Transamerica Sao Paulo Hotel

Well today was always going to be the most arduous of my entire trip and so it proved to be! It took 31 hours to get from Foz do Iguacu to Paraty including a 3 hour lay over in Sao Paulo. Not even enough time for a pilgrimage to Interlagos!

The traffic jams in SaoPaulo take some beating and our guide was a bit edgy about taking us out of the bus station telling ...

Everybody told me "why are you going to Sao Paolo, there is nothing to see" but it is wrong. Thanks to Clarissa I have had such a great time, met lovely people, ate yummy brazilian food and saw beautiful places. The city has a very european flair and its trendy.

... Big Island) where we planned to stay for 3 nights. Speeding up to the island was wonderful as it just looked like the ideal holiday spot – colourful boats bobbing up and down in front of the busy sea front lined with shops and cafes. We hired one of the local porters to carry our bags up the incredibly steep climb to our hostel (what a hero) which was lovely, the Hostel Cachoeira run by the very friendly Claus. Unfortunately we could only spend 2 nights there so for the third we ...

Poczatek wyprawy zaczal sie z przygodami, czyli zaliczylam dodatkowy kraj na mojej trasie (Brazylie). Po wyladowaniu w Sao Paulo gdzie mialysmy przesiadke do Santiago okazalo sie ze ja lece innym lotem niz moja kolezanka Chila. Roznica byla w 20 minutach na nieszczescie moj lot byl opozniony (oryginalnie mialam leciec o 8.05.

Firma lotnicza umiescila nas w hotelu zebysmy ...

... in are displaying phenomenal skills. There are also arguments and shouting when someone makes the slightest of bad decisions. Amazing stuff. I eventually carry on to the artists corner of the park where there are various museums. One of which is the Museum of Modern Art - which is hardly worth the entrance fee - it was Free. Largely as it was just too small and had little to see. I spent a great afternoon in the park though.

Back up through the Jardins ...

... was fishing for foreign labor to import. and at one point Italian immigrants were treated so badly that Italy banned the immigration of its citizens to Brazil. A few years later they become the most influential group and build an immense edifice to make that point. Amazing how history plays out, eh? We also went to some serious Brazilian barbecque.. I kid you not, I "O.D."ed on meat! it was so good!

... really expensive too so we preferred to be window shoppers instead. Next stop was a supermarket called Sango. R had insisted that we visit a local supermarket which would give us a flavour of how the locals live their life in the city. S/M took us to Sango, which was absolutely massive and would put Sainsburys to shame. The variety was also excellent in every department especially fruits and veg. M bought us a glass of sugar cane juice and R spotted ...

... ajuda dos despachantes. Creio q acertei a decisão. Basicamente, o q todo consulado quer ver antes de emitir o visto é (i) como vc se manterá ($) por lá e (ii) alguma indicação q vc tem fortes razões para sair do país dele (no meu caso, a carta da LBS dizendo q eu vou estudar lá no 2o semestre). Hj me considero um grande conhecedor das burocracias diplomáticas; vou ajudar aos q ainda nadam em águas desconhecidas. (i) Agende a entrevista pro visto ...

I arrived again in Sao Paulo, cutting short my time in Rio so that I could go to a futbol match here. My friend Thiago (CHICO!!!!!) met me at the airport. The rush hour traffic in Sao Paulo was horrible- imagine rush hour in a city of 15+ million people! We went to his Aunt and Uncle´s house where they served us dinner. I was able to understand about 10% of their conversation in Portugese, but I could follow the main ideas and topics. The ...

... one today had people trying to kick soccer balls into a grid of some kind. Que interesante! 4) Tonight I meet my host mother, who is a widow just 2 weeks older than you, Mom, with 2 cats. YES. She enjoys cooking, watching TV, and spending time with her grandchildren, who are 4 years and 6 months. She understands Spanish, but ONLY speaks Portuguese - which will be great for learning. I am living in an apartment extremely close to the city center, which I am super ...