ATW 2016 - Sao Paulo, Brazil - Feb 4-8

February 4-8, 2016 - Sao Paulo, Brazil

My 2016 Around the World trip is posted in 10 separate entries.  Scroll down or up to view them all.  You may have to hit the older posts or newer posts button on the bottom of the page.

The adventure started.  I flew my first flight from Orlando to Sao Paulo.  TAM has some nice, but older business class seats.  The service was great and the food was good.

I arrived late and after a taxi ride to my hotel, I was surprised to see that so many people were out and about after midnight.

The following day I walked around town for a few hours.  My major sightseeing would follow the next days.  I tried to find the hop on hop off bus, but they haven't made it here yet.  For dinner at a famous Brazilian Steak House I started with a caipirinha, the official drink of Brazil.  That was followed with an awesome salad bar and numerous cuts of meat served table-side.

The next day I walked to the Iribapuera Park, a huge park similar to Central Park in NYC.  It had lakes, cycling and three museums.  Later I tried to find one of the Carnival locations.  Unlike Rio, in Sao Paulo it is mainly street parties.  One was in full swing with loud music and dancing.  I returned the next day to see mountains of trash in the streets.

Street party for Carnival

On my final day I walked downtown to see the main cathedral.  I got lost, but saw another cathedral anyway.  While pondering my maps, this nice couple approached and asked if I needed help.  Luckily she spoke English and offered to walk me to the cathedral.  So I met my one church a day quota.

They then escorted me to the Bank of Brazil building which is now a museum.  I visited the Mondrian exhibit, with examples of all his styles.  He is one of my favorite artists and I was glad to visit the bank museum.

Street art

The main cathedral in Sao Paulo

Finally I walked to Japan Town and strolled through the street market.  Sao Paulo has the largest Japanese population in South America.  I would later learn that Lima has the largest Chinese population.

Japan Town street crossing signs