São Paulo,a city not liked by many so it would seem! The common reaction I got from people, after telling them I was spending five nights there usually went something like this... "WHAT! You're going for that long, why, are you crazy!?" Well that proved something to me; dont listen to what other people say,go there and experience it for yourself because I LOVED it! Perhaps I was more fortunate than other travellers who pass through the city as I had my lovely friend Pedro and his friends to show me around, and show me around they did!
Pedro had a solid five days of fun, Paulista style planned and it went a little something like this: Friday evening we went to Sala to see São Paulo's orchestra concert.The venue was spectacular and the orchestra were a pretty talented bunch too, a very mature evening for us considering the last time we went on a night out we (or I'm sure it was more Pedro,thought it would be a good idea to climb into a private boat!) I also got to eat my first little drop of heaven... a brigadeiro!It was absolutely delightful, probably my favourite after trying different versions of it throughout the next few days.The evening was finished off by having pizza at Piola, prepared the quickest known to mankind! No less than around seven minutes after it had been ordered,was it on our tablel! I was in awe, we need to get these guys over to England!It's well known that São Paulo does some of the best pizzas outside of Italy and the trustee lonely planet guides weren't wrong, they were good!
Saturday continued as Friday ended.We ate! The mass food consumption began at breakfast in a chic bakery where we lined our stomachs ready for our day ahead of exploring the traffic prone city!!An unsuccessful attempt to park at Parque do Ibirapuera meant we were unable to go in so off we went to pick up Rafa. Next stop was the travellers ritual of hitting the Havaiana store,here my undeciveness went into overdrive, there were too many choices! We then ventured to the Tomie Ohtake institute and tried to understand the artwork (which we didn't!) then dined at Santinho for lunch, where I ate some of the best food I've had in Brazil and in true Brazilian style, ate lots of it! To burn off all of those extra calories we took a casual stroll around Praça Benedito Calixto antiques fair and also managed to catch a bit of Capoeira being performed. The day was quite exhausting so a nap was much needed on our return home to prepare us for the night ahead! A Saturday in São Paulo wouldn't be complete without sampling it's nightlife, so that's what we did. Our first stop was Volt and cocktails,mine seemed to resemble the amazon rainforest instead of a mojito though! Seeing as the night was young we journeyed on over to Cine Jòia (and also into the musical past) to dance the night away, it was great!
On Sunday we were joined by William and his baby, which he insisted on hanging out of the car window to capture the perfect picture, scaring Pedro and myself everytime he did so! Lunch was another over indulging fest followed by a trip down Paulista Avenue, we then rode the metro downtown where Rafa began his very informative tour guide. He showed me the place where the city started - Pàtio do Colégio São Bento, (then quizzed me on this on my last evening to see if I'd remembered!) we had a walk around the Praça da Sé cathedral and then stopped for a beverage in Café Girondino, a very traditional place with lots of character! Afterwards we made our way to Itaú Cultural and Casa Rosadas where William got into his full swing paparazzi mode! The plan was to catch some jazz in the evening at Barão da Itararé but unfortunately it wasn't on so aftera pizza and a few drinks later we treated ourselves to cake at Amor aos Pedeçes - Love in litle pieces - and it really was!
On Monday whilst Pedro went to work William and myself had a day of fun! We lunched at Athenas, stopped at Ibotarima for a few drinks, had my first Brazilian coffee at Urbe Café and went to the JK mall to see the São Paulo skyline at sunset. The day didn't finish there, Pedro and I went for pizza and I finally got to try sweet pizza, something i'd been looking forward to trying in São Paulo. The brigadeiro with fresh strawberries, didn't disappoint. It was, in Pedro's very own words a "flavour explosion!"Just when I thought the skyline couldn't get much better from the earlier view, Pedro and Rafa pulled it out the bag! They took me to the Skye Bar at the Unique Hotel and all I can say is "wow" the views were fantastic! São Paulo was lit up and showing the majestic size of its city in a light display.
Tuesday came around far too quickly and my goodbye meal at Spot was the perfect ending to the perfect reunion. I had the best time in the city and in Brazil. I met so many lovely people who were all extremely welcoming and they made it a trip to remember - Thank you. My top tip would be to anyone considering going to São Paulo, if my blog hasn't convinced you,then Go, Go, Go! It's great, you won't be disappointed and if you need a guide you can always hire Pedro's Tours. They provide in car entertainment - music, singing,dancing and informative tour guides. Theres also a special rubbish bag (which I just loved the idea of) attached to the gear stick so you can always take snacks along for your tour and dispose of your rubbish instantly! Whats not to like!? Pedro, I suggest you make William one of your first tour guide customers!
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