Hello from Rio

As I said in my earlier posts, the hardest part of any trip is getting to the final destination, this time is no different!! When I left Huntsville Friday morning, it was raining so hard that I thought my trip was in jeopardy! There were flash flood warnings and streets under water everywhere, but by noon I was able to get a cab to show up and take me to the airport. At first, the flight to Atlanta was delayed but then it actually took off almost on time so not bad I said.. Once in Atlanta, my friend was waiting for me at gate F-08. We went to lunch and then coffee and headed back to the gate. The flight was on time and all the passengers boarded just fine, but then as the plane pushed-off from the gate, the pilots noticed an unusually high temperature reading in one of the engines and so the technicians were called in to check the problem. Well, the suspense lasted about an hour on the Tarmac and then we got the bad news that we had to de-plane and board another plane at gate E-26!! Well, that ordeal pushed our departure time by Four hours!! To appease us they provided us with "junk" food which I threw to garbage anyway... By midnight we were in the air and on our way... I did not know that the flight was going to take 9.5 hours !! That was torture ... But I was in an aisle seat so I stood up and walked around the plane while most people were sleeping. We arrived in Rio at around noon time, 4 hours later than we were supposed to. My friend and I took a cab to our hotel where we checked in, took a quick shower and were out on street to get a first glimpse at this famous beach shown on every picture of Rio de Janero. It was packed with people, swimming, playing soccer, Volley ball..... Etc. It was a hot day, 95 degrees so everyone was out... Our hotel is great and the front desk people were first class, they gave us an upgrade to a room facing the beach and on the 35 floor so great views indeed... We only stay one night this time but will be back here on the 4th of January for four more nights before heading back home on the 8th of January...

Here are few pictures I just took..

View from our hotel room on Copacabana beach

Another view from the hotel room

Evening stroll on Copacabana beach 

Another picture from the beach around sun set

We leave tomorrow morning bright an early for Iguazu Falls where our true adventure begins! We have a direct flight which should be just a couple hours. Iguazu Falls are near the borders of Argentina and Paragway so we will enter both countries as well. We will stay four days down there before returning to Rio for New Year's Eve! Enjoy the pics and send comments by email if you would like. Tomorrow will be another fun day!!!