Advertisement
Published: February 24th 2023
“Panoramic Santos by Bus & Tram” Shore Excursion
You’re Not Very Likely to Find Any Thongs in This Part of SantosLong before MS Volendam had arrived in Santos, São Paulo, Brazil on Friday, February 17, 2023, Uncle Larry had his priorities established. Santos is the biggest seaport in Latin America and is located about 19 miles from the capital of the state of São Paulo, you guessed it, the metropolis of São Paulo. São Paulo, with about 12.5 million people, is the most populous city in Brazil. Most of the goods going to and from São Paulo make their way through Santos. Santos handled 96 million tons of cargo in 2010 worth $4.36 billion U.S. dollars. The top four products exported from Santos were raw sugar (23% of total exports), refined petroleum (16%), coffee (15%), and soybeans (13%). The export of coffee at the turn of the twentieth Century, essentially, gave rise to the city itself and accounted for most of Santos’ wealth. It makes sense, then, that the city is home to the Coffee Museum, Museo de Café, where world coffee prices were once negotiated. Not to be overshadowed by “the nectar of the gods,” there is also a football memorial, dedicated to the city's greatest players, which includes Pelé, who spent the majority of his career with Santos Futebol
“Panoramic Santos by Bus & Tram” Shore Excursion
Containment Barriers Are Deployed Every Time a Refueling Barge Loads Us with Go Juice Clube.
Selecting the
Panoramic Santos by Bus & Tram for a shore excursion was a no-brainer for Uncle Larry – the Coffee Museum is included as part of the tour. From the Holland America web site: "A panoramic drive takes you through the historical city center of Santos to the Coffee Museum. The former palace in which it is located was built in 1922, celebrating 100 years of Brazilian independence. The museum is called the Coffee Trade Palace or Palacio da Bolsa do Café. Continue to Maua Square and board a tram for a ride through the main streets of Santos. Watch for historical buildings and landmarks en route. Outeiro de Santa Catarina is the hill that marks the foundation of the Vila de Santos settlement, and the São Paulo Water Company headquarters is housed in Palácio Saturnino. Return to the pier by way of Gonzaga Beach, bordered by hotels and high-rise condominiums. Notes: Wear comfortable walking shoes. Shade is limited; to avoid sunburn, wear light, long clothing suitable for use as a cover-up. Bring a hat and sunglasses; wear biodegradable sunscreen. Bring bottled water. Tour does not operate on Mondays. Your guide will do his/her best to speak
English, but please keep in mind that the limited tourism infrastructure of Santos is part of the city’s charm, and bear with any language difficulties he/she may encounter. Tour may be conducted by a Portuguese-speaking guide and an English-language interpreter."
Thank you, Holland America! Just what I needed to know is where the São Paulo Water Company is headquartered. The tour started on its left foot, it was hot and HUMID with no air %%^&&^ except on the coach. Air positioning, you say? Second, the public address system did not work properly so the tour guide had to give her presentation from the front of the coach and then repeat it from the middle area so the passengers in "the back of the bus" could hear her words of wisdom. Third, the tram was a virtual waste of time. After the tram ride, we had to walk four or five blocks to the coffee museum past most of the buildings we had just seen. Fourth, in addition to the bidding area, with the historical seats for the buyers and sellers, and the beautiful architecture of the building itself, the coffee museum per se was merely a collection of a
dozen or so artifacts related to coffee farming and almost nothing about coffee processing, shipping or other “from farm to kitchen” topics. Of course (and in spite of the temperatures), after the self-guide tour (with no documentation in English, Spanish, French or any language other than Portuguese), I had to have a cup of Brazilian Joe (or would that be Brazilian José). I was joined by a lady with mobility issues that had been whacked pretty hard by the weather and the walk on the cobblestone street. Soon we were joined by the tour guide who told her that she would arrange for the bus to make a stop closer to the museum for her benefit but that the bus couldn’t stop long enough to board the entire group. That act of human kindness offset her astonishing need to ask a museum staff member for the location of the restrooms so she could answer my query. On a good day with everything from the weather to the sound system cooperating fully, this would have been an okay tour but nothing to highly recommend.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.092s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 27; dbt: 0.0578s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
