Bobulate

What’s to say about Amsterdam – it’s too far away from my house to be convenient, and then dead boring with its shopping concourse. Even the whisky store is of little interest because it has prices comparable to the local place at home; there is no benefit to “tax-free”.

Paris Charles de Gaulle, though, is arguably worse. Most of the shops are closed at 19:00, and lights go out in parts of the terminal buildings, so it seems empty and deserted. Signposting for the shuttle bus that goes around the six terminal halls is erratic, so I ended up walking. It’s only 15 minutes from one end to the other, but again you need to search every now and then for the next sign to 2A. For those who have gone to FOSDEM by car with me, think “like Brussels, only less grotty.”

The flight with TAM from Paris to Sao Paulo was surprisingly pleasant. Not too cramped, mostly, and that’s important on a 12 hour flight. Watched some movies I otherwise would not have. Wolverine was terribly unfinished, I thought. If you know the comics perhaps it makes a little more sense, or the time jumps are dealt with better. The SFX could be described as “cheesy” at best. Ah well, at least I’ve seen an American comic-based action movie this decade.

Much better — at least until 5 minutes from the end — was Adventureland, one of those comic growing-up movies. Set in 1987, this was terribly recognizable for me. Not the drunk driving and copious use of marijuana, but the rest of the cultural setting. Billy Idol, the Cure and faux-philosophical conversations? Check. The overly feel-good ending felt tacked-on, though. That tied up one loose end that need not have been.

Anyway, Sao Paulo airport is boring like most others. I should go for a coffee. At R$ 2.90 it’s 35% of the price of an espresso in Amsterdam. Probably better coffee, too.

In about an hour I carry on to Foz do Iguacu for Latinoware. I still need to rassle up my slides, but there’s enough time for that — and it looks like a beautiful day now the sun is coming up. [[ Posted much later in the day because I fell asleep once I got to the hotel, and later the ‘net was down. ]]