For so long, I had been procrastinating on planning a trip to Rio, but as I begin to read more and more trip reports early this summer, my curiosity and anticipation grew. In many ways, I felt like I had already been there. After contacting Sandman, I found out that he was leaving for Rio again on July 1st and coming through my airport. This seemed like a perfect time for me to commit, so I started the process. By mid June, I had my Visa and was ready to go. Since it was my first trip, I arranged an apartment through Don from and Riotrips and for him to show me around until I got a feel for the place. It was a decision I would not regret. Since I was new to this website and didn't have the time to do all of the research on my own, the advice he gave me about the town made it well worth it. Besides all of that, he's a cool guy.

As I arrived at my hometown airport on my departure date, the anticipation was building. I couldn't believe I was actually doing this. Sandman and I had planned to meet at the gate because we were on the same direct flight to Sao Paulo. We had never met before and as I was boarding, I turned one last time before I headed down the walkway to the plane and spotted the legendary Sandman some ways back. He spotted me at the same time and we winked and smiled. We were on our way arriving in style in Business Elite.



Arriving in Sao Paulo early the next morning, we planned on taking the 8:00 flight to Rio, but it had been cancelled. We had to settle on a 12:20 flight out. It seems after the morning flight, they only leave every 4 hours or so from GRU. We should have taken the shuttle to CGH because flights leave every 30 minutes to Santos-Dumont in Rio.

We got into Rio about 1:30 and headed to Alcazar to meet Don. Having read about these places so many times, it almost seemed surreal to actually be standing there. Don took me to my apartment to settle in and unpack. I was in the penthouse on Copacobanna Ave. My real experience in Rio was about to begin. First on today's agenda…………. Luomo.