Thursday 27 August 2009

A free day !

Well, we can't get into our office until tomorrow, so Jose said we could go out today and enjoy the sunshine, and we weren't going to argue about that !

We had an excellent breakfast - it is a truly splendid buffet ! Watched the parrots at the bird table outside for a few minutes, and also saw a humming bird collecting nectar from the Birds of Paradise flowers, then headed off for a recommended shopping centre the Cidade Jardim Shopping - recommended for its very VERY expensive and exclusive shops ! We (Carol, her Mark, "my" Mark and I) had a lovely wander round admiring a lot of things there is no way we could afford, then headed for a less expensive mall (Iguatemi Shopping) where we might be able to afford something.

In the end we didn't actually buy much, but had a lovely lunch in the restaurant on the 3rd floor (also highly recommended) which wasn't outrageously expensive, and wandered round the vast - and I do mean vast - shopping centre, eventually stopping only at the supermarket to stock up on things like tonic water! Carol examined most of the jewellry shops in the hope of finding some earrings to match a ring that she has, but failed dismally on this occasion. But we did see one of Bernard Gitton's Timeflow water clocks which is in the central atrium there - absolutely fascinating and the two Marks could have watched it for hours I think.

Then back to the hotel to check on emails, write this blog and put our feet up before we wander down to the piano bar for something to eat and drink this evening.

A lot of players seem to have arrived now, with plenty more to come no doubt. 90% of the staff are here I think, we certainly seem to have bumped into plenty of them ! It is great to see everyone again after a year ... we only meet up at the Championships, so last time was Beijing.

So - more tomorrow !

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