Sao Paulo

We arrived in Sao Paulo in the evening on Tuesday 10th Jan after a full day travelling on buses from Rio to Santos (to pick up the suitcases which we'd left there) and then into Sao Paulo. The journey from Rio took 8 hours - one hour longer than we were expecting - and it took about about one hour from Santos to Sao Paulo. The long distance buses in Brazil are very comfortable and the one from Rio to Santos was no exception - the seats are comfortable, you can tilt them back nearly horizontally, and there's masses of leg room. It was interesting going by road as we got a sense of what the country's like away from the cities - very green due to all of the rain! It was sad to see how far outside of Rio the favelas extend.

Once we arrived at the Pousada dos Franceses in Sao Paulo, where we were staying for a couple of nights, we enjoyed a relaxing drink of duty free whiskey (mum) and vodka (me). 

We spent the day on Wednesday sight seeing in Sao Paulo. First we went to the Catedral da Se for the midday service, which lasted for about half an hour and was, as we were expecting, in Portuguese. Mum was still able to work out what most the readings were though! We then had a walk to the Bovespa (Brazilian stock exchange) building, where we had coffee and biscotti. Next we went up the art deco Banespa building, which is very close to Bovespa, and took some photos of the panoramic view of the city from the top.   

Next stop was the Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo (MASP). Surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly!), the museum didn't have information or a map on its exhibits, but we found our way around - most of the art is on the first and second floors of the museum. There was an exhibition of Sigmar Polke's work on 'Realismo Capitalista', Gods and Madonnas (Deuses e Madonas) and lots of paintings from the Romantic period. 

Had dinner at a lanchonete (snack bar) on Avenida Paulista opposite MASP. Just rice, beans and chicken (for me) and fish (for mum). Muito bom and very Brazilian!