Sao Paulo

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As we spent too much time in Rio we would have to cut our visit to Sao Paulo to a minimum. We arrived in the late afternoon and the bus took a considerable amount of time to get to one of Sao Paulo’s gigantic bus terminals. The ride in was impressive and we knew we had arrived in one of the worlds super cities. We found a hostel in the upper market area of Villa Magdalena and spent the rest of our evening in a local legendary samba club. It was a find with traditional samba grooves - chilled out, jazzy, slightly funky and effortlessly soul soothing.
We had to get up pretty early so we would be able to fit all we could into our whirlwind stop in Sao Paulo. We headed out to Ayton Senna’s grave in the extremely up market Mourne. It wasn’t the shrine that maybe we were expecting but a more modest and intimate plot for the world’s greatest racing driver. Nice to see nevertheless.
We then took a bus straight into the centre; it really didn’t take that long for a city of these proportions. We walked from the slightly run down Prasa Do Se, which was lined with colonial splendour and with a decent population of unscrupulous characters, to Prasa Republica. The route took us through Sao Paulo’s big wide concrete spaces. This city is full of big roads, bridges and skyscrapers all in its very centre. We also passed Sao Paulo’s collection of colonial buildings (the theatre particularly nice) and looped back into the heart of the commercial district. The centre of Sao Paulo has a real mix of everything - there are the riches you would expect from the commercial capital of Brazil but you only have to walk a street or two over to see derelict colonial splendour wasting away, complete with real undesirables milling around looking for the next opportunity.
We walked over to the city’s tallest building, Edifico Italia. Taking the lift to the 46th floor would get us to the viewing platform from the building’s restaurant. As we walked out onto the walkway circling the building we saw an amazing sight: Sao Paulo, population 18 million, skyscraper after skyscraper after skyscraper, all the way to the silhouetted mountains in the very distance. I did spot a flat area around the corner, but the information map quickly pointed out that that is where the airport and racetrack is!
We left, speechless, and made our way over to Avenida Paulinda, a world-class street lined with world-class modern sky scrapers. It is quite a beautiful spectacle. We visited one of Sao Paulo’s highly rated museums MASP. It was extremely good but I haven’t seen any museums in South America that can rival the cream of Europe’s. This area is crammed full of exclusive eateries, bars and home to many international companies. We walked around hearing the helicopters land and take off again (Sao Paulo is home to the world’s largest chopper operations) and peaked at the wide green spaces tucked away behind the buildings.
We returned to Villa Magdalena and had another look at what it is to live in an exclusive area. Exclusivity in this city isn’t cheap. Safety, and an abundance of good restaurants, bars and great living areas all come at a price. We left and returned to one of Sao Paulo’s bus terminals on the extremely safe, modern and efficient metro system for our onward journey.
Although quick, Sao Paulo is somewhere where I would happily return. Glamorous, rich, scaggie and poor - so many things on so many different levels. I would have enjoyed another couple or three days joining Paulistanos enjoying their city. The cultural capital of Brazil invites a lot more exploring, not to mention the legendary nightlife and arts on offer. Sao Paulo definitely served up some great delights!
Full Photos on Flickr

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