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Kate is invited to speak at a what seems to be a hastily arranged conference in Recife Brazil. This may have been a special meeting under the KBS umbrella. at this writing I can't recall, but when writing this up I discover:
"In 2002, Recife, Brazil, hosted the First International Conference on Alcohol and Harm Reduction titled "Towards a Comprehensive Alcohol Policy in Countries in Transition and Developing Countries". Researchers connected to the Kettil Bruun Society presented key international studies, including evaluations of the Safer Bars training program." from ResearchGate
It's early August and we're starting to make plans. There are many problems: getting there, you need a visa, to get a visa you need a passport valid for at least 6 months (ours run out in December), to get a passport you need a birth certificate, Reg's documentation including the birth certificate were stolen (the "Barcelona handshake") and Kate can't find hers. And then, because it's tropical, there are all sorts of shots you should have for things like malaria, yellow fever, hepatitis, etc. Oh dear, much to do.
Friday, August 23: Nevertheless by Friday evening we were in the Toronto Airport, passports and visas in hand ... the guy in front of us didn't know he needed a vias and was turned away! We were prepared!
Our flights are: Friday August 23, 7:30pm Toronto to Newark arriving 9:00pm; 10:30pm Newark to Sao Paulo arriving 8:30am (Saturday August 24); quick change leaving around 10:00am to arrive in Recife at 1:30pm. It's a long trip, pretty much 24hrs door to door, and our first to Brazil. Sao Paulo is quite far south, Recife is back to the north again, on the coast, very near the equator. The time zone difference to Recife is only 1 hour (they're east of us). It's not as brutal as flying to Europe or other places where the time zone is quite different. But it is a very long day.
It's about a 10hour overnight flight from Newark to Sao Paulo. We didn't sleep well on that leg of the trip — we might have gotten an hour of sleep in total in 10 minute stretches. You had your own TV in the seat in front of you and could watch one of 4 or 5 different shows that cycled through every 2.5 hours. Kate ordered seafood, which wasn't bad. Drinks were charged at $4US or $10R (Brazilian Real) except on the Sao Paulo to Recife leg (a little over 3 hours) where the wine was free and freely given.
Money conversions. On this visit $1US gives you $3R. We figure that $1CA is about $2R.
Saturday, August 24: We are staying at a high rise hotel, the Lucsim Recife Palace Hotel, on Boa Viagem beach a few miles south of the city centre. Across the street is the Atlantic ocean and a long sandy beach. I believe we took a taxi from the airport — it's nearby to the SW of the city. At this writing (2026) the hotel is now the Grand Mercure and the Lucsim Palace is elsewhere.
We were pretty tired when we arrived but hopped it over to a nearby shopping centre where we bought some wine, bread, cheese and water for our room. We then put on our togs and crossed the road to the beach for a swim. The water is rough with big waves. We were lucky we didn't crash our heads on the reef that was hidden by the tide. We thought the reef would be a mile or so out, but it's about 50 metres from shore! Sharks are beyond the reef, it's supposed to be safe for swimming within the reef.
The sun sets early and, exhausted, we are to bed at 6:30pm to recover from our travels.
These notes are from a densely detailed travel log we kept at the time. Kate recently discovered it in August of 2026 and I have transcribed with minor edits, corrections and redactions so as to not embarrass the living ....
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