Say good-bye to Natal

Dune buggy and the Ponte Newton Navarro, the signatures of Natal

Natal was the perfect place to watch a few World Cup group stage games.  Sure, it rained a lot in the City of the Sun, but it's the winter and what little rain they get in Natal they get in the winter.  The people were incredibly friendly and absolutely thrilled to host the world.  (Well, hosting Mexico, the USA, Ghana, Italy, Japan, Cameroon, Uruguay and Greece.)

Watching the games was exhausting as each game trip was a seven or eight hour ordeal, fighting traffic to get to the stadium three hours in advance.  Fighting traffic for two or more hours to get home.  Between that and the rain, it did not leave much time for typical tourism, such as a dune buggy ride (which is supposed to be THE thing to do in Natal), or walking the nature trails of the Parque das Dunas (walking to the stadium and back four times was enough of a walking tour), or, and this last option I found out about way too late, a camel ride through the dunes.

These are not the camels you can ride, although, perhaps, the fire extinguisher might come in handy

My flight was scheduled to leave at 5:00PM.  Or so I thought.  This left only enough time for two trips to the airport.  Had I known a trip to the airport would be such an adventure, I'd have gone once.  But the airport was 30 miles away.  Google maps said it was an hour to get there.  It took us two.  Google maps directed us onto some amazingly small, crowded streets in towns outside of Natal.  I got Steve to the airport well in advance of his 11:50AM flight back to the USA via Fortaleza, Rio and Miami.  I headed back to the hotel and got lost in the Alecrim neighborhood.

I got back to the hotel, showered, packed and checked out.  I was on my way at 1:15PM for the one-hour 30-mile trip to Natal airport.

Along the Via Costeira

I took the beach road, the Via Costeira, because it was supposed to be the best way.  I got to the airport at 3:15PM, which is still no problem because my flight to Belém was leaving at 5:00PM, right?  Two problems.  First, Natal's airport is brand new.  It only opened three weeks ago.  There are no signs as to where to return rental cars.  I must parked in the regular parking lot.  Second problem, when I got my luggage out of the rental car, I rechecked my itinerary.  My flight was leaving at 4:00PM.

There was a huge line at the Avis/Budget rental counter.   Mostly Uruguayos, from what I could tell. coming in town early for the Italy/Uruguay game that will conclude the Natal portion of the World Cup.  I waited about one minute, remembered that check-in took about 30 minutes per person, and barged to the front.  The guy trying to pick up a car very politely allowed me to go ahead when I said I was running very late because my flight was leaving in 45 minutes.  He was the only one at the whole counter who spoke English.

I got the car returned in 10 minutes.  Then it was off to ticketing.  Another huge line.  But there was another part of the line with no line.  First class?  Frequent flyers?  I don't care.  I barged to the front.  A couple from Japan also were in panic right behind me, but relaxed when they found out they weren't the only ones with the two-hour 30-mile trek to the airport.

The plane was running a little late, so I had time for a cold beverage (Guaraná Antarctica) and was soon on the flight to Belém via Fortaleza and São Luís.  Yes, it was like taking a Greyhound bus through the sky.  But the layovers were short.

Good-bye Natal.

Natal skyline

FIFA Fan Fest Natal

FIFA Fan Fest Natal with the distinctive Ponte Newton Navarro in the background

Today was the day to check out the FIFA Fan Fest site at the Praia do Forte, the far northern point of the City of Natal.  Each of the 12 host cities in Brazil has a designated "Fan Fest" site where fans can gather to watch the games live on ginormous screen TVs.  In Rio de Janeiro, for example, the Fan Fest site is on Copacabana beach.  In Natal, it is Praia do Forte.  We went to watch the Brazil v. Mexico game being broadcast live from Fortaleza.

To get to FIFA Fan Fest Natal, exit on Av. Praia do Forte, right before the bridge

We were hoping that there would be an obvious parking area before we got to the Fan Fest site.  Brazil, not being an automobile-centric culture, had no such thing.  In fact, we were right at the gridlock of Fan Fest when we realized this would be our only chance to park before being forced over the long, long Ponte Newton Navarro bridge.  And, then, all the sudden, a parking space opened up and we parked.  It was like one of those movies where the characters are always able to park right in front of their house in New York or San Francisco.  Only this was Natal.  And I was driving a rental Fiat to FIFA Fan Fest.

Natal skyline in the deep background

 It was a short walk to FIFA Fan Fest.

The fort, Fortaleza dos Reis Magos, in deep background

It was too close to actual game time to visit the fort.  Plus, all of Brazil was getting ready to shut down for the Brazil/Mexico game.  Didn't want to get trapped in the fort.  So to Fan Fest it was.

So much to do at FIFA Fan Fest Natal.  You could shop for officially licensed FIFA souvenirs at the one lone souvenir stand!

At the souvenir stand

Yup.  One small souvenir stand selling the officially licensed FIFA souvenirs.  And not much seleçao either.  Only a few T-shirts.  Some armadillos.  (Yes, the official mascot is an armadillo.)  Slim Pickens, really.  Apparently Brazilians don't obsess over game souvenir merchandising like we do in the states.

But there was more to do than shop.  You could get your picture taken with the official FIFA licensed Armadillo.

Posing with the Armadillo

His name is Fuleco.  He's a three-banded armadillo, a special kind of armadillo.  What's so special?  A real three-banded armadillo curls up into a ball, a soccer ball, when the mood hits.  Sadly, at the officially-licensed, FIFA-approved souvenir stand, there were no Fuleco "inaction" figures that curled up into a soccer ball available for sale.

So, OK, if neither shopping nor getting your picture taken with an armadillo held any appeal, there was more family fun for all.

People dressing up as beer cans

You could go to the Brahma Beer booth and dress up like a beer can!  Which would've been fun if they had like 20 of those can suits and a large squash court sized room where you all could run into each other.

So, OK, there was only one thing to do at FIFA Fan Fest Natal.  Watch the game.

Dancing Fuleco

But not so fast.  There was a band playing an energetic axê music set, which followed by the musical stylings of Fuleco The FIFA Armadillo.  He got some moves.  At least I presume he's a he, since the name ends in an "o," which usually connotes masculinity.  I'm not checking the armadillo parts in the soccer shorts.  Some things can remain unknown.

Mexico was in the house, represented well by its raucous fans.

Mexico fans

Then the game started:

Watching the game

The screen was sufficiently huge that it was easy to see the game.  Brazil was continually on the attack in the first half, but Mexico's defense was impenetrable.  The game was nil-nil at the half, when we did our imitation of L.A. Dodger fans and left early to avoid traffic.

Exit

The rains held off.  And there were mounted police at the exits.  The police presence in Natal has been heavy in numbers, but light in touch.

Oh.  And I saw this tree that I thought looked cool on the walk in:

I shall never see / A soccer match as lovely as a tree