Today, was our first time the port town of Santos and our
first of many ports in Brazil. Due to traffic concerns with our originally
planned trip to São Paulo we decided instead to visit the Santos area all
within close proximity to the port. Cathy, Ann, John and myself met our guide Denis
and started our tour of Santos stopping by the Coffee museum. In discussion
with Denis, he told us that we could get to São Paulo in an hour, so we revised
our plan and drove to the city. São Paulo is the largest city in Brazil with a
population of about 12 million and almost 22 million in its metropolitan
region. The traffic is overwhelming but we moved along very well making our
first stop at the massive Independence Monument overlooking the Ipiranga River.
Next, we visited the Municipal Food Market with its large stained-glass windows
and a vaulted ceiling. The lower floor
is packed with food stalls selling all different kinds of produce, meats, fish
and exotic fruits...on the second-floor mezzanine is where you’ll find all the
restaurants and bars and the best views of the stained glass. From the here we
went to Cathedral Square and to see the beautiful São Paulo Cathedral, a huge
Neo-Gothic church that can hold up to 8,000 worshipers. Next, we stopped at Foundation
Square to visit the Patio do Colgio...this historic building marks the site
where São Paulo was first founded in 1554. The city’s origin began with a
Jesuit mission that was set up to educate the indigenous Tupi-Guaraní people
and convert them to Catholicism. São Paulo is home to the largest Japanese
population outside of Japan and we made a stop in this area to catch a glimpse
of wall art and shopping. From here we did a drive by the Municipal Theater,
Benedict Monastery, Train Station, Soccer Stadium and the Jardins District. São
Paulo is known as the place to see some of the world’s best street art and
nowhere is this more evident than in the bohemian neighborhood of Vila
Madalena. We parked the car and did a walk about to take in the
artwork...area’s most famous street is Beco do Batman or Batman’s Alley. In
this narrow back alleyway, every inch of the walls on both sides of the street
are covered in artwork. It’s an incredible sight and definitely one of the must-see
places in São Paulo! We made a stop at a Baroque-style church is dedicated to
Our Lady of Brazil...the interior resembles churches in Portugal, while the
ceiling is covered in reproductions of the Sistine Chapel. Our last stop was
Avenida Paulista...another São Paulo must-see...it’s was clogged with traffic,
but our view from the Banespa Building was great...this skyscraper is often
called São Paulo’s Empire State Building and was inspired by the famous New
York structure and by the work of Frank Lloyd Wright. The building affords
fantastic views of São Paulo’s city center and beyond. We were able to get in
our visit to the Banespa and the Rose House next door just before the skies
opened. The rain was so heavy the highway flooded and it took an hour to detour
around the flooded section before leaving the city taking us 2.5 hours to
return to the port. We were very glad we went to São Paulo and thank Denis
Gonçalves our guide/driver for a great day and start to our Brazilian
adventure.
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