Ryanair -- Photos of Rio

Walking by a man selling nuts in Rio I could not resist. The peanuts are covered in crusty sweet coating and little pieces of coconut are covered in the same. So delicious.

 On returning to Rio we searched out the nut man and took a healthy supply back to the room for the trip. Here the nuts are mixed with a few other treasures. The cheesecake lollipops were a delight on the ship. We tried to eat some everyday.

Here the olympic stadium for the Olympics looks great but the rest of Rio is still under a lot of construction. How they can be ready in time, I don't know.

Our stop in Salvador Bahia had a huge elevator (279ft), dividing the lower town from the upper town.
Here is a street scene from the upper town. You see the old and the new.

Ryanair -Beware before you book

 We left amazing Barcelona to take a Ryanair Flight to Rome. Ryanairs moto is ‘point to point’, no frills cheapest fare. We paid $150.00 Canadian for 2 flights oneway. Good Deal!  Went online to checkin, one can do this 30 days before but you pay extra if you do that. So I went on again 7 days before to checkin online. We were travelling in low season so prices were less. 1 bag of 20 kilos= 30 euros, 1 bag of 15 kilos= 20 euros, to pick seat=4 euros, priority seating so you have a place for hand luggage=6 euros. I ended up paying more for luggage and seating than our seats originally cost but I did it for Greg’s peace of mind and mine but not so much mine. I just sucked it up and paid with my credit card online. Could not print out the boarding passes but I saw them.

Greg reading in our cruise room.

Greg studying the map in Rome in our hotel room.

And lunch in Rome consists of cheese, drink bread and homemade salad. 

Got to the line to drop off bags and because I did not print out the boarding passes, it was going to cost 15 euros each ($25Can) to have boarding passes printed out. I just kept refusing and finally when the third person came to tell me I had to do that, I stepped out of line, opened my ipad and started checking in again to find where I saw the boarding passes. (I had to sign in on Barcelona Airport wifi and needed to pay money so checked the free box and then somehow read I would get a free iphone in the mail. Knew something was wrong. What had I joined?) After half an hour or more, I got online and I found the boarding passes again. Showed them to the guy and he said OK. Hah!  I kept that 50 dollars in my pocket.

Then we had to show the boarding passes when checking in with security. I had kept my ipad open to the passes. However, one pass got read and then my ipad said I had to refresh it. So I stepped out of line again and searched again until I found the passes again. Got through security. Then I had to guard my ipad so I could get on the plane. I managed. Put the ipad in my bag. Then had to show the boarding passes again to get on the plane. Found the passes again.

Somewhere during all of this I read where one could download the Ryanair air app. But as Marcia knows, I could not find the app store. What a nightmare. Greg and I were so happy when we finally did get on the flight. Next time, I will think twice before I book Ryanair, the airline for cattle!

Stazione Termani
Rome

We are here in Rome at Rome Accommodation ... a hotel?

It is the size of a room in London.

We stayed here before and Greg liked it.

The only good about it is it is close to Termini Train Station.

We went for gelato tonight at the place Moiya found.

We bought a baguette and hunk of cheese before and chunked it on the way to gellato.

We were up early this morning.

Flying Ryanair is a nightmare. Will write about it later. Too tired now.

Hard not to want one of each!

We are safe and here until Apr. 27 early morning.

 Love,

Wyona

Sugar Loaf Mountain - answers to questions

]

From Wyona:

To answer Ivan's question,"How many fit inside"? This is a photo from inside. Greg thinks more than 30 people can go in one car.

And to answer Jamie's question, "How big is the landing"? This is a green walk on the middle landing. This is only the first level of the landing. There is a drinking/restaurant on each level, green trees, flowers, walkways. More room than it looks like.

And to Trent who believes that helicopters can fly past his bedroom window when he is dressing and see him, here is a helicopter just by the top of Sugar Loaf

And after a hot, hot day going up to Sugar Loaf, we sat down for a salad, the first green thing in five days. 

Rio's favelas...neighborhoods going up mountains

In Rio, the rich people lived in the valleys. The poor people really owned no land so they built their homes going up the mountains. These neighbourhoods are called 'favelas' which used to mean slum. However, they are built well and are now part of the culture. Greg walked up the mountainside and took these photos. There are cement stairs all the way up to the top.

Here Greg is looking down at where he came from.

They decorate, paint and have art all over their walls and fences.

This is a picture taken from the highway. You can see the favela going up the mountain. It has taken me over 3 hours to load these photos. The ship was rocking around last night and all day today. Just hang on as you weave across the hall. 

Dinner is waiting. 

Wyona

Rhapsody of the Seas

From Wyona:

... the outside of the Rhapsody of the Seas ...

After my marathon the first day, I had to limit my walking on the cobblestones.

Greg did the historical sites of the city on his own.

From São Paulo we took a 2.5 hour transfer to the port where we get on the Rhapsody of the Seas, Royal Caribbean which will take us to Barcelona.

... the inside of the ship ...

Yesterday the email was down at the hotel so it was the wrong day for blogging.

On the ship there will be some kind of Internet package ... so hang on.

Wyona

Rio to Sao Paulo to Rio

... iconic image of Sao Paulo ...

From Wyona:

We were up at 4:30 a.m. today to catch the plane to Sao Paulo.

We are on the ship now leaving Sao Paulo and going back to Rio for the day tomorrow.

Greg is tired and already snoring.

Wyona