... Final emotions and images:)

... So it's the last day and in exactly 10 hours I'll be taking off from Rio, destined for England... All the questions in my own mind and from people I meet are about reflection and about my next destination in life... it's complicated buisness... This won't be my last post on this blog... I always find with books and stories they can end abruptly in the final moment, without pause for reflection... I'll reflect and there'll be a epilogue (and also the credits... there are many people I need to thank... it's not like I couldn't have done this trip without many of you, its just that it wouldn't have been the same without you:) ... but today on my last day my heart is a bit torn... I walked along Copacabana listening to awesome classic music... 'Not fade away' (Rolling Stones), 'Rock the casbha' (The Clash) etc etc... My heart is heavy as I look at the sun and the beach, the music rolling around my mind with the memories of this trip... People ask me about my favorite places I've been, ask me what I am going to do next, and I hear them talk about their next destinations... I give advice and give the vague answers about my future... I'm torn because I've loved this trip... I've had some moments that just make me want smile and shed a tear when I think back, moments of true joy, moments I'll never forget... and even last night I met new and wonderful people... I shared my stories from Joe's St.Petersburg mishap, to trains through Russia, to travelling down Vietnam, and beach residence in Koh Chang... but as I heard about their future plans I wasn't envious or jealous... although I'm nervous about setting a new and different route in life once I`m back in England, I'm content to be going back... there are family, friends, pets and places I need to be reunited with back home... I'm excited about it...

... My indecicivness makes me occasionally wonder if I made the right choices during my foray across the globe but really there are no wrong choices in this traveling game (well, within reason there are `no wrong choices`)... even last night I was worrying, should I watch a football game on my last night traveling or should I go for a meal with the Canadian/Italian girls I also know here... I went to the football to watch Ronaldinho's Flamengo against Horizonte, at the game met a great group of people, watched a poor game but also had a good time, went for a few beers after... just had a great time... choices during traveling are usually win-win... you can't do everything so just follow your gut, instinct, or advice you trust... I could have gone to Ilhe Grande instead of Paraty (on the Brazilian East coast)... maybe Ilhe Grande would have been great but Paraty was great and I met awesome people... At the game I met Tom a Londoner who I could impart my footballing knowledge unto and feel like a bit of a football-yoda... Laura-Noel, a Canadian originally from Uruguay who shared my unrelenting joy for Montevideoian football... and also Victor the Dane who had a story about everything and Steve the gregarious American... it was great, even if the game was crap and Ronaldinho was an eternal dissapointment...

... But back to my emotions today... everything is too recent for me to say what was the best thing I did or place I visited... I'll reflect upon it and it'll be the post-script/epilogue... but I wanted to get some of the raw feelings down here before they disappear and I forget them forever as I return to the real world... I'm tired today after 6 hours of fitful drunken sleep (after a nice cheeky pint or two with my friends from the game:) and this makes me feel sadder about leaving (lack of sleep makes me grumpy or emotional) but in a weird oxymorionic way I'd feel sad if I didn't feel sad about leaving... its a sign of a time I loved, to feel sad that it's ending... but as they say, 'onwards and upwards'...

... I'll write my recomendations, my highlights, the things I miss and need to do again, the places I would avoid and those I didn't explore enough... but that's for the epilogue... after I've settled down back at home and actually make sense of what I've done and where I've been... for now I'll end what is probably my last post on the blog from foreign shores (I might add more if I get especially bored or inspired at the airport) with some photos from my last two days... ... ... ... and while I remember I need to say thank you to you for reading this, for being in contact, for sending little messages... I've loved doing this blog and I'm glad some people have enjoyed it... its made my trip even better having the chance to write things down and share them with you good people in this blogging medium... ... ... ... Thank You! ... :) 

Lapa and Santa Teresa

Fancy steps... all made with tiles by one local individual... nice:)

Rio football fans... low in numbers but the flag to fan ratio is high!

Your humble narrator:)

Copacabana

Ipenema

Ok, so I'm in Copacabana... but where exactly am I?

Oh Flavelas, don't be so shy... peering around the posh buildings like a nervous child... join the party!

P.S. If anyone is interested, in the game I watched Flamengo drew 1-1 with Horizonte... So my 100% record is truly gone... but on reflection, 9 games, 7 wins, a draw and a loss... I'll take that! :)

Some pictures from Rio:)Me

Me and Copacabana from atop sugar-loaf mountain

Rio at sunset:)

Copacabana close-up

The city from sugar-loaf mountain... Jesus lurks among the clouds and the Flavelas through the valleys like glaciers

The Flavelas from below, as I walked from Copacabana to Ipenema

... So today is the last full day of my trip... it's kind of scary but all good things come to an end... ... ... I've spent much of my last few days here as I've spent most of this trip, with good people... I visted sugar-loaf mountain yesterday with Michelle (from Canada), Claudia (Canadian originally from Italy... her cousin was an Italian footballer in the 90s at Inter Milan, understudy to Roberto Carlos!), and Rina (from Italy) ... (so yes, I'm back to traveling with women;) ... we went up sugar loaf to get a lovely view of the city, just look at the photos above if you don't believe me:) ... I'll meet them in an hour and we'll go explore some famous and beautiful steps in the Lapa area of Rio (you'll see what I mean when I post some photos)... ... once I've returned home I might blog once or twice more just to summarise the final few days, and then the blog will be no more... that will be a sad day when I say goodbye to this baby:(

... Keep well everyone... I might blog properly tomorrow (I fly from Rio home at 10.45pm) but it might wait until I'm back in the UK... who knows... as Bob Dylan said, 'the times they are a changing'... ... ...

Keep well everyone:)

Jesus Christ!

... So it's Monday, only two full days left of this travelling game, then home time... The final stretch is here in Rio De Janiero... a lovely little spot... a city that seems much smaller then it really is... after the vast sprawl of Sao Paulo, Rio seems caged and limited... you almost never have a clear boarder to a city, even the city walls of old in cities around England now just act as city center tourist attractions (in Southampton's case I use the term 'tourist attraction' in the loosest sense possible)... Rio is limited by the landscape... it seems small because green hills limit the sprawl to either side... I know this is somewhat of an illusion, especially as the green hills themselves home much of the cities working classes, but it gives the city more of a feel like a collaboration of zones , rather then a vast mesh of concrete where everything merges together into a seemingly gray nothingness... it's nice:) ... this is especially nice because many zones of the city have a beach (Copacabana, Ipenema, Flamengo, Botofogo, Lapa) and clear greenery... the more city-ish areas are no goes for me this time around... I stayed near then last time I was here in a place called Santa Teresa and I don't want to stay there again... That area was meant to be the creative and arty area but really just left me feeling uncomfortable after dark as I guess the poorness of the art types means the area also has other groups of poor people and homeless people that give the average, cowering tourist an uncomfortable feeling... So now I stay in Ipenema, a stone's throw from the beach and an area where it feels safe to walk at day and night...

Ipenema, a stretch of beach and city in an affluent part of twon squeezed between the sea and the lake

 ... My two days here I've spent mostly with Martin, my German friend I met in Vietnam, and two German friends he made in his last hostel... its been nice and Martin is a good lad, we can even have banter about things that carried on between our countries quite a long time ago... we are really two generations away from that and can speak candidly about it and even make jokes of poor taste... its nice... although with his other two German friends, who were cool, I did find myself getting a bit nationalistic and arguing about are respective nations talents in every sport that came up... Football, Boxing, F1... you'd be surprised to hear (or maybe not) that I was quite opinionated on these things even if I didn't really know anything about it... (I'm sure my friends and family can sympathise with the poor Germans in this case... sometimes I can be a bit argumentative... ... and we all know that sometimes facts can get in the way of a good argument... except when they back up my point!)... ... ... and before I suggested that Martin was a tight ass... well he bought me a beer on Saturday, so I guess I need to take that back... :)

... as I've accumulated a few footy shirts during my travels, I realise that the game and the tribal affections they bring can cause reactions in people all over the world... In Argentina I got a comment every day as I wore a new shirt, no matter how obscure... In Paraty some street sellers got excited as they thought my Colo Colo shirt meant I was a Chilean... and today, my Nacional shirt (from Montevideo) prompted a man on the metro to shout at me as I walked past... he then pointed at me... I smiled and was on my way... I later realised that Nacional had recently beaten Rio's second biggest club Fluminese in the Copa Libatadores... So maybe I should be more sensitive to the local tastes...

... After a nice night of a couple of beers last night I came to spend my first night in my hostel in Ipenema... I made an effort to talk to people as all my Germans were leaving on Monday so I needed a new pool of friends... I started talking and drinking with a nice little crowed and had a nice night (got a little drunk but only in a good way:) ... One American looked like Ben Afflick (US actor) and so despite his name being Quentin (classic) I started calling him Ben... There was an odd Irish guy, Singaporian girl couple who were cool but very opinionated and the guy had a rugby players build and a boxer's nose so I didn't disagree with him too often... they were odd in the sense that they were a couple, but the Irish guy worked in Singapore and the Singaporian girl lived in London... apparently they get by with lots of skype... ... interestingly (referring to my noticing a vending machine with books my Nitzsche in) she told me that in Japan there are vending machines where guys can buy used underwear with a picture of the girl who used to own them on (how very strange!!!)... There was also an Italian women who told me how beautiful the south of Italy is, telling me about the mafia, and saying that I looked Italian (not the first time mind you... I think Wendy once told me I looked like an Italian football player... I do think I was wearing my Italian football top at the time though!)... I was so pleased with the final comment,and the lashings of beer I'd had, that I started talking in flourishes and making Italian hand gestures (not uncommen though, ask the guys I play football with!)...

...Went to see Christ the Redeemer today... it's very impressive and a must do, like Rio's Statue of Liberty...

I've been traveling for 7 months, and I've finally found Jesus... there he is!

... And now time for the close-up

... It was nice but way too busy... I was already grumpy because of the excess beer the night before and Martin's being late too meet me... I was a bit in grumpy mood, so a crowed of tourists (I don't know why I try to separate myself from a group that I am clearly a part of) drove me a bit made and had me grumbling to myself... I wanted to get a stupid picture in front of the statue where I was making the peace signs like you so often see young female Asian tourists do... when I saw the photo and how a guy had sneaked into it and turned it from me trying to make a funny snap into a guy making me look like a prat and him the funny guy, well, I was fuming... I even efffed and jeffed a bit out loud... that was a bit stupid of me, and actually the photo is a bit funny... but grumpy Matt (oops, return of the 3rd person!) mixed with a crowed, mixed with someone mocking me... well, it doesn't improve my mood...

The photo... actually, now I look at it, he was probably just minding his own buisness not mocking me... guess that shows how a bad mood can affect your judgment... also, with my football shirt I look a bit like a human billboard!

The tourist circus, everyone copying that bloody pose... P.S. Doesn't the guy in the foreground look like a Brazilian Steven Merchant?

More posers (I firmly include myself in that label)... but at least there's also a beautiful landscape in this photo:)

 ... ... ... but really it was a nice place to go, they cityscape was beautiful and really highlighted the mele of city and beautiful natural landscape that form this unique city... the Jesus is equally impressive... it's a must see but you won't leave thinking 'wow'... just, 'well that was nice' ... ... I was a bit on alert because you hear stories of pick pocketing up there and I remember one person saying that you should even take a camera up there if you want to keep it (which I have to say is exaggeration of the centuary!)... but at one point an old Brazilian woman who spoke excellent English came up to me and Martin and asked how we found it... we were protective of our bags the whole time but really she was just chatting... it was her second time up there after a long gap and I think she just felt a bit of pride in it as she was from Rio and she wanted to see how we liked her city... we were polite and honest, its a great city... she was proud... and she was very shocked when she heard our ages (me 26, Martin 29 if you didn't know)... she said she would guess that we were 18 or 19!! ... That is a recurring theme of this trip for me... it seems that I look about 19... I always thought I looked exactly my age, but really I'm a baby faced cherub of a man... ... now I just need to find a way to keep my squeky clean beauty but also have a gritty edge which shows the ladies of the world that I'm a man of the world... then I'm set... when I have that sorted, watch out ladies:) ... (I'm concious that I started talking about looking older and manly after the old Brazilian mistook me for a nipper... I'll make it clear... she was a lovely women who was proud of her city and even wanted her photo taken with us... but she is not my type... ... I'm more of a Nora Batty man myself (For those of you who are actually nippers and don't just look it, Nora Batty was in a sitcom about old people in a village called 'Last of the Summer wine'... yeah, I know, sounds great doesn't it;)... ... ... we ended the day by getting the sunset at Ipenema beach and then grabbing frozen yogurt (they're obsessed with it here... there are literally about 15 shops dedicated to frozen yogurt in Ipenema alone!) before Martin headed off to the airport... he's off to Cuba now... Its been a good time and he's a good lad, but I don't envy his trip carrying on, Easter at home with the Family is my next stop (cheesy, but I am looking forward to it... my biggest moment of home sickness was Christmas day... I missed the classic family day... it was incidentally my biggest hangover sickness day also, after an eventful Christmas eve (read the archive of this blog if you want to know more about that:))...

Sunset at Ipenema... notice the handsome 18 year old with the shiny face in the foreground;)

... Other asides... Max is my travelers name with locals... they often can't get their head and mouth around Matt (or maybe, my pronunciation of Matt) and so call me Matt... rather then correct them, I just accept it... I've had that name everywhere from Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine to Paraty in Brazil... so if you hear of the tales of the adventurer Max... that might well be me;)

... As money has got tighter near the end of my travels I've had to resort to cooking every so often... my signature dish is spagetthi with tomato sauce... that's because that is the only thing I can cook unaided... it's the signature dish equavilent of signing your name with an X... my uni housemates will remember my other classic, Birdseye chicken fillets cut up on a bag of pre-made salad... What skills I have!

... OK, time to go... only two full days left, so better get my sleep in... tomorrow, Sugar Loaf mountain for another lovely view of the city... going with the Italian women and her cousin... a nice excuse for more Italian hand gesturing and lessons about the Mafia:)

Keep well people, see you soon (unless you don't live in Bristol or England)...

Hugs and Kisses,

Matt:)

P.S. It seems that on Brailian buses obese people get the privalage of special seats along with all the usual groups such as Pregnant women (not pregnant men Arnie) and disabled folk...

Take a seat (or two)

 ... This has to be up there with my favorite traveling information signs with the Thai equivalent of this sign which signified seats must also be given up for Monks (I don't mean to mock this too badly though because I had some respect for the monks of South East Asia... I actually miss their orange presence:), the no spitting signs in China, and the 'don't use the hose attached to the toilet as a shower or squat upon the seat of the toilet' signs from Siem Reap in Cambodia (toilets where you sit to (for want of a better word) crap are so unusual to some Cambodia folk that they actually climb on the seat and squat upon it) ... ... ... Anyway, bye for now my beautiful friends:)

 

Paraty time and the metaphorical quasi-Armageddon kiss

... I can see by the look smeared across your chops, like a satisfied cat with a milk moustasche, that you're pleased its blog time... you're excited, you've been waiting day and night to hear of my adventures in Paraty... well here it is, the long awaited blog...

... So Paraty is a little town... it had the feel of one of those places where everyone knows everyone... people are constantly saying hi to each other in the street as everyone but the tourists is familure... as the bus began to pull in I became instantly reminded with some of the places I loved in Asia... with Hue in Vietnam, Battenbang in Cambodia, even Koh Chang in Thailand... I had the fait feeling like in one of those romantic films where the girl and the guy finally get together after ages as friends, but it happened just at the moment they were to separate forever (probably because he was going on some space mission in quasi-Armageddon style... it was like, in my last week travelling, this girl, her name Brazil, finally started showing me a bit of leg... she started showing me her beauty... (I know I've seen lots of beautiful things in my time here, but I like this metafore so I'm gonna run with it)... I have that sense of excitment and enjoyment, but also denyal, as this travelling lark will soon be finished... for now... ... ...  ... Ooooooh, I smell a sequal;)

... but that elongated metafore to one side, its really a nice little place... not quite as beautiful as some places in Asia, and not quite as easy because of the lack of English-speakers here... also the food is crap here, that and lack of funds have finally pushed me to cook for myself! ... but generally its still been a great little stop near the end of my trip... the beaches are isolated and lovely, the old town is cobbled with beauty and cobbles, the people smile and are friendly... a nice place to be...

Cobbled... not wheelchair friendly

My hostel

Quiet drink at the beach

Bridge over troubled water,or, a bridge too far? ... can't decide which to use as the caption

The beast emerges

... I also got one more beautiful taste of what I've called Transient Friendships... those beautiful little friendships you build up, literally, overnight... I've kind of lost my mojo in terms of being the lovely affable traveller who can accost any person as a new friend, I think it went with the hair cut, Samson-esque... so I'd just chilled on my own for the first couple of days... then this Israli girl accosted me, she saw I had spagetthi and so invited herself to cook and eat with me... obviously my first response was, 'Oh Christ, me talk with someone? Cook with someone? This just aint gonna work!'... but we cooked and ate and then visited a waterfall the next day... it was a cool waterfall you could kind of slide down like a flume at a water park... Anyway, after I thawed a bit I got on really well with this girl, then others joined us and we had a nice little group dinner for my last night in Paraty (not in honour of it or anything)... it was good to meet new people again, build up a new repore with people, get a bit of cross-culture banter going (I can't believe I asked the Isralie girl, Ella, if they had KFC in Israle... Kosher Fried Chicken... Oh, I was very pleased with myself for that pun:)... it was another metaphorical Armageddon style last moment kiss for my travelling... a moment I relived the joy of meeting people traveling and got that warm feeling inside (not indigestion, trapped wind, or internal bleeding... I just mean, like, cheesy happiness:)... I'll miss those moments, they are enjoyable... I only spend a day and a half or two days with Ella and the others, but I genuinely left with a heavy heart, as much for leaving a good new friend in Ella as from the thought that these moments won't happen back in Blighty... these fleeting friendships which happen so quickly and seem so intense but are gone in an instant... but to make myself feel better about coming home, I know the whirlwind friendships will be missed, but they will be replaced by something a bit deeper and longer lasting... I'm going to replace the whirlwind witha constant cooling breeze, perhaps not as exciting, but better in the long run:) ... ... ... OK, I should stop this cheesyfriendship talk... I'm getting confused by what I mean as a metafore and what I mean as literal... but thanks for accosting me and my Spagetthi Ella, I needed someone to pull me out of myself and show me one of the greatest things about travelling, the friends you make and the cool people you meet... So I guess that's not just to Ella but to many people out there... Cheers:)

(singing) And now, the end is hear, and so I face, the final city... yes, my last city of traveling (at least for now... gotta find myself one of these "lives" I hear people talking about so much!), Rio... I arrived today and it is blazingly hot with blue skies... I'm in a cheap hostel today but tomorrow I move to a 'not quite as cheap' hostel (Still under 15 quid) a stones throw from Ipenima beach... 

I'm trying to find the girl from Ipenima... it's like a game of Where's Wally!

... Tomorrow, me and the German lad Martin (I first met him in Na Trang and I distinctly remember writing a blog about what a tight ass him and another guy were when I was in Munie... but he's a good lad... Hope he didn't read the blog though... I hope he hasn't bided his time for retributuion! ;) are going to look at the Big Jesus... Can't wait:) 

OK, I'm off for some spagetthi (only thing I can cook:), watch El Clasico on TV, and then a couple of beers with Martin... :)

Keep well people... ... ... strangley, after this blog I really want to watch Armageddon... and I've now got that damned Aerosmith song stuck in my head!!!

Love you,

Matt the Redeemer:)

 

Leaving Sao Paulo

... So I arrived in Paraty today, a costal resort between Sao Paulo and Rio... the 4am start is taking its toll so it will be an early night tonight... also its bloody boiling here... I'll just sit by the river reading, drinking a quiet beer before bed... its a tough life:)

... but to reflect on Sao Paulo, its a pretty cool place and I hardly touched the surface... of all the things I'd heard about the city, most were negative with the words 'hole' and 'shit' often used... but that seems very harsh to me... it may be because my South American travels have been largely urban, so I'm used to the hussel and bussel... and that is really what you get with Sao Paulo... with 6 million cars, it has more automobiles then Ireland has people... ... In retrospect, I probably should have spent far more time in the nature of South America... as I arrived in Paraty I felt calmed by its small town feel... it reminded me of the cool little places I visited in Asia, especially Hue in Vietnam... although it is still more difficult here then there (but I only say that to stress how easy it was in Vietnam!)... As the bus drew up I thought, 'yes, this feels right'... but I don't regret my pinball of city breaks across South America... I'll admit, football held a large factor in my attraction to South America so I had to immerse myself in it... but given more time and motivation and money I would be more vast in how I dived in to this continent:) ... ... ... but anyway, back to my Sao Pauloian reflections... ... yes, it was far nicer then I expected... the hostel was nice and the staff were lovely... I had to sleep on an extra bed which I asked for over the email because the whole city was booked out because Bono and his friend The Edge decided to play some songs there... everyone in the hostel was obsessed with U2 so I had to try my best not to piss on their parade by saying how I feel they're not all that... bless 'em, these people had come from all over Brazil, I should let them have their fun without putting my unwanted two pence in... I did feel a bit uncomfortable with one member of the staff... he was gay and I think he took a shine to me (they seem to like me!)... yesterday I was cooking pasta and he came in to bake a cake... he kept making me feel nervous and at one point I actually broke into a sweat (a sweat of uncomfortability... I won't have any lude suggestions from you people;)... but he was an OK lad really, just a bit obsessed with Lady Gaga... oh yeah, and the cake he made was bloody lovely:) ... ... One thing I learnt from him and some Brazilian girls I met last night (I always seem to make friends the day before I leave a hostel... sods law at work again!) is their opinion of English people... we are very Nervous and Serious... after I gave them a lecture on how they are wrong and we are really a fun loving people as long as the fun is ordered and organised and people form a que, I started to listen and I did kind of understand... just as my English pride came out in Argentina I can understand that we are a more reserved people relative to Brazilians (but that statement can be interpertated in various ways!) ... generally it was a good time in the hostel, especially a festival of Mario Party 8 on the Wii on my penultimate night at the hostel with Rowan, a lad I went to a Corinthians game with on Sunday... I won't dwell on the game too much, my reflections are much the same as with the Palmeries game, surprisingly good atmosphere for a little game... the only major stumbling point was that they lost... they ruined my 100% record as they lost 2-1... and the heavens opened into what seemed a typical Sao Paulo heavy-flash-downpour! ... that actually improved things for me as people began to bounce around to keep warm... ... it's a shame that my 100% record has gone... but it was another nice experience:) ...

... OK, so time for some photos... of me around the city and at the football game... also, yesterday I went up this tall tower in Sao Paulo and took some photos of the panoramic views of the city... when you look at them I think you will also be struck by the vast urban sprawl of the city... it's really, unbelievably vast... anyway, enjoy the pics:)

A nice little stadium

The heavens open as my 100% record is lost

A pretty long road

An intimidating amount of buildings scraping the sky

Ok, so there are some beautiful things in this urban landscape

... Some more of that urban beauty:)

  
So there you have it... I'll post more once Paraty has weaved its way into my mind...

Until then, keep well:)

Lots of love,

Matt:)

Sao Paulo pictures part 1:)

So time for some photos:)

The mixed up city

Sometimes it can feel quite a cool place

A lovely little bank

City scape

Getting into the spirit

Its not incredible but it is a decent atmosphere for a redundant championship:)

Me:)

Time for a Dave Clarke 5 reprise:)

... Good evening everybody... That´s right, its what you´ve all been waiting for... the Dave Clarke 5 reprise... hit it boys...

... yes, its that time again... the time when I have loads of fragments of things I need to catch up with so I just mash them all together in one bit one pot supper of a blog... So, shall we begin?

So RE. the times where my bits come up in the podcasts I got things on recently (see previous post), In the World Football Phone-in my bit is around 31 minutes into the phone in and in the Football Ramble my e-mail comes in around 36 minutes... so there you are, enjoy...

I forgot to mention that Sao Paulo really had bizarre and fascinating architeture... maybe it is, in itself, a bit of a metafore for the culturally mixed nature of Brazil... you´ll see grand old buildings, new buildings, 60´s buildings, arty buildings, derilict buildings, all in one look up in the city... its really strange and a hard city to place... just when you think you´ve got it sussed up pops an old art deco bank or some 70s monstrosity covered in cool graffitti... its really a big mismash of a place... I´ve heard the city even has the largest Japanese population outside of Japan...

... I´ve now learn how I cope with the language issues since I´ve been in South America... I´ve found I am a classic Englishman who can´t help just talking a bit louder if they don´t understand... and in the same way I realise when I´m a bit tired and cranky I can be easily frustrated when I don´t know what someone is saying to me... I´ll just kind of give up and mutter to myself rather loudly (and I usually swear)... I know its weird and they probably think I´ve lost my marbles but I guess its just an insight into the type of old man I will become... When I was at the bus station in Montevideo waiting for my bus to BA I remember a guy wouldn´t let me go to my bus platform and eventually scuttled to one side muttering something like, "OK well I´ll just stand over here shall I and try and guess what the bloody hell you´re saying"... I guess these are moments when I do lose my marbles a little bit... but hey, I´ve been traveling alone for 7 months(ish) its normal by this point to speak to myself a little bit...

... Watching football in Argentina was really quite bizarre, the commentators are a bit crazy... when ever any player scores they do the classic "GGOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL" ... but then they often turn the end of the thing into a kind of song... Rooney scored his hat-trick for united and he turned the end of his elongated-goal into something sounding like Ob-la-di... also he seemed to take a bit of a liking to Scott Parker of West Ham and his 1950s hair... but for some reason, every time he mentioned Parker he also said the name Hugh Grant... Argentinian commentators are weird ...

... I saw the weirdest vending machine in the Sao Paulo metro yesterday... it sold books... many by the depressing Philosopher Nietzsche... I´d have thought they wouldn´t want to encourage metro customers to feel that depressing philosophy with the oppertuinity to throw oneself under a metro train and all...

I really suggest non football fans switch off now for a football interlude... next time you see italic text, you´ll be free to read non football stuff:)

.... Oh and now for the boring bit... I went to another football game tonight... this evening, Palmieres v Gremio (not the big Gremio from Porto Alegre, but a different, much crapper one... I wonder if any of you people wondered if it was the "big" Gremio... probably none)... ... ... Now the national competition doesn´t start in Brazil until May and this was just a State championship game but there was a good crowd in full voice... it was a better atmosphere then the Copa Libatadores game I saw in Rio which should really be a bigger game... this game won back my faith in Brazilian football :) (I´ll put some photos and videos up soon for the football stuff and to show you this city:) ... According to the Brazilian expert who I ask the questions to on that Phone in podcast (there is really no greater authority on the Brazilian game in the British media then Tim Vickery) said that this state championship only survives because of politics within the Brazilian football association, but this game was important to the fans and they were loving it... and it was only against the bottom team... Although the home fans were awesome there was really no away support... I´ve seen no more depressing a sight then a man dressed as a bumbull bee being a mascot and trying to whip up a frenzy among 15 (yes, I counted) away fans... because I want to be a good lad I paid extra for my ticket (still only around 10 quid) so I´d sit away from the extreme fans... when I got in I saw it was just a free for all anyway and I could sit anywhere in the stadium with even the cheapest tickets... oh well... ... ... also I can see where they get all that flair in their football... they love a little trick over here... they went mental everytime anybody did a little flick and the commotion often left grown men giggling to themselves... they bloody love making the opponent looking like a bit of a mug... Palmiers´ manager is Big Phil Scolari... the man who led Brazil to the world cup in 2002... and they love him... they had about 50 kids lined up to make a tunnel for the players to walk out on to the pitch... when Filipao (which is Brazilian for Big Phil) walked out the kids literally mobbed him (although I´m not exactly sure what the literal definition of mobbing is?) ... then the players walked out and the mobbing continued... so they love a trick and an affectionate mobbing here :)

OK, I now think you´re free of most of the football bullshit;)

... ... ... anyway, my team (the home team, Palmeires) won 2-0... so my 100 % record continues... ... ... so if your team is in need of good luck, please mail me some complimentary tickets (including transport, a pie, a beer) and I´ll work my magic for your team.... ... ... looks like I´ve found my new job;)

OK, thats enough bits-and-pieces for one day...

See you soon:)

Matt

Free Boiled Sweets:)

So here I am, in another city but returning to an old friend... I´m in Sao Paulo with my old friend Brazil... I thought I wouldn´t have much to write about but how wrong was I... buses in Argentina are awesome... I kept a mini diary on my iPod Touch... I´ll copy and paste it below and then explain it... but it mainly consists of a list of things I got offered and I accepted during the trip:

Boiled sweet 

Whisky - Whisky face 

Coke  

Beer and hot meal (mystery canaloni) 

Champaign 

DAY 2 

Morning change coach-coffee and cakes 

The Fighter 

Biscuit from Flavio/Tiago 

Lunch (chicken and maybe polenta cake) and coke 

... So as you can see, I got offered some lovely treats... the bus was from Buenos Aires and the treats started with a lovely boiled sweet... my first thought was, ´This isn´t an airplane´ ... but then as I spyed the sugar coated boiled sweet I thought, ´When in Rome...´ ... and it didn´t stop there, Whisky was the next offer and it caused me to try out my whisky face, where I look into the distance pensively, as if the world´s troubles were on my shoulders... The Coke that is next in the list is of the ´-a-cola´ variety and nothing to do with the illegal white powder... Then beer and a hot meal of cannaloni with a filling I never quite placed... Then Champaign just before bed for some reason... I had two glasses... I could get used to this kind of bus travel:) 

... we changed buses in the morning and that is when the lovely people on the bus started coming into their own, letting me know what was going on and the fact that there was free coffee and biscuits avaliable in the depot, even despite no one really knowing English and me not knowing either Spanish or Portugese... lovely people:) ... Then I watched The Fighter in English (I love how they merely subtitle films) Flavio (my new Brazilian friend along with Tiago:) offered me a biscuit and then we had a hot chicken dinner on the bus... but the Brazilian border bought problems... the party was over, free stuff was finished... before the border half of Korea got on the bus (I´ve no problem with them just now suddenly the bus was full after having only a small comunity of lovelies before that!)... then once over the border the free stuff stopped... I had to buy my own chicken supper (the shame!)... and no whisky or Champaign to help me sleep (I´m used to it now... and where is my bloody boiled sweet?!)... but the bus journey wasn´t that bad but for back ache from sleeping on a reclining bus seat two nights in a row... I watched the film Salt featureing the lovely but a little intimidating Angleina Jolie... there was an issue with the subtitling in this film though... there were bits where they just spoke Russian and there were only Spanish subtitles where English ones would be... luckily I´m a fairly poor student of the Russian language so I was able to tease out a little information from these passages but unfortunatly not enough to make sense of the exchanges... at least I knew it was an action film so the only real things of note are when she miraculously saves the world from a coming nuclear war stimulated by Russian agents (come on Hollywood, you really shouldn´t still be relying on the Cold War for your film ideas... its been so long since David Hasselhoff single handedly tore down the Berlin war)... ... I guess they are just not allowed to give out the free goods over in Brazil... but my advice to travelers... always take the bus in Argentina... even if a flight is comparable price... you get much more for your bus-buck and you´ll finish in a bus station in the city near a metro station... when you fly you end up in the middle of no where... that´s just a handy tit-bit for you:)

So as for Sao Paulo... its hard to place it really... its a massive sprawling city... just massive... I´ve not explored it yet but I´ve had time to visit the Nationa Football Museum (I managed to miss two out of three penalties in a penalty shoot out stall they had!... what else would you expect from an Englishman... One was spectacularly Waddle-esque:) ... I´ve also spyed the local games... off to watch Palmeiras tonight and Corinthians tomorrow:) ... I like the bazarre things they sell on the street here... I´ve already passed a man selling only remote controls and shavers, and I´ve seen a man painting with just his feet... and then just now I saw a feather-duster sales man... its the land of the euntrapenur:) ... Also, I mentioned before the diversity of Brazil, but it is really true... its such a mixed country that literally anybody could be Brazilian... I can´t remember seeing such a diverse country... of course, I have no idea of how all the different groups get along... but there do seem like lots of mixed couples.

My flirtation with the football media in the UK continues... the e-mail to The Football Ramble which I included in my post "Lovely Montevideo and the eternal sigh of the damned:)" on the 31st March got read out on their show this week... you can download the show for free at:

http://www.thefootballramble.com/index.php/podcasts/episode/the-statue-is-mine

Similarly, I was back on that world football phone in last night asking about Uruguayan football (seriously.... I´m such a geek:) ... if you want to hear my voice, download the podcast at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/wf

When I get back to the hostel I´ll check what time in the podcasts my respective bits are and put it in the comments to this post so you don´t have to listen to the whole thing... but I assure you, both shows are interesting... honestly... no really... ok, maybe its just me...

... Well now there are only 2 weeks left in this trip... its gone both fast and slow... it seems days ago that I left but also home and all the things I was up to before I left seem like the deepest, distant past...

I´ll catch up with you when I return to Blighty... but enjoy these posts while they are here... they´ll dry up when I´m back... you´ll miss these little nuggets... when I´m back you´ll have to listen to this nonsense come straight out of my face!

Anyway, keep well my people:)

Matt:)

Bye bye Boca...

... So today I leave BA... I'm leaving on good terms after a very shaky start... I've seen the football, cycled the cuty, seen a drum concert and met friends and today I visited the tourist friendly part of the working class area of La Boca (see pictures below)... it is a strange, Disny land type place in the middle of an incredibly rough neighbourhood... a little colourful region has been cordened off for tourists, a safe haven for people to get pictures with a Maradonna look-alike and buy lots of Argentine based tat... but if you stray from the tourist region you are almost garuenteed to get mugged... like an antelope straying too far from the herd gets picked off my the lions...

Welcome to La Boca

It seems this is some kind of annoying diety over here!

Enjoy the colours... then buy some crap:)

...La Boca was really a metafore for my experience of the city really...It can be beautiful but it is not to be toyed with... BA wasn't for me but I can see why people love it... so I really say goodbye to the city feeling nice... which is a change from my first few days where I hated the place! ... Anyway, onwards and upwards... this little blog is to fill a gap because I will be MIA for a few days as I travel for 36 hours and it will take up the good part of two blogging days... so even when I do finally get to a computer I'll have nothing to blog about... So keep well little ones... keep safe and out of trouble... don't accept sweets from strangers and don't stray from the tourist friendly areas of La Boca...

... Only 15 days 'till I'm back in England... you lucky folk there must be so excited!

Love to all,

Matt:)

Boca Jrs... my 100% record continues:)

So first I'm going to start with the old general travel patter... then I'm going to talk about my experience watching Boca Jrs... this way, those not footbally inclined can turn off and stop reading before I get into the grit of the football... So I'm still in BA... I'm trudging along:) ... I've not been that touristy yet, only the football which is a bit of a tourist staple in BA... Tomorrow I'll take a morning bike tour around the city to see all it has to offer in the saftey of a guided group and with the added benifit of exercise, which I need... my belly is growing! ... Not that the city is incredibly dangerous in any sense... I think all the bad stories and then getting my bag nicked have gotten to me a bit... worn me down... and it didn't help that I arrived on a night bus where they wake you at 3am for passport control... I'm a grumpy little sod if I don't get a good nights sleep... on the plus side, the adult cinema isn't 24 hours as I'd been told.... simply noon till 11pm you get the background noise... so its not that bad because I won't usually be in my room at those times... but yes, on top of having my bag stolen, some scabby traveler (and cards on the table, some travelers are true scum... although the crime I will complain about isn't the most haneous!)... anyway, some scabby traveler has stolen my iPod and mp3 play chargers... so I'm not entirely contented in this city... ... After speaking to people who study here it seems that the problem is really locational... the downtown area is just no good, not so fun... but I've made up my mind, I was going to stay in the city until the River Plate game on the 8th but now I've decided to book up a bus and will travel to Sao Paulo tomorrow... a nice 36 hour bus journey but it will get me to near Rio and then, if Sao Paulo isn't all its cracked up to be, I will go to a beach/rural place called Paraty between Sao Paulo and Rio which I've heard a lot of good things about... ... anyway, because I have decided to leave it gave me the energy I need to try and make the most of the city while I am here:)

... Last night I met up with Courtney and Julie who I met in Santiago... they are from the US but study in BA... I met them and we went to something called La Bomba... its a thing thats hip with the kids, where losts of people on a stage play drums and stuff and create this infective beat which draws you in to dance... its really infectious and you can't help but smile or dance (although it seemed that some people there decided they needed some chemical aid to have fun!) ... I danced and sweated away my frustrations at this city... it was really cool... a new lease of life and all that... it was a great night:)

The drummers joined by a trumpet fella!

... and heres a bit of an example of the beat they dished out to us... this was a relativley boring bit where they built up to a dance-frenzy creschendo... but if I tried to film that it wouldn't make a very good film! ... it was a bit weird when we left the drum show which ended very early by Argentine standards (10pm... people usually don't consider going out 'till midnight... an example of this nocturnal life is the fact that when I woke up this morning to do a bike tour of the city (8am), I saw many people just turning in for the night!)... so outside the drum theater (that closes describes the converted industrial shed thing!) there were more people drumming... they got people dancing in the street... then suddenly they started drumming and walking... on to a couple of buses... it was like an adult, drunken, drummed pied piper type thing... leading these wayward drunken man-children off to some cave somewhere... or maybe just to another club or bar...

... Then today, as I furthered the operation 'mood-recovery' I took a bicycle tour aroud the city... it was like the tour I took around Santiago with Antonio but with one key difference... I paid for this one! ... the girl who guided me showed me that the city really is beautiful and also incredibly rich in some areas... with various polo stadiums and grand parks and an incredible array of professional dog walkers for all those busy rich people, it is amazing that there is also the poverty stricken side of the city as well... but I'm not going to get all communist on you... its just life...

... The bike ride was lovely and it was also nice to stretch my legs and do some exerices... it is becoming unavoidable that I'm developing a roll of fat around the belly area... I need to exercise more... I know I'm not fat my any stretch of the imagination.... but lets face it, every journey starts with a single step!

... I think the Argentinian people don't mix with me well as well... there is something in their nature which antagonises me... or maybe its the other way round? ... the guide showed me their cenataph for the Falklands war (wikipedia it if you don't know what it is... it happened before I was born so I'm not an authority on it... (but I know alot about the 1950 world cup final so I guess when I was born is no excuse... guess I just want to distance myself from it)) ... well anyway, during my guide's description of the war came the lovley sentence, "We started to hate the English, not the British, the English." ... Awkward... So then later in the tour I asked if they still hate the English, she said only when we play at football at rugby... phew... I felt relieved and started to make jokes with her and all was well again... then later again she started saying about how her country didn't get on with Chile and Brazil... I said how it is usual for border countries to hate each other, Wales and Scotland hate England... to which she retorted, the eternal line, "Everyone hates the English. Sorry but its true." ... humpf! ... seems a bit of a sweeping statement really... ... ... before I traveled I thought I was a bit of a 'self-loathing Englishman' but in truth I'm a proud Englishman... I like our traditions, I like our history of pioneering modern culture and I like it when we had a good contribution to a war (e.g. WW2)... I like my country even though I hate some of it... so it actually got to me a bit when she said everyone hates England and the English... ... I have to take her opinion of us with a pinch of salt though as she described Chile as being a people who are too serious and never laugh (they seemed to be constantly laughing in my experience:)... and she said they don't even look latin (so?)... But I didn't dwell on it too much... it was just interesting... I think as much as we've done some terrible things, Argentina might just never be inclined to like us or her neighbours for whatever reason (just a theory)... we cycled, it was sunny, we saw some beautiful places... there was even another one of those ghost-town type cemetaries like the one I visited with Antonio in Santiago... it wasn't so cool though as it was just a place for vulgar shows of wealth... but Eva Peron was buried there and what the girl told me about her makes me think I need to research her history more (and that doesn't mean listen to a certain Madonna song)... The cemetary wasn't as cool as that in Chile because it was just rich people... you didn't have common people in there... you didn't have a common man like Victor Jara in the Argentine cemetary (sorry I forgot the name... look it up if you want to know it:) ... below are pictures from the bike tour:) (you'll notice I'm uploading more and more pictures... I guess it serves me well if my memory cards get nicked again!)...

Nice day for an Argy bike ride:)

A role garden... Nan would love it:)

Monument to Eva Peron (Evita)... looks a bit like shes bowling!

Evita's grave/mosuleom

Another grave ghost town

... Now to the important stuff, FOOTBALL:))) ... So I took in the most famous football destination in South America last night... La Bombanera, the choolate box... Boca Jrs... from the ferrel but apparently beautiful neighbourhood of La Boca in Buenos Aires... its quite a famous team and the stadium is a great place to watch sport... a steep sided stadium squeezed in between the houses of La Boca... On side just a wall of excutive boxes where Diego Maradonna famously watches his team... the team has been struggeling and they were playing Estudientes, the team top of the league and led by the former Man Utd and Chelsea player Veron... it was a toughy... my 100% winning record in the continent was in doubt ... the game had a great atmosphere although it wasn't up to the standard set by Penarol... Boca went 1-0 down but then were all over Estudientes like a rash... the winner went in in the last minute... I some how managed to catch the moment the goal went in... the video is a bit shaky but see the second video below this... it was mental! ... the crowd was pretty good natured, I never felt out of place and it seemed like those around me tolerated my attempts at the traditional South American hand waving and chanting along to their songs with noises instead of words (I sounded a bit like a deaf person chanting)... it was cool but there was alot of faff getting in... there is often trouble in Argentianian games and as recently as a couple of weeks ago a few people died in a game for one of BA's other clubs Velez Sarsfield (Don't worry Mum and Dad... I'm not watching another game in Argentina:) ... but it was super safe because the authorities were extra paranoid... If put town photos below and a couple of videos... as I mentioned, the second video is the goal celebration, the first is just after the team had walked out... a lovely little song (although I'm sure the words arn't all that lovely!)...

Welcome to the cholate box

I think all football should be played at night... it just adds something

 

Welcome to the Bombanera.....

Did someone score?

... So I should leave now... this post was written over two sessions as is a bit massive... I'll be gone for a bit traveling but I arrive in Sao Paulo on Friday (if I'm lucky I'll get to catch up with Martin who I met, along with David the Irishman, all that time ago in Vietman:)...

Keep well folks... I hope you have your Matt-vent calanders out counting down the days for my return...

Love you all,

Matt the proud Englishman:)