São Paulo, More than I Expected

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[youtube=0Lx5OECG6Gs]

Now that I'm back in New York, I must reflect on my trip to São Paulo. My expectations were low...I thought it would be a purely business, concrete jungle with nothing to do or see. I was mistaken. Surprisingly, I ended up seeing a world that I never expected.

When I landed in São Paulo, things did not go as smoothy as I would have liked. My transfer to the hotel never showed up. I exchanged my dollars to reais, and got anxious at the airport trying to figure out what to do next. I ended up going to the information desk, where I met someone who helped me get to the bottom of the problem. He phoned the company that was supposed to pick me up, and it was discovered that there was a glitch in the computer system, which unscheduled my pickup. I was a bit upset because I wasted an unnecessary hour in the airport after a long ten hour flight, to end up paying 85 reais for a cab into the city.

My initial impressions of the city were not the best. It was about 11pm, and I was upset about the transfer. Everything I saw from the cab was dark, and it reminded me of Queens, NY. I felt that the drive from Guarulhos into São Paulo was comparable to the drive from JFK into Manhattan. What I saw felt very familiar, however the weather was much nicer, and the streets a bit wider.

My destination: Jardins. It was almost midnight when I arrived at the hotel, but since my body was still in NY time, it was early in my mind, and I had to go out. My friends Carlos and Luiz were waiting for me, so we went out for dinner. It was the day after Christmas, and things were pretty slow, but after such a long flight, I couldn't wait to eat some real food! I had bolinho de quiejo for the first time. It was a really good meal.

After dinner, we drove around a bit, but since it was dark, the only things I could really see were the Christmas lights all around the buildings. We even passed a bridge that was covered in Christmas lights. At around 3am, I got back to the hotel room...the sunlight woke me up at 7am and I was ready for a new day.

My second day in São Paulo was a lot of fun. I met with my friends in the morning and headed straight to Avenida Paulista. From there we went to MASP, (São Paulo's Art Museum). After seeing the city in the daytime, my "over-industrialized", "Queens-like" first impression of the ride from the airport into the city was erased. The buildings were tall, modern and pretty.

After leaving the museum, we took took the metrô to Liberdade, the Japanese neighborhood of São Paulo. The train was very modern and clean. I found it to be much more efficient than the New York City system because, the trains ran very quickly. In New York, I'm used to delays all the time. Sick passengers and breakdowns always have a way of making me late to my destination.

Liberdade reminded me of walking through China town in New York, however with much wider streets. After stopping by a couple of stores, we walked to Praça da Sé, and went into Igreja da Sé. I saw a change in the buildings. The modernness vibe I got from Avenida Paulista turned into a historical air. Additionally, the area became more dangerous. You can see people walking much more cautiously on the streets, and suspicious people lurking all all over.

In Praça da Sé, I'll never forget seeing a man that was standing on stilts. His body was painted gold, and he was standing very still. You'd think he was a statue, however every couple of minutes, he'd move and scare a bunch of people. It was quite funny. In the vicinity of the area, there was a group of people on the street selling metal name plates. For 2 reais you can get your name on a keychain. My name wasn't already made, so in a matter of 5 minutes, a woman took a piece of wire and made my name for me. I have it on my keychain today 😊

After our morning walking around São Paulo, we had to go eat feijoada. It was a Saturday afternoon, and we had to find a good restaurant for it. My friend Luiz suggested a place called "Favela", but when we got there, it was closed. We ended up going to the mall and eating at a place called "São Paulo-comida tipica da fazenda" Literally, São Paulo, tipical food from the farm. It was a set price for the buffet, and I loaded up on the rice, feijão and pork. I added some farofa and pastel, and I'll never forget how good it was! My first lunch in Brazil was amazing. Here in the US, what I'm used to is going to the mall and seeing tons of fast food places...McDonalds, Pizza Hut, Burger King ect.. I didn't expect to have such a good meal from a restaurant at the mall.

After going back to the hotel and resting a bit, I got ready to go out for the night. My friends took me to a club in Vila Mariana called "Armazém da Vila". The main act that night was a pagode group called Doce Encontro. I decided to go in with really high heels, a decision that I regretted as the night went on! lol I noticed that all of the women in the club were also wearing heels. I only saw one person with flats the whole night. It boggles my mind how some people can dance all night with 4 inch heels.....

I had a lot of fun at that club, however at around 3:30am, my feet could no longer take it, and we left. I felt bad about it because I was still in party mode. If it wasn't for my aching feet, I'd stay longer. What surprised me was that, as we were leaving, a new wave of people were coming in. I once read somewhere: "Whoever said that New York is the city that never sleeps, has never been to São Paulo"! That is very true. My friend Carlos said that people come in to party very late. In general, they'll go party all night until the metrô opens again in the morning. My first experience in a club in São Paulo was a good one.

The next day I went to Osasco with Carlos, and was surprised to see a Sam's Club and Walmart! Osasco is a city right next to São Paulo. It is still very big with a population of almost a million people. The drive was relatively short, only about half an hour from Jardins. Osasco was full of colorful buildings, and although full of people, I found it to be tranquil. It had many residential houses along with highrises.

Going back into the city, we went to the historical area of São Paulo. I wanted to see the view of the city from one of the tall buildings, but unfortunately since it was a Sunday after a holiday, we were not allowed to go up, so we just walked around, and stopped in a feira (a marketplace). I had an awesome coxinha with a guaraná soda. Now that I'm back in NY, I really crave that soda! A coxinha is a fried little ball with meat inside. Mine was made out of mandioca, and it had chicken inside. It was delicious!

The historical area was very different from Jardins. Obviously, the buildings were much older, however this part of the city was dirtier than the other parts that I saw. There were a lot of homeless people sleeping on the streets. It was then that I realized that there is a stark contrast in the city between the rich and the poor.

Afterwards, we headed to Ibirapuera Park. After almost an hour finding a parking spot, we got off, and just walked around. It was beautiful and very big. We were beginning to get hungry so we got hot dogs. Brazilian hot dogs have way more in them than American hot dogs! I'll never forget that these hot dogs had potato stix in them, peas, corn, and lots of mayonnaise and ketchup! To top it off, there was a healthy sprinkling of parmesan cheese over it. I never saw such a loaded hot dog in my life! It was strange yet awesome at the same time. For dinner we went to a pizza rodizio place, rodizio meaning that unlimited pizza is served. The chocolate dessert pizza was to die for!

My last day consisted of taking the metrô to a meeting in the other end of the city. I had no problems getting around. Afterwards, I met up with my friends at a bar for drinks. It was a wonderful night. I was very sad that it was my last day in São Paulo, because I enjoyed my stay a lot.

My overall impression of São Paulo is that it is a very fun city with a lot to do, especially at night. I also thought that it was very clean. A couple of my friends that have visited Sampa before told me that it was very dirty. Most of the areas that I went to were very clean, with the exception of the historical area, which had tons of garbage on the floor. Everyone I tell this to is shocked. Perhaps it was the limited exposure I had which makes me think so favorably of the city. Another thing that sticks out in my mind is the climate. The weather the first two days of my stay was in the 60's. I was expecting much warmer weather considering it's supposed to be the summer season. I still enjoyed the mild 60's over New York's chilly 20's anyday 😊 In the last two days of my stay the temps went up considerably. It went up to the 30's (86 F). It rained every single day, but not for a very long time.

It was a different world for me. Another big city, but this time, completely different from my native New York. The streets are much wider and spread out; because of this, I felt that despite the large population size, you don't feel crammed. I enjoyed getting out of the Manhattan "grid". Seeing tons of modern buildings with pools is something I wasn't used to. I also wasn't used to paying someone to keep an eye on your car while you parked so that it doesn't get stolen. Although I did not see a lot of the danger I was told about, I noticed right away that São Paulo was full of contrasts.

Although a lot of my friends that have been to the city don't like São Paulo, I had a blast. I think the nightlife on its own is worth checking out. The food is excellent, a lot of places to shop, and a lot to see. I was later to head to Rio...little did I know that my preference for the big city was going to be bigger than my like for the beach city....

I left a bit sad, but still excited with the two stops I had to go: Rio and Salvador.

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Photos

Liberdade
Walking through Liberdade

MASP
View of the museum from the train station on Avenida Paulista

Marco Zero
The middle of the city. Each side points to the direction of different cities in Brazil

First meal in São Paulo after landing
With my friends Carlos and Luiz

Club Armazém da Vila
Grupo Doce Encontro

Comments

[Rick]

Amazing trip and details about Sao Paulo.
Thanks for wonderful comments and amazing details about your trip in Sao Paulo. I live here, however your words were so nice and contained a lot of good things. I'm looking forward to travel to New York and to discovery the beautiful of that city. Regards,