I´m Back in Rio

I´m Back in Rio

Wednesday, Jan. 4, Copenhagen (Part II)

Well, the day passed with things seeming to be better. I stayed inside until 3:30 when I left to meet Grethe at Donus Vista where Arne and I lçived. We were invited to Annette´s (our neighbor´s) apartment for a short visit. It was my first time there since July, 2004, shortly after Arne´s death. Everything in the building seems so familiar yet so distant to me now.

Annette´s apartment was still decorated for Christmas. She always has one of the most atmos-pheric places to visit during this season with Georg Jensen ornaments hanging along the glass wall and from her dining room chandelier, Georg Jensen candle holders hanging on racks beside the dining table, nisser (small Christmas people) placed everywhere, her balcony decorated with greenery and lights, etc. She also had made some changes in the apartment. She had remodeled the bath, had a new flat panel TV, and had a new antique desk. And she modeled the new full-length mink coat with hood that her son gave her after he won the lottery recently.

We sat at the dining table and had coffee with her homemade Danish Christmas butter cookies and her homemade marzipan-chocolate roll. She also served a glass of cream and sherry. We talked about our lives--what´s happened, what´s coming up, etc. But it was Arne who brought us together both then and now, so he was on our minds even when we weren´t talking about him. I happened to mention the book that Arne´s brother wrote about their family life that I found in the library 3-4 years ago. Neither of them knew about it, and both said they wanted to read it.

Annette went downstairs with us to show us the new laundry room which is such an improvement on the old one in both quality of equipment and price. Going there, we noticed the libarary was still open, so we stopped there for her to request a copy of the book by Arne´s brother. They´ll have it for her on Friday.

Grethe and I returned home. Grethe did laundry while I did some final things on the computer and called friends to say good-bye. We had a nice dinner of tuna salad in pita pockets and some leftover pork and potatoes fried together. I packed and we took my suitcases to the basement. At 10:00, we were in bed.

Thursday, Jan. 5, Copenhagen-London-Lisbon

I awoke at 4 a.m. It´s hard to relax and sleep when my mind is thinking about traveling. Everything should go smoothly, but there are potential problems if they don´t. Today, I end my present ticket by flying from here to London. I must pick up my new ticket there and continue to Lisbon via Oporto. The two potential problems: 1) The first flight of an around-the-world ticket must be flown on the day scheduled or the ticket becomes invalid; therefore, if my flight to London is delayed or canceled so that I don´t get there in time to make the first flight of the new ticket, I´d have a BIG problem. 2) I must change terminals, go through customs, pick up my new ticket, check in for the next flight and go through security. I have about 3 1/2 hours to do this IF I arrive in London on time. If we are delayed, I could find myself rushing and worrying. I think all will go well. One reason I plan to drop part of my new ticket and make Bangkok the beginning and ending point for future trips is that I would no longer have the worry of a one-day ticket switch. I will arrive in Bangkok to end a ticket and have days or weeks before I begin the next one.

My stomach seems better. It´s still rumbling, and there are still occasional cramps. But I slept most of the night without going to the toilet. It´s now 6-7 hours between trips. And I´ve started an antibiotic in case it is a bacteria causing my problem. I should be better each day now.

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It´s 11:15 and I am waiting in Terminal 2 at Heathrow. Everything, except for one matter, has gone well this morning. Arvind and Evy were there early, but Grethe and I were ready. I was glad to get headed for the airport. Traffic was light. And check-in went easily and quickly, although I did have to get a sticker at one counter before getting in line for the check-in counters just like last year. The flight was slightly delayed due to overbooking and having to remove luggage, but we got to London only 15 minutes late. The problem came wityh the procedure for changing terminals and picking up my ticket. I took the bus to the flight connection center for Terminal 2, I went through security and started to walk to Terminal 2 when an entrance sign said, "Do not pass this point without a boarding pass." I turned around and found two men with jackets indicating their job to be flight connection advisors. One of them told me that the other, Neil Hill, was the best man I could have found to help me. Neil took me back upstairs to a ticket counter where an Alitalia agent called TAP Portugal. They explained I wasn´t allowed to go where TAP wanted without returning to Terminal 3 and going through passport control. The Alitalia agent entered my baggage info in the computer and the TAP representataive said they would check me in and deliver my ticket and boarding passes to the gate. Neil then told me to ignore the sign and walk down the corridor for Terminal 2 Departures. That´s where I am now--waiting for my gate number to be shown on the monitor about 1 1/2 hours from now.
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AROUND THE WORLD VI BEGINS!

Jan. 5, London-Oporto-Lisbon (Continued)

My flights went well. The lady6 at the gate had my ticket and both of my boarding passes. TAP surprised me by serving free meals with free drinks (ncluding alcoholic drinks) on their European flights. SAS no longer even serves water without selling it!

The airport in Porto is beautiful, modern, and new. I was very impressed with it. I had limited time for switching planes; and although mine parked next to the one I needed, I had to go through passport control, go downstairs to baggage pickup, walk through customs, return back upstairs through security, and return to the gate before I could board the plane. What happened to borderless Europe?

Everything was familiar at the Lisbon airport, since Arne and I were here just 5-6 years agto. I got my luggage, stopped by the tourist desk for literature, and exited to the bus stop. A #22 bus arrived within 5 minutes and brought me close to my hotel. People on the bus and on the street were very helpful as I asked about my stop and the location of my hotel. At the airport and along the bus route, I could see beautiful Christmas decorations which are still up because Three Kings Day isn´t until tomorrow.

I like my room. It´s much nicer than I expected. I was given a front center room with both a window and a small balcony. It has a molded ceiling and a molded frieze around the top of the walls. The window and door are covered both by a shade and heavy, lined curtains. The bath is very clean and modern and full of lots of towels, soaps,shampoos, etc. The a/c is individually controlled so I can set the exact temperature I want. I got this for a Motel 6 price--$45 per night including breakfast.

I´m tired. It´s been a long day with lots of stress. Unfortunately, the forecast is bad for tomorrow--rain with a high in the low 50s F (12C). I had considered going to Sintra. Instead I may just stay close by and/or see a museum or two in the area.

Friday, Jan. 6, Lisbon

I slept 10 hours last night. Since I was tired and went to bed at 10:15, I expected to be up at 6:30 or 7, but it was 8:30 when I got up.

Breakfast at the hotel was good. It was a buffet with 3 kinds of rolls, sliced bread for toasting, sliced ham, sliced cheese, butter, three kinds of jam, honey, four kinds of cereal, milk, coffee, tea, orange juice, and Portuguese Christmas cake (similar to German stollen without the powdered sugar coating). The dining room was full of people who appeared to be cost-conscious young professionals. The lady in charge changed the white, starched tablecloths after each group left a table.

I spent the morning and early afternoon walking in town. I can tell I need to get back into shape. Five hours of walking tired me out. I went down the main route through town starting from Corte de Ingles, the big department store here. I angled off towards the old district of town where I wandered up and down dnarrow streets in that hilly area. Just as I wanted to rest at a park there on a hilltop with a view over the city and the water, it began to rain. For the next 30-45 minutes it rained lightly. I paused under awnings a couple of times, but mostly I cantinued walking with my raincoat zipped up and the hood pulled over my head. I almost entered a modern art museum at one point, but the rain seemed to be ending. I decided I preferred seeing the houses, streets, shops, etc. Lisbon is a very old city with lo9ts of atmosphere. Many buildings are covered with beautiful tiles on the exterior. And many shops have elegant, old interiors.

I returned to the hotel and used the toilet at 1:30. Then I went to a local place for lunch. I was surprised that the waiter spoke English. She said the aroz pato (rice-meat mixture) was the best item on the menu, so I had that with a glass of the house red wine. It was a casserole with shredded chicken and slices of fried bacon mixed into the rice which had been cooked in the juices from the chicken.

I hope I haven´t made a mistake. When I returned to my room at 2:45, I took a nap. I ended up sleeping 1 1/2 hours in a deep sleep.I need to sleep well tonight, since I must leave for the airport early tomorrow morning for a 10-hour flight. If I have trouble getting to sleep tonight, I´ll be even more miserable on that long trip.

The diarrhea is still with me somewhat. But it seems to be on its way out. My stools are soft and becoming more regular, and the uneasy feeling in my stomach seems to be gone. I don´t know if this is happening natureally or if it is due to the antibiotics.
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I went back out after dark to see the Christmas lights of Lisbon. I walked almost the same route as this morning. The decorations here are the modern king--almost totally lights (meaning no greenery). There are lighted artificial palm trees with lighted balls hanging from them, space-like fields of lights with planets among them, flashing stars, etc. I took photos of several kinds.

On the way back, I heard music. In tyhe lobby of a building a band and choir dressed in native peasant costumes was entertaining the employees of the company and their families. It was a country style of music. I saw a small ukulele style instrument, a guitar, a drum, an accordian, a wooden panel with sawtoothed curved edge against which a stick was drawn to create a rhythem. Costumes ranged from dressy ones with frilly white shirts, colorful sashes, and felt hats to more simple ones with white fabric and straw hats. Many, like me, were stopping to watch and listen through the door. Unfortunately, they started getting out their cell phones to share the music with others and their talking interfered with the pleasure of hearing the music.
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I´m in Rio now, but am out of time for posting. I will write about the trip here and Rio tomorrow.