The trip back from Laranjeiras and a day of recuperation
Yesterday I said I’d tell you about our journey home from the Fluminense v Santos game.Well, we left the game at a good time. The journey was meant to be only a couple of hours without hitting any traffic.
It started off perfectly, we even stopped off at a Brazilian equivalent of motorway services for some decent grub.
It was soon after we left there that things went a bit wrong. We hit an almighty traffic jam, which in Brazil seems to be a regular thing!
It was when we didn’t move an inch for a good ten minutes that things didn’t seem great. A few of the lads got off the coach to see what was happening so I joined them to investigate.
Being late at night and no street lights, we didn’t have a clue where we were. As soon as we left the coach it became apparent that we were half way up a mountain!
After walking 100 yards away from the coach it was obvious what had caused the jam: a lorry lying on its side, very close to the edge of a sheer drop and its cargo of thousands of planks of wood scattered across the road.
A recovery truck was already there taking care of the overturned lorry but it was its cargo that would obstruct our exit home so of few of us along with the legend that is Mr Fix-it aka Mr Tagg, all mucked in in removing the planks of wood to the side of the road – only in Brazil!
We returned to our lodgings at about 1.30am all unscathed, although a little knackered from our eventful day.
Not long after falling asleep it seemed, we were up early again for the usual bread roll and coffee – a breakfast I am actually becoming worryingly fond of.
A light training session followed at 9.30am for those that played the majority of the game with the remaining players doing extra fitness work. Afterwards, it was a spot of lunch and then back on a coach to Rio for a well-deserved afternoon off.
The fact that our coach had a window smashed out gets a very blasé mention as it just seems a normal thing to happen out here. It really is amazing what we have become used to so quickly!
Once in Rio, we had a few hours to kill and a choice of what we wanted to do. Some of the lads went to Sugar Loaf mountain whilst others, including myself, decided to just chill out and wander the streets of Rio.
In the evening, myself, Colesy, Oaksy and Butts were in attendance at the Fluminense-Exeter book launch, produced by one of the leading members of the Brazilian contingent, Eric.
After that we had a lovely meal in a typical Brazilian restaurant that Eric kindly treated us to so a huge thank you to him and his lovely wife Hannah.