Country #34 - Italy Day 1

The Food

It was a great (albeit hot) day in Italy! Italy is, and always will be, one of my favorite countries in the world. There are so many unique cities (I love Venice, Florence, and Milan) and so much amazing food to eat. I could literally eat pizza and gelato from Italy for every meal of every day and not get tired of it. Other than the U.K., Italy is probably the foreign country that I have spent the second most amount of time in, and with very good reason.

Today lived up to my standard for another great day in Italy. I have been to Rome before, but it has been four years since my initial visit, and last year I only transited through. I’m really looking forward to seeing a few new sights, but also to revisiting many places that I have been to before. The Colosseum, for example, will never get old. I’m also going to spend more time at places that I quickly walked through last time, which I’m looking forward to.

I started the morning off with breakfast at Hearth Hotel. I then headed to Mass at the Vatican! I’m not Catholic, but I wanted to see the Pope so I made my way over. It was very crowded. I arrived about thirty minutes early and waited in line for security. Once I was in Mass started right away. It was entirely in Italian, but it was really cool to see the Pope! He was in a tiny window and very far away, but it was definitely him! It was over within ten minutes but it was a really cool experience if you are ever in Rome on a Sunday.

I started the morning off with breakfast at Hearth Hotel. I then walked to St. Angelo Bridge to make my way to the other side of town. It is a hot day, but it’s still definitely worth walking everywhere to really enjoy the city. The bridge sits directly in front of Castel Sant’Angelo, which I have been to before and am not visiting again, but I highly recommend. From there I walked through Centro Storico, one of my favorite parts of Rome. The buildings are old and historic and it looks exactly how you would expect Rome to look. In Centro Storico I grabbed my first gelato of the day at Frigidarium. It was highly recommended by my hotel, and I think I have a new favorite gelato place in Rome. It was so good! You get great value for your money, and they dip your gelato in chocolate for free! I definitely enjoyed my strawberry, lemon, and chocolate cone.

From Frigidarium I then made my way towards the Colosseum. I walked in a beautiful church, as well as past the Largo di Torre Argentina ruins, and the Altare della Patria building. I have visited Altare della Patria before, which has an amazing view on the roof that I highly recommend! The sun was absolutely killer, and it wa over one hundred degrees today, so the walk was pretty brutal, but definitely enjoyable as well. It’s hard to be upset about the weather (or anything for that matter) when you’re in Italy. I really appreciated how in Rome there are lots of places to refill your water bottle, because it definitely came in handy today.

When I got to the Colosseum I walked around and took pictures for a little while before heading inside. Yes I’ve been before, but like I said earlier, it’s a place that to me will never get old. There was a line for tickets but thankfully it moved pretty quickly. You can buy them online ahead of time, but I completely forgot until it was too late. Once inside I got an audio guide which I actually really enjoyed. It was nice because I could find a spot in the shade to listen to it, then walk in the sun again, stop and listen, and on and on. I walked around / sat and listened / marveled for about two hours before heading across the street to the Forum.

The forum is a really unique spot that you definitely shouldn’t miss. The entire area is huge, and although I had been before I feel like last time I didn’t see most of what all there was to see. I took my time and tried to see everything. The ruins are fascinating and there are many great views to be had of the Forum itself as well as of Rome and the Colosseum from inside. After spending another two hours in the Forum and staying until closing time, I then made my way towards dinner.

On my way I walked past Circus Maximus only because it was on my way. It’s probably the most disappointing sight in Rome if you go in having any sort of high expectation, which you shouldn’t. It is literally just a field that you walk by on the side of the road. The walk took about thirty minutes as I headed to the Trastevere area. I had done a lot of research on the best pizza places in Rome (of course) and tonight I decided to try Pizzeria Nerone. Man, was it a good decision. It was one of the best pizzas I have ever had! The restaurant itself was really small and quintessential Italian. The Margherita pizza was just so good, I definitely recommend it!

After dinner I had another thirty minute walk. This time, it was along the River Tiber. It was about 9pm, but Rome is always so lively that I have never felt unsafe here. I really enjoyed walking along the water because the views are amazing, especially once you get closer to Castel Sant’Angelo and The Vatican. After the long walk I was ready for my second gelato of the day! I tried Old Bridge Gelateria which was really close to The Vatican and Hearth Hotel. It was my second great gelato of the day!

When I got back to the hotel I met the owner, Guido. He was so cool and I loved talking with him about travel. At this point, he has been to more countries than me! I love that he turned his love for travel into such a warm and welcoming hotel. He told me he hopes that one day I can help someone like he helped me, which I hope to do!

By the time I got to my room my feet were dead and I was so tired, but it was all around an amazing day. I am really looking forward to day two tomorrow, as well as my time in Vatican City!

34 countries down, 162 to go.

Read about my day in Vatican City here.

Read about my second day in Italy here.

To learn more about Hearth Hotel click here.

Country #33 - San Marino

The Views

I spent a few days at home after visiting Cuba to regroup and figure out the plan for my trip from there. With almost all of Latin America and the Caribbean under my belt (except for Venezuela for obvious reasons and the Bahamas which I am just saving for later), I really appreciated having time to get organized and figure out my next steps. Due to financial constraints, the next few trips are going to be shorter and to Europe / the Middle East / Central Asia. This will allow me to fly home every few weeks to work on things and try to raise more money and find more sponsors. I just have to make sure I adhere to the requirement by Guinness that I travel every two weeks.

Anyways, now it’s time to talk about this trip! It took me a while to decide exactly how to proceed, so this trip is especially short, but it’s a really great one! I’m headed basically to Italy for four days - one day in San Marino (which is a country), one day of travel, two days in Rome, and half a day visiting Vatican City (also a country). So I’m hitting three countries on this trip without even leaving Italy!

I flew out of the country using an American Airlines family pass, which led to a pretty complicated travel day. I flew from Birmingham to Chicago, Chicago to JFK, and JFK to Milan. I was lucky enough to get business class from JFK to Milan, which was so nice because I was able to sleep on the flight for a few hours! After landing in Milan and going through immigration and customs speedily and with no problems, I took a train from the airport to Milano Centrale.

Milano Centrale is a beautiful train station and is probably one of my most frequented train stations in Europe. It is really common to transfer here when traveling in Italy, especially when transiting from France or Switzerland. I made my biggest transit mistake of the trip when I accidentally got on a slower train to Bologna. In my defense, I had zero sleep and why would it ever be a good idea to have two trains leaving for Bologna at the exact same time. Of all of the times I could possibly screw up on a train connection, this was definitely the best time for me to do so. I was only an hour late to Bologna and was able to use my same ticket to take a train to Rimini also just an hour later than I had planned. The best thing about the train mishap is that it will keep me alert to it more in the future. Also, side note, make sure when visiting San Marino you don't try to buy a train ticket all the way there. There is no longer a train station in San Marino, and the S. Marino train station on the Trenitalia website is near Venice.

After arriving in Rimini I had to wait almost an hour for the next bus to San Marino. You can buy tickets for the bus at the tourist information center right outside of the train station, or on the bus itself. The bus ride then takes an hour to get to San Marino. I was able to stay on the bus for an extra stop to be dropped off right outside of my hotel, San Marino iDesign Hotel, which was super convenient. The easy drop off was very much appreciated after such a long day spent getting to San Marino. It definitely isn’t the easiest country to get to!

After arriving I was greeted with a very warm welcome at San Marino iDesign Hotel. I was given a map with lots of helpful information about the city. After resting for a few minutes in my room, I headed downstairs to make my way up into town. I really appreciated the ride into town from San Marino iDesign Hotel because I wasn’t particularly looking forward to the uphill walk. Thank you so much to San Marino IDesign Hotel for sponsoring this night of my trip!

I could tell on the bus ride into San Marino that it would be beautiful and that the views were great, but being able to walk around and see it all was just incredible. There are rolling hills as far as the eye can see with the Adriatic Sea in the distance depending on which side of the city you are looking out from. There seriously was not a bad view from the city.

I spent an hour or so just walking around and taking plenty of pictures. I then found a spot to eat pizza with a view. The sun started to set while I was eating which was ideal. Eating my favorite food (I was basically in Italy so the pizza was the best) with an indescribable view made for a great evening after a hectic day of travel. I then walked back to San Marino iDesign Hotel, which was entirely downhill and very easy to walk to. I fell asleep super easily, and am really looking forward to spending a few more hours in San Marino in the morning before heading to Rome!

The Tour of Town

This morning I woke up and headed to breakfast, where I met Andrea. I had communicated with Andrea via email about my stay, and I was really glad to meet her in person! She gave me a tour of San Marino iDesign Hotel, which is filled with tons of awesome art as the owner is friends artists including the one who painted the really cool rooftop pool. After the tour, I checked out of my room, and Andrea drove me into town for a quick tour.

I loved getting to talk with her about her life, growing up in San Marino, and about the city itself. She had spent some time living in the U.S. which was also interesting to talk about. We walked around for about an hour and a half or so, and I really enjoyed learning about the city from her! We visited Basilica of St. Marino, saw more amazing views of course, and walked all the way to the top of the city, to Cesta Tower. We climbed up the tallest tower and could see so far from the top.

We walked for a little while longer and then headed back to the hotel. I had about forty-five minutes until the next bus, so I walked to a cute little shop down the street where I had a small pizza followed by gelato. This is basically all I will eat when in Italy because it is hands down the best meal in the world, especially when you get it in (basically) Italy.

San Marino is technically the oldest republic in the world, a fact that I had no idea about. I knew very little about San Marino before visiting, but I quickly fell in love. If you are every driving through Italy, definitely stop in San Marino (it is a much easier visit by car than by public transit). You can definitely do the whole country in a day as all you will want to see is in the historic city center. Being surrounded by Italy there are definitely tons of similarities between the two countries, but I loved the unique aspects of San Marino, especially its history.

After eating I said my goodbyes to everyone at San Marino iDesign Hotel. They were so helpful and went above and beyond throughout my stay. I really appreciate everything they did, especially Andrea taking the time to walk with me through town! I took the bus back into Rimini, where I then bought a train ticket to Rome. I didn’t buy my ticket ahead of time because I knew today would be a dedicated travel day, and I didn’t want to feel rushed this morning in San Marino. The ticket took me through Bologna again where I connected straight to Rome. I have visited Bologna on a previous trip, and honestly, it is not one of my favorite spots in Italy because there just isn’t a ton to do.

I made it to Rome before dark and took the metro from Roma Termini to the metro stop right by my hotel. During my time in Rome, I will be staying at Hearth Hotel, which is literally right across the street from the Vatican. Thank you so much to Hearth Hotel for sponsoring these nights of my trip! I was received with a very warm welcome and have a great room looking out at Vatican City. I left my things in my room to go grab a quick dinner. By the time I checked in it was after 9pm, so I headed to grab a really tasty prosciutto and mozzarella sandwich, which I then sat in front of St. Peter’s Basilica to eat. It’s definitely a dinner I will never forget, as you can’t really get a better backdrop than that!

After eating I took a few pictures and headed back to Hearth Hotel. I had a really great day today even though most of it was spent on a train, and I am really looking forward to the next few days in Rome!

33 countries down, 163 to go.

To learn more about San Marino iDesign Hotel click here.

To learn more about Hearth Hotel click here.

Country #32 - Cuba Day 2

The Cannon

Today definitely wasn’t as good as yesterday (it would have been hard to beat), but it was still a great day in Cuba! I started my day by walking down O’Reilly Street to the Central Park area, which is next to the Theater of Havana as well as El Capitolio. El Capitolio looks exactly like the U.S. Capitol building, which is definitely surprising at first glance. After walking around this area for a bit I then walked down Paseo de Marti. Paseo de Marti leads up to (or in my case, away from) the Capitol building, and is unique because it is filled with green space and walking paths in the middle.

I walked to the National Museum of Fine Arts, which was unfortunately closed. It was closed yesterday as well, which was a scheduled closure, so I was pretty disappointed that it was randomly closed today. I headed next door to the Museum of the Revolution. The lack of air conditioning is not ideal when it is scorching hot outside, but t is a really interesting place to visit for a few reasons. It is enlightening to read about the Cuban Revolution entirely from the perspective of the Cuban government. The museum also talks about other parts of Cuba’s past which I enjoyed. The museum is in a grand building, but inside it is falling apart. It does not live up to the standards in terms of upkeep of a national museum as you might expect, which likely has to do with the government. However, the outside pavilion is much newer and features many of the vehicles that were used during the Revolution, gunshots and all.

After finishing the museum I stopped to buy a water and sit in some air conditioning for a bit. The heat is killer once again. I then spent some time just walking through Old Havana, eventually walking a long ways to the art market that is on the water. It would have been enjoyable had every single person not attempted to sell me something. I couldn’t enjoy just walking through, and left after one quick walk through. I was growing frustrated with this today, as it occurred with constantly with taxi drivers as well. I think the difference today vs. yesterday is that yesterday I was walking around with Tony, but today I was walking around alone. It became very annoying, but I guess it is just part of Havana (my least favorite part).

After the frustration of the art market, I walked back through Old Havana, this time to the Old Town Square and then to visit Convento de San Francisco de Asis. The church was really cool to walk through and I appreciated being able to get out of the heat. I walked around for a little while longer, and eventually found a restaurant to eat a very cheap pizza for dinner. I then went back to my Airbnb in the heart of town and rested during the worst heat of the day. It was a nice break before heading over to Castillo de San Carlos de la Cabańa for the traditional nightly 9 o'clock Cannon Ceremony.

After all day of being hounded after to take a taxi, once I finally needed one to head over to ___ there were none to be found. After walking along the water looking for a few minutes, I finally found one at not too bad of a price! It was a classic car which you, of course, have to ride in at least once when visiting Cuba. The taxi driver made a wrong turn, so I ended up getting a longer ride than I paid for which was fine by me! To get to Castillo de San Carlos de la Cabańa you have to go through a tunnel under the water, so you definitely can’t walk to get there.

I made it about an hour and a half before the Cannon Ceremony would start, giving me plenty of time to walk around Castillo de San Carlos de la Cabańa. I was able to take some really cool pictures of the sunset, and then I enjoyed just walking through such a historic fort. I decided to pay the extra $2 to have a good seat for the Cannon Ceremony (they called it balcony seating if you ever make it there) and it was definitely worth it! I was able to sit up on a ledge out of the mass of people, and also got a pineapple juice included in the price! I had about thirty minutes until the cannon at this point, but all of the pomp and circumstance before the cannon fire started just a few minutes after taking my seat.

It is a traditional ceremony with men dressed in traditional military clothing. They march out and then perform the ceremony, which includes torches and gun maneuvers. With about three minutes to go, I started getting nervous. I knew it would be so loud, as you can hear it from anywhere in Havana, and now I was within feet of the cannon. It was, indeed, very loud, but so cool! I uploaded a video so you can see it for yourself - I definitely jump when it fires, but I feel like it would be hard not to!

I really enjoyed the ceremony - it was one of my favorite parts of my trip, and I highly recommend it if you are ever able to visit Havana. After it was over, there was a giant exodus of people. I waited until I got outside to hire a taxi, as I wanted to make sure it was an official taxi and not just a random person. I found a reasonable price and headed back to my Airbnb. I went to sleep not long after because I have to get ready to head home tomorrow, and want to be able to get up to walk around a little while before I leave.

The Trip Home

After getting another good night’s sleep I woke up early enough to take one last stroll through the city. I bought some cool presents for some of my family and tried to exchange some more money (to pay for my cab to the airport) before having to give up because I ran out of time. I organized a taxi back through my Airbnb, and the driver stopped at a Cadeca outside of town with a much shorter line to let me exchange money, which was a much better plan. He was really nice and I enjoyed talking with him during the forty-five minute ride to the airport.

I flew out of a different terminal than I flew into, and this one was much bigger. I used my extra Cuban Pesos to buy a few more gifts, as well as Cuban Rum (which is cheaper than water in Cuba, fun fact). I headed to my gate with no problems, and boarded my flight directly back to Atlanta. I landed in a different terminal than I took off out of, so I had to transit via bus back to my car. After arguing over the parking bill (it was much larger than it should have been) and being given a customer service number, I headed to eat dinner with my friend Claire who lives in Atlanta! After a great dinner I drove back home, exhausted and sunburnt, but with a newfound appreciation for Cuba. There are obviously issues with the country and its relationship with the U.S. government, but I had an amazing time and highly recommend it!

32 countries down, 164 to go.

Read about my first day in Cuba here.

Country #32 - Cuba Day 1

The Travel

It took an entire day of travel to get to Cuba, but it was totally worth it. My day began at 4am with a three-hour drive to Atlanta. I made it in plenty of time with only a bit of Atlanta traffic, but the problems began with Atlanta Airport parking. There is construction all over the airport, and they sent me to the wrong lot twice. Eventually, I just had to park at the more expensive lot close to the airport, and it was a good thing that I did. I was hurrying through the airport but had to start running when I heard my name on the two-minute warning. Completely out of breath and dripping sweat, I made it on my first flight of the day! I don’t think I have ever heard anything positive about the Atlanta airport, and I don’t think that’s a coincidence. It is too big and problematic. But anyways, I made it!

I flew Spirit into Fort Lauderdale (FLL) where I then had a four-hour layover. I normally don’t have the best experiences with Spirit, but I appreciated the flight attendant who gave me a free water bottle today - I think it probably had something to do with me looking like I was about to pass out after the airport run. When I arrived I had to change terminals, which is easy to do in Fort Lauderdale as they are all within walking distance. I flew Southwest to Cuba. There is a special desk downstairs in the Southwest terminal to pick up your Cuba visa, and you also check-in at the desk downstairs. It was quick and painless and I easily picked up my $50 Cuban visa that I had pre-ordered online ahead of time. The most important thing to know about the visa is that you have to write everything perfectly. If you mess up, there are no do-overs, and you have to spend $50 more to get a new visa!

I know that there are plenty of misconceptions about travel to Cuba for US citizens, but I want to clear as much up as I can. As of this writing, you can currently travel to Cuba under one of the twelve approved reasons for travel by the U.S. State Department. However, this almost never comes up other than when you buy your plane ticket online, buy your visa, and again at the airport. Online it is simply ticking a box. At the check-in desk be prepared to tell them the reason you are flying to Cuba (one of the twelve approved reasons), but other than that I was never questioned about my travel to the country. I traveled using the support of the Cuban people visa. All that I had to do to justify this was to stay in an Airbnb, which is then technically supporting the Cuban that I was staying with. Airbnb is also the easiest way for Americans to travel solo in Cuba, i.e. without a tour group. Immigration in Cuba was a breeze. They have nothing to do with the twelve reasons situation and could care less why you are visiting - in their eyes you are just another tourist, and they are glad to have you there.

I headed to my terminal where I meticulously filled out my visa. I was in the brand new terminal of FLL which was really nice other than the fact that none of the restaurants had opened yet. As a result, I walked to the next closest terminal for food, then walked back to my terminal to sit and eat because it honestly was really cool and there was almost no one there! There was thunder in the area, but luckily my flight remained on time. In preparation for Cuba, I spent my four hours downloading anything that I might need offline, making a map in maps.me, and doing anything else online that I might need to for the next two days. The Internet is incredibly hard to get in Cuba, and I didn’t want to have to worry about spending my limited time there trying to get it.

The flight itself was so short - only about an hour. It was an okay flight, despite being beside the most talkative person ever on only three hours of sleep and an already full day of travel. I landed and went through immigration really easily, and was asked no questions at all. After immigration, I had to exchange money. I had read that $20 or $100 bills would be accepted everywhere, but for some reason, the airport would only take $100 today. I exchanged my $100 and would exchange my $20s in the city. Money in Cuba is another source of confusion, as there are technically two currencies, the Cuban convertible peso, known as CUC, and the Cuban peso, known as CUP. As a tourist, you only need to worry about CUC, which directly matches the USD. It is a pain to exchange money in Cuba but you have to do it. Bring plenty of crisp $100s and $20s with you, as well as your passport whenever you need to exchange. There are no ATMs in Cuba, and U.S. credit cards are not accepted. The lines in town can be very long and are filled with locals so be aware that exchanging money can become very time consuming very quickly. Also, be sure to exchange all of your CUC back to USD or spend it before you leave, as it is impossible to exchange it once you leave Cuba.

I found a taxi driver for $30 to take me into Havana, which is pretty standard. The drive was about thirty minutes, and I was staying in the heart of Old Havana. I found a nice looking, inexpensive Airbnb online (Casa Carmen if you’re interested) and it was exactly what I needed. Super central location, clean, safe, and air-conditioned. I met Carmen’s mom, also named Carmen, upon my arrival. She spoke no English, but it was obvious that she has done this introduction plenty of times. She easily showed me everything and even answered my questions without speaking English, which was pretty impressive.

I was settled in around 5pm, and after flipping through the TV (did you know they have Looney Toons in Cuba?) I fell asleep incredibly early. Before that, though, I sent a text home letting my parents know I was in Cuba. There is literally no service or wifi unless you wait in over an hour long line to buy a wifi card that then only lasts an hour and only works in public parks. I sent a text every night about my day but had no idea that they had received them until I got back because I was not able to receive any texts but somehow mine went through. Moral of the story: don’t count on being able to communicate from Cuba. Communication issues aside, I am really excited to begin exploring Havana tomorrow and am looking forward to the two full days I’ll be spending here!

The History Lesson

After an incredibly restful night of sleep, I had an exciting first day in Cuba to look forward to! The main point on my agenda was to just walk around and explore Old Havana. And boy, did I ever. My day didn’t go exactly as I had envisioned, but it was even better than I had thought!

I started my day walking just steps out of my door through beautiful Plaza de Armas and past Castillo de la Real Fuerza. I hadn’t seen much of Havana during the drive in, but today I was immediately in awe of how beautiful it is. The architecture throughout the old town definitely has a Spanish feel to it, but it is unique in its own way. Within another minute or so I was already to Plaza de la Catedral, home to a stunning Cathedral (I was only able to see the outside) and some cool little restaurants. I ate at Esto no es un café, where I had a giant chicken breast that was amazing. After lunch, I walked along Obispo Street, one of the most frequented streets in Old Havana.

I found a Cadeca (bank where I could exchange more money) and decided to go ahead and take care of exchanging more so I wouldn’t have to worry about it for the rest of the day. It was in line at the Cadeca that I met Tony, who is getting his PhD basically studying Cuba at UNC. The line took over an hour (I told you they were long), and we started talking about everything Cuba. It was fantastic because I could ask literally any question and he knew the answer. And trust me, I had plenty of questions. It was Tony’s last day in town after being in Havana for a few months for research, so he walked through the town with me for a few hours!

The first stop was to buy some Cuban cigars. I didn’t buy them for myself, of course, but I still had to buy some. I bought the cheapest box (because I want the box..) and afterwards, we sat in the cool hotel that the Cigar store was in where I was able to try the Cuban equivalent of Sprite. After having stood in line at the Cadeca for over an hour in close to one hundred degrees heat, it was a really refreshing lemon-lime drink.

After this stop, we spent an hour or so walking through Old Town and then walked to El Malecon, the street with the best view out at the Caribbean. It was such a beautiful viewpoint, and it is also a good place to look back at Havana from. I can’t emphasize how hot it was at this point, so we started to walk back to find air conditioning. We went to El Floridita, which is famous for being Ernest Hemingway’s favorite bar. So many places in Havana are famous for something related to Hemingway. The Floridita’s is famous for its Daiquiri, which was Hemingway’s favorite drink. Anything cold would have tasted amazing at this point in the day, but it was really tasty!

After cooling off we sat for a while and just talked more about Cuba. I asked so many questions (probably too many) about everything from the Revolution, to how they get food and housing, to how communism works in Cuba and many other things in between. I learned so much in one day, and I can’t thank Tony enough for answering all of my questions! Seriously, it was amazing making a new friend who knew literally everything about such a unique country. I knew next to nothing about Cuba going into this trip, but I am so glad that has changed.

After the endless questions, we grabbed a quick dinner at a really great restaurant that his Cuban friends owned. They actually started it in what used to be their house, and now the owner lives upstairs. One of the most interesting things to me about Cuba was how everyone seems to always be trying to make extra money in a system that is inherently built on the opposite principles. I don’t know why this is, but it was intriguing! As was how much Cubans know about American culture - they know literally everything which I was not expecting but found to be really interesting as well.

After a great first day in Cuba where I saw all of the main sights of Old Havana, made a new friend, and learned a lot, I had another early night before my second day of exploring Havana tomorrow!

32 countries down, 164 to go.

Read about my second day in Cuba here.

Country #31 - Brazil Day 2

The Redeemer

After a super long (but definitely worth it) day yesterday, it was so nice to be able to sleep a few extra hours this morning! I flew from Foz do Iguaçu (IGU), the airport on the Brazilian side of the border, to Rio de Janeiro (GIG). I arrived in Rio around 1:30pm with a very tight schedule for the day: my only goal was to visit the Christ the Redeemer statue, but my flight back to the United States left at 8:30pm, giving me approximately five hours until I needed to be back at the airport.

I left my luggage at the left luggage counter in the airport (bless every airport/train station with left luggage, it makes life so much easier) and grabbed an Uber straight to the base of Christ the Redeemer. I found Uber to be pretty cheap in Rio which was super helpful for my crazy day. I arrived at the base of Corcovado Mountain, where I then took the Trem do Corcovado to the top. If you buy your tickets in their app you get to board early (which I did) so I had a view in the front of the “train”. It is an almost hundred year old system that takes you up the mountain and into the clouds. When you reach the top, you are literally above the clouds.

After climbing a few stairs (or taking the elevator if you are in a time pinch) you reach the top with a view out over Rio and are right at the base of the Christ the Redeemer statue. It was so cool to see in person - it is giant and such a unique sight. There were so many people, but also it’s peak tourist season. I walked around for a bit taking tons of pictures of the city, the clouds, and of course the statue. The statue is so tall that there are mats on the ground that you can lay on to try and get a picture of the entire thing. There is also actually a church in the base of the statue, which I had no idea. It is very small, but it’s there!

I met a cool new friend from the U.S. who I asked to take my picture. She had always wanted to visit Brazil, saved up, and made it happen! I really enjoyed talking to her on the train ride back down the mountain, and am very jealous that she’s headed to São Paulo - next trip, I guess! After reaching the bottom I grabbed an Uber to get a quick dinner. I also really wanted to see Copacabana Beach, but was running short on time. So as a quick fix I asked my driver to drive along the beach on the way to dinner, which worked perfect! I got a great burger, fries, and a brownie shake to go, and called another Uber to the airport.

There was, of course, traffic. It made the ride a bit more expensive and made me worry for a few minutes, but I eventually made it to the airport with an hour and a half before my flight. Not ideal, but I speed walked and arrived at my gate as boarding began. I was flying back to the U.S. on an American Airlines family pass (I’ll call it flying non-rev), which depending on the day can be an awesome experience (inexpensive business and first class seats) or a nightmare (getting stranded without a confirmed seat). Today was one of the more stressful days, but it could have been worse.

I made it on the flight, but had a middle seat in coach. Not ideal for an eight hour flight. I had no idea the flight from Rio to Miami was eight hours - longer than it takes to fly to Europe from the east coast! I was so tired, though, that the seat didn’t matter. I was between two nice ladies and, other than the people the row behind me who didn’t know how to turn off their light and kept accidentally calling the flight attendant, the flight was fine. I slept on and off for a few hours, arrived in Miami at about 4:30am, and then had to walk forever to immigration and customs (in Miami definitely take the train to reach immigration and customs!!). After finally arriving at immigration the process took about two minutes (thank goodness for Global Entry). However, I quickly realized the rest of my day was going to be more complicated than I had planned.

The flight I was going to take to Charlotte had filled up, and I was worried that the direct flight to Birmingham might do the same. I had also reached the point of being so tired after a month and a half straight of travel that I needed to keep moving. Collapsing in the hectic Miami airport didn’t sound like fun, so I called my dad and we began searching for every option. It was about 5:30am, and the Miami airport was packed with people, which was not ideal. After looking at every option out of Miami, and then Fort Lauderdale, I finally found an option! It was out of West Palm Beach Airport (PBI) in two hours, and it would take an hour to get there.

I never thought I would think an $80 Uber would be worth it, but in this instance it was. I fell asleep and woke up an hour later in West Palm Beach. The airport was nice, small, and best of all, empty! The flight to Charlotte was uneventful, and once I was in Charlotte I was excited to find a Chick-fil-A that was still serving breakfast because it was still so early. My flight to Birmingham was then, of course, delayed. I decided to change to a different flight that was scheduled to leave at the same time as my now delayed flight, and boy was that the right call - I got first class and when I landed in Birmingham my original flight in Charlotte still had not left (this was an instance where flying non-rev definitely paid off).

I landed and found my family actually on time at the airport, waiting in the terminal, which I don’t think has ever happened before - they must have missed me after a month and a half of the Caribbean and Latin America, I guess! I’m definitely glad to be home for a few weeks so that I can rest and get ready for my next trip where I’ll be headed to Cuba!

31 countries down, 165 to go.

Read about my first day in Brazil here.