We arrived in Sao Paulo after a six hour journey from Paraty. The place is absolutely huge! We stayed in an area called Vila Madalena, which was described to us as "the Camden of Sao Paulo". It's full of arty bars and shops and there´s mosaics and graffiti on every wall - even the trees have colourful knitted covers! The hostel that we stayed at was really cool too - the walls in the courtyard were covered in graffiti and murals painted by previous guests.
On our first day Sam got us lost trying to find the local supermarket, so Jo had to take control of the situation and got us there in a matter of minutes! Later on we went for a pizza as they reckon they're better in Sao Paulo than those you get in Italy... The food was amazing, and it seems that in Brazil it's customary for the waiter to serve the pizza slice by slice - maybe to keep it warm, or maybe to earn their tips - we're not too sure! Sam tried to find another local bar afterwards, but once again failed miserably. This time it was a local who saved us and took us to Bassa bar, which she reckoned was the best in the city. Even though it was late on a Sunday night people were drinking and partying in the street! Everyone was really friendly and sharing drinks with each other. When we asked what there was to do in Sao Paulo, no one was able to tell us anything other than the food and drink!
On Monday we headed into the Downtown area of Sao Paulo. It had been described by other people as a mini New York, although there's not much to back that up other than it's size and that everything is really expensive! There weren't many landmarks or tourist attractions to hold our attention, so we spent the day exploring..
That evening we found a jugglers' street party! A basketball court had been taken over by jugglers and performers, showing off their skills and competing with each other. The atmosphere was amazing and everyone was having a great time. There was even someone DJing and hosting a BBQ from the boot of his car! Afterwards we went to a local Japanese restuarant and had a huge plate of sushi between us - Sam's first time!
On Tuesday we went to a local fruit and veg market. It was like an exotic East End market with all the stallholders calling out for people to buy their food! We tried some local delicacies (cane juice and fried pasties) before heading to the Municipal Market, in the Downtown area. It was one of the few things that the guidebook could recommend we do. The variety of fruit was incredible, loads of which we´d never seen before - we happily excepted the free samples and have no idea what we ate, but they tasted great!
We're now leaving Sao Paulo for the coastal town of Florianopolis. We're staying at a place called the Barra Beach Club Hostel - everyone we've met on our travels has raved about it, so hopefully it lives up to expectation...
No comments:
Post a Comment