Sao Paolo, Brazil

So long, Brazil!

Our very last day in Brazil: 9.2.2004.

02:00 Two beggars asked for a cigarette in Copacabana, Rio. Santeri said no as usual. The beggars started to behave aggressively and grabbed Santeri's hand. We escaped unharmed.

12:00 Went for a bar to have coffee with milk and some snacks. The two first bars didn't have kibe (local meatball) despite of being on their menu. We chose another snack but they didn't have it either. We ordered coffee with milk but there was no milk. We didn't order anything. In the third bar the waiter forgot to clean the table after the previous customers and didn't bring the mineral water we had ordered. He didn't forget the service fee, though.

14:00 Hotel Copacabana Sol in Rio de Janeiro charged extra for a one-time razor. The price of the razor was not mentioned in the price list which on the other hand contained all the other things with additional charge. The receptionist of the same hotel didn't bother to find out the timetable of airport bus when we asked.

14:30 The receptionist of another hotel showed us to the right bus stop. We waited there for 1,5 hours. She said the bus goes every 45 minutes. It never came.

16:00 We asked how much is a taxi ride to the airport. The first taxi driver tried to charge us 70 reals for a trip worth of maximum 30 reals.

17:00 Went to a restaurant in Rio's airport. The prices of the menu and the prices charged differed. The waiter told us that the menu was outdated and the prices had suddenly risen. Also a service "tax" was added.

20:30 When we arrived at Sao Paolo's international airport, an airport official stopped us. According to the official our luggage was not ours. We chose to ignore him.

22:00 We went to an international hotel chain Ibis near the airport. The advertised room was 69 reals. We paid with 70 reals and didn't get any change. The receptionist told us that one extra real was charged as tourist "tax".

23:00 Went for a dinner to a local bar in Guarulhos. We ordered an entrecote with big bowl of French fries, and confirmed that two times. We didn't get any French fries. We were told that they are not included in the portion by another waitress. We got a few loafs of microwave oven dried bread instead. Entrecote was a small pile of junk meat pieces.

23:30 We ordered an entrecote with French fries in Hotel Ibis. The staff told us that they had run out of French fries and we did not get any food that evening.

That's all folks!

Keywords: Brazil, experience, Sao Paolo, kibe, Hotel Copacabana Sol, Rio de Janeiro, taxi, Sao Paolo's international airport, Ibis, tourist tax, Guarulhos.