And so my journey has begun. Having left home at 12.45pm, Sunday 4th September, I am due to arrive into Rio de Janeiro at 9.05am on Monday 5th September (UK Time). Brazil is 4 hours behind the UK, so how long will I have been travelling for? (I hope you can work it out, because my excitement levels are now muddling my brain!)
Packing was fun - trying to balance what I should take with me with the amount of free gear I will receive created a headache or two, but I'm really pleased that I have a large amount of weight allowance remaining for my return home in 10 days time. And what a 10 days it will be!
The first leg of my journey took me by train from the familiarity and comfort of Menston, to the sprawling metropolis of Manchester Airport with views such as this along the way:
Packing was fun - trying to balance what I should take with me with the amount of free gear I will receive created a headache or two, but I'm really pleased that I have a large amount of weight allowance remaining for my return home in 10 days time. And what a 10 days it will be!
The first leg of my journey took me by train from the familiarity and comfort of Menston, to the sprawling metropolis of Manchester Airport with views such as this along the way:
MAN has changed a lot since the days of my grandfather and mum working there for Air France - it would now be completely unrecognisable to them. Trying to explain where the station is in relation to the terminals was a fun conversation before I left home!
From MAN, I flew with Lufthansa to Frankfurt where I met a number of my colleagues who are also going to the Paralympic Games. We all managed to check-in in advance and had seats allocated together. That made the 11 hour flight from Frankfurt to Rio slightly more bearable!
From MAN, I flew with Lufthansa to Frankfurt where I met a number of my colleagues who are also going to the Paralympic Games. We all managed to check-in in advance and had seats allocated together. That made the 11 hour flight from Frankfurt to Rio slightly more bearable!
I was originally a little confused about flying to Germany first, but knowing there was a large group of us together, (from many different nations) now makes more sense, and much more fun.
Flying on a 747 (the original plane with an 'upstairs') for the first time in 15 years, the journey passed with relative ease (as far as a long haul flight CAN be): TVs in headrests, a couple of meals, lots of hot towels to freshen up etc. In fact, I was surprised how quickly the time passed (there may have been a 5/6 hour sleep thrown in for good measure...)
The flight was delayed by nearly an hour - not due to any problems with the aircraft, but with the sheer number of Paralympians needing to board. I spotted teams from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Austria, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany and quite strangely Brazil! The delay also gave one of my colleagues the chance to catch up after his flight was delayed from Croatia!
I sat with a Brazilian man called Pedro on the flight who had been to see some of the Olympic Games. He spoke with such enthusiasm, passion and pride about Rio that I wonder whether some of the negative press that the games received in the UK was fully justified. Perhaps the British press took on the small island mentality of 'our games in 2012 will always be the best'. After all, we don't really hear that much about the G4 Security contract anymore, do we?
Chatting away with Pedro really added to my excitement for the coming games - one thing that he said to me will stick for a long time: "Brazilians, we like to support in different ways, like no other place in the world. We will scream and shout as loud as we want whenever we want. We can turn in an instant, for no reason." Whoever gets Brazil's first game on Thursday had better be ready!
Having just landed, the next stop is immigration control, bags and a bus to the Paralympic Village. Wish me luck!
Flying on a 747 (the original plane with an 'upstairs') for the first time in 15 years, the journey passed with relative ease (as far as a long haul flight CAN be): TVs in headrests, a couple of meals, lots of hot towels to freshen up etc. In fact, I was surprised how quickly the time passed (there may have been a 5/6 hour sleep thrown in for good measure...)
The flight was delayed by nearly an hour - not due to any problems with the aircraft, but with the sheer number of Paralympians needing to board. I spotted teams from Bosnia & Herzegovina, Austria, Sweden, Slovakia, Germany and quite strangely Brazil! The delay also gave one of my colleagues the chance to catch up after his flight was delayed from Croatia!
I sat with a Brazilian man called Pedro on the flight who had been to see some of the Olympic Games. He spoke with such enthusiasm, passion and pride about Rio that I wonder whether some of the negative press that the games received in the UK was fully justified. Perhaps the British press took on the small island mentality of 'our games in 2012 will always be the best'. After all, we don't really hear that much about the G4 Security contract anymore, do we?
Chatting away with Pedro really added to my excitement for the coming games - one thing that he said to me will stick for a long time: "Brazilians, we like to support in different ways, like no other place in the world. We will scream and shout as loud as we want whenever we want. We can turn in an instant, for no reason." Whoever gets Brazil's first game on Thursday had better be ready!
Having just landed, the next stop is immigration control, bags and a bus to the Paralympic Village. Wish me luck!