It's hot down here in Rio de Janeiro, which will be the sight of the largest New Year's party in the world with 2 million of my closest friends partying on Copacabana beach. We came down yesterday after a redeye from Miami. We almost didn't make it. The weather in NYC was surprisingly warm at 47 degrees with sunshine on Friday. I was packed and ready to go hoping there would be no delays, but that's wishful thinking in the NY metro area. It's the most trafficked air space in the world with 3 major airports running at full speed, which means invariable delays. I was optimistic nonetheless. I called my traveling companion to meet me on the east side of Manhattan so we could hop on a cab to JFK. She underestimated the holiday crowds and traffic in Times Square. That's when I got the call from my frantic friend who told me she had moved 3 blocks in 7 minutes. Ouch. I told her not to worry because we had scheduled some buffer time to get to JFK. Thankfully, she got through the midtown traffic and we got to JFK with an hour to spare. But the adventures did not stop there. We found the electronic kiosks and got rejected because the kiosks will not distribute tickets within 60 mins of departure; we were at the kiosks 59 mins prior to departure. One freakin minute! So we proceeded to the counter which was running slow, but after a 15 min wait, we got our tixs and headed to Gate 4 where we found out that our plane was running late. Damn. Then 15 mins later, it was further delayed. We had only a 90min layover in Miami, and we had eaten up 75 minutes of it. While on the plane, I was wondering how far we would have to run to get to the next gate. Thankfully, we arrived at gate 43 and walked across the terminal to gate 44 for our flight to Rio. When we had arrived, they had already boarded half the plane. We made our flight and made it to Rio. I barely slept on the 8hr flight, even with 2 glasses of red wine.
I'm blogging on day 2 of our trip and it's been pretty relaxing, even with the head cold I brought with me from New York. I'm lounging in front of the window with a view of the beach, which is dotted with sunbathers. Does it get any more relaxing than hearing the ocean waves and a front row view of the ocean? When we arrived at the Marina All Suites hotel, our room wasn't ready at 10am. I found it odd because we were told prior to arriving that this was a new room and that we would be the first guests. Btw, Darko met us at the airport so we're now a party of 3. I couldn't understand why we would have to wait till 2pm if we were the first guests ever in the new Crystal suite? Was the paint waiting to dry? Actually, pretty much yes. Hard to believe, but the room was under construction up until we arrived. That's how new this room was. Darko went all out and got us the top floor room, which means we essentially own the floor. The room is definitely better than the Hotel Byblos in St. Tropez. So the reason we came to this hotel was because during Darko's research, he had found out that the Marina All Suites is where Gisele and other supermodels come to stay, but they usually stay in the Diamante suite which is right below us. When you walk into the lobby, it's pretty unassuming and hard to believe supermodels come to this hotel when in Rio, but the rooms are very nice. I'm starting to believe in boutique hotels.
Fast forward to last night, and I'm at the 2nd floor hotel bar ordering us drinks. I asked the bartender if we could just bill the drinks to our room. He asked me what room and I responded with "1701." He looked up and said, "did you say 1701?" I said "yes." He then tells the waiters standing next to me in Portuguese that I'm in 1701. They turn to me and say "congratulations, you're the first in that room." In this awkward exchanged, I could only say thank you. They then asked me how the room was and I said, it's very nice. And they replied, "of course of course." I get the drinks and tell Darko the story. He then suggests we have an open suite party for the hotel staff on our last day. Ha!
Our hotel is situated on the beach in Leblon, which is next to Ipanema, which is next to Copacabana. It's a beautiful view from my bedroom, and relaxing hearing the ocean waves with the window open. I don't know if it gets any better than this. Well, it could if there were a spa downstairs because I'm a spa whore. lol
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