Rio 2016: The Experience - Day 2 - The Baltimore Bullet

8/7/16 (Rio 2016 Day 2), “The Baltimore Bullet”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

It is now just 12 hours since, from this very spot, I recounted what was a serious contender for the most epic 24 hours in all of my travel history.  When I landed in Rio Friday morning, I knew this trip would be an instant contender for my number one trip of all time.  If the next 8 Days are anything like yesterday, it will be a lock for that title.  In just 12 hour hence, I will be watching my biggest sports hero of all time race in swimming’s most iconic race: the Men’s 4 x 100m Relay.  I am talking, of course, about the Baltimore Bullet, Michael Phelps.

I still remember that race from Beijing, when Phelps was trying to go 8 for 8 to make Olympic history and Jason Lezak anchored the relay to bring Team USA a come-from-behind victory in world-record time.  I still remember Phelp’s victorious celebration from the foot of the pool, his arms pumped up in the air, as his teammate came in down the home stretch, putting Phelp’s one step closer to making Olympic history.

I cried as that world record was set, and I look forward to seeing a repeat performance tonight.  I will see him compete in two more events later this week, the 100m Butterfly and the 200m IM.  He has won those events at each of those past three Games.  I hope to see him make more Olympic history by repeating those gold medals for a fourth time.  Fogged up goggles, a risky extra half-stroke to win by a hundredth of a second, the come-from-behind relay victory, I still remember what he did in Beijing.  Eight gold medals, all in Olympic Record time, seven of them in World Record time.

There is only one record Phelps has left to break, most medals by an Olympian in individual events.  Phelps has 13, a Soviet gymnast has 14.  Phelps has three individual events this Games.  He just needs to medal in two of them.  If he breaks that record, I will be in the stands to watch it.  I have faith in him.  I cried when I walked into the Water Cube in Beijing.  I can’t imagine what I’ll feel when I see him in person tonight and again later this week.

Okay, so after I closed last night, as I was publishing, there was more drama.  It seems that drama keeps popping up after I close for the night.  Raymond was not in the room, and I didn’t have my key.  I checked back on the roof and the lobby, then I went back to the floor and found him there with someone with some odd machine.  Apparently, we were locked out of the room.  Not as in, we didn’t have a key to get in.  The locking mechanism was broken.  They had to replace the batteries.  It still wouldn’t work.  They tried using a fancy machine to open the door with an override.  That wouldn’t work, either.

Meanwhile, I was publishing my entry, which took some time due to all the photos.  They wanted to put us in another room for the night, but that was not an option.  Our chargers and passports were in the room.  I needed to charge my electronics overnight, since we had an 8 AM tour, and I didn’t want to leave my passport unattended.  They called the manager, who was at his home across the city, and I forcefully told him that he needed to figure out how to open the door, or I was going to have to break down the door.  He said he would come over.  He came, and he still couldn’t figure out the problem.

He opened up the locking mechanism again, and then he discovered the problem.  When the worker had replaced the batteries, he had only put in three of the four batteries the mechanism required, and one of the batteries was put in with the poles reversed.  Wow.  They reset the system, and the door opened.  After almost two hours, problem solved.  Or so it seemed.  Now the door wouldn’t lock.  As in, if we closed the door, anyone could open it from the outside.  There was no security latch inside the door.  Wow.  We put a chair inside the door, and they promised to fix it before we left at 8 AM for our tour.

We went to sleep and, of course, they hadn’t fixed it by the time we woke up at 7:30 AM.  We called down, and they sent someone up, while I called to try and rearrange the tour.  Long story short, they fixed the door, finally, and we met our tour guide on about four hours of sleep.  I got two to-go cups to have breakfast in the car, one for food, one for coffee, but the tour guide insisted on waiting while we had our breakfast.

After breakfast, much the same as yesterday, we got in the car.  I asked him what was on the docket.  He mentioned a few sites around town and a museum.  He did not mention Christ the Redeemer.  What the fucking fuck!?!  I didn’t want to see a museum or an aqueduct.  I wanted to see Brazil’s most iconic landmark.  He told me that the tickets were sold out, but for an outrageous price (10 times the normal price), he would arrange for us to go up there.  Nope.  I looked online and saw tickets available.  Everything about this was sketchy.

I told him to take us to the box office, and we easily bought regular tickets there to go at 1 PM.  I told him to take us around to see a few sites and drop us back off at the hotel at 11 AM.  We saw the waterfront and the State’s legislative assembly building and then the colonial aqueduct.  That was our little tour.  It was enough.  We were starving, but Raymond insisted on taking a shower before lunch.  I wanted to have a cigar after lunch so that I could write this entry.  If he had taken the shower while I was having my cigar, it would have saved us half an hour.  He didn’t want to do that.

We headed down the block after his shower to a Portuguese restaurant, but it was fancy, which meant slow.  We had a coffee there and decided we’d eat there another time, when we had a looser schedule.  We’d be here for a week, after all.  We got meat and cheese pastries from the café across the street.  That was delicious.  We then went back to the room, and I retrieved my computer bag.  I headed up to the roof, back to my spot from last night, where I sat down, lit up a Partagas (Cigar of the Trip), and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that we can start making our way to Corcovado to see the big statue of Christ.

(Corcovado)

Well, there he is.  The main man himself.  Brazil’s most iconic monument.  A New7 Wonder of the World.  Six down, one to go.  In a little over a month, in front of the Colosseum, I will be able to announce, “Seven down, zero to go.  All New7 Wonders of the World Complete.”  Of the six I visited so far, this has been the most underwhelming.  I fully expect the Colosseum to blow me away.  This was just a big statue of Jesus.  I suppose if I was a member of a faith that worshipped him (or Him, I suppose I should write), it would be more of an experience, however most people here were tourists, not pilgrims.  If this was a giant statue of Pele, it would have had just as many, if not more, visitors clamoring to get the perfect photo.

What is supposed to be so magnificent about this statue is the view from the mountaintop.  The vista that NBC makes so iconic is only visible from a helicopter.  On a clear day, you can see the mountains and harbor off in the distance.  That is an iconic view, but the view is much the same from Sugarloaf or any other mountain in the area.  The iconic shot is taken from behind Jesus, or from across the harbor, facing Jesus.  Those would be iconic vistas, but that is not what is Officially designated the New7 Wonder.  That designation belongs to the statue itself.

I also said this was possible on a clear day.  It is not a clear day.  It is foggy, not to mention cold and windy.  Most of the past two hours has been spent trying to get just one ceremonial picture with the man himself.  Spoiler alert: we got it.  That was all that mattered.  Even on a clear day, without a helicopter, we would have been unable to get a picture that showed both the statue and the harbor.  The angle is off.

There will be other opportunities for aerial harbor views.  That is not what today is about.  Today is about checking off my list the sixth New7 Wonder of the World.  To that end, we have succeeded.  Actually, the fog just cleared away for a minute, and I got my aerial picture.  It was actually kind of underwhelming.  Okay, so how did I get from that spot in my hotel where I could see Jesus up on the mountain to right here behind the statue?

After I closed, we went to the room to reorganize our bags and cigars.  We took a taxi to the train station.  It was a very simple process, and the security check was anything but thorough.  They didn’t check my pockets, and they didn’t check all the compartments of my bag.  We sat down in the waiting area next to two women from Finland, who had won tickets to the Olympics through a contest on Instagram run by an FOC sponsor.  It was a bit of a delay for the tram, but it came soon enough, and it took us up the mountain.

If I had been worried about finding the perfect souvenir, my worries would have been misplaced.  There were so many replicas in every size and color, along with other accessories.  Multiple shops, too.  Well, the fog was almost blinding, and we could barely see the statue.  We decided we’d get lunch and hope that the fog had cleared up after lunch.

We were not the only people with that idea.  The restaurant was packed, and there was a long line for tables.  Eventually, we were seated, and I ordered a ham and cheese sandwich, along with fries and a sparkling water.  A Serbian cyclist and his manager asked if they could join us as we finished dessert.  Of course they could.  After our meal, we headed back.

The view had cleared up, and we were able to take our ceremonial picture.  I raced to light up a Montecristo, figuring that was fitting to smoke on Christ’s mountain.  We took a bunch of ceremonial pictures and then walked over to the Wi-Fi area to post the pictures and get caught up on social media notifications.  We then headed down to an area behind the statue, where I sat down and proceeded to write this entry, which I will now close so that we can try to find some more vistas and buy some souvenirs before we head back to the hotel.

(Olympic Aquatics Stadium)

Shortly after I finish this entry, the Baltimore Bullet will enter the pool for the first time at this Games.  I have already recounted the magic that was this race in Beijing.  What will Rio hold?  Will Team USA earn their second gold medal of the night?  Will Phelps add to his already impressive collection of hardware?  I certainly hope so.  That’s why I’m here.  This race is why I chose this for my first of four nights of Swimming that I will get to watch.  I am so at home here.  How many times I have watched these races on one of my various screens, wishing I could be here?  Now, here I am.  I’m home.  I’m home in these stands.  I’m home sitting outside the stadium.  I’m home walking around the Olympic Park.  I’m home anywhere Olympic Rings are to be found.  I’m just home.

After I closed at Corcovado, I loaded up on souvenirs, this being the main non-Olympic site of the trip.  We took the tram back down the mountain, being two of the last people allowed on the tram, which saved us about 20 minutes.  We were both dead-tired.  That didn’t stop Raymond from chatting up the South African women sitting next to him.  They exchanged contact information and planned to meet up again at some other point.  He was welcome to them.  I had no interest.   Told him to make whatever arrangements he wanted while I was at swimming either tonight or another night.  We took a taxi back to the hotel and fell asleep almost immediately.  I’ll now pause for the British national anthem.

Wait, I think they’re going to follow it up again with our national anthem.  Well, I’ll keep writing until they mount our flag and ask us to rise again.  Yes, Katie LEDECKY won the first gold for Team USA Swimming of the Games.  More on that later.  Okay, so we fell asleep and overslept a bit, waking up starving.  It would be a tight schedule to have dinner if I was to get to the stadium in time for the first race.

We headed downstairs and wound up going to the Portuguese restaurant at the end of the block.  They had an extensive menu, and I knew we’d be going back.  I was starving, so I would up ordering a Portuguese beer, codfish (bacala) fritters, and a French fries dish with cheese and sausage.  It was too much food for me, so I told Ray, who insisted he wasn’t hungry anymore, to take half.  Even together, we couldn’t finish it.

After dinner, more drama ensued.  I hailed a taxi to take me to the swimming venue.  The first driver had no idea where it was, so I got a new cab.  He knew where it was, and it would be about 45 minutes.  That was good on time.  About two kilometers, away, it turned out he couldn’t go any further.  More drama ensued.  Long story short, only 1000 taxis had the special accreditation required to go to the entrance to the Olympic Park.

I was angry he hadn’t told me about this ahead of time (or hadn’t known), and I handed him a banknote for half of what I owed him and walked away angrily.  He followed me out even more angrily and threatened to call the police.  Good, then he could explain to them how he screwed me over.  He said I could take another taxi further along to the venue and helped me hail another car in the special lane.  That worked.  I handed him the second banknote, and he paid the driver out of his fare to take me the rest of the way.  I thanked him for solving the problem.

When I got to the Olympic Park, I was glad to see the heavy military presence and that the checkpoints were outside the entrance to the Park, rather than at the entrances to the venues, preventing the Olympic Park itself from becoming a soft target (cf. Athens Centennial Olympic Park, 1996).  They scanned my ticket, and it said my seat had been relocated.  More drama.  I was now on a very tight time crunch.  I raced to the venue, with only minutes to spare, and they printed me a new ticket a few rows up.  My seat was being used by camera crews.  They didn’t figure this out ahead of time?  Seriously?!?

I didn’t have time for souvenirs or drinks.  I got inside to my section, found an available seat in the section that was more spacious than my seat, and sat down just as the racers took their mark for the first race.  They’re not doing LEDECKY’s medal ceremony now, by the way.  The first race was the W 100m Butterfly.  Sweden won that event, and we earned ourselves a bronze.

I headed out to get a souvenir and a beer before continuing outside the stadium itself but still within the ticket-control area, and lit up an Hoyo de Monterrey from the box we had bought.  I was so at home, smoking that cigar and drinking that beer while I stared at the stadium.  I didn’t really even have time to finish my cigar before I had to go back for the next two races.   The second race of the night was the M 100m Breaststroke, which was won by Britain, and we got another bronze.

After that, it was Katie LEDECKY’s turn to represent Team USA in the W 400m Freestyle.  She dominated that race, at least a full body length ahead of the field, taking home our first Swimming gold of the Games and doing it in World Record time.  After that race, I proceeded to write this entry from my seat, which I will now close as the Baltimore Bullet is about to enter the arena for the M 4 x 100m Freestyle Relay, possibly the most exciting swimming event of all.  I will provide the details of that when I write tonight.

Yup, we did it.  The Baltimore Bullet and the rest of Team USA brought home the Gold in the relay.  It wasn’t even close.  We beat France by the better part of a second.  “USA!!!  USA!!!  USA!!!” I cheered from the railing.  Yeah, after I closed, I went up to the railing to watch our team.  I was right behind the 50m side of Lane 4.  It was a prime spot.  We won the race to cheers of “USA!!!”  I cried when Phelps did his split.  Here was my hero, and he was up close.

Then came the medal ceremonies.  The podium was right underneath where I was standing, and Katie LEDECKY came out for her gold medal.  She looked up at us as we cheered “USA!!!”  I almost died.  I took off my hat, placed it over my heart, and sang along with our national anthem, as I have done so many times from the comfort of my home.  No, now I was home.  Then some downtime, then our relay time came out.

I knew I was going to die when Phelps stood below me.  This was my hero, and he would be receiving a gold medal, just ten feet directly below me.  I texted my friend about how excited was, and she replied, “HAHAHA DONT BE WEIRD”.  I couldn’t promise I wouldn’t completely fanboy out over Phelps.  Someone brought out a Team USA flag and hung it next to me.  I’m sure I’ve made the TV coverage of the medal ceremony.  I know I made the Team USA Snapchat story.

This was such an unreal experience.  We got our gold medals, and I sang along with the national anthem once more.  I took a ceremonial picture, and then it was time to go home.  With some difficulty, I was finally able to find a cab, not wanting to take the bus all the way back and have to deal with that process.  I got back to the hotel, and Raymond was asleep.  It seemed the air conditioning was no longer working, so that may be some more drama that we need to deal with, but that can wait until tomorrow.

We have three events to see tomorrow, starting with shooting at 9 AM and ending with seeing Kerri Walsh on the beach at midnight.  It will be a VERY busy day, and it is quite late.  To that end, I will close so that I can publish and get to sleep.  It has been another magical day, and the best is yet to come.