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Published: August 16th 2009
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Thirty minutes gone in the first half. Brazil are two nil down against USA in the Confederations Cup final. The mood in the bar is edgy. Brazilians are not used to losing finals! It could be a long second half.
We were sitting in a bar just off Paulista Avenue, the financial centre of Brazil. Paulista is a lot like Fifth Avenue in New York, but in my opinion Paulista is more impressive. It is our first night in Sao Paulo. We had stepped on board a bus three days previous in La Paz, Bolivia and fell out in Santa Cruz. We then took a train to the Brazilian border. Got a lift with a dodgy guy doing some freelance taxi work. On to another bus for an 18 hour ride. After a journey of about 72 hours by bus and train, we arrived tired and smelly at our destination. We felt we deserved a night out and a few beers.
Brazil came onto the pitch for the second half and it was as if someone had flicked a switch on their back. Eleven different men with skill, tricks and style started to play football like a boy´s dream.
We were very excited to be in Brazil and watch the green and yellow Samba Boys do what they do best. Final score 3-2. The bar erupts. Friends and strangers give one another a hug or a nod and a knowing smile (best not get carried away, it isn´t the World Cup after all!).
We spent the next few days sight-seeing with a Brazilian woman called Melyssa. A fantastic person and a friend for life. Brazil may be a beautiful land but it is people like Melyssa that are its treasure, refreshing, kind-hearted and with a wonderful sense of humour. Melyssa showed us around her city when she had free time. We went to the colourful Municipal Market downtown (I spent half the time walking around with my mouth watering at all cheese and olives), British built Luz Station, Ipiranga Museum and the site where the whole city was started by the Jesuits.
Without our Brazilian host, we had no problems using the fantastic metro system to navigate the city. Paulistanos always complained that the metro was too small but for me it was clean, safe, user friendly and there were plenty of trains.
To the Lonely
Planet´s shame, the ´South America on a shoestring´devotes a measly four pages to Sao Paulo - the largest city in Latin America. A city with over 20 million people in the greater metropolitan area. The cultural capital of Brazil, full of museums, theaters, art galleries and restaurants. More pizzarias than in the whole of Italy! Walking the streets of Sao Paulo is a tour of human faces. It is by far the most mixed city I have ever been to - every colour, shape and size like in a big bag of dolly mixtures. But one face was missing in the crowd. Amazonian people were completely absent.
Perched on the viewing platform of a downtown skyscraper with a 360 degree vista (We would recommend Edificio Italia over Banespa, we did both. The view is better and you can stay a whole hour between 3 and 4pm for free.), I was overwhelmed by the sheer size of the city, it was staggering. In every direction till land touches sky, there are skyscrapers on and on and on and on and on. I can see why here they have the largest helicopter fleet in the world!
Nestled amongst the skyscrapers
are some beautiful parks, the best being Ibirapuera Park. It is a lovely space to spend time chillaxing watching the fountain display. And when we got bored of that, there were musuems and a planetarium on site to check out. The Afro-Brazilian Museum is huge and well worth a visit (free as well!).
On advice from some football fans, we walked down to Pacaembu stadium - home of Corinthians football team. The stadium also holds the interesting Football Musuem. A temple to football. All the great stars loom large in the museum - Pele, Socrates, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho, Roberto Carlos. Brazilian passion and culture combined. It shows how football influenced Brazilian life and how Brazilian life has influenced its football. Before we left the stadium we learned that a match would be payed in two days. Corinthians v Fluminense. Two of the biggest teams in the country from rival cities, a match not to be missed. The ticket office was closed, so the next day with the help of Melyssa we bought two tickets. As usual there were plenty of touts about. Same the world over.
Kick off was on Wednesday night at 10pm. Yes ten at night. To
our great shock and horror, football games are scheduled after the soap operas have ended on tv. We got there early because we were told that people just sit where ever they fancy. We had seat numbers, but it didn´t make a blind bit of difference. Even arriving early, the moon was bright overhead. We sat under the moonlight as the noise built up nearer kick off to an incredible roar.
Vendors walked up and down selling water, beer (non-alcoholic only), ice cream and hot dogs, all calling out their sale pitch. "Hotchie doggie doggie, hotchie doggie doggie". I must say they got really annoying as the game went on, up and down like a yoyo selling stuff. Blood would be spilt on a stand back home.
Our first taste of football in Brazil outshone all my expectations. A thrilling game where skill and talent graced the field. Inch perfect passing and killer finishing. We had the priviledge to see one of the great Brazilian players of all time. Ronaldo. (For non-football fans, this Ronaldo is not to be confused with the Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo). Ronaldo is the all time leading goal scorer in World Cup history. People
in Brazil, like in Europe, sneer Ronaldo for being tubby and unfit. But one thing he is in abundance of is sheer raw talent. He was fantastic, timing every run to perfection. By the time the final whistle went, there had been one red card, six goals and one Ronaldo hattrick, he must have known we were in the crowd! Final score: Corinthians 4 Fluminense 2.
Check out this link to see the match highlights The next day we went in search of Zen (not that we need much more at this stage). We found it about an hours bus ride outside the city, near a town called Cotia. Zu Lai is the biggest Buddhist temple in Latin America. Peace and harmony filled the air. By the time we left there we were enlightened!
For Jessica and I Sao Paulo has been one of the best cities in a year of travel, a real gem. I would love to live here for a few years. I think it is remiss of me to go without saying there are many many problems in Sao Paulo like in most large cities. Miles and miles of slums on the outskirts. Many no go areas. Downtown is dodgy after dark.
Homeslessness is a major problem. I suppose it is unavoidable in a city with over 20 million people.
Despite all this, we went to many different neighbourhoods that were lovely to walk around - litter free, wide avenues, boutique shops, cosy cafes, bars, restaurants. It seems crazy to me that Brazil is considered the Third World. Sao Paulo is far more advanced than many cities in Europe or America.
For the rest of my life Sao Paulo will be pulling at my coat tails to come back.
From James
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Gay Hoban
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Sao Paulo
You certainly make this city sound like a must visit place. Thank you.