 |
| All Jack's Picture this time... |
After living a quiet life on the beach for nearly 3 weeks it was a welcome change to get back to the hustle and bustle of a city, and where better than one of the biggest cities on the planet. According to a 2009 UN report*, Sao Paulo is the 3rd largest urban agglomeration in the world, housing over 20 million people, dwarfed only by Delhi and Tokyo. I think it would have been to big to handle if it wasn't for the fact we had our very own local tour guide in the form of Junior (well he's from Campinas, Sao Paulo state which was good enough for us!).
Junior, a friend Jack and his friends met on holiday in Madrid in 2010, met us at our hostel, which was (on his recommendation) in a good location for the local subway system. Like all good tours we started at the football museum, housed in the Estadio do Pacaembu, which was built in 1940 and hosted several games during the 1950 world cup (although Brazilians don't have fond memories of that tournament). The museum itself was really good, it has a good history of the beginnings of football in Brazil, a library of footage from memorable moments throughout football history, and of course, Pele.
 |
| Thida wanted more pictures of her on the blog. |
Next we took a bus to the main street in downtown Sao Paulo, Av. Paulista - no mean feat in itself, and I don't think we'd have managed it without Juniors help - a wide avenue lined with skyscrapers stretching out for over a kilometer. Here we stopped into MASP, the Sao PAulo museum of art, downstairs was a modern excebition (above and left) and upstairs there was a selection of older paintings and sculptures, from Monet and Van Gough to Constable and Turner.
After a hard days sightseeing we tucked into some Brazilian snacks (food post pending) and had a few beers in one of the many bars along Av Augusta - one of Paulista's many tributarys. The next day Junior took us down to one of the main parks in Sao Paulo, here we saw the independence monument, and our first Oscar Neimeyer building (Auditorium - Right), as well as the Obelisk of Sao Paulo. Then we headed to the central district to check out a massive indoor market, get some more (amazing) Brazilian food, and get a view of the city from the top of one of its many skyscrapers.
After another busy day, we headed to another bar on Augusta to settle down for the evening. Through out the night we were joined by a steady stream of Junior (and Bruno's) friends until there was a decent sized group of us to drink, chat (mainly about Colgy's drunken antics) and watch Sao Paulo FC play on the bar's big screen. All in all, the few days in Sao Paulo with Junior et al, were defiantly among the best of our time in Brazil so far, not least because we had a very knowledgeable guide and got to spend time with some friendly locals!
During our last 2 days in the city we were alone, and decided to get to know some of the areas that we had touched upon a little better. We went back to the park and visited the modern art museum, there was some good stuff, mainly in the form of Damien Hurst (who doesn't enjoy his crystal skulls and various farm yard animals suspended in formaldehyde) and also some pretty dodgy stuff - I guess that's modern art for you. One thing we noticed during our wanders was the ubiquity of many painted rhinoceroses around
the city, a part of a public exhibition called RhinoMania not unlike the CowParade phenomena which (a little research has informed me) has its origins in Zurich in 1998, although I remember it from Manchester, and Thida from the painted cow in her office in London. Our time in Sao Paulo reinforced the impression we have been given of Brazil as leading centre of art and architecture, as much as football and natural beauty - something which we hadn't realized when we planned our trip (although a little research would have shown us) and have been very pleasantly surprised by.
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_urban_agglomerations_by_population_%28United_Nations%29
 |
| Jack, Junior, Junior's friend (I feel bad as I can't remember his name, but I know he is from the same place as Anderson!) & Bruno! |
After another busy day, we headed to another bar on Augusta to settle down for the evening. Through out the night we were joined by a steady stream of Junior (and Bruno's) friends until there was a decent sized group of us to drink, chat (mainly about Colgy's drunken antics) and watch Sao Paulo FC play on the bar's big screen. All in all, the few days in Sao Paulo with Junior et al, were defiantly among the best of our time in Brazil so far, not least because we had a very knowledgeable guide and got to spend time with some friendly locals!
Thida you look so lovely in the picture!! Bet it was fun.
ReplyDeleteWas great to speak to you both (and to see you too) on 15th Oct. Hope the travels are going well.