The Journey to Olinda

Originally, I was going to leave my flat on Sunday 27 September, overnighting at Heathrow, and flying to Olinda on the 28th. However, I woke up on the 27th with a headache in a different place in my head to previously. A doctor on the panel of Saga, my travel insurance company, recommended that I get it checked out at an A&E department before travelling abroad. I spent all the afternoon and half of the evening at St Thomas's Hospital rather than having lunch with Dave and Beth. I was referred to the Same Day Emergency Clinic on Monday which did many tests over several hours before diagnosing a tension headache, maybe due to eye strain, and saying it was safe to travel.
On Tuesday the 29th, I spent the morning reorganizing my journey with Journey Latin America, rebooking the overnight stay at Heathrow, and updating my travel insurance policy with Saga who refunded a small amount since my holiday would be two days shorter. Eventually in the evening, I left my flat and travelled via the Northern and Elizabeth Lines to Terminal Four at Heathrow, walking the short distance to the Holiday Inn Express.
I set the alarm to get up at 02.00 on the 30th in order to be at the Terminal by 03.15, three hours before the Air France Flight to Paris. The hotel provided a breakfast box to take me with me. Unfortunately, the desk didn't open until 04.00 but it didn't take too long to check in and go through security and then get a coffee.
The Airbus 220-300 eventually took off at 07.00, arriving at Charles de Gaulle by 09.00 local time. Terminal 2E in Aerogare 2 was much larger than the airport I remembered from the early 1980s and the early 2000s, having to take a train to another Gate within the same Terminal, and then join a long queue for another security check despite being in transit, before boarding the Air France flight on an Airbus 350-900 to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil which left at 10.50.
After a 9.5 hour flight, the plane landed at Salvador at 15.20 local time, and the first stamp in my new passport was Brazilian. My holdall couldn't be checked through to Recife so I had to it and check in for the Air Azul flight to Recife departing at 19.40, five hours behind Paris and four hours behind London. The Embraer 195-E2 arrived at Recife just before 21.00, I was met by Baruco, my guide, and a driver who drove us through Recife Velho and down Boa Viagem Avenida, where I was going to say two nights originally, before arriving at the Hotel 7 Collinas in Olinda at 22.30, just over 24 hours after waking up at Heathrow. It is the only hotel in Olinda, the other accommodation being pousadas, and it has the largest grounds. My bedroom was a Superior Twin overlooking the gardens.Read more