Today was my last day in Brazil, and I left Rio de Janeiro to fly back to Madrid, Spain.
After having breakfast at the hotel buffet, I read my Kindle for a few hours before checking out of the hotel. I checked out and left my case and laptop with the doorman, who locked it up in a hotel cupboard.
Gail soon joined me, and we walked around to an Italian restaurant where I had my last meal in Rio de Janeiro. It was probably the best steak I had while there, but it was not brilliant. Gail had upgraded her flight home and had paid to go first class, and this meant she would have used the airport lounge when we got there, so she didn't have anything to eat.
After we left the restaurant, we walked back to the hotel and collected our bags from the doorman. He called us a taxi, and we were soon picked up and driven to the airport. We were too early to check in and sat down to wait until we could. After a while, I walked to the check-in and discovered it had opened. I sent Gail a message, and she joined the first class queue to check in. As I waited, a man told me I didn't have to wait and took me through to a disabled queue, and I was very quickly checked in.
I then made my way to the security gates, and as usual, I set all the alarms off. After security made me take off my belt and checked me for any other metal, they then told me to take off my knee support, and they ran it through security. I walked through the security again, but it didn't go off. The security man told me that when they had looked at my knee support in the X-ray machine, it had metal in it to give me more support, and that is what set the alarms off. They returned my knee brace, and I now know I can't wear it to go through the security machines.
I made my way through the airport shops and got myself a can of Sprite before going to the gate where my flight would leave. I sat down and read my Kindle to kill time before we left. When the gate opened, I was again taken through a disabled entrance to save me from queuing, and as I walked towards the plane door, Gail walked past me on her way to first class.
The Spanish people on the flight didn't seem to be able to follow simple instructions, and they kept swapping seats. Even as we were backing out of the gate, Spanish passengers near me were still trying to swap seats to sit with friends. The flight took off, and I spent an uneventful night watching films on the small screen in the seatback in front of me. I have never been able to sleep on planes, and this flight was no different. When I had watched any films I wanted to watch, I spent the rest of the flight reading my Kindle.