Long Day, Good Day

After breakfast this morning, we had a few hours of free time. So, I took a MISERABLE run in the sweltering heat and then met up with EW and AC on the beach. After working on our tans for a bit, we met up with the group around 1pm to go to a Brazilian steakhouse for lunch - we thought of you, Gator!!!

Then it was off to a bar to watch the Champion's League final (where a few of us jumped over to the beach at halftime).


After watching Barcelona to a victory, we boarded a bus to head over to the Vasco - Corinthians match - absolute insanity!!! Words couldn't do it justice. It was a home match for Vasco, and our tour guide Viv struggled as she was a Corinthians fan (and EW and her Vasco cape didn't help either ...)

We're up early tomorrow for a 9am match against the Vasco women's team and then it's back to reality!

Great End to the Day

At the Hut with Dauser

Our AMAZING Passion Fruit Concoction

Sampling at Dinner (check that, dessert)

Beach Day = Success

Beautiful day on the beach! Spent about two hours this morning before EW, AC, our tour guide Viv and me grabbed lunch at our spot. If you ever have a chance to get mango juice with mint I HIGHLY recommend it!

After a stop at the market for some more bottled water, we were back on the beach. I think that maybe, just maybe, I may have gotten a tan!!! Anyway, I'm gonna attempt to avoid the heat now (5:00pm here) and grab a run. We're off to a new place for dinner and if I was a betting woman, I'd put money on the fact that we'll end up back at the hut on the beach tonight.

Tomorrow we're going to a steakhouse for lunch and then somewhere to watch the Champions' League final before heading to a pro match. Then Thursday it's our final match and the Christ Statue before hitting the road home back to the States ...

Rio!

Hello from Rio - sooo the internet here is a bit less than ideal so I believe I have a lot to catch up on ...

The end of Sao Paulo was great. We traveled to Rio on Sunday, arrived, checked into our hotel, and went to a lunch place where we had AMAZING crepes. 

Then, AC, EW, and I hit the beach for a bit to work on our killer tans (insert laugh here). 

For dinner, we went to an all-you-can-eat pizza place where they just keep bringing pies around and you ask for whatever (yum!). 

Once the team left, the staff hung out there for a while and had some servesas (chopp beer). 

Yesterday we started off the morning by heading to Sugarloaf - amazing - and then back to the same lunch place. 

We had about an hour of free time (enough to grab a 20 minute run in the BLAZING heat) and then we walked down the beach about 10 minutes for our team to play in a beach soccer match - halarious!

Last night it was back to the pizza place and then the staff and much of the team hung out at a little hut on the beach for the night. 

We have a "free" day today so I'm going to attempt to relax on the beach for a bit/most of it (we'll see how that works - that's not exactly my forte!)

Meat Fest (missed you Gator!)

Loooong day today. Started off the day with breakfast (during which Mel and I enjoyed our fantastic egg sammies again) and then we boarded the bus to an orphanage. We brought some of our PSU t-shirts and some old practice shirts and shared them with the ADORABLE kids there. We hung out there for about two hours at which point we had to pretty much pry the entire group away from the tykes.

Then it was back to our "resort" for another meal (shocker) and for some free time. I took the first nap I've had in ages which was amazing and then met the coaches up at the fields for a little game of 3v3 (which turned into 4v4 after halftime). Apparently I decided it was a good choice to slide tackle EW; oh, raspberries, how I've missed thee (I now have a SWEET on right on my shin).

And thennn, back on the bus to head to our "indoor tournament." I was convinced that the ride was only supposed to be about 15 minutes ... but apparently, I was the farthest off that I couldn't been because 3 hours and 20 minutes later, we arrived at our destination ... "Brazilian Time" strikes again!!!

We got off the bus, winded through a university, and arrived at our destination - an "indoor" court out in the open. And we had fans! And the were all men. AND they were ALL obsessed with our team.

Haha, anyway, this "indoor tournament" was actually futsal. The game was WICKED fast and the Brazilians could totally dance on the ball but we held our own and actually won (with the help of some stellar play of our goalkeepers and some slicing and dicing from our own Carly).

The guys were relentless and there was a good thing there was a fence to keep them away!!!

Back on the bus, Ricardo (our host) took us to an AMAZING grill where we had a salad buffet and unlimited meat (Gator, we felt quite guilty being there without you). The food was delicious and I was even coaxed to try some chicken heart - hmmm.

Anyway, back home around 12:30am we all hit the sack and we're now in the midst of our last full day here in Sao Paulo.

Still Chillin' at the Spa Sport Resort

So far, two great full days in Brazil. Yesterday, we traveled about 3 hours to play against Sao Jose in their stadium. The Brazilians, as expected, were quite skilled and took it to us from the start. After about 15 minutes we were able to settle down and we played fairly well for the rest of the match. The Sao Jose keeper had a few great saves, and the scored remained 1-0 them until the end.

It took us about 4 hours to get back so we had a pretty late dinner and then most of us just hit the sack. Today we had another relaxing morning and then we were off to play Corinthians about "an hour away" (which can be translated, from Brazilian time, to 2 hours). Amidst some tired legs and some heat that we're pretty unaccustomed to, we tied 0-0. On the way out of there, we stopped by the Corinthians memorial and caught a glimpse of some of the history of the club as well as some trophies - pretty cool.

But then, somehow, our 2 hour trip to the game turned into a 4 hour ride back??? Hmmm. OK, well there was traffic ... and then the market stop ... but really??? Is Brazilian time THAT different that a 1 hour away trip turns into 4 hours??!?!?!

Haha, anyway, much like last night, it was back to a 9pm dinner. I'm sharing a room with Andra, our trainer, and we just had a bit of entertainment in our makeshift training room (aka, our room) ... some blood blisters needed to be popped, and A, ever up to the challenge, decided to take it on bedside. Well, she wasn't exxxactly prepared for the blood blister to be relived directly into her eye, but so it was! Gross? Yes. Hilarious? Also, yes.

Oh, and a little shout out to Daus and my club team - Spartans ... hope Shep and Lys are treating you guys well!!!

... anyway, I'm off to bed. Tomorrow we're going by an orphanage in the morning and then playing in an indoor tournament at night ...

We've Arrived in Brazil!

Day 1 here in Sao Paulo, Brazil. We had a bit of fun over in New York yesterday (first, a shout out and huge THANK YOU to Aunt Joanne for zipping Erica and me to the LIRR) ... long story short, our flight liaison for this trip has been a little less than spectacular and a couple of our group's tickets weren't correct. So, I had a SUPER time on the phone trying to sort out the mess with our Portuguese speaking liaison (while checking myself in) - awesome.

Anyway, the flight wasn't terrible. I was sandwiched in the middle but managed to find a completely empty row of 4 seats. Then, I realized that the row of 4 was smack in the middle of the bathrooms (which, on one hand, for those of you that know me, is PERFECT, but, on the other hand, means that I'm sitting next to two bathrooms for 10 hours). After a bit of internal conflict, I realized that the benefits of laying down and going to sleep far outweighed the costs of the bathroom traffic - there I stayed.

Off of the planes, we had a 2 hour bus trip to our resort in Itu (outside of Sao Paulo). It's called the Spa Sport Resort and it's where many of the pro soccer teams stay when they come to play in Sao Paulo. We basically have the place to ourself (restaurant, pool, etc).
I'm just back in my room after a light training session with the team and a game of 4v4 with the staff.

I'll write again soon!

Last Dinner at "Our Sushi Place"

Conveyor belt sushi place, on last time (that makes three for the trip - NICE!)

Me, and my plates of sashimi that were consumed during the meal

Us, in front of our place!!

And obviously concluding the night with some Mario Kart ...

... of which I was the WINNER!!!!!

Some Pics from Nikko

After we took the elevator down 100m at the falls at Chuzenji ...

The AMAZING view at Lake Chuzenji

My own personal "bridge to nowhere" - scammed again!!!!

Pagoda at Rinnoji

Shrine at Tosho-gu Temple

Worship hall at Futardsan Temple

Last Day in Japan

AMAZING last day! Carlos and I met down in the lobby at 6:50am to grab a 7:30am train to Nikko. After a two hour ride (which I obviously slept for most of) we arrived. As we were pulling up to the station, over the loud speaker they announced some tourist-y things to do, including taking a train up to an “observatory” where there was a waterfall. We looked at each other, shrugged our shoulders, decided it sounded cool, and found the information station once we got off the train for some more information. They pointed us in the direction of the bus terminal who promptly showed us the route to take, (took our money), and we headed to the bus stop.

After a 40 minute ride (up an incredibly windy road about 1400m up a mountain), we got off the bus only to realize it was FREEZING (and snowing). Post-bathroom stop in the shop (obviously) we headed down the road about five minutes to a breath-taking waterfall.
Once we couldn’t feel our fingers/hands/noses anymore, we found an elevator that took us 100m down for a better view. So, we decided to subject ourselves to a bit more pain in the name of a good look at nature, handed over 300 yen, and got on board.

We then headed down the road (it started snowing again) and towards a lake someone told us about. as we got closer and closer to the lake the roads got icier and the winds got stronger (we should have heeded this warning) but trekked on until we got to the lake. We were frostbitten at this point, I’m SURE of it, but it was totally worth it! The view was breath-taking x10 (possibly my favorite view of the trip) so we took as many pictures as we could before our fingers physically broke off, and headed back towards shelter.
We took a bus back towards town, and got off by the Nikko National Park. After paying 300 yen to cross the “bridge to nowhere” (OK, actually the Shinkyo, or Sacred Bridge – but seriously, we crossed, couldn’t get off, had to turn around, get off that bridge, and take an actual FREE bridge to get into the park – hmmmm) we entered the park and saw some pretty amazing temples and shrines (Rinnoji Temple, Toshogu Shrine, and Futarasan Shrine).

Train at 4:30pm, back in Tokyo at 6:30pm, and now we’re about to head to our favorite sushi conveyor belt place for our last Tokyo dinner (and sake)!

Back to reality tomorrow …

Day 4 in Kyoto

Just got in from another long, but amazing. Despite a taaaad bit of initial confusion regarding where exactly our train to Kyoto boarded, we made it to the Tokyo station and took a bullet train to Kyoto. The train was SUPER FAST and gave us a little peek at Mt Fuji.

Two and a half hours later we got off the train and had no clue what we were going to do. So, we wandered around the station for a while until we found what seemed to be in info station. They pointed us in a few different directions, and we wound up at a tourist guide stand. They told us we should head to Kinkakuji where there were a few temples. With no other ideas of our own, we got on the bus, and 40 minutes later got off ...

... well, we certainly stumbled onto something amazing. We paid 400 yen, still not really sure what we were getting ourselves into, and after walking down a few paths, stumbled on Kinkaku, the main building at the temple. The building is covered with gold-leaf on Japanese Lacquer and is surrounded by a lake and unreal landscaping.

After that, we walked down the mountain a bit more and ended up at Ryoanji Temple.

From there, we bussed back to Kyoto station (but not before we took the bus loop in the wrong direction and actually ended up at the end of the line where we had to get off, re-board, and try again). At the station we found a restaurant for some Udon noodles, tempura, and sushi.

Then, it was back on the bullet train and back to Tokyo. We had a little pit stop at the arcade on the way home and now here we are. Tomorrow's our last full day and Carlos and I are headed to Nikko while Kate and Maria are going to shop here in Tokyo ... we'll meet back up later in the day for an all out final Japanese dinner before we're back stateside on Thursday!

Day 3 = LONG ONE!

Long day today: woke up at 4:15am and headed to the fish market ... it was unreal!

We saw TONS of fresh fish and the auctions going on with the merchants. By the time we wrapped up there it was still really early - 6:45am - so we were able to see a nice little Japan sunrise. Then, we stumbled on a cool temple that had a worship ceremony at 7am complete with monks, chanting, etc.

After that it was on to Starbucks - shocker - and then we hopped back on the Subway and headed to Ueno. We wandered around the park there for a while (it's where all the Cherry Blossoms are ... not in full bloom yet but some of the trees had the blossoms starting to open), saw a temple and then got back on the subway.

We headed to Asakusa where there was another shrine. There was also a really cool strip of shops leading up to the shrine with just about everything Japanese you could ever want.

We hung around there for a while and then headed back towards our hotel - Shinjuku - and sat down for some sushi and sashimi. Carlos, Kate, and Maria went back to play in the arcade while I decided that a nap would be my preferred use of the time.

Around 6:00pm we headed back to Harajuku - the shopping district we were in yesterday - for a couple of hours of shopping. We split up, I went into two stores - a running store and the Adidas store - and then promptly hit my shopping limit (I lasted 20 minutes, today). So, for the next hour and a half I wandered the streets around the strip. We met back up, grabbed a quick drink, and now here we are back at the hotel.

Tomorrow we're taking the bullet train to Kyoto for the day - two more days left here before I'm back in State College on Thursday!

Day 2, Check!

Started today around 7am with a little run. I chatted with the front desk last night and they told me that there’s a park about a fifteen-minute walk away. So, woke up, stuffed the map into my sock, and off I went. I ended the run at Starbucks, headed back to the hotel, showered, and then the four of us hit the road for the day.

First stop, subway station. Despite a bit of initial confusion (which Carlos attempted to clear up in the Lost & Found) we eventually managed to get tickets and board the correct train. About 30 minutes later, we were in Akihabara - "techno-geek" heaven. Tech stores every step of the way with all the iPods, digital cameras, DVD players, TVs, etc, etc, so on and so forth that you could ever want!

From there, we headed to Central Tokyo - the Ginza area which is known for high end shopping. We grabbed some lunch (Chinese - go figure!) and then walked around a bit until I hit my threshold limit for shopping (for those who know me, it's not very long).

Then, we headed about 10 minutes out of the shopping region to a park where the Imperial Palace is located. We caught a glimpse of the palace (but couldn't go in - it's grounds are only open to the public 2x per year).

After that, we took the subway back towards our hotel but stopped off at Harajuku. That area was awesome. Take away the Japanese characters and you might as well have been in New York City. I bought a pair of shoes that I definitely didn't need and probably shouldn't have gotten but that I LOVE. After wandering around there for a while, we headed back towards the hotel, threw our bags down, and headed out for dinner. I'll give you one guess as to what we had ...

... you guessed it! Sushi. Obviously. And again, it was amazing! Downed a couple of bottles of hot sake, as well, and now here we are back at the hotel.

Plan for tomorrow? 4am wake-up call and we're headed to the famous fish market.

TOKYO!!!!

First, two words: Tokyo rocks!!!

Now for details … after a three hour flight from Shanghai, we landed around 1:00pm (we’re 14 hour ahead here) at Narita airport and took a 1 hour bus ride into Tokyo. Our hotel was a 5 minute walk from the bus station where we were dropped off. We checked in, changed, and took off to find some food ...

... we were after sushi and sake. So, after wandering into a few restaurants that were everything but Japanese (Mexican, Spanish, Italian), we found a place on the second floor of a building. Test #1: our waiter spoke not a lick of English. Fantastic! After lots of hand gestures and very little mutual understanding we managed to get sake for all and a couple of dishes of edamame. We couldn't find much sushi on the menu, so we decided to hit the road again in search of dinner ...

... and that's when we found it - the best possible first-night-in-Tokyo restaurant EVER! It was one of those sushi conveyor belt places but we were there early enough (5:30pm) that everything was made to order for us.

Needless to say, we ate A TON!!!

After that, we wandered a bit and of course, found a Starbucks where I ordered a tall which apparently here in Japan is teeny tiny ...

And then (this one's for you, dad!!) we were mesmerized by an arcade for a good hour and a half. We collectively put about $35 into the cranes (and did get some stuffed animals, thank you very much!!!), played some Mario Kart, and found the Japanese version of guitar hero (on the drums) - my personal favorite.

That's all for now!