Sao Paulo - Houston - Charlotte

Today we woke up to the first real cloudy day in our journey. Amazing that we have been gone over a month and it been sunny everyday! So what to do today? I believe the plan calls for a walk to Starbucks, the mall and just hang out. We plan on watching Rio and comparing notes about all the scenic views and attractions.

Today is a holiday in the State of Sao Paulo and to our surprise nothing opened until 2 pm. We went to the lounge for breakfast, watched the news on TV and then headed out for a Starbucks fix...However even Starbucks didn't open until 1:30 pm.

We walked around the mall, visited many stores but really didn't buy anything since our suitcases are already full! The big issue today is that we are almost out of underwear again...

After a work out in the gym and some stretching, we settled in to watch Rio (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rio_(film)). It's amazing how many things in the movie we were able to see, it gave them a whole new prospective on the movie.

An early night... as tomorrow is a long day as we head home. Our flight tomorrow is at 9:00 pm on United Airlines. Some folks call it the "Red Eye" but as we continue west we will gain only 1 hr.  We land in Charlotte around noon tomorrow and will be home by 4 pm.

Here is a link for  flight aware: United Flight 978

Ciao from Brazil...it been a great vacation...but everyone is looking forward to sleeping in their own beds. Next and last blog will be a travel survey...completed by the kids!

Travel Stats....

Miles Travelled to date: 46,650 (Total Hours of Travel - 106 hrs in the air or an average 440 mph)

01. US Airways - Flight 2508 - Charleston (CHS) to Charlotte (CLT) - 168 miles - CRJ700

02. US Airways - Flight 721 - Charlotte (CLT) to Los Angeles (LAX) - 2,120 miles - A321
03. United - Flight 839 - Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD) - 7,516 miles - 747-400

04. Qantas - Flight 922 - Sydney (SYD) to Cairns (CNS) - 1,275 miles - 737-800

05. Qantas - Flight 925 - Cairns (CNS) to Sydney (SYD) - 1,275 miles - 767-300 

06. Thai - Flight 476 - Sydney (SYD) to Bangkok (BKK) - 4662 miles - 747-400
07. Thai - Flight 602 - Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG) - 1048 miles - A330-300

08. China Southern - Flight 309 - Hong Kong (HKG) to Beijing (PEK) - 1225 miles - A321
09. China Eastern - Flight  5112 - Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai (SHA) - 674 miles - A330-300
10. China Eastern - Flight 503 - Shanghai (PVG) to Honk Kong (HKG) - 765 miles - A321

11. Lufthansa - Flight 798 - Hong Kong (HKG) to Frankfurt (FRA) - 7366 miles - 747-800

12. Lufthansa - Flight 1278 - Frankfurt (FRA) to Athens (ATH) - 1130 miles - A321-200
13. Egypt Air - Flight 748 - Athens (ATH) to Cairo (CAI) -     -  670 miles  - A321
14. Egypt Air - Flight 839 - Cairo (ATH) to Johannesburg (JNB) -  4205 miles  - A330
15. South African - Flight 333 - Johannesburg (JNB) to Cape Town (CPT) -  809 miles - A340-600

16. South African - Flight 326 - Cape Town (CPT) to Johannesburg (JNB) - 809 miles - 737-800

17. South African - Flight 224 - Johannesburg (JNB) to Sao Paulo (GRU) - 4630 miles - A340-300

18. TAM - Flight 3641 - Sao Paulo (VCP) to Rio De Janeiro (GIG) - 250 miles - A320-200
19. TAM - Flight 3640 - Rio De Janeiro (GIG) to Sao Paulo (VCP) - 250 miles - A320-200
20. UAL - Flight 978 - Sao Paulo (GRU) to Houston (IAH) - 4887 miles - 767-300
21. US Airways 1204 - Houston (IAH) to Charlotte (CLT) - 916 miles - A320

Time Delayed in Airport - 6.5 hrs (LAX, GIG)

Rio De Janeiro to Sao Paulo

Today we have several things on the agenda before heading back to Sao Paulo. We only have 3 days left on our journey, it has gone by fast! Today we are doing a tour of Christo Redentor and Maracana Stadium before heading to the airport.

As we awoke this morning, another beautiful day in Brazil.

It took about 30 mins from the hotel to get to base station at Christo Redentor. You have to take a small bus at the base station to the peak since there is limited room at the peak. The line this time of year (Winter) was 20 people deep but at it's peak, the line can be a mile long waiting to ascend via bus to the peak. At the top, you get a great view of Rio, Jacob in this picture is facing the Leblon Beach.

Jacob and his Christo pose!

Abey in her Christo pose!

Of course, Kristen would wear here "PEACE" shirt to Christo!

Another picture of Leblon Beach from the Corcovado mountain.

Picture of Copacabana Beach and our hotel below!

Look at sugar loaf mountain!

Christo, with the clouds moving overhead it was hard to look up!

Kids in there Christo poses!

 Archbishop of Rio - Cardinal Eusebio Oscar Scheid consecrated the chapel.

Heitor de Silva Costa design the statue!

History of the statue!

Small chapel at the base of the statue! It seats 15 people and many weddings occur in chapel.

Here is a video link to a panoramic view from Corcovado Mountain top (Hunchback in Portuguese). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corcovado)

Panoramic View from Christo Redentor


Picture from the bus station at the top of the mountain prior to our descent back to the lower station.

Picture of Santa Teresa Tram tracks (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Teresa_Tram). You can see the tram in the movie Rio!

Most of the streets in Santa Teresa are made of old cobble stone and the ride is very bumpy! Similar to the old streets of Charleston.

As we made our way out of the village of Santa Teresa, we headed toward Maracana Stadium or Olympic Stadium. The narrow streets of Maracana reminds me of an european city. All streets are one-way leading to Centro (City Center). It is 9 miles from the peak base station of Christo Redentor to the stadium. It took us over an hour to make our way of which 5 miles of this is coming down the mountain which took maybe 10 min. So it took us over an hour to go 4 miles.... Traffic in the city of Rio is very bad, Atlanta multiplied by 5. The stadium was build in 1950, so you can image that it's a little dated. I understand improvements are being made but it will be a big difference from past olympic stadiums (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Estádio_do_Maracanã).

Pele Statue out from of Maracana Stadium!

Jacob and Kristen as we await our flight to Viracopos which is North of Sao Paulo. Since we are late, I am worried about rush hour!

TAM (Táxi Aéreo Marília) is the Star Alliance carrier we used for our trip between Sao Paulo and Rio. Unfortunately today, we were delayed about 3 hrs.

One of the interesting things in Brazil are the highway systems. Example between Campinas and Sao Paulo they have built a 8 lane highway connecting the cities...(4 lanes each way).  It's a toll highway and the label is AutoBAn, however it does have speed limit of 120 km/h.

Despite my concern about traffic in Sao Paulo we arrived back at the hotel in a timely fashion. Tomorrow is a holiday in the state of Sao Paulo only! The Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 holiday is a celebration of freedom against the 1930 coup.

Here is the scene from Rio on the train.

Rio Movie - Santa Teresa Train

Good Night!


Travel Stats....

Miles Travelled to date: 41,497 (Total Hours of Travel - 90 hrs in the air)

01. US Airways - Flight 2508 - Charleston (CHS) to Charlotte (CLT) - 168 miles - CRJ700

02. US Airways - Flight 721 - Charlotte (CLT) to Los Angeles (LAX) - 2,120 miles - A321
03. United - Flight 839 - Los Angeles (LAX) to Sydney (SYD) - 7,516 miles - 747-400

04. Qantas - Flight 922 - Sydney (SYD) to Cairns (CNS) - 1,275 miles - 737-800

05. Qantas - Flight 925 - Cairns (CNS) to Sydney (SYD) - 1,275 miles - 767-300 

06. Thai - Flight 476 - Sydney (SYD) to Bangkok (BKK) - 4662 miles - 747-400
07. Thai - Flight 602 - Bangkok (BKK) to Hong Kong (HKG) - 1048 miles - A330-300

08. China Southern - Flight 309 - Hong Kong (HKG) to Beijing (PEK) - 1225 miles - A321
09. China Eastern - Flight  5112 - Beijing (PEK) to Shanghai (SHA) - 674 miles - A330-300
10. China Eastern - Flight 503 - Shanghai (PVG) to Honk Kong (HKG) - 765 miles - A321

11. Lufthansa - Flight 798 - Hong Kong (HKG) to Frankfurt (FRA) - 7366 miles - 747-800

12. Lufthansa - Flight 1278 - Frankfurt (FRA) to Athens (ATH) - 1130 miles - A321-200
13. Egypt Air - Flight 748 - Athens (ATH) to Cairo (CAI) -     -  670 miles  - A321
14. Egypt Air - Flight 839 - Cairo (ATH) to Johannesburg (JNB) -  4205 miles  - A330
15. South African - Flight 333 - Johannesburg (JNB) to Cape Town (CPT) -  809 miles - A340-600

16. South African - Flight 326 - Cape Town (CPT) to Johannesburg (JNB) - 809 miles - 737-800

17. South African - Flight 224 - Johannesburg (JNB) to Sao Paulo (GRU) - 4630 miles - A340-300

18. TAM - Flight 3641 - Sao Paulo (VCP) to Rio De Janeiro (GIG) - 250 miles - A320-200
19. TAM - Flight 3640 - Rio De Janeiro (GIG) to Sao Paulo (VCP) - 250 miles - A320-200

Time Delayed in Airport - 6.5 hrs (LAX, GIG)

Rio De Janeiro

Today we got up and went to breakfast, now it's off to the beach.  The Copacabana beach is one of the most famous beaches in the world. It is know of it's 4 km of white sandy beach. The beach plays host to millions of revelers during the annual New Year Eve celebrations. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copacabana_(Rio_de_Janeiro).

Morning walk along the beach. It wasn't long before they were swimming!

Jacob, here are my shoes...I going in!

Girls swimming in calm waters.

Abey and Kristen playing a game of jump the wave!

Fish Market with fresh fish, squid, stingrays! Smell not so hot!

Fort de Copacabana, you can see it from other pictures.

Jacob on Leblon Beach,  this beach is south of Copacabana beach. Today is the 2013 Rio Marathon. The route was along the beaches (http://riotimesonline.com/brazil-news/rio-daily/2013-rio-marathon-today/#). This is the second time we have been around a marathon, once in Cairns, AU and now in Rio. Is someone trying to tell me something?

We walked along the beach about 2 miles to get to the only open Starbucks before noon in Rio. Most Starbucks in Rio open at noon and close at 11 pm...unlike home. I guess in Rio the early bird does get the worm since nobody else is awake.

On the way back we walked through Osorio Park, which on Sunday's is a open market similar to Market Street in Charleston.

Kids got a fresh drink on the boardwalk...They picked the coconut from the tree and watched it getting opened.  Can't say they were as thrilled drinking it.

Jacob with Christo Redentor in the upper middle...

Now he's in the upper right! We will visit him in the morning!

View down Leblon

Beach from the rocks.

Private beach for condo owners just to the left.

Looking back towards the Marriott on Copacabana Beach...it is getting busy now.

Jumping in the wave, kids had a blast...now a little tired.

View looking south from the Marriott, see the Fort on the point.

Looking north from the Marriott.

The concierge sent the kids some special desserts tonight...each got a plate of personalized chocolate. The JW Marriott is a little dated but they made up with in class.

After dessert, we had to wear off some of the chocolate with a night time stroll on the beach.

Good Night from Rio!