Day 10 - Sao Paulo, Free Walking tour (Old Town), Mercado Municipal, & Solomon's Temple

Our third day in Sao Paulo brought us on our first walking tour. This ‘Sao Paulo Free Walking Tour’ took us to the ‘old town’ – where the foundations and origins of the city could be found. Before the tour could begin however, we had to wait for a protest to move along. Hundreds of high school students were protesting the corrupt government – which had apparently stolen 85% of the money meant for free dinners within the school system. After the impassioned youth (rightly so) had moved on down the street, Rocco the tour guide began telling us the history of Sao Paulo.

As we wandered through the streets – learning the history of this building or that tower - we observed the progression of Sao Paulo society through the ages [Tallest buildings, first library, tenement blocks, first public school, main cathedral etc…]. It was an informative tour and Rocco did a great job of keeping everyone interested.

The tour finished in the early afternoon, and as we were already in the down town area – we decided to take in the famous Mercado Municipal, their grand indoor food market. Similar to St. Lawrence market in Toronto – all the best fruits, cheeses, and meats are sold here – albeit in a much older, more impressive building. We grabbed a delicious fruit salad and headed to our next stop of the day – the recently erected ‘Solomon’s Temple’ – a replica of the famous temple in Jerusalem. This creation however, was significantly larger – boasting that it was even taller than Rio’s Christo Redentor. The building was, indeed, massive – bringing about memories of the temples we’d visited in Egypt (specifically the impressive Edfu temple). Unfortunately the temple didn't open until the evening hours – so we did not get to lay eyes on the golden Ark of the Covenant held within.

Catching a bus back to the Jardins area, we wandered Augusta street, a very popular road filled with shops and restaurants, and decided to eat at a Churascaria. Famously known as ‘Brazilian Barbecue’, the Churascaria was exactly that – being superbly waited on by dozens of servers who would slice and shave the finest grilled meats on to your plate [sirloin, fillet minion, prime rib...] until our bellies were uncomfortably full. Slowly rolling home, we noticed that our feet had literally turned black from the dirt of the streets. After a thorough wash, we flopped our tired, full bodies on to the bed and drifted off in to another quiet slumber.