Sun.-Mon., March 27-28, 2002
Bart and Alex's flight home to Barcelona via Frankfurt wasn't scheduled to leave until 6:00 p.m. and my flight to Los Angeles via New York City was a red-eye departing São Paulo at 11:05 p.m.
Thus we decided to take a quick tour of São Paulo's two main sites in the morning before the 45 minute drive to the airport.
Our blue and gold Hotel WZ Jardin had a
decidedly different look in the morning
Our hotel's breakfast buffet was
OUTSTANDING!
After breakfast we checked out of our hotel but took full advantage of their offer to store our luggage until we left for the airport later in the day.
We were off to São Paulo's top site . . .
São Paulo's Roman Catholic
Catedral da Sé
Nice interior but a Sunday
Mass had just started
None of us felt that exploring the Catedral while Mass was being said was the right thing to do, so we hung back in the shadows.
It was a beautiful structure
to say the least
The Catedral's Baptismal Font
The nice plaza in front of the Catedral's entrance has, at some point, been turned into a homeless encampment with all of the accompanying aromas.
Before he dropped us off, our Uber driver had told us to be careful in this neighborhood.
Fortunately, the streets were somewhat empty at this early Sunday morning hour but still . . .
We opted to get another Uber ride to our second main tourist site in São Paulo . . .
. . . why a churrascaria of course!
Our first Uber driver this morning made the recommendation for us to have our final shared meal in Brazil for lunch at the Boteco São Bento.
GREAT CALL!
The pulled beef croquettas were sensational as were the equally delicious mixed fried pastries, some filled with fabulous meat and others rich cheese.
Then our main dish to also share arrived . . .
. . . HOLY MOTHER OF GOD!
Last night's dinner and this lunch were two fantastic examples of Brazilian churrascarias at their finest.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end and Onças Week was a great thing indeed.
After lunch we headed back to the hotel to collect our luggage and got our final Uber ride to São Paulo's airport for our flights home.
Once at the airport, I needed to
get proof of a negative COVID-19
test before being allowed on the plane
Bart and Alex already had their proof but I didn't. Thus we said our goodbyes in the airport's check-in area as they headed home and I needed to take my COVID-19 test at the airport's medical facility.
I took the 72 hour PCR test that promised results back within four hours. No problem as I still had six hours before my plane took off.
After only three hours, my test results came back with the desired negative for COVID-19 notation. I was good to come home!
I checked my carry-on bag as I did not want to deal with it any longer and if it did get lost, I would be at home with plenty of backup clothes until it arrived.
Once through Security and the Passport Check Station I was inside the waiting area armed with a good book to read.
Wouldn't you know it, our grandson Jacob was right.
 |
| Every city, and in this case airport, |
does indeed have a McDonalds!
It had been once again hot, humid and very long day. I was drinking plenty of liquids when I saw this for sale in the airport.
A bag of salty Ruffles potato chips
I instantly recalled how back in 2010 while walking the 500 mile Camino de Santiago in southern France and northern Spain, a bag of salty chips like this really helped my recovery from the day's dehydration.
It worked like a charm today too.
It was nearing 11:00 p.m.,
time to bid a fond ADEUS to Brazil!
My red eye LATMA flight to New York City's
John F. Kennedy Airport was on time
OH MY GOD, I had at least
two inches of knee room!
It may not sound like much but it was a great comfort on my scheduled nine hour and 35 minutes flight to the Big Apple.
We made it on time after an
extremely smooth flight
I now had a three hour and 19 minute layover before my final flight aboard a JetBlue plane to Los Angeles.
NYC's JFK Airport has this throwback
TWA terminal and propeller plane
on display that threw me for a loop
It would be another six hours and seven minutes to Los Angeles and there would be some rough air pockets along the way but the JetBlue pilots got us home in one piece. Thankfully, I again had plenty of knee room.
It made for a total of 19 hours and one minute of travel time including the two flights and the layover in NYC, but it would be good to be home again.
As for my checked bag, it did not get to LAX with me, having not been transferred in time from my LATMA flight to my JetBlue flight in Gotham.
As I said earlier, no big deal as I had plenty of clothes now I was home.
My bag magically arrived on our doorstep the next day.
Once again, OBRIGADO to everyone involved for a wonderful experience with the Onças Week project in Brazil!
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