August 5,

We were up by 0445! Yikes! It’s a scary time to be up for good!! We left the apartment; were checked out by 0515; and in Uber to the airport by 0520. At 0540, we had arrived and checked in bags by 0605. Then we were through security and into the “W Lounge” by 0612. I had a small salad; part of a ham and cheese croissant; a bit of scrambled egg; a bite-sized type of kibbeh; and two bite-sized, different kinds of chocolate desserts. I also had coffee of course. Jeff had the same croissant sandwich; fruit; and another type of croissant. He had some OJ and water.

At 0650, we left the W Lounge and boarded the Azul Airlines plane by 0654. At 0729, we backed up with take off at 0740. Goodbye to the Amazon Delta and Belem. There was a snack service with a choice of grape juice or cashew juice!? Jeff had the grape, and I chose the cashew juice. It was very unique, but I probably wouldn’t have it again. The snack was a bag of airplane gummies and an orange cake. Jeff ate the gummies, as I don’t care for them. We saved the cake for later. We touched down at 1037, which was early; and were at the gate by 1044. We were in Campinas, right near Sao Paulo. We had just under a four hour layover.

We went to The Advantage VIP Lounge, sat and had a small glass of wine! On the plane, two little girls behind us were kicking our seats and were very loud. They were cute, but… oh my!!! We were ready to unwind! This lounge was supposed to be the best one, but we weren’t impressed with the food. So…when we finished our wine, we left. We went to The Lounge Viracopos by 1135. There was a better food selection, and a scanner menu to order from.there were only two items: one was a meatball in a marinara sauce with rice and farofa, which is toasted cassava with smoked bacon bits; and the other was a vegetarian eggplant caponata with rice. Both were different and tasty. We each also had a small plate of salads as well as another small glass of wine. Then I blogged and Jeff read.

We boarded the plane at 1430. Jeff and I noticed how many airline staff were in standby seats. The plane backed up at 1505 – ten minutes late – with take off at 1521. Our snack service was popcorn and those airplane gummies again. The plane touched down at 1613, 12 minutes late; and arrived at the gate by 1618. On to baggage claim. Our first bag was the second one out!!! But then we waited, and waited…finally, but not the last, it came. We exited and Jeff E-hailed an Uber. We were off by 1657. It was an over an hour long ride. Lots of traffic and Google maps showed red zones, due to construction and we lost a lane. The highway is three/four lanes each way, but went down to two. Then the highway changed to a three lane road with stop lights. Sunset happened during the drive.

We arrived at the apartment complex right at 1800. Jeff used Google translate to get accepted into the building through an intercom system. A lady’s voice asked our names, which we provided. She opened the garage doors to let us in. We found the elevator, went to the fourth floor, and to our new place for 13 nights. We unloaded, checked things out, and went to a nearby grocery store. We explored and found stuff. It is loaded with export stuff. The best thing was a peanut grinder! We made our own peanut butter!!! That was totally great! Anyway we checked out and walked back to our place – unloaded again. Then settled in. It’s been a long travel transition day.