Sao Paulo Brazil
I was told to hide my cellphone many times
I then took the pictures holding my bag on my shoulder hiding the cell as much as possible.
I have been there four times to visit my brother prior to these visits. I went to Manaus in search of the pink dolphin. Did not see it. I will return one day. I went surfing in Ubatuba as well. I never been to Rio but watch the video Rio 1 an 2.
Mention worth saying no one visits Sao Paulo it's too dangerous. Unless you are from there and have family there you dont go there. I go there because I work.
These pictures were taken in order to show you what Sao Paulo is all about. Nice people hoping not to get shot while doing their little daily errands.
I find American cities are more dangerous than this but this being said if you dont hanged out at night if you are surrounded by people and you are constantly on high alert its ok.
But remember I visited during the holidays where most of them are at the Praia.
P.S. I once had a boyfriend for a very short period of my life who got kidnap somewhere in Brazil. His body was never found either.
2 visits almost back to back
First one
I visited my brother and his family who live there. We even went to buy a Christmas tree.
We went to Sitio in the country but for me, it was the jungle. Paradise. Escape my daily life to this beautiful place that we will keep a secret.
Sao Paulo
Another visit where I spend 2 days all alone in Sao Paulo.
I visited
Municipal Mercato
Vila Madalena
Cathedralde Sé de Sao Paulo 1913
Banco Farol santander
historical area
Brazil
211.05 Million of people
23.8 homicide per 100,000 people
mugging kidnapping
police brutality
corruption
gang violence
beautiful people
beautiful beaches
The first impression of the passengers
They are all nice and they love their babies so much they let them do anything they want...this for us is difficult to see and watch as we are used to discipline.
Second impressions
The numbers are my own version of what it feels in this part.
It feels like
16 Million
1 Million super-rich living in a palace with drivers bodyguard and heliport on the rooftop.
7.5 Million in a favela
(little house in a little fully packed of hard-working people area mixed with drug dealers but they have a roof on top of their head even tho it's very very hard living. They are mostly located on a hilly side.
You have also palafitas little house near the water sight.
And corticos in the historical center.
7.5 Million out on the streets dying on the sidewalk.
Close your eyes leave this blog or see for yourself.
I'm no expert after spending a couple of days there but this is my overview
Luckily it's not the season of mosquitos.
Its 35 C
And its smell better than the metro in Paris.
Mode of transportation;
They rather do a fucking futbol arena than to provide decent air conditioning transportation
A metro with or without air conditioning it's not finished and it will never be...
Corruption: They still got the futbol games. Who supervised the construction of the metro? Shame on you! Corruption!
So how did I get here:
10 hours flight
No visa
Yeah!
Plane
Full of babies
Bring your earplugs
Not just for the plane...
Plane was fully pack of Brazilians going for the faraway beach to celebrate with their family left behind.
From point A hotel to point B
I have been there a long time ago to see the family.
15 years later, I'm back.
First visit
SITIO
First of all, I went to visit Sitio with my brother's family. It's about an hour and a half from the airport it was the perfect way to start discovering Brazil.
You rest, take it easy, you have your own little bungalow and you are surrounded by a luxurious jungle.
Thanks to my brother and his family.
lichee not quit ready
beautiful flowers everywhere
it was eaten by a bug
bananas
exotic orchids
I was fascinated by these huge fruits but my brother was saying dont touch dont it stinks like hell when you cut it but it's so beautiful to see this huge fruit hanging in this humongous tree.
The tree was magnificient but too big to take
Watch out for those ants...they itch and crawl over you.
house pet so cute
out of focus but look at the beautiful design
eucalyptus forest planted by hand
This was my coup de coeur
The skin comes off you walk in the forest and you can hear the skin peeling off the trunk and falling down.
termite
This region is full of them all over the place very weird to see these little termites.
A paradisiac area in the heart of the jungle.
Of course, when down in Sao Paulo I immerse myself like a real Paulista.
Spending our days in traffic going to one place to another. Unbelievable. Luckily for me, I didn't have to drive. Brazilians are very patient when they drive.
Thanks to my sister in law she has the patience of an angel when it comes to driving.
Visiting great people who open their doors for you so you can feel good. I mean literally because everything happened in Sao Paulo behind walls, behind doors, bulletproof windows, alert buttons, flat screen tv for securtiy camera... Not my cup of tea for sure.
I finished my visit with an all you can eat great meal at the churrascaria Fogo dé Chao and a great Brazilian family where kids are terrify in stepping out on the sidewalk without their parents afraid of being kidnapped mug or killed.
Now this time I was all along for this second visit of mine. I took all my precautions don't worry and no one is waiting for me at home either beside my dog.
If you go out with a taxi driver, you have your Vigilant necklace on you ( f not buy it on amazon) you know self-defense and you are super careful you could have fun in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Travel from your hotel to your destination by taxi cost nothing and it safe. You also meet very nice people like this. I took a taxi and Uber from my hotel.
30-40 reais will get you a long way.
Sao Paulo
Municipal Mercado
As beautiful if not better than the Boqueria in Barcelona. It was something not to miss. Amazing place to start your visit to Sao Paulo for sure.
I was going to browse around and have the most famous sandwich of all.
The best Mortadelle sandwich in the world.
Did I stop at the right place? I need to look into it. All I knew, it was lunchtime by the time I went around the place and it was packed of people.
Aie!
40 minutes wait for all the line-up. I told myself there must be another way. And with my eagle eyes, I spotted a place right at the counter with a couple of stool and since I was alone something rare in Brazil no family, no husband, it was perfect. 10 minutes' wait and my sandwich was in front of me
yes! I got the jackpot place and this humongous sandwich. Mortadella and cheese I ask the waiter to choose for me.
I could watch everyone around me lots of action lots of noise and what a sandwich it was so big I had some for dinner and there was still some left.
Mortadella sandwich is what smoke meat is for Canadians.
Perfect sandwich.
A little bit salty for me but that is all around Brazil. the meat is very salty.
9.5 on 10
This made my day to be in this market.
I spend more time in the Mercado and than I brave to go out and explore some more.
5 Marco
Cinco de Marco street with firecrackers dancers and a lot of people. I have seen plenty of these kinds of markets but you never know you can find a good deal. Anyway, it was not my kind of shopping but you need to experience a bit of the action around the Mercato as well as it is in the historical area.
view from my hotel not a jungle of palm trees like in Sitio but a jungle of buildings
On the street, dont let go of your child. This is not the place to visit with your family. This is a place for business or on your way to more quiet places. Fortaleza...
this is definitely the city where parents hold their kids hand
In this particular market, I did not see fresh fish Everything is salted this is why t doesnt stink in there.
my next spot for happy hour with entertainment
I got a taxi and I went afterward to vila Madalina.
It cost me 30 reais something like this. I met the nicest taxi driver in this city. They are very friendly, very calm and they know their way around. If you get an old driver showing him the spot on your tiny map is not a good idea. The young drivers have Waze but old people need reading glasses....bring your old pair and give it to them.
So, I got to vila Madalina a hipster area not to be miss. I ounce came here at night very fast with my sister in law but this time, I wanted to see it during the daytime. I recommend doing so as the colors of the graffitis are spectaculars its an open museum. Actually, there is a little museum there I should have gone maybe next time.
This is a very nice area restaurant bars shops very quiet during the day peaceful, I finally saw batman and robin. Yeah!
I took a coffee in a nice coffee shop but a little bit further there was a huge place where people had a lot of fun but it will be for next time. It was quite hot and needed some air conditioning to cool off
got a great espresso agua really really nice.
I shopped some more and stopped at the grocery before going back to the hotel. They have the most beautiful shopping bags ever. From there it was a bit difficult to get another taxi but hey you are in Brazil; take it cool, one will come eventually. I returned to my hotel so happy so exhausted and early.
Why? Because this is a dangerous place to be in. However, this being said both the places I visited were good to go.
vila Madalena area
Yeah! I made it hurry up Batman Robin I need protection I'm in Sao Paulo
My favorite picture
look like my cat who passed away
ah no it was raining on my parade
oh my
too bad the painting doesn't give it there were small writing on the painting
too cute
nice cheese and pizza place
another great place to dine or have a caipirinha
very nice store for house shopping
Ah! this is all about Brazil scary and fun at the same time.
I finished the night early and ate my leftover Mortadella sandwich. No need to go to a restaurant.
I spend about 102 reais in taxi ride total divided by 3
30-30-42
I round it up because it was holiday time.
$34.00 cdn not bad better than a sightseeing tour.
Explore at your own pace.
Second day
The cathedral
The bank
Sem area
Historical area
Taxi
When I arrived at the church it was a bit intimidating but I rushed to see the view from above
there was a rock band playing or filming a video so I kind of looked at them and looked at the crowd down below very sad indeed.
I went inside to visit the interior of this gothic cathedral.
very basic
One area was all old men who probably had spent their night out and now they were resting hoping for a better day.
Misery hit you hard down here.
It's not a mess they need.
they need food, shelter, a good shower.
So walked around the park and it was hard to take everything in. I met a lady who got beat up she had 2 punch eyes she had very little things to eat it was awful no woman's right here the police were sitting in their car doors open doing nothing for her...
Pitiful to watch.
Another spot another hope
A man from Bel Horizonte was doing special jungle potion to the poor and people in pain hoping to get better they listened watched and drink.
Another one was getting his hair cut, shoeshine.
A man with so many huge bumps on his body that you wanted to turn your face and run just smile at me. I smiled at him and give out a little bit of money not much but that's all I could do
smile back at him.
Meanwhile, in the monastery not too far the monks were inside sitting waiting behind bars not to get attack waiting for people to buy things for them to survived
IS this non-sense or what
they should be out there helping the less fortunate.
awful
After walking downtown, I was told to hide my cellphone again even tho there were no one around but the block after there was an endless line up so long it was heartbreaking. A line up of hungry people waiting to get fed.
I ended up at the bank getting a ticket to get the appointment to go up since I had an hour or so to killed I went to look for something to eat and ended it up at the Mercato again too funny.
This time I ate downstairs a ham sandwich with a delightful spicy sauce I wish I could have brought back but they were sold out; next time.
Afterwards I looked at this very impressive view on top of the bank had an espresso tonic and aqua and left.
I walk some more downtown and finish it up early.
I was supposed to go to another place but the driver didn't seem to understand where I was going the same with the name of the hotel; a stupid English name no one understands.
I wanted to visit MASP but I need to keep some for another visit.
All and all a beautiful day again where nothing tragic happened besides the cultural shock of seeing so many but so many homeless.
Some have at least a little camping tent written vivo on it but the poor beat-up lady sure needed a good bed and being taking care of and to get a nice hot meal.
Maybe next time I will check her out and see how she is doing.
I saw braVe social workers working with very little to help homeless people.
Unit of 10 brave people but to face millions out there asking for your hand to help is ridiculous.
But how can we help?
I was overwhelmed by my incapability to help them all.
How?
Is this the city of hell?
Where it's dangerous to walk and too dangerous to help.
Surprize surprize
I was blessed by God today
I guess
Were they on some kind of drug or were they
dead
sick
waiting to die
close by the church hoping one of them inside praying
will get out to bless them
before they leave
The man was full of bumps he needed medical attention for sure to relieve him from the pain
Perhaps if I go back I should bring him a pair of shoes that are the same
The power of corruption
Versus the future of the children
The beauty of nature
Versus
The nightmare of the streets
orchids everywhere at this time of the year
banana flower
the traveler palm tree if im not mistaken
protect yourself every where you go
the little town of Sitio
countryside
beautiful
paradisiac
luxurious vegetation it is worth going outside the huge city to appreciate Brazil
back to Sao Paulo
you can find pretty much everything you are used to from parm ham to coffee wine cheese....
a nice little place for cafézhinio
breakfast
donuts ham an dcheese sandwich or eggs and ham
Go out and have lunch diner at the municipal Mercato or treat your self to a nice churrascaria for great beef. I dont think there is a bad place to eat in Sao Paulo really everything is good. Meat is definetely their things beef frango fish mortadella pasta pizza ....try the pao dé queso
beer coca cola and espresso
My own body guard
This place is almost in front of the bank next time I will go there for dinner.
Brazil a mixture of Cuba Mexico Barcelona Roma.
