Best idea ever is a 1pm flight. A holiday the day before doesn't hurt. Especially when you can put everybody to work moving furniture and boxes out of the apartment and into the garage. The only thing that didn't make it out was the MyButtler (or bidet, for those of you who haven't experienced true clean), which we left half attached to the toilet. No time to find pliers. My dad got instructions for removal and we were off. Bags packed and feeling fine.
The only thing I didn't consider was the route from the São Paulo airport to my friend Erin's apartment, where we planned to stay our first night. There are many times -- most times- I would recommend to any traveler to go where the wind takes you. Fly by the seat of your pants. Figure it out as you go. Not, however, I was reminded today, after an overnight flight. No matter how flowy you go, it is always wise to plan an airport exit strategy after an all-nighter. Know the price of a taxi. Know if there is public transportation and roughly what options there are. Know, in the case of São Paulo, Brazil, which neighborhood your destination is located in, so you can get there.
I printed out the address and booking confirmations for all destinations until December 13, but did not get that last bit of info for Erin's home. And, while the 5 hour meander around the city was not all that unpleasant, despite Porter carrying around a vacuum cleaner we 'imported' on my friend's behalf (seriously, that man can carry like a champ)(maybe because half the wrong turns were his fault)(or maybe he's just tough)(or compensating for poor navigation), it would have been a lot easier had I printed a map instead of going off the image in my brain of when I Googled the address 3 weeks earlier.
All the same, we've arrived in SP. We've been warmly received with food and conversation by Erin and Brandon and immediate snuggles by at least 2 of her 4 children.
1 comment:
Glad to hear you arrived okay.
This was what life was like before data plans :)
CB
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