HOMEWARD BOUND

SATURDAY 30th JULY

  So in the words of Simon & Garfunkel, I'm Homeward bound.  I was concerned about my alarm clock going off - it has failed me a couple of times - so I awoke several times during the night.  Thankfully it worked as I nodded off into a deep sleep!  The cab arrived at 4.30am as requested and then proceeded to drive non stop to the airport - this involved going through approximately 18 red lights!  I must admit that I will not miss the continual honking of horns, cyclists and motorcyclists ignoring one way signs, and the general manic driving of most citizens clustered around the equator!

  My flight was shown as going to three different places with Salvador coming up last.  Were we going to land prior to getting to Salvador,?  There was really no way of telling.  I settled close to gate 8 which was shown as the departure gate, only to be thwarted by a last minute change of mind, when the gate was changed to no 7.  This instigated a mass stampede by the waiting hordes that I distained from joining.  As I was in row 3 I knew I'd be one of the first off, and unlike Ryanair nobody was going to grab your seat!

  And indeed I was.  I looked at the departure board, but there wasn't a single flight to Sao Paulo on it.  However the departure board terminated about half an hour before my flight was due.  I took a wander around the terminal, but there wasn't a lot there and it was absolutely chucking it down outside.  I suddenly spotted Sao Paulo on the board.  Took a closer look but it wasn't my flight number and it wasn't TAM airlines.  I wandered around aimlessly and then I had another look at the rain, but it had all gone and you wouldn't even have known a drop had fallen!

    I took another look at the departure board and several more had appeared.  There was one to Guarulhos.  But wait, it had my flight number against it.  Surely there weren't two airports in Sao Paulo?  What's the odds I'd be flying into one and flying out of the other.  I quickly searched for my Trailfinders info on the flight home and it stated "Sao Paulo (Guarulhos)" - phew! Thank heavens for that.

  It was about two and a half hours flight to Sao Paulo, and I got my luggage fairly quickly after arrival.  I went in search of BA check-in and found that the queue was non-existent, I walked straight up to the check-in desk - that was a first! No problems with weight, I was allowed 2 x 23Kg.  I had in fact removed all the heavy items from my shoulder bag and put them in my suitcase.  It was about 2.30pm and as my flight was due out at 6.00pm I had loads of time, or so I thought.  "Boarding is at 3.15, closes at 3.45" the lady told me.  I went and had a look at the departure board, the flight was leaving at 4.15pm and not 6.00pm as it stated on my Trailfinders itinerary.  There was a massive queue for security but it moved steadily so I got through that OK.  Then passport control and that was moving much more slowly.  There were different queues for different types of passengers, but what the criteria were I had not a clue.  I offered my passport to a bloke with ID round his neck, and he said, "Ah! a foreigner".  I confirmed this assumption.  "Are you over 60?", he asked.  As I am considerably over 60 I immediately confirmed this fact.  He promptly opened up a pathway to a queue of some five people!  This is the first time that I've come across a special queue for OAP's!

  Having got through with half an hour or so before boarding time I looked in the duty free shop to see if thet had Lacoste.  I had declined to travel halfway across Fortaleza in search of the Lacoste shop, even though Mark told me that the shirts were made in Peru and therefore much cheaper than their European counterparts.  I dashed off to the Red Somethng-or-Other Lounge, got a beer, a wine, a coke and some sandwiches and rang Mark on Skype.  I gave him the price and he asked me to get him a size 5 in light brown or black.  Black it was, as there was nothing in brown.  I made another purchase for my trip to Spain, and went in search of the departure gate, which of course had to be at the other end of the terminal.

  I had a pleasant surprise, my seat was an aisle seat in front of the bulkhead, so plenty of room.  I must admit the meal was the best plane meal I had had on the entire journey.  A piece of fillet steak that melted in your mouth, with potatoes in cheese sauce and veg.  An odd snooze during the journey saw me arrive reasonably fresh at Heathrow.  I caught the train to Boston Manor and arrived almost simultaneously with Mark.  It was a beautiful warm day, and I soon had a wash going - in fact it took two to see to all my clothes.  Mark cooked some lamb, so I was well fed, and in sufficiently good form to go to the Black Horse (driven by Mark) to meet Alan and Jim.  I thoroughly enjoyed three pints of different bitters, the first such beer to cross my lips in over 9 months.  I slept well.  I'm off to Spain next Monday, Poland in September and probably back to Oz in late October/early November for the wedding, so I may carry on the blog, for those who have got used to starting their day at work with a perusal of my activities.