Fly 10 hours non-stop from Africa to South America and land in Sao Paulo, Brazil. That was the plan. The question was, do we catch a connecting flight and move onto Ecuador or take a break in Brazil? We opted for the break. After a little “researching” different areas of Sao Paulo to stay in, we decided on Vila Madalena and found an Airbnb to stay in for a week. And we’re glad we did it.
Brazil was not on our original list of countries to visit nor was it on any subsequent list created during the past year. We didn’t know too much about it but after more googling we started to get excited. Sao Paulo is a huge city – over 12 million people – the 11th largest city in the world. I bet you didn’t know that.
We arrived at night after 4 hour delay taking off from Africa. The toilets on the left side of the plane were clogged and they couldn’t fix them. So we waited for a new plane. Once we finally arrived in Brazil it was a breeze. We secured a visa online beforehand and made our way quickly through immigration and took an Uber to our place. This is usually one of the most interesting parts of travelling for me. Arrive at a brand new place, get a driver and proceed to our accommodations. Sometimes the driver is talkative and speaks English, sometimes not. You get a visual of new city and maybe some background from the driver. If it’s night-time it’s even more interesting since you have no idea how the neighborhood is going to be or if you’ll find the place easily or not. If it’s a shared space you’ve booked, you’re not sure what the hosts will be like. We really lucked out again this time.
We were greeted by Carlos, our host for the next week. Through one iron bar gate and beyond another, through a locked door, then upstairs to the magnificent apartment – a 3 BR flat that he shares with his wife, Marcella. Carlos is a professional drummer, plays in various bands, operates a drum school, and knows a ton about all things music. Over the course of the week we had many conversations about music. I told him I saw Miles Davis in the early 80’s when the “Decoy” album came out. Carlos knew who played guitar and bass on that album. A fellow music junkie! Over the course of the week we traded music trivia and musical recommendations and had a blast. He gave us some suggestions about what to do and see in Sao Paulo during our stay.
We got a good nights sleep and headed out to explore the neighborhood in the morning. Our first stop was a Padaria on the corner just a minute walk from the apartment. Padaria means bakery, and they are everywhere, but it’s so much more than just a bakery in Portuguese culture. This Padaria was a mix of 40% bakery, 40% grill, and 20% convenience store. We sat down and tried to order coffee – using phrases like “cafe” and “leche”. Within minutes we had our coffee. We inquired about the grilled treats, trying to identify something vegetarian. Although no English was spoken during this entire exchange we did get a grilled bread thing with cheese inside. It was delicious. We thanked the staff, paid and were on our way. We ended up going to the Padaria every morning and became friendly with the staff even though no English was spoken. They rambled on in Portuguese as we tried our best to manage a few words in their language – good morning, thank you, cheese, vegetarian, yes, without, 2, and more. We were often treated to a free sampling from their bakery case. We had pizza there one day and a vegetarian pie too. But the true treat was something called Pao de Queijo – (pronounced pon-jee-kay-joe). Carlos told us about it, we wrote it down, and asked for it. It’s some sort of fluffy, cheesy ball, bread like roll. Wow.
Next it was off to Praca Benedito Calixto – (pronounced ben-neh-jeeto-calishto) a Saturday fair with flea market vendors, designer clothing makers, food, used clothes, and vinyl records. We wandered around and I almost bought a hand painted denim jacket with a giant skull on the back. There were also some nice mala beads made by a couple of local Yogis. We popped into a cafe and I tried ordering a special coffee drink. I had been practicing the term “pingado“, an espresso with a little milk, like a cortado, with equal parts espresso and milk. Well I slipped and ordered 2 pingo. The Japanese man behind the counter repeated the order back to me to confirm. Then he began to asked about what type of alcohol I wanted. I was confused and pulled out my google translate app. Realizing my mistake this time I asked for the pingado and he laughed, everyone laughed. Side note: Brazil is home to the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan – over 1.6 million.
Vila Medalena was the next area we checked out. There was a ton of street art – graffiti covered alleys, walls, and even entire stairways. We wandered around the bohemian neighborhood and had lunch one day at Maha Mantra, a mostly vegan buffet restaurant. The food was great. We picked up some new ideas for hummus and bread recipes. We window shopped in used and vintage clothing stores, busted out some Yoga poses at various locations, and wandered around the neighborhood.
On Sunday we took the subway and headed to Avenida Paulista. On Sundays this main thoroughfare in the heart of the city is closed to traffic. Dozens of bands, volunteers, artists, musicians, performers and more take to the street. Food vendors set ups and thousands and thousands of people gather to have a good time. Every Sunday.
Click here for video of live music on Avenida Paulista!
One night back at the apartment we got to meet Carlos’ family, his father, mother and grandmother who is in her nineties and still living independently is Chile. We had some limited but fun conversation in Spanish, Portuguese and English. Carlos is proficient in all 3 languages and acted as interpreter when needed. Times like these have been the highlights of trip where we get to visit with local people and make new friends.
We continued our exploration of Sao Paulo and visited the Municipal Market of Sao Paulo, a huge indoor market, built in 1933. This Market is 136,000 sq ft and has 1,500 employees and over 450 tons of food passes through per day. Vendors were stopping us, offering us small cut pieces of fruits. The building is an interesting structure with columns, vaults and stained glass.
Next was the São Paulo Cathedral. A huge Roman Catholic cathedral that holds over 8000 people.
Our time in Brazil was great because of our hosts. The apartment was really nice and the suggestions of what to visit were really helpful. Sao Paulo was not a place we ever considered going, but I’m glad we did. We made new friends, explored new areas and got a taste of local Brazilian lifestyle. I got my haircut, Laurie got her eyebrows threaded, we found some good used clothing, tried some local beer, and drank a lot of coffee. It’s a place I’d go back to. Next it’s on to Ecuador. Keep you posted. Until next time.
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