Weekend in Sao Paulo
Thursday, June 30, 2016This month, I went to visit my roommate from USC, Gaby, in Sao Paulo where she's studying abroad. This was my first time in Brazil, and thank god I had Gab because she was my translator for everything Portuguese when Spanish didn't work. Besides for having a local tour guide/translator, it was also really nice to catch up because I hadn't seen her since April when she came to Santiago.
Day 1
When I got there in the afternoon, Gab and I checked into our hostel and found a cute outside restaurant. Then, we went to Sunset Park to enjoy the view.
Day 2
Today I got to meet all of Gaby's friends (they claimed she paid them, but still) and we went to the huge fresh fruit market in the morning. This was a lot nicer than La Vega, here in Santiago, the worker let us try all of the fruits- literally all of them. A lot of them I had never heard of before because they were unique to Brazil, but they were so good.
For lunch, I tried a cheese-filled pasteis that was the size of my face and looked like a heart-attack waiting to happen. It was so good that I wished Gab and I didn't split one. Probably better for my arteries though.
Then Gaby lost me in the market...
At Sao Paulo's version of Chinatown, I got new "Ray Bans" and a fabric patch of the Brazil flag since I like to collect them everywhere I go. I want to put all of the patches on my backpack after this trip.
We went up the Martinelli Building to see an amazing view of the city and have a mini photoshoot. It was just like Rockefeller Center, where you wait on a line and they let a couple people up the elevator at a time. The weather warmed up a lot by this point, which was nice after freezing in Santiago.
With all of her friends, we went to Bar Famoso to get some beer towers before the karaoke bar opened for the night.
At the Karaoke bar, we found out we didn't have to stick to the list they gave us and they could look up any song. Game-changer. I ended up singing Work by Rihanna with everyone, and Send My Love by Adele with Gab, and then Single Ladies. If you're wondering, I know how basic all of that sounded. I also got to try a Caipirinha, the national drink, and it's a bit rough. It has nothing on a Pisco Sour, it was so strong.
Day 3
We went to a cute outside brunch place called "Coffee Lab." Then, we just walked around exploring, going into thrift stores, and we found a restaurant with a terrace and a view.
We went to Beco do Batman, where graffiti and murals by local artists line the streets. It's beautiful. We definitely had a mini photoshoot but it was also fun to just sit in front of one of the murals and enjoy the sun.
We also got açai bowls, visited her university, and walked through Paulista which is Sao Paulo's financial district. There's local artists everywhere and performers on the side of the street, and we even saw a cute little kid imitating Michael Jackson.
After we went to her university's basketball game, we grabbed food in a side street that had probably like 30 food trucks. There were too many options, but I got an amazing cheese crepe (mostly because cheese was one of the only words I picked up in Portuguese and Gaby left me alone, but I also love anything with cheese in it.)
We ended the day watching the Copa America Costa Rica vs. Colombia game.
Day 4
Today we went to Ibirapuera Park to explore. It reminded me of Central Park a lot, and the view of the skyline reflected onto the lake was beautiful. Strangely, I saw a bunch of Shiba Inus, which is the breed my dogs back at home are. I also tried the coconut water because I was told "It's a thing here and you have to try it."
Then, we went to the best outside brunch restaurant. It was packed with couples because it was Brazil's Valentine's Day.
For the rest of the day until I had to leave for my flight, we walked around Paulista because they close the streets every Sunday. There's even more street art, a market, performers, and a bunch of people walking around.
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