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.

Day 9 - Sao Paulo, Ibirapuera Park & Sala Sao Paulo

Finally. A peaceful nights rest. 

Our first night in Sao Paulo was much quieter than Rio, and even quieter than the little town of Paraty. Fresh and alert – our first day in Sao Paulo we decide to take in their famous Ibirapuera Park, as we’d planned 2 walking tours for the following 2 days. A short walk from our hotel, we arrive at Ibirapuera amidst the glorious sunshine. 

Surprisingly, Sao Paulo was even hotter than Rio, reaching temperatures of 37°C, with little wind. Ibirapuera was a lovely large, lush park, which I found to resemble Hyde Park in London. Within the gated grounds we found a planetarium (closed), a Latin America History Museum (seemingly in all Portuguese), and a large adventure playground (we couldn't resist). With a small river running through the park – we watched all the water fowl swimming in the shallows, including the native ‘Rio’s, which were crane-like birds.

Exiting the park, we headed toward the affluent neighbourhood of Jardins Europa and Paulistano – a complete change from the neighbourhoods of Rio. Here there were large, detached houses, with long front drives and gated surroundings. Grand, overhanging trees and verdant bushes lined the side walks, creating a quiet, unpolluted atmosphere – far removed from the dusty brown, broken streets of Rio. Strolling through Jardins we came across ritzy car dealerships – Maserati, Rolls-Royce, Aston Martin – before we discovered a massive, boat shaped building – which only later were we told, was the ‘Unique Hotel’, proffering some of the best views of down town Sao Paulo. Oh well. 

We walked further and further through the somewhat winding somewhat structured streets – discovering more oddities like the omnipresent ‘street art’ found ubiquitously throughout Sao Paulo - as well as the Igreja Nossa Senhora do Brasil church – which was apparently the most sought after wedding venue in Sao Paulo – with bookings required 2 years in advance.

With the day-light waning, we decided to visit the famous Sala Sao Paulo – a symphony hall renowned for some of the best acoustics in the world. We took a bus for 30 minutes and arrived at Sala – which evidently is a diamond in the rough – as the neighbourhood surrounding the venue was filled with closed down buildings, rough looking shops, and many homeless. The symphony hall used to be a grand train station in its glory years – and is today still impressive in its size and stature. We were fortunate to get tickets to see Paul Lewis that night – where he serenaded us to the dulcet tones of Schumann and Liszt. After a blissful hour-and-a-half piano concerto, and getting our tickets signed by the man himself, we grabbed a taxi home and called it a night, ready for our full day of tourism tomorrow.