After a 6 hour first-class bus ride from Rio, we arrived in Sao Paulo. This was my first bus ride where I could fully recline, got a lil bag of snacks (didnt like the sausage flavor crackers), a pillow and a blanket- I guess thats what its like in airplane first class. We took a cab to our hotel, which turned out to be nice, but lacking in the decorating department (not a single thing on any wall). Turns out we´re pretty close to one of the main streets - Av Paulista- and within walking distance to some restaurants and bars. We headed out for some dinner and then went to a little pub for a beer. We tried a local beer and didnt like it, so tried another one- Baden Baden Red, which was really good but we had to wait an hour for it to warm up a bit because Brazilians like their beer really, really cold. We started talking to the guy at the next table, who turned out to have grown up in Irvine, moved to New York where he married a Brazilian and they moved to Sao Paulo, where they started a family. We got a lot of insight on the city and the culture talking to him for a few hours. He told us more about the rivalry between cariocas (from Rio) and paulistas (from Sao Paulo), about the weird power structure at work and in family life, many Brazilians dependence on maids, the upcoming economy, and the difficulties of learning portuguese. It was a great intro for us to this huge city.
This morning we wandered around Av Paulista as everyone was hustling and bustling about, and then walked to Parque Ibirapuera. It was nice, and we saw a lot of birds and fish in the lake. Next we headed to Hotel Unique (shaped like a boat?) for a drink on the rooftop bar- I read the view was amazing, and it was. It really showed how absolutely huge Sao Paulo is. It was basically a 360 view of high rises and huge buildings- downtown Manhattan all the way around, it was really crazy. I had a caipirinha- a traditional brazilian drink made with caçhaca- sorta like a smoky margarita... then we headed to a churrascaria for dinner- lotsa meat at Fogo de Chao.Parque Ibirapuera
Hotel Unique
Caphrina at Hotel Unique
Fogo de Chao
Mercado Municipal
lotsa buildings
Filling up the elevator in Sao Paulo
Farto at the bus station
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