São Paulo became rich in coffee.
Today, São Paulo is South America’s biggest and most prosperous city and Brazil’s financial capital. It is also a cosmopolitan blend of people. This was my first stop in Brazil on my four-week travels. After slavery was abolished in Brazil in 1888, immigrants from the Middle East, Italy, Japan, and Portugal poured into the region.
First impression of São Paulo
When you arrive in a large city like São Paulo and travel into the city centre with the underground, you do not grasp how big the city is. I arrive in the middle of Avenue Paulista, and even though you can see vast colossuses of buildings on all sides, you do not have the real skyscrapers here. Then you can be fooled when you go into the side streets and forget that you are in such a big city.
Outstanding buildings
I might be wrong here, but I have had problems finding one or groups of buildings in São Paulo that say, this is São Paulo. As you can see in the picture above, Museu de Arte is a famous building, and the whole building is floating in the air between two red concrete columns. Unfortunately, this building was under reconstruction when I was there. Another famous museum in São Paulo is the Pinacoteca do Estado. This Neo-Classical building has been refurbished and capped with a translucent roof, creating a magical sense of space and light.
The Brazilian warning
I was warned many times before going to Brazil about its danger. Your mobile is the most commonly stolen item, so I brought my old phone with me, just in case. However, I was lucky; I was not robbed or had anything stolen. Of course, I did take precautions, but you need your phone when you use Google Maps.
Liberdade
Many do not know that São Paulo has the most significant Japanese community outside Japan. Italian descendants are also a large group of its inhabitants. I knew about the Liberdade district, and I visited it on a Saturday morning, which was not a good idea! It was so packed with people, both tourists and local people, out to shop for groceries and some street food from the many stalls. It was interesting to have a look anyway.
Batman Street
Outside the centre, there is an area called Batman Street. This bohemian area is full of small cafes and galleries. But what makes it most attractive is all the street art on the walls in this relatively large area. These two guys were posing for a friend, and I asked if I could take a picture of this handsome couple. I was here early in the morning, so very few people were in the street, so I could have a good look around and have my morning coffee.
Artistic input
Before I left Oslo, one of the Brazilian dancers in our company had recommended the São Paulo Dance Company., one of the world’s leading companies. So, I had my ticket before I came here. They danced three different pieces. However, it was the last homage to Vaslav Nijinsky Petrushka. OMG, it was just fantastic. The combination of everything I saw when in São Paulo made this some lovely starting days on my roundtrip in Brazil.
