Happy Soles soak in some Brazilian culture!
Day 1: Pinacoteca Museum, Estacao da Luz, Mercadao Municipal, Old City Center, Circulo Italiano, Edificio Copan, Cidade Jardins, Due Cuochi Ristorante
Bom dia, happy soles!
Today is our official first day in Brazil and Cristiane, our travel guide, decided that we need some Brazilian culture to start our adventure on the right foot. We met Ammiel de Leon, Category Head from Havaianas Philippines, who was kind enough to accompany us on this trip. After a quick breakfast, off we went to our first stop: the Pinacoteca Museum!
The weather was positively lovely today, not the cold winter I dreaded (and over packed my luggage for hehe). It was warm enough for us to show off our new David&Goliath shirts!
We had to pose for the requisite group shot at the museum lobby, before splitting up to roam the museum by ourselves. Which is a good idea, because now I can do what I really like doing at museums, which is to:
… give sculptures a run for their money! My left arm is a bit out of position here, sorry.
Chico actually paints, and knows a lot more about art than the three of us combined, and he really gets serious in museums. Wait, he doesn’t look that serious here.
Here’s Oona getting into a stare-down with a Rodin sculpture.
How about this?
After the Pinacoteca, we went outside to find a collection of vintage cars lined up on the street. Apparently, vintage car enthusiasts converge in this part of the city and listen to passer-bys go “oooohhh” and “aaaahhh” over their cars.
We then went inside the Estacao da Luz, which was built in the late 19th century and played a major part in the domestic transport of coffee in Brazil during its economic boom.
Murals adorn the west wall of the Pinacoteca
Estacao da Luz from the outside
At the Mercadao Municipal, we were treated to the smells and sights of Brazilian cuisine. The second floor houses a series of stalls where we had our first lunch. Cristiane told us to pick from Arabian, Japanese, Brazilian. Of course, you know what we chose.
Here is my friend Audie modelling the Guarana, which is a Brazilian soda. Cristiane says she likes it better than Coca-Cola and after one sip, I now know why.
Pasteis and bolinhos de bacalhau. Google it, please. All I can say is they’re delish!
As if not content with their lunch, Oona, Audie and Chico went from stall to stall to sample the spices, jams, fruits and what-nots available in the area. Brazilians, like this gentleman in the photograph, was happy to have us taste it for free.
By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, our Brazilian guide Cristiane looks like a young Dayanara Torres without make up. More on that later. :)
We then went to the gothic Cathedral Se, which Cristiane helpfully described as “the point zero of the city’.
At the Praca de Se
Museum Anchieta at the Patio do Colegio, where the Jesuits first built their settlement in 1554.
Turistas
This is the oldest skyscraper in Sao Paulo
Having some refreshments at Cafe Girardino
Pau de queijos. In english, cheese bread, but yummier than the cheese bread I’m used to.
See the red dome with the gigantic screen behind Chico and I? This is the plaza where we would have watched Brazil in the World Cup games had they made it to the quarterfinals. We know how the game turned out, so on this bridge, we sighed our sighs and moved on.
At Placa Gomes, where Diego (Cristiane’s friend — we forgot to take his picture!) told us there is a sculpture whose middle finger —of all fingers— was so lucky that whosoever toucheth that finger will have good luck. That must be true, because apparently some punk thought it best to keep all the luck to himself and stole the finger. But that ain’t stopping me from touching the broken appendage. Just in case.
The Edificio Italiano, a 46-story building built by German-Brazilian architect Franz Heep in 1965. We did go up to the top floors and took an aerial view of breathtaking Sao Paulo, below:
The Edificio Copan designed by Oscar Niemeyer, so famous it has inspired writers, musicians and artists around the world.
Our last stop for the day was in Cidade Jardim, a posh shopping mall. So posh, they discourage mall visitors without cars from coming by making them find their way around basements, stockrooms and delivery areas. You can trust me that I’m not being sarcastic, our travel guide, Cristiane said this herself.
Anyhoo, we dined at the Due Cuochi restaurant, where I ate the best seafood risotto I’ve ever tasted in my life. So good, I was almost brought to tears.
I am sorry I wasn’t able to take down the names of the other dishes we had, engrossed as we were over the food. But we did take pictures for your viewing pleasure:
After giving Cristiane advice on how she could make it as a movie star or a model in the Philippines, we made our way back to our hotel, which is by the way, I failed to mention, located in the posh district of Paulista.
So that concludes our first day in Brazil. Cristiane asked us if we enjoyed the day and how much score we would give if we were to rate it from one to ten (we chorused a resounding “15!”), and if we wanted to change anything. We honestly think it couldn’t have gone better.
Boa noite, happy soles and see you tomorrow for my Day 2 recap. Just a sneak preview: SHOPPING!
Cheers,
Farrah
