Friday, December 6, 2024

Two LONG Days of Travel to São Paulo, Brazil


Thurs. & Fri., December 5-6, 2024

It was at last time for Laurie to drive me down to LAX for my two part LATAM Airlines flights to São Paulo, Brazil via Santiago de Chile.

I had been to Brazil once before when
I was the Linebackers Coach for the 2022
Brasil Onças National Team Camp

The São Paulo Coat of Arms
or is that just a Coat of Arm

Sã0 Paulo is the biggest city in South America with 11,895,600 inhabitants.

For comparison, that's 3,000,000 more people than the population of the USA's biggest city, New York.

During that camp two years ago, our team was sequestered in the distant São Paulo suburb of Itapoecerica de Serra. We practiced twice a day with two or three group and/or team meetings daily.

Thus, I had little time to explore São Paulo, the next week should change that.

After tying up a few loose ends in the morning, we headed out of Casa Contreras at 10:30 a.m. and Laurie dropped me off at LAX at Noon.

When I got to LATAM's check-in desk, I was in a queue of one, just me. Total time of check-in, three minutes.

On to TSA Security.

Because I have a Global Entry Pass, I was able to use the TSA Pre-Check line. There was no queue, just me. Total time of my Security scan, two minutes.

Life is good except that my flight wasn't scheduled to depart until 3:00 p.m.

LAX's International
Bradley Center is luxurious

Hermes had an interesting
window display

The ten hour flight to Santiago
de Chile was run by LATAM but Japan
and Delta Airlines are LATAM partners
sharing this flight's billing

Finally on board feeling
SASSY!

What good things can I say about a ten hour flight?

Well, it didn't last eleven hours and we had no one in the middle seat.

Almost to Santiago de Chile when
I noticed Mendoza, Argentina with their
great vineyards just to the northeast

I knew that Jacob's Camarillo
Stingers were having their season
ending Pizza Party/Awards Night
Thursday evening

When I got to Santiago de Chile's airport and had a good WiFi connection, I was in for a pleasant surprise.

Jacob won an Award

Just plain AWESOME old #99!

I am so proud of the improvements that Jacob experienced this season.

Santiago's Airport is a good one . . .

. . . with GREAT art!

Good wine from the Concha y Diablo
Winery that we toured last month

Laurie bought this Nativity set at
this airport on the way home from
our South American Adventure

She wanted me to see if there were any other pieces to add to what she had purchased.

If you buy two angels,
the third one is FREE!

Laurie's latest Nativity set is know officially a six piece affair.

On to São Paulo via another LATAM flight

After a two and a half hour layover in Santiago de Chile, we boarded a jet that would get us to our final destination in just four more hours.

Peeps as a fashion statement are
all the rage in Santiago de Chile

We were about 45 minutes into the flight and I had both no one in the seat in front of me and absolutely zero leg room.

That was when an airline attendant decided to move a sweet young lass into the Emergency Row seat in front of me. She instantly jammed her seat at warp speed into its fully reclined position and through my knee caps.

I actually gave a yell and a simultaneous two-hand shiver to the back of her seat but no, she did not bat an eye or acknowledge my pain in any way, shape or form.

The startled attendant quickly moved me forward to another open aisle seat that gave me about four heavenly inches of knee room and no fellow traveler in the middle seat.

I often rely on the kindness of strangers.

We landed on Friday in São Paulo 21 mostly sleepless hours after I had left Camarillo.

Again, ZERO people in line
at the passport control section
for non-Brazilians

But I did get . . .

. . . another stamp in my new passport!

Possible Husky Christmas ornament
for 2025 with just a few modifications

What do you think, Paul Sabolić?

Portuguese is Brazil's Native tongue

This may cause some issues.

Damn Pope Alexander VI and his Line of Demarcation concept agreed to by Spain and Portugal as the way they would divide up the New World with the Treaty of Tordesillas in 1493.

Brazilian Soccer Legend Pele
Gone but definitely NOT forgotten

Everything was going along smoothly until I stepped outside to grab a taxi to my hotel.

It was clearly NOT a dry heat!

The cab driver insisted that I sit in the front to make better use of the taxi's air conditioning.

At the end of our one hour drive through typical congested mega city traffic, he had earned himself a good tip.

The Hotel Nacional Inn Jaragua

Located in São Paulo's Centro District, over the years it has hosted among other luminaries, the U.K.'s Queen Elizabeth II, swashbuckling actor Errol Flynn, Israeli Prime Ministerm David Ben-Gurion, French singer Edith Piaf, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, Italian bombshell actress Gina Lolobrigida, Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, versatile actor Fred McMurray, Italian film director Federico Fellini, Pakistan Crown Prince Aly Khan, auto maker Henry Ford II and now me.

The view out of my 20th story room

After unpacking and getting settled, it was 4:30 p.m. and I opted to go for walk around the neighborhood.

The hotel's outdoor mosaic
 
Brazil loves their Onças!

A park in South America
with a statue

Who knew?

Excellent street art . . .

. . . abounded

So did THE BEEF!

What is this building?

It is the lavish Theatro Municipal

Lots of fine sculptures adorn
this fine arts venue

Struggling to support this
Theatro archway

Who does your hair?

Kind of reminds me of the great
horse fountain in Lyon, France

Shy or coy?

Emote young man, EMOTE!

Where is his bow?

Regal

Goofy

Powerful

A store dealing 100% in all thing
record player related
 
I wonder how much they are in-demand?

São Paulo is a REAL city!

Thank goodness that Laurie and
Koreen were not here to see this

I stumbled upon this street that . . .
 
. . . had LOTS of late afternoon revelers

This one was quiet

Brazil loves rich colors

This shop boldly stating their preferences

I opted to sit at this corner grill
for a gnosh and a beer

I needed to replenish my precious bodily fluids in this stifling humidity.

Two of these beef and chicken kebabs
were good, but four were even better

At about $1.65 USD each, what was not to like?

The large bottle of beer cost me $2.63 USD.

More Paulistas sipping a beverage in
this hot, sticky weather at this dining spot

The Municipal Library

Of course they had a statue!

The Library is dedicated to
this man's legacy

Art in the libary

A good amount of steps on a short day

Stay tuned, Saturday could be a GREAT One!

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