Welcome to Ribeirao Preto!

After about 14 hours of traveling, I've made it to Ribeirao Preto, located about 3 hours from Sao Paulo and about a 40 minute flight.

I'm grateful that I had a 3.5 hour layover in Sao Paulo because clearing immigration, customs, walking to the terminal next door, and after 2 check-in desks said I couldn't check in with them, I had about 1 hour left to kill and it was lunchtime.

I got into eating Acai bowls in Hawaii and found a fast food burger place that sold them! Acai are Brazilian berries so I had to try a bowl where they originated (although a burger and fries sounded awfully good!). The Acai bowl wasn't icy as they make them in Honolulu, but still sweet and refreshing with banana slices (no granola). I ordered a fruit cup, which made it a little more exciting than Acai and bananas. It was quite filling and I hope to find more opportunities to eat them since no one in Houston seems to sell them.

I was warned that the flight to Ribeirao Preto was on a small commuter jet and the RAO airport was tiny. I didn't expect that they would bus us from the jet to the terminal when it would've been faster to walk. Instead, the bus made a big circle around the planes and deposited us on the far end of the building. I had to take a picture to show just how close the plane and terminal were. The bus had to return to pick up remaining passengers.

The power appeared to have been out at the airport. The lights inside were off yet they were still letting the planes depart. There're improving the terminal so baggage claim didn't require any electricity - guy in tractor delivers the bags and deposits them one-by-one on a platform. Wouldn't you know it, my bag was one of the last to be delivered.

The hotel van was waiting for me. The guy doesn't speak any English, but listens to pop music in English. The hotel is about a 10 minute drive, shorter if we weren't behind a horse-drawn cart hauling a mattress.

The hotel is a resort with 3 swimming pools (first one is outside of my room, the second one is heated and a fat guy is hiding in the water under the swim-up bar, didn't get to the third one yet). Unfortunately, it's a little rainy today and I doubt we'll be finished with work early enough to enjoy the surroundings. But everything is very green and the soil is red. It's really quite lovely here and I hope to add more photos to the blog later in the week.

Next stop Ribeirao Preto, Brazil

I'm always amazed that this blog gets repeat visitors checking it out and feel badly that my posting level has decreased.

Since my trip to Colombia, I spent a week in London over Thanksgiving with my boyfriend and returned to Hawaii for the holidays.

2010 looks to be a good year for travel....at least the first half of the year! I'm traveling to Ribeirao Preto, Brazil for the first time on Feb 6. It's a city about a 3-hour drive from Sao Paulo. It's been 6 years since I was last in Brazil and I look forward to eating cheese balls and fresh fruit for breakfast!

We're staying at a resort (yes, it really is for work!), but unfortunately I won't be there long enough to enjoy the weather or facility. But expect to see photos and whatever observations I have time to make so come back in February!

Playing tourist

NOTE: This is a post I drafted while in Colombia but didn't publish until 3 months later!

On Saturday I had the opportunity to play tourist in Bogota. My bodyguard and 3 policemen accompanied us (one drove the car, the other 2 were on a motorcycle to stop traffic). Felipe and I hit Museo de Oro (Gold Museum) first. There we learned everything from how gold from pre-historic times to its use as ornaments of shamans and tribal leaders. It was interesting to see how gold went from dull and simple shapes to more elaborate forms as people realized it could be flattened into thin sheets, poured into wax forms, and manipulated with tools. I love that the museums here allow you to photograph the works as long as the flash is turned off (versus Buenos Aires when I got scolded for photographing myself in front of a pile of artist-arranged candy). Of course, I took advantage of that!

After the gold museum, we hit the Botero museum located in the old part of town called La Candelaria. This was taken outisde of the Botero museum. I wish we could walk around the area. It's quite charming, even with rain clouds looming.

Botero is a famous artist from Colombia, known for his depictions of fat people and equally fat still lifes. The museum also has a scattering of paintings by European artists such as Picasso, Miro, Monet. Best of all, it's free!

Next to the Botero museum is the coin museum and another art museum primarily of Colombian artists (although there was one Texan in it!). The highlight was a vault containing 3 large decorative objects from churches. They were from the 1700's and the amount of gold, emeralds, pearls, amethysts, topaz, etc. in them were amazing. I wanted to take a photo, but they won't allow it. We had fun trying to find the diamonds after reading the placard. All were very tastefully done. The emeralds were of an incredibly dark green. Some of the stones were huge. No wonder they're kept in a vault!

A friend told us to stop at a French bakery located at the top of one of the streets in La Candelaria. Amazingly enough, we drove by it so we had to stop for the almond pastry and coffee. It was delicious and hit the spot.

The next stop was a jewelry store to buy emeralds. My bodyguard took us to a shop that looked like any other souvenir store, but in the back behind a locked door was the jewelry store. I was looking to buy a ring to go with the necklace and earrings I purchased on my last trip and my mother wanted a pair of earrings. Colombia is one of the largest emerald producing countries in the world, along with Brazil and South Africa. The choices were wide. I easily found the perfect ring. They were kind enough to resize it in 1.5 hours.

While we were waiting for the ring, we visited the Simon Bolivar Home, a short walk from the store. He spent 10 years in the house, although he wasn't there often, from 1821-1830. It's a small home full of period furnishings. The gardens are lovely. There's a large outdoor bath and small pool, which we were wondering how often either were used since Bogota is rather chilly. It was a good way to kill time and wander the grounds.

After we picked up the ring, we grabbed a bite to eat at Sopa de la Madre y Postres de la Abuela. I had a Sancocho - a soup (in this case with ribs) with a potato, yucca, plaintains, and corn and accompanied with rice and avocado. Adding some aji gave the soup a kick. I was stuffed and called it a day...until it was time to go out for the evening!

Shopping

Thursday evenings the shopping malls stay open until about 9 pm so Felipe and I returned to Andino Mall in Zona Rosa for a quick dinner in the food court and some shopping.

Ever since a visit to Peru, I've come to realize that chicken tastes a lot better outside of the U.S. Far more flavor and juicier, especially the chicken breasts. So I try to eat it when I can. Tonight's dinner was in the food court at the mall at Kokoriko. The Komby Asado plate has beans (basically a chili) and rice, grilled chicken and the ever-present arepa.

I bought a purse at Boots and Bags and coffee and souvenirs at the Juan Valdez Cafe. It was another night of no security escort, just a taxi hired for the night. Perfect!

Security and dinner

Day 1 is almost over. I spent most of it in the office at my computer or interviewing people in the office. I didn't even get a chance to go out for lunch, but opted to work while eating a salad (chicken, lettuce, zucchini and tomatoes in an Asian sesame seed dressing - yummy!). At least the view from the office window was pretty. I watched the clouds roll in and out throughout the day. Quite a pleasant sight.

The view from my hotel is also lovely. One was taken in the morning and the other at sunset.

Two motorcycles escorted me to work this morning. The best thing about them is that they can stop traffic and let us through in areas where merging can be a problem. It's a quick 10 minute drive to the office. Badging into the office is interesting. At the building entrance my bags are searched and I have to go through a metal detector. Then I go to the Administration window and exchange my company badge for a building badge. This gets me through the security gate to the elevator and I "register" that I am bringing a computer. When we arrive at the company's floor I exchange the building badge for a visitor's badge for the floor. The whole process is reversed in the evening.

Amazingly enough I had no bodyguards or escorts when I went to dinner with a friend (Felipe) of a friend (Michelle). Instead, my guard hired a taxi for the evening. Our driver waited for us while we ate and arrived promptly after we called (using a cell phone from a street corner "business" selling cheap minutes on his 3 phones...the modern day pay phone!).

Felipe and I hit Andre's Carne de Res for a steak. They're most famous for their original restaurant in the Chia, which Felipe says is far from Bogota. The one in Bogota is in Zona Rosa, which is a popular shopping and dining area. The restaurant is designed very industrial with lots of steel, grating and multiple levels with half-levels which overlook the level below. Their logo has a heart so red is used a lot. The pottery is all hand made and decorated (and is available for purchase). Lots of very interesting decor, a band on the first level (with dance floor), bar, fireplace, etc. Here are some photos of the food, which was delicious!

My rib eye steak with arepa (corn cake) and baked tomato stuffed with mashed potatoes. Me and my bib (they place them on us). The jug on the left corner is for my glass of Malbec. And Felipe and his steak.

Getting the bill was actually fun! It came in this MasterCard box. Inside was a flashlight, magnifying glass (is this a hint?!), pen, candy, customer comment card, and the bill inside the large envelope. Totally cool packaging!

We culminated the evening by stopping at the Hard Rock Cafe to pick up a coffee mug for me and a key chain for a colleague at work who collects them. Quite a novelty since not many visitors come to Bogota from the U.S. We saw a pair of Shakira's pants - they're tiny and she's very short! Darn....wish I took a photo of it! Oh well!

Hola Bogota!

I arrived this evening after a 4.5 hour flight from Atlanta. The woman next to me is Colombian married to an American and lives in Atlanta. She's an immigration attorney who has her own practice and her hubby works for Delta so she flies home as often as she can to visit her family. We got along great and I have her email address and phone number in case I need a dinner or shopping companion.

Security is pretty tight for foreign visitors here. I had a bodyguard/driver and 3 police escorts on two motorcycles for the drive to the hotel. This will be my security team while I'm in Bogota. It may seem like overkill, but my family and boyfriend appreciates it.

Calling it a night....exhausted and I have a busy day ahead of me.

Chao!

Next destination: Colombia

It's been 3 years since I last traveled to Colombia and I'll return in November for a week. Unfortunately I'm slated to spend time in the same locations as before - Bogotá and Barranquilla. I look forward to seeing more of Bogotá on this trip since I'll have a weekend to spend visitng friends and sightseeing.

Check back in early November for posts and photos!