The focus of our big trip was always the World Cup in Brazil, and we finally arrived a couple of weeks ago. By arriving before the cup started we were able watch the atmosphere slowly building and now that the cup has started we’re really enjoying soaking it up.
We entered Brazil on an overnight bus from Montevideo to Porto Allegre. Luckily the 13-hour trip wasn’t as uncomfortable as expected, and the border crossing was the easiest we’ve had so far, with the bus company taking our passports and looking after all the paperwork while we slept.
Porto Allegre is a medium-sized coastal city in the south of Brazil that is hosting a few games during the World Cup (including that Australia v Netherlands game where Tim Cahill scored the goal of the tournament). Immediately after dropping off our bags in the hotel we headed straight to the FIFA ticketing centre to pick up our World Cup tickets. We had secured most of our seats several months ago but it was a great feeling to finally be in Brazil and holding the shiny tickets.
We entered Brazil on an overnight bus from Montevideo to Porto Allegre. Luckily the 13-hour trip wasn’t as uncomfortable as expected, and the border crossing was the easiest we’ve had so far, with the bus company taking our passports and looking after all the paperwork while we slept.
Porto Allegre is a medium-sized coastal city in the south of Brazil that is hosting a few games during the World Cup (including that Australia v Netherlands game where Tim Cahill scored the goal of the tournament). Immediately after dropping off our bags in the hotel we headed straight to the FIFA ticketing centre to pick up our World Cup tickets. We had secured most of our seats several months ago but it was a great feeling to finally be in Brazil and holding the shiny tickets.
Over the last few months you all no doubt will have read plenty of stories about Brazil not being as ready for the cup as FIFA would like. On the way back from the ticketing centre we got a first-hand view of this. New roads to the stadium were far from finished, resulting in massive traffic jams. The stadium itself still had plenty of scaffolding on it and the surrounding area was a hub of frantic activity.
Back home you may also have heard that many Brazilians aren’t too happy with the money being spent on the Cup. We learnt pretty quickly that we couldn’t expect the locals, even the soccer-mad ones, to be as excited as we are. Most of the people we spoke to expressed a lot of frustration and stressed that the country had better things to spend billions of dollars on. It doesn’t help that most Brazilians either couldn’t afford, or couldn’t get their hands on, any tickets.
While in Porto Allegre we spent plenty of time wandering through the pretty downtown area (see the pictures below). We also attended a Crossfit gym in the suburbs. We know that a lot of people might roll their eyes when somebody mentions Crossfit (Sam used to be a bit like that too before he tried it), but we continue to be amazed at how welcoming and generous the Crossfit community has been to us.
While in Porto Allegre we spent plenty of time wandering through the pretty downtown area (see the pictures below). We also attended a Crossfit gym in the suburbs. We know that a lot of people might roll their eyes when somebody mentions Crossfit (Sam used to be a bit like that too before he tried it), but we continue to be amazed at how welcoming and generous the Crossfit community has been to us.
The box we visited in Porto Allegre was the fourth we’d visited in four different countries (by then we’d also done workouts in Lima, Mendoza and Montevideo). At each box, the coaches were really friendly and interested to hear about our travels. They were all patient with us (given that one, or in Brazil both, of us didn’t speak their language), and none of them let us pay anything for the workout. Our coach in Mendoza even offered to put on a barbecue for us at his house, but unfortunately we were leaving the next morning. The locals we’ve worked out with have also been fantastic. In Porto Allegre, one gave us plenty of recommendations of things to do there and then insisted on driving us to his favorite restaurant.
From Porto Allegre, we caught a long bus to Florianopolis, which sits on the western edge of Ilha de Santa Catarina. The large island is known for its beautiful and varied landscape, including large lagoons, lush mountains and beautiful long white sand beaches. The island has been a popular summer destination for Brazilians, Uruguayans and Argentinians for a while, and is becoming increasingly popular amongst travelers (particularly backpackers) from further afield.
After arriving in Florianopolis, we headed straight to our beachside accommodation just in time for a beautiful sunset. We didn’t realize at the time that we wouldn’t see the sun again in the three days we were there. With the weather as it was, we spent most of our time in the room or in the small town nearby, which doesn’t make very interesting reading. Our one highlight was quite unexpected. We had just enjoyed a nice quiet meal when our waiter told us that the Brazilian soccer legend, Romario, was playing in a friendly match a few hundred meters away. At first, Cindy couldn’t believe it, given that we were in such a small town and Romario isn’t as young as he used to be, but we braved the cold and rain to enjoy watching the legend in action (albeit at a much slower pace).
With the world cup now underway, we wanted to finish this post by letting you all know which games we’ll be attending (ideally we would have posted this a week ago but we've been really busy). We’ve already seen the first four (more on that in a later blog) and will be cheering on Costa Rica to, we hope, an unlikely group victory tomorrow:
Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina in Rio De Janeiro on 15 June at 7pm (3pm on the West Coast of the States and 8am on the East Coast of Australia)
Belgium v Algeria in Belo Horizonte on 17 June at 1pm (9am on the West Coast of the States and 2amon the East Coast of Australia)
Argentina v Iran in Belo Horizonte on 21 June at 1pm
Belgium v Russia in Rio de Janeiro on 22 June at 1pm
England v Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte on 24 June at 1pm
Portugal v Ghana in Brasilia on 26 June at 1pm
The winner of Group E (likely to be Switzerland, Ecuador or France) v the runner up of Group F (likely to be Bosnia-Herzegovina) in Brasilia on 30 June at 1pm
As you can see, we don’t have any Australia or US games. We got almost all of our tickets before the draw was announced so it was just by chance that we ended up with what we got. You may know that both teams have been drawn in tough groups. In-fact the three countries whose press have been most critical of FIFA’s culture of corruption have by complete coincidence we’re sure (OK maybe not 100% sure), ended up in the three toughest groups and are playing in the most remote locations. Even so, after Brazil the US and Australia have the most fans attending the World Cup, so there are plenty of Aussies and Americans here cheering on their teams and proving that both countries are plenty soccer mad enough to host the 2022 World Cup.
After arriving in Florianopolis, we headed straight to our beachside accommodation just in time for a beautiful sunset. We didn’t realize at the time that we wouldn’t see the sun again in the three days we were there. With the weather as it was, we spent most of our time in the room or in the small town nearby, which doesn’t make very interesting reading. Our one highlight was quite unexpected. We had just enjoyed a nice quiet meal when our waiter told us that the Brazilian soccer legend, Romario, was playing in a friendly match a few hundred meters away. At first, Cindy couldn’t believe it, given that we were in such a small town and Romario isn’t as young as he used to be, but we braved the cold and rain to enjoy watching the legend in action (albeit at a much slower pace).
With the world cup now underway, we wanted to finish this post by letting you all know which games we’ll be attending (ideally we would have posted this a week ago but we've been really busy). We’ve already seen the first four (more on that in a later blog) and will be cheering on Costa Rica to, we hope, an unlikely group victory tomorrow:
Argentina v Bosnia-Herzegovina in Rio De Janeiro on 15 June at 7pm (3pm on the West Coast of the States and 8am on the East Coast of Australia)
Belgium v Algeria in Belo Horizonte on 17 June at 1pm (9am on the West Coast of the States and 2amon the East Coast of Australia)
Argentina v Iran in Belo Horizonte on 21 June at 1pm
Belgium v Russia in Rio de Janeiro on 22 June at 1pm
England v Costa Rica in Belo Horizonte on 24 June at 1pm
Portugal v Ghana in Brasilia on 26 June at 1pm
The winner of Group E (likely to be Switzerland, Ecuador or France) v the runner up of Group F (likely to be Bosnia-Herzegovina) in Brasilia on 30 June at 1pm
As you can see, we don’t have any Australia or US games. We got almost all of our tickets before the draw was announced so it was just by chance that we ended up with what we got. You may know that both teams have been drawn in tough groups. In-fact the three countries whose press have been most critical of FIFA’s culture of corruption have by complete coincidence we’re sure (OK maybe not 100% sure), ended up in the three toughest groups and are playing in the most remote locations. Even so, after Brazil the US and Australia have the most fans attending the World Cup, so there are plenty of Aussies and Americans here cheering on their teams and proving that both countries are plenty soccer mad enough to host the 2022 World Cup.