Today was the beginning of our great trek back to the US! Brazil has been an amazing experience and I would not trade my time her for anything. I still cannot believe how much I was able to see and do! However, I think I am ready to go back to the US and see my family and puppy! Today was the Salvador- São Paulo leg of the journey. Angelika and I had a flight out of Salvador at 8:40 in the morning so we were up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:00. We had decided to take the city bus to the airport (as we had on the way in) so that we did not have to spend quite as much money on taxis to distant airports in two days. We ended up cutting it a bit close because the bus arrived at 6:30 (they do not start running until 6:00AM) and it takes an hour to get to the airport. Luckily we were able to get through the baggage check relatively fast (it did not feel that way at the time) and run to ‘security’ where there was no a line, throw our stuff though and after a few min… Angelika got caught by her necklace and had to get double checked… took off for our gate and hit the boarding line. Our flight was actually rather inefficient about getting people onto the plane and in their seats, but we somehow still made it to the runway by 8:40! Now that I will not jinx it, I feel the need to acknowledge mine and Angelika’s successful navigation and use of public transport in for our whole time in Salvador. We took buses everywhere and not once got lost (thanks to the help of many kind fellow transit goers) or had the bus just not come, even without google maps (which does not work at all in Salvador)! It was a much better experience than our transit mishaps in Rio.
On our flight we both napped and ate our little Brazilian breakfast packs that Tam gave us (Tam is one of the few airlines I have ever flown which gives and actual meal on every flight over 2 hours). The breakfast was the favorite little Brazilian toast crackers, a laughing cow type cheese, jam and a fruit bar. It was actually really good as far as airplane food goes! We arrived in São Paulo at 11:30 and were relived to find out that our bags had also made it on the plane with us! From baggage claim we did another successful public transportation trip taking a city bus from the airport to the metro, then the metro back to our respective neighborhoods.
Since I had been having issues with my planned return stay with my host, Alessandra, and could not get into my apartment until 6:00, I spent most of my day in a really awesome bookstore called Liveria Cultural. It is the same chain as the one I visited in Shopping Bourbon, but the one on Paulista is three stories, with a café and movie theater. After figuring out how to get inside, as there is only one entrance but windows everywhere taunting you as you drag all your stuff back and forth, I went straight to the café and treated myself to a really delicious bagel sandwich (the first bagel I have seen here..) and some strawberry cake as I settled in to read and take advantage of the wifi. It was actually a really nice way to spend the day. I split my time between the café and a reading chair, both of which I was lucky to get. I think this was the fullest and busiest I have ever seen a book store; people were sitting on the floor reading everywhere all day, it was definitely a destination for a Saturday on Paulista. Around 6:15 I decided to pick up some food and head over to Alessandra’s house to eat, repack my suitcases and write.
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