Sao Paulo continued….

By Ali Karim
This post is part of a series called Sao Paulo & Rio, Brazil July 2015
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Went for drinks at a rooftop bar (The View Bar); this was near our hotel. Decent view but since it was a hazy, the view was not as exciting. For dinner, decided to go to Margherita Pizzeria; since it was highly recommended. Took a taxi there, and it was quite crowded, so had to wait 20 minutes for a table. Decided to get half a carafe of wine and sit outside and people watch while waiting.

Waiting outside, it quickly became obvious that this was a popular place; cars and taxi’s kept stopping to drop off well dressed and stylish people; valet was kept very busy. Ladies, of course, were very well dressed. All this for a pizza place? Either the pizza was out of this world, or this was just a trendy place to be seen at. So once our turn came, we were eager to try it out.

Ordered a salad and a veggie pizza, thin crust. About 30 minutes later, it arrived (Learning that in Brazil, eating is a leisurely activity like in Europe, not one to be hurried). The pizza arrived and was fully loaded with vegetables, mostly hearts of palm, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, squash etc. It was good but not the best pizza I have had. So this is just a very trendy place to be at. Cost with wine, salad and pizza was $50 for both of us. Took taxi back to hotel and called it a night.

Next day, decided to go to the old town to take in the sights of colonial Portuguese old town. Took the subway to the Se station, and when we emerged, saw the magnificent Cathedral de Se, which the guidebook said could hold 8000 worshippers.

Very nice inside and outside.

Oranges and custard apples by the wheelbarrow

Fresh juice available everywhere

Cathedral de Se

Then found a small café for breakfast; had a veggie omelette (came with fries), café con leche and fresh papaya+mango juice and maracuja (passion fruit) juice; all natural and fresh squeezed. Of course, the waiter could not understand English, and were trying to explain what we wanted, when a nice lady at the next table translated for us.

She spoke good English and during our conversation, said she was a lawyer. She advised us not to hang around the Cathedral de Se area as there were many homeless people around, and could be dangerous; though there were lots of police presence around. Decide to follow her advice and after the great breakfast ($8 for both), we went over to Sao Bento area via a wide pedestrian only walking area, which turned out to be the Financial district; much like Wall Street; lined with huge imposing bank buildings. We even passed the Bovespa stock exchange.

Breakfast at local cafe outside Cathedral de Se

FInancial District pedestrian walkway

Attract customers in any way you can…….

Bovespa Stock Exchange

Street merchants

Interesting personal transportation, with a 4 wheel skateboard and small gasoline engine

Took the subway from Sao Bento to Luz station, where we were told were many shops selling trendy clothing. Got out of the subway and noticed that the area was quite seedy. Did not feel comfortable and so went back into the station area. There was an exit at the opposite end opening into a park area. Went out that entrance and the area on the other side of the station was a very nice area, with trendy shopping district, in complete contrast. Can’t imagine why one side of the station was so seedy and the other was so nice and trendy. Walked around for awhile, window shopped the very elegant and trendy clothing stores,. By now, was getting to late afternoon, so decided to call it a day & headed back to the hotel by subway.

Got some interesting shots.

Never seen an orange and purple orchid before

Street graffiti is quite colorful

Tangerines by the truckload; cheap and sweet 🙂

Interesting architecture and grafetti

More interesting architecture

Drive in cafe anyone?

Grafitti art

More Graffiti art

Rio next, here we come……

This entry was posted in Brazil, Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo & Rio July 2015, South America

5 thoughts on “Sao Paulo continued….

  • Pingback: Sao Paulo 2015 - Ali Karim Travelog

  • Michelle September 26, 2017 at 3:39 pm Reply

    I cannot thank you enough for the blog post. Great stuff.

  • Barros Manos August 16, 2017 at 5:47 pm Reply

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  • Daron August 8, 2017 at 3:18 pm Reply

    Hey there! Would you mind if I share your blog with my myspace group? There’s a lot of people that I think would really appreciate your content. Please let me know. Many thanks

    • Ali Karim August 10, 2017 at 10:37 am Reply

      Hi Daron, I have no issue with you sharing my Travelog with your myspace group. Please feel free to share

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