Life in the big city

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A flight via Buenos Aires and we arrive in Sao Paolo late afternoon. The shuttle coach into the city gives a good insight of the the sheer size of the place. Contrary to the many reports that we received the place seems friendly, modern, clean and relatively organised compared to the concrete mayhem of Bangkok.

The Golden Tulip is a really smart modern hotel right in the heart of the shopping and commercial area and thankfully has a decent aircon unit in the room. During our 3 days we manage to find our way around the interesting regions of Jardin and Pireinhos with their mixture of cafes, colonial houses and high rise buildings.

The climate here is seriously hot (30+ degrees during the day) so even walking around is quite an effort. One thing that really strikes you about this place is the genuine friendliness of the people. Everyone greets you with a smile and a ´Boa tarde´ and they are so helpful too. Sure puts the service industry in the good ol´U of K´to shame.

We visited the MASP, the Sao Paolo art museum whch is a very unique contemporary building on the Avenue Paullista a short walk from the hotel and has a very impressive collection of originals including Manet, Van Gough, Constable, Renoir to namedrop but a few ............

On our penultimate day we jumped on the metro and visited the Se district. This place has a stunning cathedral set in front of a very busy square with all the hustle and bustle of the street traders. Managed to find a great spot sitting by the window on the first floor of a wonderfully furnished old time bar for a glass of ice cold local beer and be entertained by the sound of latin music and the sight of the sauntering tourists and locals. In the 3 days we have spent in Sao Paolo we have both grown really fond of the place and look forward to our brief return later this month.

Next stop is Northern Argentina and the worlds largest waterfalls, Iguazu ..............

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Photos

Santiago, Chile
I see you ............