull poo as fertilizer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>To get to the
top, you take two cable cars.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The first
leg (1 KM) takes you to the top of Urca Mountain, which gave us a great view of
Copacabana and CTR.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The next leg took us
to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain (396m tall) where we were greeted with
beautiful 360 degree views of the beaches of Rio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we descended back to Urca, we were
greeted by a few monkeys in the staging equipment near a few of the
restaurants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Though the signs say
specifically NOT to feed the animals, our tour guide, Alex, was able to get a
few pieces of banana from a nearby smoothie stand and lure the monkeys out from
hiding.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was amazing to see the Mama
and baby try to reach (but not too far!) the fruit from his hand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">While a few of our group were dropped off at the Market
after our Sugarloaf tour, the rest of us went back to the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were ready for a shower and some
downtime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We met back in the hotel lobby
at 7pm to head over to </span><a href="http://www.latrattoriario.com.br/"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">La
Trattoria Rio</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">, Copacabana (literally around the corner from
our hotel) to meet with Lenny Abbey, the head of the National Olympic and
Paralympic Committee Relations and Service for Rio 2016 and also met with an
Olympic-scholar and her son to hear about her work on the Transforma Program
within Brazil.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was interesting to
hear their two opposing viewpoints on the changes that had just been released
for the 2020 Olympics and beyond by the IOC.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-6356774687396946492015-06-20T16:38:00.000-04:002015-06-29T19:33:54.921-04:00Day Twelve – Favela, Maracana<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We started our morning by being met by Alex, our tour guide
from Be a Local, in the hotel lobby.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Alex had arrived in a van to take us up to the top of the Rocinha favela
and for us to walk our way down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Favela
means “little farm” in Portuguese and while the term favela is still used,
Brazilians now prefer the word “community” in place of favela.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>For Rocinha specifically, the community has
existed for about 100 years and contains about 25,000 houses and about 75,000
people.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was blown away by the living
conditions and the way that all of these people were packed together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will say…I wish I had been warned to wear
sneakers instead of flip flops, as there were a few times that we had to jump
over raw sewage running down the pathways that we were walking in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We started our tour at one of the highest buildings at the
top of the hill (and climbed some uneven/short staircases to get there), which
rewarded us with a lovely view of Rio.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>From there we were able to see how each of the houses is fed water;
through a gravity fed pipe-system that is set up with rain barrels, it
basically flows through the pipes all the way down to the bottom of the
community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was extremely overwhelming
to see the significant demographic experience from the top of this building to
the shore of the beaches that we overlooked.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ue0RoSXMQ9U/VZGuRvShoFI/AAAAAAAAHVE/aom11sEWxUs/s1600/IMG_2396.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ue0RoSXMQ9U/VZGuRvShoFI/AAAAAAAAHVE/aom11sEWxUs/s320/IMG_2396.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After our trip through the favela, we headed back to the
hotel for a couple of hours of down time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When 2pm rolled around, we were picked up by Be a Local to go spectate
at the Flamengo v Atletico game that was happening at 4:20p at Maracana
stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, we were “early” (we
think that this is planned by Be a Local to feed into the local tourism) so we
stopped by a gas station near the stadium where we were allowed to drink beer,
get some food, and buy jerseys from a man on the sidewalk.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was an interesting experience and it
became clearer as quite a few Be a Local vans showed up that this was a planned
stop by the tour provider.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A9bVH2K-v1k/VZGuRSkcGpI/AAAAAAAAHVE/nc3g5UDpnVQ/s1600/IMG_2381.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-A9bVH2K-v1k/VZGuRSkcGpI/AAAAAAAAHVE/nc3g5UDpnVQ/s320/IMG_2381.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When we got close to match time, they loaded us up into the
buses and dropped us off at the Gate to the stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were in the North gate, section 221, so we
got frisked and went into the stadium to find our seats.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Oddly enough, we sat in seats all together
(even though our tickets weren’t together) in a section that wasn’t indicated
on my ticket.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>No one said anything,
though.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This experience was out of this
world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Almost everyone was in a Flamengo
jersey (home team) and there were people chanting and waving extremely large
flags throughout the entire match.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even
though Flamengo lost to Atletico 2-0, we had a great time watching not only the
sport event, but the people that were there as well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">You could tell that this stadium was newly redone as the
seats and everything were spic and span.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Maracana was used for the World Cup and will also be used for Rio 2016
and can now hold up to 75,000 people (down from the original 200,000 people,
including standing spectators, that the stadium originally was built for).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Once the game ended, we waited around for the stadium to
empty out a bit and then left to find our tour van.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were able to easily find it and we were
shuttled back to the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Instead of
dispersing, though, we all decided to find a place to eat together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We walked a couple of blocks down the beach
from our hotel and ended up at </span><a href="http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g303506-d3896149-Reviews-Mab_s_Restaurante_e_Bar-Rio_de_Janeiro_State_of_Rio_de_Janeiro.html"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">MAB’s</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The restaurant wasn’t frilly, but the food
and the drinks were good.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I ordered a
cachaça (when in Rome, right) and a grilled chicken breast with rice and beans,
true Brazilian fare.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The group split up
after dinner and I walked back to the hotel and went to bed relatively early,
after an extremely fun day.</span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-70164633370435574162015-06-19T16:36:00.000-04:002015-06-29T16:51:48.212-04:00Day Eleven – ESPN Brazil and Travel to Rio de Janeiro<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Paulo showed up in a super large bus to take us over to
ESPN Brazil at 9a.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The bus even had
WiFi, #Win!.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upon arriving, we learned
that our main contact hadn’t arrived yet, but we were shown to a conference
room to drop our bags and given a short tour of the studios.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This location has two main studios, one of
which is under construction and the other was in the midst of filming a live
show, which we got to watch from the wings!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>During our tour, we crossed paths with Roberto, who is the Manager of
Digital Media.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He walked us through the
“mobile first” motto at ESPN, where everything is first developed for mobile
and then for the computer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His
department monitors the web statistics of what people are looking at (a
live-feed) and then feed that information, including anything surprising, to
the news desk, so that the editorial department can have the option to change
the topics being talked about on the sports desk at that time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After our hallway chat with Roberto, we were brought back
to the conference room where we had dropped our stuff and were joined by
Fernando.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He walked us through the three
channels of ESPN in Brazil and then introduced us to Carlos Maloof, who is the
Programming and Acquisitions Director.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Finally, we were joined by Fernando Casseloni, who is the head of
Engineering, Operations, and IT.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was
very interesting to hear how all three of their roles melded together and also
how they were in the midst (that day) of finalizing their 2016 budget, which
was why the first Fernando wasn’t able to join us for long (he had phone
conferences to attend to).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing
that I found most interesting at ESPN Brazil was how the office was using
Business Intelligence to not only drive their content to the viewer, but also
in their driving of advertisements to the viewer.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Also, it was comforting to know that they
experience some of the same challenges that we do in the states with
demographics (i.e. elderly) and mobile.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We left ESPN and headed back to the hotel to pack up our
things and head over to the GRU Airport.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our delayed flight departed GRU for Rio de Janeiro (GIG) about an hour
late (745p) and we arrived in Rio around 9pm.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Our tour provider, Be a Local, met us at the airport and loaded up our
luggage and drove us to our hotel in Copacabana.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had another issue with English/Portuguese,
but between Jo and Heidi (and the GPS on Jo’s phone) the van driver was finally
able to find our hotel on Copacabana beach, the Hotel Astoria Palace.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was late, so while most of the group went
out to explore the late-night life, I stayed in the room and ordered room
service and worked on my blog and then fell asleep.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-46785973312290266912015-06-18T16:35:00.000-04:002015-06-29T17:06:04.885-04:00Day Ten – Football Museum at Pacaembu and Pinheiros Club<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Our tour guide, Paulo, led us to the Football Museum at
Pacaembu Stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This museum was
extremely well put together and set under the stadium that fits about 40,000
fans.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We each were given an English
speaking headset/tour guide that walked us through what was occurring in each
room as we entered the room number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I
bought a small gift in the gift shop for my dad (he’s a soccer referee in the
US) before exiting the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Once
everyone was done with their tour, we headed into the little market that was
across the street from the museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There
we had a chance to try sugar can juice.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I was a little unsure at first, but mixing the sugar cane juice with
fresh strawberries came out with the most delicious concoction!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was amazing…I’m so glad I tried it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was even more fun seeing the vendor make
the juice right in front of us, feeding the sugar cane into the machine and
seeing the juice come out of the front of it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After everyone (who wanted one) had gotten a drink, we
headed back up to the museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were a
little short on time, so we decided to each lunch at the restaurant attached to
the museum that had a buffet available.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Lunch was mediocre, but at least it perked us up a little bit!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After lunch we headed over to meet Dr. Valdir at Pinheiros
Club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s a member of the Club and had
arranged to give us a tour of the club.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>I hadn’t expected it to be as immensely big as it was; I feel like you
need a map on every corner to find your way around!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Pinheiros is literally in the middle of Sao
Paulo, surrounded by skyscrapers and some heavily-trafficked streets.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, once you’re inside, you feel like
you’re in a separate world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dr. Valdir
took us through the different sports arenas that are available to the ~38,000
club members including (but not limited to) track and field, swimming,
basketball, volleyball, handball, water polo, gymnastics, and tennis.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The club also features quite a few
restaurants and social centers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Surprisingly, the cost is only $100/month/member, but that usually
doesn’t include the cost to play sports such as tennis, which he said he pays
an additional $15/month for, which includes the fee for a locker and tennis
balls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Before we left, Dr. Valdir took
us through the museum within the club which features Olympic/Pan-American
accomplishments of its members, including a touch screen of Valdir’s winnings
in his multiple Pan-American games.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This
club was a true representation of how much Brazilians have melded sport and
exercise in their culture; it made me wonder what the US would be like if we
did the same.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We were dropped back off at the hotel later that evening
(around 7pm) and Jamie, Matt, and I decided to go out and find some local food
for our last night in Sao Paulo.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Matt
did some searching on TripAdvisor and found a new and very popular restaurant
called </span><a href="http://sanchobarytapas.com.br/"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">Sancho Bar and Tapas</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We hailed a cab, and 20 minutes later (including
some English/Spanish confusion with the taxi driver), arrived at the
restaurant.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was around 9p, so the
restaurant was packed, but we were lucky and they were able to seat the three
of us in about 20 minutes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Now…when we
Americans think Tapas, we think small plates, so Matt ordered six plates for
the three of us to share.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Apparently
Brazilians don’t have the same take, as we ended up with WAY too much food, but
BOY was it delicious!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had a “mix de
croquetas”, which was croquettes with varying fillings including spinach,
cheese, and chicken.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After that, we were
delivered the “tortilla patatas com espinica”, which was a circular egg quiche
filled with spinach (I think this one was our least favorite).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We also ordered the “Del Mar Paella” which
was paella mixed with shrimp, mussels, and a bunch of other seafood.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was happy when it arrived that it wasn’t
overly spicy (hot), but still extremely flavorful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We ended the meal with a few other dishes (we
were out of table space at this point), that weren’t really worth
remembering.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>However, the drinks and the
food were both very good!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">T</span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">he three of us headed back to the hotel after dinner and
headed to bed, looking forward to our trip to Rio the following afternoon.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-61897702321127088702015-06-17T16:34:00.000-04:002015-06-29T19:32:55.960-04:00Day Nine – Morumbi Stadium, Museum of Modern Art<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We had a later start this morning, meeting in the lobby at
845a to travel via bus to Morumbi Stadium.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>The Stadium is the home of the Sao Paulo Football Club, which started in
the 1930’s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Our tour guide was a younger
gentleman who spoke excellent English.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>He took us through the trophy room, the flag case (where visiting teams
leave their team flag behind), the press room, locker rooms, warm up area, and
the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The coolest part for me was
when the tour guide turned on the “entry music”, which is chosen by the goalie,
for the teams’ entry onto the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of
course, nothing pumps up a player more than some good ol’ AC/DC Hells Bells,
with Football fans cheering in the background.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Exiting from the tunnel and onto the field, it’s amazing how small you
feel, being surrounded by the 70,000 fan stadium which not only has the
football field, but also a full track surrounding the field.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We took a quick photo by the SPFC logo and
were ushered back inside to the main entrance at the end of the tour.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The rest of the day was free, so we worked with Paulo to
take us over to Ibirapuera Park, which not only has buildings designed by Oscar
Niemeyer, but also has the Sao Paulo Museum of Modern Art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I found the museum to be “just ok”, not
something that I wanted to spend a good portion of my afternoon in.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It did have some interesting interactive art,
including a man sitting stock-still in a clown costume who would honk a bicycle
horn if you got too close (for a good heart-stopping surprise!) and some
interesting hanging paper art that showed different designs as you changed your
angle.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qhQYbz7CjoQ/VZHUeXQ-j4I/AAAAAAAAHf0/qM4ldiDtHv0/s1600/Clown%2Bat%2BMuseum%2Bof%2BArt.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qhQYbz7CjoQ/VZHUeXQ-j4I/AAAAAAAAHf0/qM4ldiDtHv0/s320/Clown%2Bat%2BMuseum%2Bof%2BArt.JPG" width="213" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">I ended my day with a quick dinner from a small restaurant
on the same street as our hotel and some more work on my Blog (on the
turtle-slow local Internet).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-82481077371101141552015-06-16T16:33:00.000-04:002015-06-29T16:47:10.752-04:00Day Eight – USP (University of Sao Paulo)<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Day Eight started with us meeting our Sao Paulo tour guide
from Campus Brazil, Paulo, in the lobby of the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Paulo escorted us by bus to his University,
the University of Sao Paulo, where he is earning his PhD.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There, we were lectured about <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Sport and Culture in Brazil</i> by Dr.
Valdir Barbanti, who had just retired a few days earlier from the
University.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only had Dr. Valdir just
finished his tenure at USP, but he was also a Pan-American record holder for a
few events for Brazil’s national track and field team, including the decathlon
and the long jump.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After his talk, Heidi
did a lecture on Sport in America, and we were taken to a USP lunch-buffet on
campus to enjoy some lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That
afternoon, while some of the students went out and did some sight-seeing, I
stayed in the hotel room and started my blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>When Jamie came back from exploring, we went out and enjoyed some dinner
with most of our classmates a few buildings down from the hotel.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We had heard that it was some of the best
Italian in Sao Paulo, and the restaurant, </span><a href="http://www.veridiana.com.br/"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">Veridiana</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">, did
not disappoint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Jamie and I had an
appetizer of Burrata (mozzarella cheese on top of pesto, served with warm,
sliced bread), Margherita pizza, and the local Brazilian drink, cachaça with muddled
lime.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After dinner, I headed back to the
hotel room to work on my blog and get some sleep.</span><br />
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Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-63271416044776417542015-06-15T18:18:00.000-04:002015-06-29T16:46:20.775-04:00Day Seven - São Paulo (Arrival, City Tour, Dinner)<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Our flight arrived back at GRU airport in Sao Paulo at
5am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At this point, I’m good to not fly
for a few days….and also to sleep in the same bed and hotel room for a few
nights!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Originally, our plan was to wait
for the rest of the group to arrive at the GRU Airport and to catch
transportation to the hotel together.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>However, we learned after we grabbed our baggage that their flight from
Houston had been delayed.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Since we were
absolutely exhausted, we decided to see if the hotel could check us in early so
we could catch some Zzz’s before going out on our tour of Sao Paulo with the
group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After a quick phone call, we
learned that they were able to book us into two rooms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We caught a cab and off we went!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Holy CRAP was the traffic horrible!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The three of us ended up dozing in the ~hour
it took for the cab driver to get us to our hotel, the </span><a href="http://www.tulipinninterative.com/en"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">Tulip Inn Interative</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"> in
the Jardins district.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Check-in was
painless, and after sending Jo a quick text message of our change in plans, we
showered in our respective hotel rooms and crawled into bed to get some sleep.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Jamie and I woke around 1pm, got dressed, and headed down
to the lobby to meet the group.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We were
off on a bus tour of Sao Paulo!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I loved
our tour guide, Doris.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not only was her
English excellent, but she was brutally honest and a true lover of Sao Paulo
(though this might have something to do with the fact that she’s both a
Paulista (from the state of Sao Paulo) and a Paulistana (from the city of Sao
Paulo)).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Our first stop was at the Sao Paulo Municipal Mercado
(Market) which was just an overwhelming of the senses.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The colors, smells, and the tastes were just
awesome.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of people ordered some
food at one of the food stands, specifically trying out the Pao de Quejo
(cheese balls) and empanada like pastries with chicken and cheese inside.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The young person who waited on us was just as
excited about dealing with Americans (by taking our photos) as we were to be in
Brazil at the market!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As we neared the
end of our walking tour of the market, Doris had a vendor let us try two
fruits; a pear-like fruit which was amazingly sweet (with seeds) called
Atemoia, and a cherry-like fruit that also had seeds, that was a little
bitter-sweet and native to Brazil, called Jabuticaba.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We all loaded back into the van and headed over to the Sao
Paulo Cathedral, which had a lovely set of steps leading up to the main
entrance.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even though it was a rainy
afternoon, there were still plenty of people milling outside on the steps and
inside throughout the building.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
stained glass inside the cathedral was absolutely breathtaking.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>After we had gotten our share of seeing the
sights within the Cathedral, we took a bus-tour through the Jardins district so
we could get the lay of the land and an idea of what was around our hotel for
shops (can you say Chanel, anyone)?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The
main street with these upscale shops was called Oscar Freire and is well known
for being high-end, which a few lower-end shops, such as Adidas and Ben and
Jerry’s (yes, you read that right, VT followed us to Brazil!).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">We were dropped back off at the hotel with direction to be
ready in a few hours to be bussed to a local Churrascaria, called </span><a href="http://www.ventoharagano.com.br/"><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="color: blue;">Vento Haragano</span></span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had been to a Brazilian Steakhouse before
and knew what to expect, but it was fun to experience the restaurant with those
that hadn’t done it before.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The side
dishes were absolutely amazing and the meat (of course) was to die for.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had the tenderest, fall apart steak that I
could have eaten for days!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Three of us
girls ended our meal with a chocolate lovers cake that had a crunchy shell on
the outside, that was amazingly sweet and delicious, as well.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"></span></span><span style="font-family: "Arial",sans-serif; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After dinner we were dropped back off to the hotel and I
headed to bed to end the long day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What
a great one!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-14504772735195628772015-06-14T21:25:00.000-04:002015-06-18T18:17:19.494-04:00Day Six - Cusco and TravelDay Six was our last day in Cusco and also included some overnight travel. Alex and Jamie headed out early to grab some breakfast in the town square and Matt and I repeated the same breakfast we'd had in the hotel the morning before (yes, it was just that good). When Alex and Jamie came back, we all showered and prepared to pack up, as we had to be out of our rooms by 1130a. Unfortunately, as I was in our bathroom packing things up, a scream came from our bedroom....Jamie had found a gigantic spider, and it was just hanging out on the wall by her bed. Being afraid of spiders myself, I left through the Maine door of our room into the hallway. Matt was nowhere to be found (what happened to men being the savior when women are in distress?) but I was able to get a cleaning lady to come in and take care of it (she even swept it away). I didn't see said spider, but Jamie insisted it was the size of a donut.<br />
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After that commotion, we were able to clear out our room. We sat in the courtyard of the hotel for a few hours to pass the time until it was time to leave for the airport. We had the front desk call two taxis for us to the Cusco airport. We arrived, and stood in line at the Avianca counter, with no one behind the counter to help anyone. We soon found out that Matt had left his cell phone in his taxi. While Alex, Jamie, and I waited in line, he called the hotel to get the contact information for the cab company. While he was doing that, the cabbie came back and found Matt in the airport to return his phone (lucky bastard). Once we were all whole again, we waited another ten iminutes or so and an agent showed up at the counter to get us moving. Our bags were tagged and we headed off to our gate. We did another customs and carry on check (we were pros by this point), and sat for our two hour wait. When boarding for the flight was called, Jamie and I found (again) that we had a row of three seats to ourselves. As the flight attendants walked up and down the aisles preparing for takeoff, a man in the front row of first class stands up and yells, "GOAL!!!!" It scared the living bejesus out of me. In America, someone would be kicked off the plane for that kind of behavior....I'm Peru, the flight attendant rushes to the gentleman, gets the score (1-0), and broadcasts it over the intercom. After that debacle, we were ready for takeoff.<br />
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The arrival in Lima was uneventful, and we had an almost 3 hour layover in Lima, so the four of us decided to do a sit down dinner near our gate. We found a cute little place that had a good menu, and it just so happened to be right next to our gate. After dinner, Jamie and Alex went off to do some walking and Matt and I sat at the gate to people watch. Jamie, Alex, and I boarded the flight when it was called and Matt stayed behind to catch his different flight. We settled in for a five hour overnight flight back to São Paulo.Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-11871774222157771022015-06-13T18:35:00.000-04:002015-06-29T19:31:01.950-04:00Day Five - CuscoOh how heavenly it was to sleep in. Jamie and Alex left to explore pretty early in the morning, while Matt and I stayed behind. He and I ate breakfast in the hotel "cafe", which was a delicious omlette with sautéed onions and tomatoes, and cheese, two pieces of whole grain toast, elderberry jam, and espresso....and the highlight of our meal, a carafe of freshly made mango juice. It was cold, smooth, and absolutely heavenly!<br />
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After showering, we all decided to meet up in downtown Cusco, since Jamie and Alex had scoped out some of the best places. Matt and I took a taxi down to the Church of Santo Domingo. Upon arrival, Matt paid some Incan women to pose with us and their lambs. The lambs were adorable! Once we caught up with Jamie and Alex, we were approached by an English-speaking guide, asking if we wanted to pay her to guide us through the site. After negotiating a price (we ended up at 30 soles), we paid our admission and got started. The site was amazing. We learned about Incan architecture and how they cut and put the stones together without mortar and how they got the perfect fit. Also within the church was an amazing art gallery, with a lot of art depicting Francisco Pizarro and his time in Peru. I think my two favorite pieces of art were near the end of the tour; a starburst that had a depiction of 365 days in the year and a star piece of art that showed the Milky Way and the animals that are honored by the Inca, including the black llama.<br />
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Following our awesome tour, we walked up to the Plaza de Armas. Apparently we arrived in Cusco during their health festival, so there were a ton of events on the streets including dancers, parades, and an increase in locals that were out celebrating. Off of the Plaza, we stopped at a second story bar, called Papillon. We ordered a small pizza and just did some people watching from the balcony. After our late-afternoon snack, we separated; Matt and I headed back to the Ninos to take showered and Jamie and Alex walked up to the Fallen Angel restaurant to see if we could get a reservation for the<br />
evening. This restaurant came highly recommended both by a coworker of mine (Heidi, who was in<br />
Cusco in March) and my guidebook, which refers to it as "unique and kitschy". When Alex andJamie arrived back to the Ninos, we all finished getting ready and took a taxi to the restaurant.<br />
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The trip to the restaurant was almost uneventful. Our taxi arrived on a street one-car wide, with a car coming toward us, so we had to maneuver into a side street to let them around. Seems....weird, instead of just marking a street as a one way like they would in the U.S. Upon arrival, we were let in by the doorman, and seated out on the patio near a heater (much needed and appreciated)! The Welshman that Jamie and Alex had met earlier came over and introduced himself to the rest of us. He was encouraged to move to Cusco by a friend managing another restaurant in the area. He was a great resource for us, and we didn't need to struggle through a broken-English conversation with him. After talking with him about the risks in eating local produce and consuming ice, he assured us that the restaurant used filtered (clean) water for their ice and that they also used the same water to wash their produce, so we didn't need to worry about getting sick. What a relief! We hadn't had any fresh vegetables or ice-cold drinks in a few days. I had two drinks at the restaurant; a Diablo (cranberry juice and vodka with rose petals (pictured) and a Strawberry Daquiri. We ordered appetizers recommended by our new friend, yucca fritters, quinoa balls, and a trout ceviche. They were all delicious. My favorite part was my main entree, which was cilantro sirloin with truffle roasted potatoes. Amazingly tasty!<br />
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Once we settled up the bill, we decided to make one more stop for the evening before heading back to the hotel. We walked back to the Plaza (which had another parade celebration going on) and stopped at Paddy's Pub for a night cap. This pub was typical American - decorated exactly as you'd imagine on the inside, the only "surprise" being the toy train that circled the outskirts of the second floor pub. After a round of drinks, we caught a taxi back to the Ninos Hotel and I called it a night while the others drank some "choice" Peruvian wine.Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-2879380267658445582015-06-12T21:45:00.000-04:002015-06-29T19:29:43.352-04:00Day Four - Machu Picchu and Travel to CuscoYay! When Jamie and I woke up, we learned that Matt had arrived to the hotel at 11p the following evening. Apparently, he had missed his original flight to Miami and that, combined with some miscommunication about arrival time in Cusco, meant that he didn't arrive in Cusco until 4p. He was glad that we had continued on and was able to get some help from a local at the Cusco airport to catch a later train on Peru Rail and make it to the hotel. Let the trip begin with the whole group together!<br />
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While Matt caught up on some sleep, the three of us girls grabbed some breakfast in the hotel restaurant, buffet style. Before departing, Alex and I filled up our Camelback's with bottled water so we could stay hydrated at the site. We dropped off our luggage with the front desk and the four of us set off for the Machu Picchu bus, which runs every 10 minutes from the center of town. Tickets purchased, we were loaded on and "bumped" the 40 minute ride up to the Incan site. Interestingly, this ride is a one lane wide road, but takes buses and vehicles in both directions, so there were a few times that a bit of maneuvering had to occur for both vehicles to be on their way.<br />
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When we arrived, we unloaded for the bus and stood in line with our tickets. I had been able to successfully buy tickets on the not-so-well-coded website for Machu Picchu, and the attendant printed our tickets for us from the confirmation information I handed her. After getting through the checkpoint, Alex, Jamie, and Matt were off to hike Montana, and I was prepared with camera gear in tow to take photos. Around 1230, we all met up after their hike. I really enjoyed the sights and especially enjoyed seeing the alpacas roaming around with the tourists.<br />
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We had seen all we could see of the Incan site at this point, so we boarded the bus back to Aguas . Upon arrival, we headed back to Casa del Sol to pickup our luggage. Matt decided that he was going to do the tourist "thing" and visit the hot springs, which is where Aguas Calientes gets its name. I hadn't read great reviews on it in the guidebook, so I decided to stay behind at the hotel and read and take a shower (even though we had checked out, they graciously offered us the ability to shower in their spa area for free). While I'm sure Matt doesn't regret his choice, I was told that the water was tepid and dark brown. Eww.<br />
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Once everyone came back and showered, we went over to the Main Street in Aguas to find a late lunch. We ended up at a little restaurant where we could people watch. I ordered some chicken enchiladas, which were surprisingly better than I was expecting. Of course, Matt had to be adventurous and he ordered alpaca steak. I did try it and it was surprisingly tasty! We headed straight to the train station to catch our train back to Ollantaytambo via Inca Rail, which boarded at 630p with a departure time at 7p. This part of our trip is basically a reversal of our arrival; train, pickup by a "mini-bus", and then arrival in Cusco.<br />
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When we entered the city, though, this time we were dropped off at our hotel, the Ninos Hotel on Calle Fierro, where we would stay the next two nights. I have to be honest, at this point, the idea of spending two nights in one place was extremely alluring. We arrived at the hotel shortly before 11p and were checked into our two (very simple) rooms, with Jamie and I being in the room called Janeth (the rooms are named after children who have gone through the program at the hotel). We all showered and headed off to bed, we were so exhausted from our long day of activity.<br />
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<br />Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-4574761302670544032015-06-11T20:46:00.000-04:002015-06-29T19:30:07.836-04:00Day Three - Travel and Aguas CalientesWe had a way too early wake up call at 3am. Yuck. We again went back to GRU and checked into our flights to Peru. Both flights weren't full and Jamie and I shared a three seat side of the plane between the two of us. Unfortunately, on the first flight (to Lima, five hours), the TV assigned to my seat didn't work. I tried to read but couldn't concentrate. Too tired. After a two hour layover in Lima (including a full Customs stop with baggage) we boarded our very small plane to Cusco. Thankfully, another uneventful flight. We were expecting to meet Matt at the Cusco airport to catch our arranged transportation, but he was nowhere to be found and unable to be contacted. We decided to go on without him, otherwise our plans would be significantly messed up and we had prepaid for a good number of the services in our itinerary in the remaining part of the day.<br />
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Cusco Transportation loaded Jamie, Alex, and I up in a "mini-bus" and we were off on our 90 minute ride from Cusco to Ollantaytambo Train Station to pick up the Inca Rail to Aguas Calientes. On the way, our driver, Joel (Jo-EL), gave us local information about the towns as we passed through. He also did a pit-stop at Sacred Valley which was an absolutely beautiful view, even though it was semi-hailing when we got out of the van. Unfortunately, when we arrived, we knew that Matt had booked our train tickets on his credit card (and the purchaser is required to get the tickets at the counter with card in hand), but Alex was able to schmooze the lady behind the counter to give us our three tickets. Whew!</div>
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The train station is a station for both Peru Rail and Inca Rail. When we arrived, a Peru Rail train was just leaving, and we had about an hour to spare. After using the bathroom, our train arrived and we found that we were at the front of car B. I sat back to, while Jamie and Alex sat forward facing. The setup was four people situated around a table, on each side of the aisle. We had thought that the seat next to me would be free (Matt's ticket), but it wasn't. We ended up being accompanied by a lovely<br />
Brazilian lady who loved to travel. Her English was also very good. During the trip, we were also<br />
offered a snack/beverage service on the train. I got my first try at Inca Tea! So good with some sugar. I read before we left that the caffeine in the Cacao leaves helps with altitude adjustment, so it was a double bonus that the tea was tasty!<br />
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Upon arrival in Aguas (6p), we quickly learned that no one at the train station spoke English. Luckily, a lovely schoolteacher traveling with a group of students spoke to a local and got us walking directions to our hotel, Casa del Sol. We found it! Less than a five minute walk from the station, even with bags in tow. Matt had also booked this hotel, but we had no problem getting checked in under his reservation (as an aside, still no word from Matt!). We found at checkin that dinner was included with our stay, so we made a reservation for 8p, which gave us enough time to shower and wash away the travel grime.<br />
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The hotel restaurant was ah.maz.ing. The meal was a four course meal with plenty of options. I<br />
started with an avocado salad with cucumber and a light dressing, followed by tomato cream soup with croutons and a hunk of cheese on the bottom, mushroom risotto with grilled sirloin, and a chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream and caramel sauce. Sound decadent? It was! The waiter, Carlos, was absolutely awesome and provided us with some in-house infused tequila; one shot with cacao leaves and the other with "fruta". After dinner we headed to bed, looking forward to our day at Machu Picchu, with still no word from Matt.<br />
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Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2879339378765291563.post-27223868263316737372015-06-09T14:54:00.000-04:002015-06-17T21:30:49.032-04:00Day One and Two - TravelNo photos from Day 1. We spent a lot of time traveling. Jamie and I met Alex at the Concord Trailways bus station in Portland at noon. We arrived at Logan Airport around 230p. Checkin was smooth. Apparently I have forgotten how to travel (I'm sure I will get plenty of practice on this trip) and not only was I reminded by security to sign my passport (it's new, that's my only excuse!), I also left me cell phone in my pocket when trying to go through the metal detector. Oops! Since our flight wasn't scheduled to leave Boston until 644p, we ended up with plenty of time to kill. Unfortunately, since we were flying Air Canada, the terminal we were in had three gates and the tiniest store ever seen....so our feelings of hunger were not satisfied.<br />
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Our flight boarded to Toronto and we arrived about 90 minutes after we departed. A very uneventful flight. Upon arriving at YYZ, we went through customs and found our gate for our flight to São Paulo. We had three hours to spare, so we found a burger joint near our gate and enjoyed a sit down dinner. It was a "sports bar" as far as airport sports bars go, and there was a lot of activity from patrons watching the NBA game. When our flight was called, we lined up with the crowds and boarded. Luckily, Jamie and I were not only seated together, but in the center of the 3-3-3 plane, behind a bathroom, so we had a ton of extra leg room (con: no seat pocket and a weird tray table). Though I have traveled pretty extensively, it was by far the longest flight I've ever been on in one stretch (ten hours). Not great. I think I made a mistake by not accepting any food or drink, so I was very hungry and dry by the time we landed in Brazil. But, we made it!<br />
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Baggage Claim seemed to take forever in Brazil, but customs was a breeze. We caught the hotel shuttle to our Hotel for the night, the Hotel Pullman, just a few miles from the GRU airport.<br />
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Unfortunately, having arrived so early (930a), the hotel was not yet prepared to check us in, so we had to sit in the lobby until 1115a. We checked into our two adjoining rooms and all took our turn showering off the travel grime. Then....we napped. For four hours, I was dead to the world. Once we were all up, we were pretty hungry, so we dined in the hotel restaurant when it opened at 630p. Trying to be mindful of local produce (and ice), I had a simple pasta dish with pesto sauce and a Coke Zero. I think the hit of this meal was the "pao e manteiga" which was the bread and butter that was served before our meal. The bread had some salt on the outside and was absolutely soft and delicious on the inside. Heaven! We went straight to bed as we had an early flight to Peru the following morning.Kateehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00446439768758064012noreply@blogger.com0