19:37 Ah, pretending I am leisurely finishing my pint while really half wondering about getting to the gate. I think the last drink anywhere under any circumstances has a bit of this though. Feeling quite good all the same, probably the sweet. brown liquor in part but who knows? Barmaid here appears to speak about 20 languages based on hearing her talk to people.
I am aware I'm acting as if this three week holiday is 'like' my 6 month trip in 2010. But while that may be foolish, it's perhaps also a pleasant delusion. Perhaps in some sense it is quite similar; it's not like there's some objective comparison for these things. I vaguely hope this will be like a three week slice out of the 2010 trip. I do think, as I've doubtless said before, that 2 weeks would feel a bit tight and 3 seems to start to veer into 'luxuriously extended' territory.
It's 19:42. I have a swallow or two of beer left, will drink that and go to the gate. Not going for a slash; I don't feel the need and I'd rather not break the seal. I have an aisle seat (by choice, as always) so I can go in my own sweet time on the plane.
Yeah, this is too much detail but it's not that gross and I'm bored. :-) These things seem of major import right now...
19:44 OK, let's go...
20:00 On plane. Felt slightly pissed when stood up. Gate 48, display showed 'boarding'. Nominal 15 min walk to gate took about 10, maybe bit less. And the plane really was boarding. So the laugh is on me. Anyways. Not going to send this now, will save it up. Maybe something exciting will happen during the flight. Maybe I'll want to whine about the in-flight catering. And it would be terrible to have to start a new post.
20:24 Stewardess coming round with immigration cards or similar for non-transit passengers. Just realised I didn't bring a biro to fill in the similar form for Chile. No big deal. I might even buy one at Sao Paulo airport, I have some low value Brazilian notes to pad my wallet out for the delectation of any muggers.
22:59 (all times GMT for now). 1117 miles down, 4769 to go. It's an 11ish hour flight, which I didn't realise, not that it massively bothers me.
My cough has very much eased up over the last week but, speaking as a layman, I think my sinuses have been a bit blocked. And from the time we reached cruising altitude until about 20 mins ago my left sinus felt like it was going to explode. I exaggerate for effect, but still. All the blowing and snorting I did didn't help (I even went to the bog to be able to indulge uninhibitedly). About 20 mins ago I sort of felt some kind of minor bubbling sensation in there and it's now feeling blocked but OK, like it probably did before the flight. So I am attempting to enjoy the absence of the pain a bit. (I did take an ibuprofen tablet maybe an hour ago, but I think the pressure just finally equalised. And man, the warnings on the back of the ibuprofen packet are scary.)
Food was OK (beef bourginon, and I don't have a clue how to spell that), I had a beer and a diet coke later. The diet coke was not long before things cleared up, but I have no idea if that's a coincidence.
Anyway, battery at 68% now which is a little crap but not too bad. Been reading Yes Man but may see if there's anything interesting by way of in-flight entertainment. Not really feeling tired yet but vaguely hope I might drift off.
Have had the screen on map mode til now. Apparently we fly directly over Fuchal. There is a camera mode but either the cameras are not fitted or aren't working or are turned off because it's dark.
06:53. Watched Cars 2. Maybe it was being slapped over the head with a slightly dubious moral that did it but I was yawning towards the end. Still took me a while to drift off but I did, probably 2-3ish.
Woke up maybe 30-60 mins ago feeling cold (I didn't use the blanket when I went to sleep, I wasn't cold then) with my throat dry, eyes gummy and neck a bit sore. Just finished breakfast and I think that (especially the liquid component) and the passage of time has helped. Turned down the sandwich option on the virtual certainty it would have mayonnaise on, so had the eggs option (small heap of mushed up pseudo-scrambled eggs and a rather nice potato and bacon cake thing).
As I think is usual, right now I don't want the flight to end. It's just such a hassle and I'd rather just go back to sleep on the plane.
Battery down to 64%.
Oh, there was a bloke sat to my left when I got on but he moved before we even took off, no idea why. So I have his seat to store bits and pieces, which makes things a bit less cramped.
08:39 GMT/06:39 Sao Paulo. Landed 10-20 mins ago. It's not often I'm a transit passenger but it seems pleasantly low key. Waved through a doorway by some guy hanging around at the end of the boarding ramp and that seems to be it, I'm in the international departure area. I do think I recognise it from last time I was here, when I flew to Santiago the first time.
Flight is at 9:05, boarding 8:05 according to my pass. If anywhere's open I may go have a beer just for the hell of it. Or maybe a coffee.
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