All's Well That Ends Well

Everyone was on time to load the van this morning at 10:30, and the van was there, too. Just one problem. There was no way all the luggage for 15 people would fit in the small luggage space below the van. So we made phone calls, we waited, we made more phone calls, and finally had the promise that an extension for the van (a little trailer to hold luggage) would be there--in two hours. This was 11:00, and Rafa wasn't promising that they'd bring it as soon as they promised. "This is Brazil."
So, while we waited, we had a worship service with hymns, prayers, a meditation led by Bob Wetzel, and Communion--in the bar of the hotel!
The restaurant opened for lunch at 12:30, so I decided to buy lunch for our patient travelers while we waited. Rafa rushed in after we ordered to say the van with the trailer was there. But now he waited while we had a fine lunch at the hotel.
We were finally on our way after 2:00; maybe it was 2:30, and we were at our hotel after 5:00. We checked in and met in the lobby by 6:00 to take a tour of the city, guided by Rafa.

We took pictures outside the beautiful national cathedral while we waited for mass to be finished so we could walk around inside the remarkable building. Then we drove to make several stops outside the government buildings that are centered in the capitol city.

We all took lots of pictures, and I posed before this statue honoring the man who planned Brasilia and persevered until it was built.
Then we went to an experience unlike any we'd had before, the pizza buffet restaurant. But "buffet" doesn't describe the experience of responding to roving waiters offering every variety of pizza you can imagine--all you can eat--vegetable pizzas, garlic pizzas, meat pizzas, mozzarella pizzas, gorgonzola pizzas, guava and cheese pizzas, mushrooms, palmetto, fruit (coconut, bananas royale), ice cream pizzas (with hot fudge sauce), and the coup de grace, strawberries on dark chocolate. We ate and laughed and made fun at how much each  of us was eating. It was a great evening, and the day ended much, much better than it had begun.