It's game day in Brazil!

Yes, I am back at home, following the rest of the cup from my couch - but there were still a few posts that I had intended to make while on the trip that just never materialized. Now that I am back I thought I would catch up.   It's a way to pretend I’m still there.   So it’s time to pull on the Canary and grab a Caparina and start singing the 'Eu Sou Brasileiro' as I float back down memory lane.

It’s game day in Brazil! The first time we experienced it, I don’t think we fully appreciated what a big deal it was. We were in the Fan Zone in Fortaleza, across the street from our hotel. To get there, we walked across the street. We did not really have much of a sense of what was going on in the rest of the city. Sure we had seen the vendors selling their car flags (for gringos the price starts at R$ 6.  We paid R$4.  Who knows what the locals would pay) and yes, every other car was decked out with them.  And yes, almost everyone was wearing some version of Brazil kit. Hotels, stores and restaurants have made up their own, blending their logos with the team’s. My favorite is the fabric store that had already awarded the sixth star - nothing like confidence. Yes, it appeared Brazilians were into it.

But all that was just the tip of the iceberg. For the second game we were in Natal and it was here that we began to appreciate how deep the enthusiasm ran.

We knew the game was at 2 PM and we were planning to do some shopping, then find a place to have lunch and watch. That was not to be as we headed into Natal we noticed the roads were busier than they had been. In fact, they were jammed. It did not occur to us why. Everyone was going home.

It’s game day in Brazil! When we finally got across town to the shopping center, we found its gates locked (yes they have fences, gates and security around the parking lot. They also charge you to park in them even at the mall.) There was a sign in Portuguese. I did not get all of it but helps that my Spanish is coming back and I recognized: Dear clients, Copa do Mundo, and Closed. Same story at the grocery store. We started noticing it was the same story at every business.  Brazil was closed.

They had other things to do. Which was why they were all on the road, with us, trying to get to their TV. In fact we were all going nowhere, slowly. We decided to turn around and look for a restaurant. The first several we tried look like they had been filled for hours. No way to even get a chair, let alone a table or lunch. Back in the car and on the hunt. We finally found a place. We only missed the first half. We watched the second half with waiters and staff.  We were grateful they were working (kind of) and felt a little guilty for interrupting their party.  My guess is that this morning,  as the games get bigger, so will the party.

Natal

Compared to the cities we have been in so far, Rio &  Fortaleza, Natal is a relatively small city. Tourism is it's raison d'être. It is also the capital of Rio Grande do Norte and in that respect there's some resemblance to Sacramento. Lots of low rise government buildings, some shops and not a whole lot else. Except for the beach. Just south of town there is a world class beach Ponte Negra. 

Along Ponte Negra you will find one high-rise after another, some stretching maybe 25 stories into the air. In high season, Ponte Negra is crawling with people.  High season is what you would expect Carnivàle, winter break and European summer vacation. Oh, and the World Cup. Ponte Negra is crawling with people this week. The beach is full as are the bars and restaurants across the street and the tourist shops.  Finally we have found tourist shops. I was getting worried. You can't go on a trip like this and come back empty-handed. I was surprised in Rio and Fortaleza at how little there was geared to the tourist market. There was lots of stuff, but frankly it was all junk.  Natal merchants seem much more sophisticated. But Ponte Negral is kind of a tourist trap. I am glad we found the spot we did.

We are in Buzios, a small beach community about 20 km south of Ponte Negra. Getting here was something of a challenge. The first time we tried it was dark and figuring out the turns was a trick. But even after you have mastered this you still travel slowly through villages where people park wherever they want and travel mostly on foot. Once you arrive at our place you have reached a small idyll.

Our pousada is steps from the beach and very quiet and peaceful. Run by Noelle,  a retired Belgian, ex-pat, social science professor who has been in Brazil for 30 years now, it is calm in the eye of the storm. We wake up to excellent Brazilian coffee, fruits, cake, eggs, cheese and juice for breakfast accompanied by very pleasant conversation. After the hustle and bustle of the big cities it is a welcome change to get the taste of the way most Brazilians experience life. Perfect for today as it is raining buckets. Our plans for a beach day are getting washed out. Reading and relaxing until gametime maybe the order of the day. Tonight Japan v Greece.

USA, USA, USA!

When we first decided that we were going to try to go to Brazil for the World Cup, the big fish - the white whale, was to get a game where the US was playing. It was one of the reasons why we decided to wait to try to get tickets until the second round of the ticket lottery, after they had done the draw and we would know where the United States would be.  Of course, waiting to the second round was risky.  You might not get any tickets at all. And of course, that's exactly what happened. We put our names in for the lottery and we got shut out entirely. It looked like the dream was dead. 

But Christopher had a buddy who had been spectacularly successful in his lottery applications. He had lots of tickets and so most of the games that we are seeing, we are seeing on the strength of his lottery winnings.  And one of the games for which Ryan had too many tickets was the US opening match against Ghana in Natal. So, after our four days in Fortaleza and seeing our first match  (Uruguay versus Costa Rica), we jumped in the rental car and made the 7 Hour drive to Natal.  Driving in Brazil is an experience (There'll be another post on that as soon as I can get it together  -  interesting but it pales in comparison to the experience around the US game here in Natal.)

After spending the whole day in the car, as soon as we got to Natal we went to straight to the pre-match party that was hosted by the US soccer Federation. They had thrown up a "pop-up" event in what was an empty electronics store, it seems.  We decided to go over and check it out. When we got there the place was hopping.  There must've been a couple of thousand US fans decked out in any one of the couple of thousand different jerseys United States has worn over the last 10 years. It really is sad to me that United States does not have a jersey that anyone would recognize anywhere. Not like Argentina and it's blue and white stripes or Brazil with its canary and green. No, we have worn a whole bunch of different looks over the years and none of them really scream USA.  

At any rate, the party was pretty good, I suppose.  It had some minor failings at least from my vantage point.  The best beer that they had was good old Budweiser. What do you want, they are a sponsor...  Call me a beer snob, but I have not paid for a Budweiser in at least 10 years and I was not going to start tonight. Especially because they decided Bud should be sold for about the same price that you would pay if you were at home about twice what we've been paying for the local stuff.  The price would be fine except that you're getting Budweiser. I'll just have water - they're about the same anyway. As for the rest, there were plenty of TVs to watch the matches going on and there was music and dancing and it was pretty cool just to be in the presence of so many American fans so excited on the eve of the big game. We stayed for a while but it was complicated to get both something to eat or something to drink. You had to stand in one long line to pay and get your receipt and then stand in another long line to go pick up the thing that you just paid for. We decided we could find another place that had a little bit better service and so off we went. 

The next day the excitement around game started building early even though the game itself didn't start until 4 PM.   All around town we would see Americans sporting the red white and blue. We were not quite as boisterous or confident/arrogant as the Uruguayans in Fortaleza but we weren't bashful about American pride either.  About four hours before the game we decided to go over and see if we could join with the American Outlaws gathering a couple blocks from the stadium. It was not hard to find.  There was a corner pizza place and five hundred people standing in the street in front of it.   You couldn't get anywhere near a pizza or a beer or the bathroom for that matter.  But it was fun just being with a bunch of Americans soaking in the atmosphere and anticipating the start of what was probably a once in a lifetime event for most of us. Two hours before the match the march to the stadium began.  It took 45 minutes and was awesome - or so I'm told. Unfortunately, we missed it because we decided that we needed to pop up the street to a place where you could actually get in to have some lunch before the game. Given our Fortaleza stadium experience where it was so difficult to get food, we decided that it was not a good idea to try to go to the stadium and find something to eat.  We blew it.   Some people said  it was the highlight of the day. 

Or maybe not, because at 4:00 the game started and at 4:01 United States was ahead 1-0. I suspect that it has to go down as one of quickest goals in World Cup history and undoubtedly US World Cup history by a mile. The next 90 minutes were excruciating. I love watching soccer when I don't care all that much about the outcome. When you care it is rough if your team is not playing well. The US was not playing particularly well. Yes, we were ahead for almost the entirety of the match but we were having a lot of trouble holding the midfield.   At halftime they showed the time of possession and it favored the Ghanaians almost two to one.

Something was bound to give. And of course, finally it did. Ghana got the equalizer. I must say that at that point I had a serious sense of dread. The last 80 minutes United States had not looked all that dangerous. And now we are going to need a goal if we were going to have any chance of getting out of our group. Lo and behold, that goal materialized.  I'm not sure that if I were a neutral observer I would say that the result was completely deserved.   I don't think the Brazialians in the crowd thought so.  Over the course of the match they had begun to swing to support Ghana more and more loudly.  But I'm not a neutral observer and so I was thrilled to take the win and the three points. 

After the game the party was on - probably all through the night although we didn't stay out all that late. As we walked around town we got high-fives from Americans and Brazilians.  Congratulations all around - on our wonderful cheering?  I'm not sure exactly what I had to do with the result but when we went into the restaurant for dinner cheers to rang out as we walked in, along with chants of USA, USA. As it turns out every time any American walked in people cheered and started chanting.  It was a great night for the red, white and blue.  

Game on

After days of anticipation, as Fortaleza has been filling with fans - mostly Uruguayans - finally the big match has  arrived.  Like most of the days before, it is very, very hot and very, very muggy.  Fortaleza to its credit, has made it easy to get to the game. They have a fleet of buses that pick people up from the hotel district and take them to the stadium. 

(that is exactly what they call it, btw, the hotel district. There must be two Fortaleza's. the part where everybody lives, and the part where all the tourists come to stay. It seems like Fortaleza is very much a tourist town. My sense is that it's mostly European tourists seeking to escape their winters.  But that would mean they are coming down here in the summer and if the summer is any hotter than the winter it must be brutal here.  I don't think I would come to Brazil for a winter vacation.)

But back to the game...   the buses pick you up one block from where most of the hotels are located on the beach. We walked up to the corner and there was already a relatively large throng of Uruguayans.   I don't know why it was almost all Uruguayan, but it was. Where were the Ticos?  One bus after another pulled up empty and pulled off crammed to the gills. We were lucky we are one of the first ones on the bus and we got a seat, but then it filled with masses of Uruguayans who were absolutely thrilled and certain of victory. They have a song that they sing, and that they sang often enough that even with my limited Spanish I think I understood the jist of it. "This year is going to be like the first year - the year that Uruguay won.  We will be champions once again." They sang and sang and honked their horns.  It was a cacophony.  All the way to the stadium. 

At the stadium they dumped us off about a half mile from the front entrance. Not sure why they did that but they did and so we walked down the road that had been completely blocked off and was sweltering from having the sun beat down on the black asphalt and radiate back at you. It was quite an experience. Once we made the fan zone at the stadium it was pretty entertaining.  They had lots of diversions, photo opportunities, games that you could play, opportunities to watch the other game - although I must say on a screen that was way too small for the number of people who wanted to watch it.  We gave up  and decided to go in and check out the stadium some 90 minutes before kickoff. We went and found our seats. They were excellent, second deck but relatively low in the second deck and very close to the middle of the field. A great place to watch the game. But there was plenty of time and we were hungry so we decided to go out and see if we could get something to eat.

They  had concession stands like any stadium would, only there was one difference, half of these concession stands were still closed. We got in line for one that was open. The line was pretty long and not to be rude, but Brazilians don't work quickly in this kind of situation. So the line ended up being about 30 to 35 minutes long. Finally, we got to the front and it was our turn to order. There were lots of choices on the menu board: cheeseburgers, double cheeseburgers, hot dogs, many good options. By the time we got up there we were pretty hungry so we ordered 2 double cheeseburgers and a hotdog. No no no. No double cheeseburgers. No problem, make it a cheeseburger.  No no no - no cheeseburgers. Well, ok, hotdogs -  no no no - no hotdogs.  60 minutes before game time and all they had was cold sandwiches. It really was not very appetizing. We ordered them any and we ordered some beers, some Coke and some water because we were not going to stand in that line again at halftime. 

We went to our seats, which when we had first seen them were beautiful and in the shade, now they were in full sun and would stay full sun for the next hour. It was pretty hot. But the game started and it was a wonderful match. The Uruguayans got the first goal, and of course their fans, who outnumbered the Costa Rican by at least 3 to 1 were joyous and very loud. But as you may know from seeing the scores, that was all the joy that was to be for the Uruguayans that day. The next three goals were for Costa Rica and even though the Costa Ricans were not as numerous, the Brazilians who may have made up one third of the crowd joined the Costa Rican side. My sense is that the Brazilians and the Uruguayans do not get along all that well.   Part of the soccer rivalry may have something to do with the number of stars in their crest. If you look at World Cup history Uruguay has won two, but they have four stars on their crest.  They count championships before the World Cup started. Nobody else seems to count them. It bothers Brazil because it makes Brazil's five stars seem like something less of accomplishment than it really is. 

Anyway as the Ticos began to dominate the game, the Brazilians began to jump on the bandwagon. By the end of the game you would've thought the Costa Ricans outnumbered the Uruguayans 2-1. After the game they filed us out of the stadium the same way they had funneled us into the stadium. The same maze through barriers and metal detectors that made sense going in but was a little confusing going out. Back down the half mile stretch we walked to the buses and because everybody was now there at the same time it made getting on the bus something of a challenge. But again to Fortaleza's credit the buses just kept coming until finally the number of people who wanted on was manageable and so we hopped on the bus and we're delivered right back down to the beach and our hotel.  All in all  it was pretty slick and it was a good end to a great day.

Opening Night

So, as you can tell from the picture from yesterday, our hotel here in Fortaleza is immediately across the street from the FIFA fan fest. That is an interesting place to be. This morning the 8:30 AM sound check was a little unsettling but last night for the game it was awesome. 

We sat in our air conditioned hotel room till about 4:30 and wandered across the street to join 4000 Brazilians and watch the opening match. It was an incredible experience. Their enthusiasm, for the introductions of the teams, the national anthems, the opening kickoff, it was a fever pitch. When the first goal came about 12 minutes into the match the reaction was stunning. Brazil had scored an own goal and now the impossible had happened, Brazil was trailing in a World Cup match.

The reactions of Brazilians was surprising. It was a mistake, no big deal. This is the Brazilian team and they have 70 some odd minutes to recover, surely they will score the next goal. Not a big deal. Oh my, was I wrong.  That goal was perhaps the worst thing ever to happen on the planet earth. It was for me a little bit amusing - Brazil playing at home unlikely to score the next goal?

And of course they did score the next goal and now all was well. The Brazilian fans are nothing if not enthusiastic. Every time the Brazilians made a run up the field the cheering became almost deafening. When they scored, it's 4000 people screaming and dancing and jumping up and down. Even when they scored after what I think most impartial observers would characterize as a pretty soft foul for a penalty kick. No matter, Brazil was ahead and they were not looking back. The 3 - 1 final simply confirmed the joyous anticipation that must've been building for the last several years. The party after went on for hours and hours as the streets remained filled with Brazilians not ready to go home,  not ready to stop celebrating. Brazil will not play for another five days and I don't think Brazilians care all that much what happens between now and then. For us we do - our first game is tomorrow - Uruguay v. Costa Rica

VFMW

Stealing a page from my favorite blog...  (the Dish)

A view from our window in Fortaleza

Above Rio

The last two days have been spent mostly doing the "absolute musts" for a short visit in Rio. If you looked in the guidebook for a list of the most important things to do, number one or number two will be a visit to the Christo Redemptor,  the iconic statue perched above the city.  And if that's number one, number two will be a similar visit to the top of Sugarloaf which towers above Rio's coastline. I suppose you could do either one or the other - but seeing as how it is unlikely that we will ever get to Rio again, we decided to do both.

Our plan was to get to the top just about the time that the sun would be setting in order to catch the city in its best light. It is winter here in the southern hemisphere (not that you would not know it by the temperature - 85° and 95% humidity) but you do know it by the short daylight hours. 

We got to the cog railroad that takes you up the extraordinarily steep pitch of Corcovado mountain about 4 PM. When we arrived at the station there was a giant hubbub taking place that you could not miss. It turns out that we were going up on the same train as the Dutch national team. Everybody was very excited, the staff were selecting a player or two to have their picture taken with and the Dutch people who just happened to be lucky enough to be there were beside themselves. About 4:20 we began our ascent up the mountain. It takes pretty much all of 20 minutes for the train, which clicks slowly up the way a roller-coaster moves up, up, up to that point at which it drops. Fortunately there was no point on this train at which we dropped and at the summit there is an extraordinary view of Rio, - unless the clouds and rain have started to moved in to obscure your view. Well of course, that is what happened to us. 

Nonetheless there were breaks in the clouds from time to time and we did have an opportunity to take a picture of two or of the city. There was no sunset.  The sun went behind the clouds long before it went behind the horizon. Sill, we were able to be there at the top when the lights were changing and the nature of the statue changed with it. It was also an extraordinary experience to be there with the throngs of fans from around the world. Especially the Colombians, who seem to travel in relatively large packs and bring a flag and sign everywhere they go. As they gathered for their pictures they begin to sing and chant. They must be the most enthusiastic fans that we have encountered so far. And there has not yet been a kick off.

And then the next morning, because we did not get enough of Rio from above yesterday, we decided to go up the other vista point - Sugarloaf. To get to the top of Sugarloaf you take a pair of gondolas. The first one takes you to a peak perhaps 1000 feet above the seacoast and deposits you in a spot where you see what you think are some pretty stunning views of what is a very beautiful city.

Then, you get on the second cable car and it takes you another thousand feet further into the air. Because the weather has changed and it is now raining in Rio, the views were not perhaps as spectacular as they must be on a beautiful sunny clear day. But they are spectacular nonetheless. Again besides the great views we had a very pleasant experience meeting fans from around the world. We were told by the Hondurans how they were sure we were going to survive our "group of death" and  advance to the next round. How they got that confidence I know not, but that's why they play the games and only time will tell whether their confidence or my trepidation turns out to have been the right premonition. Two days before the first kick off, everyone is happy and confident. We will see how long that lasts. Tomorrow we head for Fortaleza and our first game on Friday.

Just a day at the beach

This morning, our first real day in Rio, we decided to do that most quintessential of Rio activities.  We decided to hit the beach. Saturday, (yesterday) when we were at the beach at Flamenco and Botofogo, they were pretty much empty. Today was Sunday, maybe Sunday is beach day, so we decided to try a different set of beaches: Ipanema and Copacabana.

We took a taxi from our hotel to get to Ipanema.  To get there you head south and pass through the Copacabana neighborhood.  Rio's neighborhoods are separated by mountains, one neighborhood from the next. To get from one to the other you pass through a tunnel and each time it is like passing from one world into the next.  Our first experience of this was coming from the airport,   passing from Central Rio to our neighborhood, Flamenco.  Central Rio is definitely a different place. That is where you see the most rundown neighborhoods, the old industrial areas and of course the famous Favelas. As soon as you passed through the tunnel to Flamenco you're in a nicer neighborhood - better shops, tree-lined streets - you can tell the difference. It was a little surprising but once again when you pass through the tunnel from Flamenco to Copacabana, again you enter into a different world. Copacabana and the Ipanema are definitely a cut above. The tree-lined streets just a little bit better The apartments are little bit newer.   The security gates around the doors are little bit stronger. It's where the rich folks live. 

At the end of Ipanema  we jumped out of the cab.   We'd driven to the south end where Ipanema butts up against about the next mountain and where most likely there's another tunnel to another world. But Ipanema was worth the journey in itself. We walked across the street which normally would have been consumed by four lanes of traffic. On Sundays they close it down for pedestrians and pedestrians seize the opportunity. Bikes, rollerskates, skateboards and loads of people just strolling.   It was a day in the park and we hadn't even hit the sand. And the sand is something else. It is as white as can be and very clean. We had seen the beachcomber tractor on for Botofogo beach on Saturday running up and down sifting the sand.  Something that seems like a daily chore for Rio's municipal workers. Their Beach is an asset, and they manage it carefully. Down the beach the water was blue not polluted as Botofogo's bay had been. There were loads of people - surfers, children swimming,  lots of people playing in the water. The water  was cool, but not as cold as the water at Ocean Beach in June.

And then there were the people on the beach. They were a sight to behold. Everything you have ever heard about Brazilian beaches is true. Need I say more? Probably not, but it's me, so I will. I don't think they sell two piece bathing suits in Brazil. Everybody, I mean everybody, wears a bikini - men just don't wear the top. Some of them, it suits them well, some of them, not so much. But nobody seems to care and that in and of itself is quite refreshing. People did not seem to be at all self-conscious about how they look in a relatively small piece of cloth. It made for an interesting day. Yes, we spent pretty much the whole day strolling from the south to the north end of Ipanema  where it ends and Copacabana begins.

 Copacabana Beach is where the FIFA Fanfest for Rio will be located and so as we got towards the south and the soccer flavor of city certainly became much more noticeable. The entrepreneurs who sell you a chair and an umbrella for the day were competing to see who could have the most flags of the 32 World Cup finals visitors. Some seem to specialize in Dutch flags or Croatian. Those teams seem to be particularly well represented here in Rio. The  Fanfest area itself was a sight to behold. Here it is just three days before the kickoff of the first match and if you asked me if it looked like it was about half done.

Will they be able to pull it off and have it ready for the first match on the 12th? It is probably not that important whether they do or they don't, I suppose. Across the street from where the Fanfest would be held there was sports bar where we had dinner. They must've had seven or eight large flatscreen TVs, tonight they were showing a variety of Brazilian fare but come Gameday I'm sure the place will be packed and the TVs will be on the Brazil game. It might be a better place than the Fanfest anyway.  Cold beer and air conditioning beats sun and humidity for me.

Long Day's Journey into Night

So this latest adventure began while it was still dark.  3 AM wake up call for a 7 AM departure from SFO.  A least that is what the ticket said.  You know the drill, get to the airport two hours early, then wait. And wait. And wait.  Our 7 AM became a 7:30, hen an 8, then 8:30.  At 9:30 we were at least boarding, but the 3 hours we had to make our connection in NY was now just minutes.

When we landed and taxied to the gate, tantalizingly our next plane sat at a gate just a few feet away, but its departure was almost as close.  15 minutes.  We power walked the quarter mile. The gate was empty of passengers but the doors were open.  We made it!  Christopher's luggage did not. He had checked a bag.  I was all carry on.  He is wearing my shorts.

You can't tell it is winter from the weather.  It is 85 degrees and maybe 85% humidity here in Rio.   You can tell it is winter from the light.  It was dark at 6 AM when we landed and at 8 PM tonight when we went ou for dinner.  Still warm, just darker than a June at home.

Our day was uneventful. We got settled in a very small apartment about three blocks from the beach at Flamenco and wandered up the beach to the foot of Sugar Loaf.  Just on the other side, Copacabana beach.  We decided to save that for another day.  Surprisingly Saturday afternoon is not beach time, at least on Flamenco and Botofogo beaches.  They were remarkably empty, though the warnings to stay out of the polluted bay waters may have something to do with that.  Ipanema and Copacabana are ocean beaches.  They may have better water and crowds. We'll see tomorrow.

We have a lot of sleep to catch up on.  Our only Saturday night in Rio and we were in by 9 and turning out the lights.  Outside they are going strong.

Back in the saddle

It has been a long time since I finished my sabbatical and stopped adding posts to this site.  Nothing interesting was happening.  Well, it's possible that that is still true, but what the heck, I am on the road again and have some time on my hands, so here goes nothing.  I will start posting again for the next couple weeks.  This time you can blame it on Rio!

BTW,  just have the iPad for input this time.  I am taking pictures, but not sure how to get them up here.  Sorry, that will come later.  For now you just get text with more than a few typos...