21 April 2018 – I was in
no rush to do anything today but knew I had to get out and find some
(Money) Brazilian Real and see if I can find the Post Office. This
hotel had three elevators. One of the elevators was attached to the
outside of the hotel. You had a full view of the city skyline, houses
and shops around the hotel. It was nothing new but could take your
breath away as you ascended or descended from the top floors. I went
downstairs to the lobby to ask the front desk if they had tourist map
of the city or downtown area. I also needed to ask for directions to
an ATM and the location of the Post Office. They graciously provided
all three. I got my walking clothes on, water, shoes on and took off.
Before I lost sight of the hotel, I made sure my map and the streets
were in agreement. I did not want to get lost. My calf muscles were
still sore from the walk I took to the 3 countries corner monument
when I was in Argentina. Anyway, a good walk would probably strength
them up.
It seemed like I walked
about a Mile / 1.6 Kilometers by the time I reached the Post Office
corner. I walked the sidewalk back and forth looking for the Post
Office before I realized I was standing in front of it. It wasn’t
well marked. Then I had to find the door…….what looked like a
service door was actually the entrance. I couldn’t figure out why I
couldn’t get in because I was on time to get in. After standing
there looking dumb……I looked at the open hours. Open five
separate days M-T-W-T-F and closed on Saturday and Sunday. I checked
my watch, shit it was Sunday. So, I’m a dork and everybody who
looked at me knew it. Who keeps track of the days? Well, let see if I
can find an ATM. I back tracked to the ATM street marked on the map.
I found the first ATM and my card wouldn’t work. The second ATM was
locked and I couldn’t get in without some type of password. The
third one took a little hunting and was in a bank. The bank was not
well marked but I found it and was able to get in. It had a bank of 8
ATM’s. I tried my card while holding my breath it would work. It
worked and I was able to get enough Brazilian Real to last me a week.
I walked back to the hotel
and when I passed a soft ice cream vendor I bought a chocolate and
vanilla swirl ice cream cone. I made a mental note not to forget
where to find him. I also passed a pizza joint which I may return to
at a later date. I’m still on track to get back to the hotel. I
took a slightly different route back because my map and streets were
agreeing with each other. I also wanted to do some downtown
sightseeing. When I get back to the hotel, I need to make
arrangements and purchase tickets to tour the Iguacu National Park /
Parque Nacional do Iguacu tomorrow. The big attraction is Iguazu
Waterfalls / Cataratas del Iguazu. This is a huge tourist attraction
and many foreign dignitaries visit it during their stay in Brazil. My
calf muscles are still killing me. I’m not walking very fast.
Anyway, I’m back at the hotel. I give my motorcycle the 50 cent
look over and I see a drip of red oil near the front tire. It looks
like one of my front fork seals are leaking. It’s about the size of
a pencil eraser. I will have to keep and eye on it. I purchased the
tickets to tour the Iguacu National Park / Parque Nacional do Iguacu.
I had some problems with language but stumbled through ok. The tour
agency made a real big point that I be in the lobby by 8:00 a.m. to
be picked up by the shuttle bus and that I needed to get a wrist
band. So, tomorrow I must get out of bed early.
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