What Does 6,896 Miles Look Like?

Yes, we are just hours away from our first (of many!) elimination round matches.

The start of the #USAvBEL match cannot come any sooner.

I am ready!

I believe!

One Nation. One Team.

And, I have lots of (remote) work to do today and the Argentina vs. Switzerland match to keep me distracted until the 17:00 (or 5:00 pm) local time kick-off of the USA bout.

So, to keep me focused (and before I dive into my next major work item), I thought I share the amount of flying we did to catch all three USA group stage matches these past two weeks.

As many of you have likely read, Team USA endured the worst travel schedule of any of the teams in the World Cup. From their base of operations in São Paulo to the three cities in the north, the USMNT tallied about 8,900 miles. Interestingly, our opponent for the match later today earned the honor of traveling the least amount for the group stage.

Maura and I came fairly close to equaling this long distance achievement (we did not have the "luxury" of flying back to São Paulo after each match, like the USMNT did), racking up nearly 6,900 air miles on our own journey through the first phase of the FIFA World Cup finals in Brazil.

Our travels during the Group Stage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup Finals

I can actually feel the physical toll and impact of multi-legged journey to Natal, Manaus and Recife.

Here are our vital stats:

Leg 1
São Paulo to Brasilia - 540 miles
Brasilia to Natal - 1,099 miles

Leg 2
Natal to Manaus - 1,721 miles

Leg 3
Manaus to Brasilia - 1,208 miles
Brasilia to Recife - 1,027 miles

Leg 4
Recife to São Paulo - 1,301 miles

For a grand total of 6,896 miles!

We actually flew more air miles than Team Belgium did to get from their home nation to their camp in São Paulo state (approximately 6,000 miles).

Yeah, it was brutal, but so worth it!

And, I think we would have made the trip up north to Salvador for today's match if we both weren't swamped with work and just completely wiped.

Nevertheless, I'm hopeful our big investment will have more than a little impact on the team's performance later today...where we will make waffles out of them Belgium!

#1N1T #IBELIEVE

Soaker Bowl (Or, How I Learned to Survive Recife)

Fret not, kind and loyal blog follower.

I have not succumb to an unexpected landslide or samba party.

I am still alive and well, and partaking in the 2014 FIFA World Cup finals here in Brazil.

Oddly, I'm now back at a location with very reliable Internet connectivity (yay São Paulo!), yet I have not used this bandwidth to post a single update. Flashback to just a few days prior--while we were on the road following the US Men's National Team around the group stage leg of the World Cup--and you would have found me trying to fashion a tinfoil rabbit ears aerial to get the equivalent of a 300 baud modem's worth of access to the "tubes".

Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Abundance makes you care less, I guess.

Speaking of flashbacks, as I last shared our time in Recife was quite nuts. And, I'm not just referring to the drama we had upon our arrival.

After (re)securing our basic human need for shelter, we turned our attention to getting ready for the third and final match versus Die Mannschaft.

Recife made things way more challenging than the previous two locations. This was mostly due to the fact the stadium (Arena Pernambuco) is located about 20 km from our hotel in Boa Viagem (and pretty much all of Recife). Unlike Natal or Manaus, where the arenas were effectively in the middle of the city, Arena Pernambuco was in the middle of nowhere. It's not even located within the city of Recife, but instead a place called São Lourenço da Mata.

In the end, we didn't feel too troubled by this little quirk of this large host city. Maura had secured us two spots on a hotel shuttle van during the craziness of solving our hotel reservation woes. A side benefit of standing right next to the hotel staff for more than hour while they worked out how to get our reservation resurrected.

What did trouble us was the friggin' monsoon that slammed into this city in the northeast of Brazil.

"Epic" was used to describe the insane amount of rain that was falling overnight and all through the match on June 26th.

All night, the windows in our "semi-classy" hotel rattled from never-ending abuse and torment of wind and rain. It didn't make for a very restful sleep and it was compounded by the fact we needed to get up and at 'em early to ensure we made the shuttle van. They front desk changed our departure time to even earlier to account for the flooding and horrific road conditions this rainstorm was causing to areas in and around Recife.

9:30 am we go; come hell or high water.

A few folks asked me (after they learned we survived the epic journey) if the media was overhyping the situation. As your humble "on the ground" reporter, I can confidently say, "NOOOOO WAY!"

Here's a little video of our time in the van (and not on a boat, mind you) trying to reach the stadium:

Yup.

This is what we experienced for most of the trip through the metro portions of Recife. Once we hit "the open road", we only had to worry about other cars.

In the van heading to Arena Pernambuco

A trip that should have taken 45 minutes or so, ended up taking more than double that. At a few points during the ride these guys seated in front of us in the van considered bailing out and trying to catch a train to the stadium. They also believed the match started at 11 am, and not the actual start time of 1p.

On a sad note, we learned while having our post-match meal at Ponteio Grill that many family members of the USMNT were unable to reach the stadium in time to actually watch the game. All of the families happen to be at this very same churrascaria when we arrived and one of the waiters told us about this unfortunate side effect of the terrible storm. I also saw Jozy's brother again, but decided to leave him be considering all the trouble they had just faced earlier in the day.

Back to our van trip to the arena: we were once again lucky enough to see the USA team bus. This time, it was parked in front of the Golden Tulip Hotel in Boa Viagem waiting for the team to board. As we faced these horrible conditions and traffic en route, we started to worry if the teams themselves (who had not yet left for the stadium) would make it in time. Considering there was some chatter about FIFA potentially delaying the match, I'm really surprised they pulled off this game.

Upon arriving at Arena Pernambuco, our driver had to leave us about 1 km from the gates due to security and the need to find a parking spot he could stay for several hours.

Maura and I donned our ponchos (the very ones we searched high and low for in Natal and likely bought the last four in city) and made the hike through the rain, mud and street vendors selling ponchos, beer, water (for some reason) and odd versions of USA and Germany flags. The ponchos mostly did their job, but let's be honest, we were still getting soaked thanks to the intensity of the rain fall. As we rounded the last turn before entering the stadium parking lot, we witnessed the arrival of the USA team bus. I guess they had a lot of help from their police escort to clear a path (at least through the traffic) to make it to the stadium.

Waterlogged and ready to root inside Arena Pernambuco

With the rain still falling, and the crowds growing, we cleared security and the gates to happily learn that our seats were 100% covered. Thank the lord!

A few pre-match "double cheeseburgers" (A/K/A meat cooked until hockey puck state) and beers (and a nice chat with some dudes who just made it in from Texas to see this match), we prepared for the 1 pm kickoff.

Arena Pernambuco in all of its glory

Arena Pernambuco was my least favorite of the three stadiums. Maybe it was the rain or mud caked between my toes, but the place lacked a lot of the character our previous two venues offered. Our seats were similar to the match in Manaus, just a little more centered and a few more rows back. Many of the same characters from the American Outlaws kept us USA supporters singing up a storm (pun not intended). My personal fav was the dude all dressed up as Teddy Roosevelt as a Rough Rider.

The USMNT starters warmed up right by the corner flag close to our seats and I think we did our small part pumping them up with our signing and chanting "I BELIEVE WE WILL WIN!"

Following the team warm ups, which did appear to happen much later than the previous two outings, this solitary FIFA commissioner walked the pitch to see if it was truly ready for 90 minutes of futebol.

FIFA match commissioner surveys the state of the pitch to see if it's green lit for kick-off

Needless to say, he approved the conditions and we had us some football!

It was a fun match, albeit bittersweet that we advanced after the loss.

Look, I'm not complaining.

I would have loved to kept the 0-0 draw to the conclusion of the game. Just wasn't in the cards. Our shooting boots lacked the finishing necessary to do our own damage.

Still a great way to end the group stage by escaping the "GROUP OF DEATH!"

And, we escaped the floods and returned to our hotel in Boa Viagem with little trouble. The rain did finally subside towards the end of the game and amazingly the drainage system cleared most of the streets of Recife by the time we arrived.

The next day was the yang to the Thursday's horrific weather yin. It was sunny and bright, and we used our last day in the city to do a little bit of sightseeing. This included a tour of the nearby historic city of Olinda. This 477 year old city still maintains much of the look and feel of its historic roots...which consists mostly of churches and places that became churches.

One super neat tourist spot we stopped by was the Caixa D'Aqua. It serves a dual purpose of being a water tower for the historic city and 360 degree viewing platform of the beach, churches and surrounding areas (of more churches).

Olinda from Caixa D'Agua

Before heading off to the airport, we took another stroll along Boa Viagem beach.

As you may have read, the northeast of Brazil (Recife in particular) has a lot of sharks in the waters. Therefore, it was none too surprising to see this clear set of warnings about "how not to be eaten by a shark" displayed about ever 100 meters or so:

Shark Warnings in Recife

Maura asked me if I wanted to walk on the sidewalk or the beach. After reading through all of these warnings I elected to stay off the beach. Call me crazy, but I am still alive, ain't I?

We completed our picture perfect post-match day with a smooth trip over to the airport and then back to our base of operations in São Paulo.

We may be out of match tickets, but we are staying put in Brazil through most of what's left of the elimination phase of the tournament. This included watching the nail biting Brazil vs. Chile match, that could have completely broken the spirit of the Brazilian people had neither Júlio César or the crossbar stopped multiple Chilean goals.

As with the opening match, the streets in and around Vila Madalena were filled with revelers celebrating another step closer to returning the FIFA World Cup trophy to Brazil (or it was just a really excuse to go drink in the streets).

Celebrations in the streets throughout Vila Madalena

With the group stage now complete, it's back to remote working from our base of operations. It was fun experiencing all of this road tripping, but I'm glad to be back to our little slice of "civilization".

I'll certainly need to do some meeting shuffling to ensure I can watch our next USA match against Belgium for a spot in the quarterfinals.

Luckily, the Brazil vs. Colombia match is on July 4th. It'll be a holiday in two countries that day.

Let's just hope it's one both nations will want to celebrate!

Boy, What a Difference a Month Makes!

No journey or adventure is ever without its drama or headache. I can safely say our final leg of this tour of USA group stage matches has checked all these boxes in less than 24 hours in Recife. 

Where to start?

Our flights met with a little drama, as we left Manaus behind schedule due to a late arriving passenger for this flight to Brasilia. Normally, leaving 20 minutes after the scheduled departure shouldn't create too much heartburn, but when you have less than 60 minutes to make your connection, you count every second. With nearly half our flight filled with red, white and blue clad USA supporters heading to Recife, we had a little bit of comfort knowing we weren't the only ones with this tight squeeze. 

When we finally landed at Brasilia, waited (once again) to exit the plane to take a bus to the terminal to hightail it to our next gate, the only thing that truly worried me was whether or not our bags would make the connection. 

Upon our arrival to the rainy climate of Recife, we found ourselves welcomed with a free Caipirinha (courtesy of Pitu) and both of our suitcases spinning on the baggage carrousel. Wipe that sweet from the brow and take a nice deep breath. 

Not. So. Fast.

Our hotel was close to the airport in the famed Boa Viagem beach neighborhood of Recife. So, we expected a quick taxi trip, fast check-in and then off to a late meal. 

Again.

Not. So. Fast.

The taxi line took about 40 minutes to snake around to an available cab. Maura commented how this reminded her of Las Vegas: exit the terminal to meet the jarring weather conditions and wait in a long line taxi queue. 

Our cab driver did make it a quick trip. Almost too quick. 

He drove around Mach 3 and decided all red lights were simply suggestions. At least he beeped his horn as he sped through every intersection. Mighty nice of him, eh?

Speed Racer got us to our latest temporary home on this tour around 11p local time. 

Remember I mentioned some drama?

Guess what we learned when we tried to check-in?

Our prepaid hotel reservation, which was made over a month ago via a Brazilian travel agency, had one small error in its details. It was made for May 24th thru the 27th, instead of June. 

Gulp.

We've just arrived to a city that literally had zero available hotel rooms due to this little event they call the "FIFA World Cup" to discover our room was booked for a month ago and not that night. 

Um.

Maura immediately started to drive an intense negotiation in Portuguese with the hotel staff, and I wrestled with the (once more horrific) hotel Wi-Fi in a mad dash to find another hotel room somewhere in Brazil. 

We were able to pay for a new room to have shelter for the night (a real bummer considering we appeared to be throwing away a bunch of money for the prepaid original reservation) and continued our panicked search for anything over crappy hotel hamburgers at 1 am.

I must admit, I never felt so powerless. I wasn't able to complete a web search or a make phone call to get any help in the ways I've always solved problems in the past. And, at this late/early hour we couldn't connect with our Brazilian travel agent. He was offline until 1pm. We just wasted energy trying to find a plan B at 2 am, but with the weight of our situation--having only one night in this hotel due to the fact all rooms were booked in this place--we couldn't think of anything else to do.

Oh, did I mention that the hotel's computers also crashed when we first arrived? We didn't even have a working room key nor could the staff do any search to see if they had a spare room for the other two nights. 

Good grief.

We slept for about 3 hours and arose as the walking dead around 7 am to begin the second wave. We conscripted anyone and everyone, and I made a number of Airbnb inquires. 

Our travel agent reached us early having read our plead over email and (surprisingly for a Brazil business) owned up to his massive mistake. 

He said he'd work with the hotel (who still didn't have a working system until nearly 10 am) to get us sorted. Meanwhile, I lined up an option more than hour away via Airbnb over the crappy Wi-Fi in the hotel lobby while Maura stood post at the reception making sure everyone was working on a solution.

It took about 90 minutes, but I'm happy to report we are staying put and the hotel is honoring our original prepaid reservation. 

Holy crap. 

Deep breath. 

After all of this insanity, we took a nice walk along the Boa Viagem beach, ate some lunch and crashed for a long afternoon nap.

I really hope all of this pain and anxiety was our small part and price to pay to help our boys secure the result necessary against Germany to advance. If not, I think I might bill the German National Team for our pain and suffering. 

Good grief.

Where in the world...er Brazil...are you going?

Map of 2014 FIFA World Cup Host Cities (Source: FIFA)

Thanks to a recent Tweet from the "fine folks" at FIFA, I can share with you a "colorful map" of the host cities for the World Cup. I've marked up the key places we'll be visiting during our time in Brazil.

From our base of operations in São Paulo, we'll be traveling up to the Amazon and the north east of Brazil to support "The Yanks" as they do battle against Ghana, Portugal and Germany in three of the twelve host cities for the tournament: Natal, Manaus and Recife.

Even though it's technically winter (well, actually winter), these places are expected to be hot and humid. What else would one expect when traveling to the word's largest rain forest and beach cities close to the equator!

We've got lots of shorts and sun block to keep us as comfortable as possible. We'll keep you posted.