Hi George,
Actually, we’ve secured a group rate of $119 at the Sheraton Bellevue;)

I also did not catch the SP World Cup reference.

I feel so bad for Panama today.

Greece will need two play off games before punching tickets to WC. Just a bad game at Bosnia did us in.

My brother lives in SP. If Greece makes it and plays in SP I may go and I am hopeful I don’t get robbed in $$/miles 🙂

Love the adage about hope, but it’s not a hope, it’s a plan. Even if everything goes wrong (it won’t), there are still love motels :). I will not stay out in the streets, no sir!

In regard to other cities, I would love to visit those places sometime in the future, but I don’t know them, so won’t risk it. Rio I know reasonably well including brokers and some apt. owners who never market to gringos. Many Cariocas are going out of Rio for the Cup because it’s a circus, and they’ll be delighted to rent their apartment for a few days to a trustworthy individual for a reasonable price. As I wrote in the above post, I once landed an apt on the second day of Carnival for almost regular price. The owner had asked $10,000 for 10-day minimum stay just a few days prior. The vacation rental market is so over-saturated in Rio, I’m not worried.

Having said that, I’m super flexible, since I just want to see a couple of good games. If you must travel with your team, then well, yeah, that’s tough. Although in response to the article in Globo you posted, Brazilian long-distance buses are quite comfortable, and they have flat beds too. So, that could be one solution. Not ideal, but still.

What do you mean by this? Sao Paulo? Not sure I understand.

“I was in SP for the last World Cup, and watched the flags being pulled from apartment balconies mere minutes after the Netherlands game.”

I think someone once mentioned that hope isn’t a plan.

But best of luck.

If I were to go your route, I would try for seats in Recife or Salvador or BH rather than Rio.

I was in SP for the last World Cup, and watched the flags being pulled from apartment balconies mere minutes after the Netherlands game.

Then your advice is wrong. I already wrote about it on FTG: http://lazytravelers.net/still-want-to-go-to-the-2014-world-cup (severe warning: a double backlink, how sleazy of me, LOL). If you don’t feel like clicking, though, here’s the gist: good things come to those who wait. No one is as good at hyping or rather over-hyping than Brazilians. Sometimes, they make out like bandits, and other times they lose big time. I’m hell-bent on going to World Cup on my terms, and not theirs. An award flight, a cheap apartment in Rio and a gorgeous ocean-view villa in Buzios. Cheap too.

Okay. Just wondering.

Andy, are you going to write a how-to-get-to-the-World-Cup post soon? My advice for those considering it: kiss your wallets goodbye.

harvson3

Move it up your feedly list – you wont regret it. Sheer brilliance.

Will get to it sometime today, thanks for the heads up.

And that’s not just because it takes very little these days to be the post of the week