Dec 2, Friday

Dec 2, Friday

I did sleep off and on all night.  There was a lot of noise outside and I swear I heard three gun shots.  Definitely not a car back firing.   I was up early and decided to read;  although there was a TV in the room, high up near the ceiling, there was no sign of a remote control.   At 9 am I went downstairs to try to locate an internet café.   There was an office just down the block and I purchased 1 hour of time to go back on the internet and look into the other hotels I had researched earlier to see if there was any availability.   I had first planned to stay in the city centre for 5 days, then move on to the beach area before leaving for Sao Paulo;  but I no longer felt like spending any amount of time in the central part of Rio.   I found some availability in the Copacabana Beach area of Rio and booked a room for 6 nights on-line.    I located a bank with an ATM machine  (took 3 tries before I found one that would accept foreign bank cards) to get some more Reales and returned to the hotel.   I had asked at the desk about the remote control for the TV since checkout was at noon;  I was told to check the control panel  beside the bed.    Sure enough, among the controls for the vibrator was one that said TV so I turned it on.  Not a regular TV, it only played  Porn !

Although it was not even 11 am by then, I decided to check out and head for the Hotel Banderantes in Copacabana.   Even if the room was not ready, I would prefer waiting in their lobby than waiting downtown.    The taxi ride wasn’t very long, but it was now raining.   As soon as we got out of the downtown core, the look of the streets improved.   Parks and wide avenues all the way to the other sector of the city.   I was able to check-in right away and get the key to my room.  MUCH BETTER !   The price is more than I usually pay, it is worth it to feel safe, in a clean location, with wifi and breakfast included in the price.  The hotel also provides tour bookings, so I’ll be able to plan the rest of my week here.

Since it is raining today, I’m staying in and resting.   Now that my blog is updated, I can even wash a few items of clothing.   

All is well again !   Big hugs to everyone.