Sao Paulo

Hoy!

After a long and tragically boring transatlantic flight, the three Saffers arrived in a hot and humid Sao Paulo. It was clear from the start that communication was going to be an issue, since, while our Spanish is not bad, it turns out that Portugese sounds more like a Ukranian talking dirty than Spanish. After much miscommunication and wandering about, we got on a bus to take us to the center of the city.

By the time we got into the center it was evening already and we were anxious to find a place to stay for the night. The anxiety wasn´t helped by the fact that the bus had dropped us in the middle of a city whose population is 18 million - and all of them seemed to have converged on the one street and decided to shout at each other in Ukranian. Nadia, Fonz and I were blending in quite well though and didnt really look like tourists, with our brightly coloured backpacks which were bigger than us, our panic-striken faces and our clearly marked guidebook open on a map of Central Sao Paulo.

After a bit of a look, we found the Sao Paulo Hostel near Praca de Republica, and were relieved to check into a room with a double bed and a single bed, a window, en suite bathroom, and a bar fridge which we filled with the small bottles of gin and vodka we had recently borrowed from South African Airways. We then relaxed considerably and went in search of food. We found a place called Churrascaria where we drank quarts of Skol beer and ate far too much. Saw some facinating cultural centers, including the charming `Butt Sellers´. After that the goings on of the day had taken its toll and we got an early night.

Today we explored Central Sao Paulo - we walked a huge loop around starting from our hostel in Downtown Republica and ending in Central Se, and took many pictures of the city. This place is bigger than you could possibly imagine! We went up to a terrace on the top of the Edificio Italia (a rather large building) from where you can see the entire city. The pictures do it more justice than my words could, but they still do not give you a sense of just how big it is. 30 story buildings stretching to the horizon on every side of you. Its massive.

However, after you get over the Massiveness (it takes a couple beers), there aint that much else to keep you here. Accordingly, we are packin up for Rio tomorrow morning and shippin out.

Los Gringos vs. That Huge Statue of Jesus, coming soon... Pics of Sao Paulo will be up ASAP

Obrigado,

Steve