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We arrive at the airport and get through customs quickly. However, we then sit in traffic for two hours just to get off the ring road some 100 metres from the airport. The metro workers are on strike, holding out for more pay just two days before the World Cup. It's late when we arrive at our IBIS hotel, which we are pleasantly surprised with. Basic, but new, clean and with everything working. We are staying in the Jardins area, which is the swanky part of town, and the road closest to us with the bars and restaurants is likened to Knightsbridge in London, so they are not cheap!
The main focus for us being here is to watch the World Cup, but there are also a few sights we want to see. The Museum of Modern Art is housed in a post-modernist building. A huge structure elevated on stilts, the open public area beneath hosts an antique market on Sundays.The artwork inside is impressive and varied, and we spend a couple of hours wandering around. There is a small street market on the other side of the road that we walk through before going in to the Atlantic forest, a small gated area with many species of indigneous plants and trees. It's remarkable that it sits here in the middle of a busy city, not quite big enough to disguise the sights and sounds of the traffic but, it still provokes feelings of tranquility.
The Lonely Planet has a walking tour marked out, so we head into town to follow that. It takes us past some unremarkable sights before turning on to the square where the huge cathederal sits. The building itself from the outside is stunning, unfortunately though the area is full of beggars and the paved square is filthy. We continue on to an art deco building with a black marble facade that was the headquarters of a national bank, that currently houses an exhibition of the history of The Olympic Games. It's interesting to see how different countries have promoted themselves as hosts since it began in 1896. We also get a close-up view of various medals, torches and other related memorabilia.
We walk to an area in the business district and stop for a drink and people watch while being deafened by the vuvuzela's being promoted by vendors for the coming World Cup football matches. Thankfully, the fans' appetite for these blasted horns is not so warm and so many will remain unsold. It was here in another beautiful art deco, ex-bank building that we collected our England vs Costa Rica tickets for the game in Belo Horizonte next week.
We walk down the adjacent 25 March street, where there are countless open fronted shops all selling the same Brazilian world cup merchandise and many eager locals hunting for a bargain shirt. The constant noise from the vuvuzela's continue's assaulting our ear-drums, but we keep going as we are desperately trying to find an England shirt for Suzanne. There are surprisingly no items for any other country, only Brazil, and it's a sea of yellow and green everywhere. We are about to give up when we go into a shopping arcade and eventually find one. The only one they have and it fits. Phew!
Our walk also takes us past the theatre, locally know as Theatro Municipal, a baroque building with art-nouveau features. Continuing on, we spot the Fan Fest area being set up with the big screen. Many people are out in their football shirts and the excitement is building.
We walk to the Ibirapuera Park and enjoy walking in the sunshine, away from the constant traffic. The park has a lane for cyclists, roller bladers and joggers and it is busy. There are two big lakes and some fountains on a pre-set display. Three local youths stop near us and one plays some music from his iphone while another video records the third one singing - or whining really to a totally crap song. Unfortunately for us, he has to do a couple of takes. We do not expect to see this on MTV. Also located in the park is the Afro-Brazilian museum. A huge building with displays covering two floors. It's a shame there were no descriptions in English, as there was such a vast array of interesting exhibits of people, symbols and rituals detailing the African hertitage in Brazil. Indeed, the influx of the African people signalled a new paradigm in Brazilian culture, which is prevalent today.
We take a taxi to the Mercado Municipal, which we hadn't realised only has fresh produce. It must be the cleanest market we've seen and it is housed in a beautiful building with stained glass windows, with the usual bunting of Brazil flags everywhere you look. As we don't have a fridge in the room we were unable to buy any of the tasty looking cheeses, meats and fish. We also had breakfast before we left so couldn't make the most of the restaurants housed on the upper floor.
We go to watch the opening game of the World Cup in an bar close to where we are staying, but unfortunately their TVs are not working. As it is nearly kick-off time we sit in the Juice Bar opposite, where they are also fiddling with their TVs, but at least have a picture. Our idea of a frenzied crazy start with Brazil playing Croatia was very subdued. We sat through the first half and then, as the TVs were fixed, we went back to the bar across the road for the second half. There was a rock band playing covers as we went in and it was a great atmosphere. The band stopped for the second half so we could listen to the Portuguese commentary! It was lively with many Brazilian supporters there and 'The Sepp Blater sponsored penalty' put Brazil in the lead, much to everyone's joy. As soon as the game was over, the band came back on and virtually the whole pub was dancing. That's more like it!
We watch the England game in a different bar, an Irish bar called O'Malleys. We stood nervously in the queue for an hour not being sure if we would get in as they were at their full capacity and we were left hoping people would be leaving from the previous game. The queue moved along at a snail's pace and time was ticking on. We did, thankfully, get in with not much time to spare for kick-off. It was a great atmosphere in there with lots of Brazilians supporting us. People were asking where we were from as the England shirts were not really a give-away due to so many other nationalities wearing them. The good atmosphere continued despite us losing 2-1 to Italy.
For the next Brazil game we went to the Fan Fest area to watch Brazil vs Mexico. The crowd of Brazilians next to us were so friendly and were taking photo's with us and swapping Facebook details. It's a shame the game was a nil-nil draw as it would have been good to be celebrating with our new best friends in such a charged, lively arena.
Back to O'Malleys for the England vs Uruguay game. Great atmosphere again and we got chatting to lots of England and Brazilian fans. Well, it was a good atmosphere up to a point! After a dissappointing game Stephen was interviewed in the pub in front if the cameras by CCTV (from China) and no doubt his Philip Neville-like punditry will soon have the offers rolling in! Leaving the pub feeling deflated, we went into a local restaurant with the three English fans we had been speaking with. A mediocre meal and a dull mood was soon changed as we were leaving. The three guys had already gone and a Brazilian family invited us to join them at their table for drinks. The conversation that followed was hysterical. Such nice people, who then insisted on sharing some swear words in Portuguese with us. The mother was coming out with some pure filth classics and didn't seem to be worried that their, up until then, bored eight year old daughter was listening to it all. The teenage daughter spoke some English, so we are sure she was learning the English versions. After plying us with many drinks, and paying for them, they offered us a lift home. As the wife hadn't been drinking we accepted, only for the drunk husband to clamber up behind the wheel and then take us the scenic route back to our hotel. There is a big police presence in Sao Paolo and he was lucky not to be pulled over. After exchanging emails and Facebook details we waved them off, thankful they had cheered us up.
We still needed our yellow fever jab, so the next day went to the local hospital to get them done. Expecting it to be a nightmare, we were sent to a room, queued up, passed over our passports and got the jab. Very easy and best of all, it was free! We were surprised to see that, except for a very small strip of coastline, the rest of Brazil is a yellow fever zone.
We had a few nights out with people from the Sao Paolo Turner and Townsend office and we also met with someone Steve used to work with in Qatar, who is also here to see the football. The bars are lively and Brazilians definitely like a bit of noise.
We really liked Sao Paolo. An easy city to get around, friendly people, lots of variety and some great nightlife. It also felt good to stop in one place for almost two weeks and not stress about moving on.
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