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Well it has been around ten days now since we left Sao Paulo and I am only now writing about it. I prefer to write about the place I'm in while I'm there, but time didn't allow for this. We have since spent a week in Ilha Grande and now we are in Rio de Janeiro. This will probably be brief, but saying that I could still write page after page about the fascinating city of Sao Paulo. This city that has been described to us like New York was in the 80's. It is also a place that some people avoid being such a big city with no coast, yet a place the intrigues thousands of people and like our travel guide said, you just might want to stay another day.
We arrived here very early in the morning. We caught on overnight bus from Curitiba and arrived in Sao Paulo while it was still dark. It was around 6am. Because we were arriving in such a big city and we wanted to be safe, we had already booked a night in a hotel around the area of Bixiga. We caught a cab straight there and this was a surreal moment in time. Arriving in another foreign city so much bigger to any city we know back home, in the early hours of the morning and it feels like the middle of the night still. We got about five hours sleep on the six hours bus ride and feel somewhat delirious yet excited about arriving in our new destination. Because we have arranged taxis and accommodation we feel safe and it just makes things so much easier. We don't always stay in hotels, but sometimes is more important to play it safe in situations like this. Plus, it was actually a great price, not much more than a hostel. Our plan was too look around for a hostel the next day. We usually like to look around for hostels rather than booking them online so we can see it for what it really is.
So we arrive at the hotel around 7am and we check in. Check in is not until 2pm however the staff do not mind. We knew we could at least leave our bags there if it was too early and we would go and get breakfast. However the staff didn't mind and they hand over the key and we have the room. So we get some more sleep and wake up late morning and it's like we have already spent a night there. Two nights for the price of one!
We wake to the sounds of voices calling out down on the street below, and we look out the window and can see a market down the street. It looks like a farmer's markets. We head out and explore the neighbourhood and get our hands on hold of all the maps we can find. This city is so big, I don't think it's possible to have one map covering the whole city that lists all the street names that we can carry around. We are in the Italian area of Sao Paulo and the streets here a hilly and run in all directions. They curve around and it can be difficult to follow the map, but within time we work it out. The locals here are so helpful and when we are having our lunch with our maps and books out, they ask us where we are from and why we are here. They are friendly and make us feel welcome. We are lucky that some locals speak English.
So this is how we arrived in the city of Sao Paulo. We stayed here for one week and feel that we only just touched the surface of this great city. We stayed in Bixiga the whole time and this was a safe and interesting neighbourhood with hostels, bars, restaurants and street parties happening for Carnaval. One night the street where they had the farmers market became a street party full of drumming, dancing and stomping around. We found a hostel around the corner from our hotel where we booked three nights. We wanted to stay longer but it was booked out. This was a fun neat little place and looked like it was pretty new. Around the corner from here, we found a great little pousada and spent four nights here. A pousada is just like a hostel really but is a bit more comfortable and a little more expensive. It wasn't much more expensive than the hostel though, and I felt like we were staying in someone's home. We were walking around the corner in the hilly and quaint little neighbourhood and I noticed a really nice house with green plants growing along the bit white wall. I thought it looked like a nice place and then to my surprise, it was our pousada.
Here we had a private room with private bathroom and then everything else is shared which is great because we can meet other people. There is an outdoor area and inside there is a lounge with a neat little interior that I would even like to have in my own home. I feel like I'm in someone's holiday house that I know. There are books, movies and cds for people to use. Even some travel books in English. There is a kitchen we can use and they provide breakfast for us until 10am. The breakfast here consists of juice, coffee, tea, muslie, fruit, bread, ham, cheese, jams and cakes. The staff were very nice and one of the girls who worked here had just come back from Sydney. She was very sweet and we met one of her friends too. They were both from Brazil and had spent some time traveling around South America. We went out one night to a Japanese place where you can eat as much sushi as you like for a set price. Sao Paulo has the biggest Japanese community outside of Japan.
Another night we were having dinner together and a street parade started coming down on the main road. There was a float with people playing music and dressed in some costumes with feathers on their heads. Anyone could join the parade so we jumped in and took part in our first Bloco (street party). People are singing and dancing along the street celebrating and everyone is happy. Carnaval started as a pre lent celebration and as now become the biggest event of the year in Brazil. To see the big parades with all the schools in costumes, we needed to buy tickets where it is held at the Samba drome. We were able to buy much cheaper tickets on the second night for around $25 each. We caught a taxi to the stadium and we drove through the city and out again, and I thought we were driving into the suburban areas, but in the distance I could see a whole other metropolis in the skyline. This city is bigger than I thought.
The parade we saw went all night starting at around 9 pm and finished in the early hours of the morning. After seeing the amount of work that goes into all the floats and costumes, I can see why it takes months and months to prepare for such an event. The floats are massive! When walking into the stadium, it is like we are entering a massive theme park. Each parade is telling a story through their dance and they are being judged while they parade down the stadium. The costumes with tribal colours and feathers grabbed my attention the most.
There was a lot happening during our stay here while Carnaval was on and we still wanted to visit places in Sao Paulo around the festivities. It felt like there was no time to sleep, no time to stay home, no time to rest because there was just sooo much going on and we didn't want to miss anything. It is a bit overwhelming sometimes but we are only here once and we find energy through the excitement of experiencing new things every day.
There are many challenges travelling in a foreign country and it does test you and take a lot of energy and patience. It is exciting to be here, yet it is tiring not being able to always communicate clearly with the language barriers. Some maps are not that detailed and it takes a little more time to get to our destinations on some days. Some days even with a good map and some advice and tips, things can still not work out to plan, yet sometimes the best things happen when you least expect it.
- comments
Pamela Neill Sounds like you are having a great time. You will have to have a holiday when you get back to Aussie after all that fun you are having. Great to hear from you again. This blog is a fabulous idea.