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And so it begins - our long awaited trip to South America. Full of excitement we kicked off from Heathrow on 26th November; suddenly wishing we´d packed a little less because the rucksacks were soooo heavy lugging them around the airport.
The 6000 odd mile flight went without a hitch, the only down side was they sat me and Matt in the middle of the plane on the four seats with 2 grumpy guys either side of us, so you darn´t ask them to get up to go to the toliet or get up to stretch your legs, but thankfully the 15 hours flew by - probably because i slept most of the way!
Finally we arrived in Sao Paolo, which is when it hits us how much we´re going to struggle with our lousy Portuguese but we find that smiling and hang gestures go along way and the Brazilian people are very friendly and always stop and ask you for help if your standing around looking lost, like we did quite a lot!!!
Trying to keep our budget down, we skipped getting the airport bus and opted for a local bus, the metro and finally a walk through town to our hostel. It was hard work with these 17kg bags on our backs and i don´t think the locals appreciated it much when i kept swinging myself around on the metro and taking them out. Who knew clothes could weigh so much! Standing for long periods on the public transport was seriously taking its toll on my back, neck and shoulders plus my knees began to quiver as they buckled under the pressure. At least if we fell we had the confort of knowing the rucksacks would break our fall, that is unless i fell forwards and then the bloody thing would probably crush me...death by rucksack!!
The best way to describe Sao Paolo (SP) is as a concrete jungle, with small, brightly coloured houses covered in iron bars, which i can only presume is for protection, and as we got closer to the city more and more high rise building began to appear. It was a typical city, which is why i think Matt liked it, but i was hoping for more coastlines and beautiful scenery. However, after the ardous journey we got to our hostel in Downtown Sao Paolo. I found the hostel was much like living in uni digs - basic, noisy and not in the most desirable area, so not somewhere you´d want to stay for long, and yet, i suppose it´s all part of the experience.
During our 2 day stay we decided to explore what SP had to offer. So we ventured to Avenue Paulista, a well known street in SP, which was lined with high rise banks and randomly placed mini jungles as parks. Whilst there we felt that it was only right we visted the MASP (Museu de Arte de Sao Paolo). SP is apparently well know for some of its Art and Collections and the MASP was no exception. It did boast a number of impressive pieces, nudity and some very dodgy looking modern art! But the building itself is quite an impressive structure, so will add a picture for you to see.
We did attempt to find a local bar recommended in one of the books, but someone was reading the map upside down and before we knew it, we were on the wrong side of town. Failing this task, we headed back to the Hostel for drinks with some of the staff and other backpackers.
On Thursday evening we were due to leave for Florianopolis, so we decided to sneak in a bit more sight seeing and headed to see the Parque do Estado (Botanical Gardens). It was just like a piece of the Amazon placed in the city - absoluelty stunning! We were even lucky enough for some wildlife to stray across our path whilst there.
Next stop Florianopolis.......
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