Happy Soles come home to the Havaianas mecca

Day 2: Shopping!  Havaianas Concept Store, Montana Grill Churrascaria, Daslu, Sala Sao Paolo, Famiglia Mancini Restaurant

Bom dia, happy soles! 

Welcome to Day 2 of our amazing Brazilian adventure! 

Today is especially exciting because first on our agenda is what every true blue Havaianatico can only dream of: a shopping spree at the only Havaianas concept store in the world! 

We were given an hour to shop for free, so without further ado, off we went hauling in the latest styles. 

I got really excited over the World Cup themed styles, being a rabid supporter of the Brazilian football team and of course I didn’t miss the chance of getting a pair or three.  Here I got Ammiel to join me in jumping for joy!

Oona and I imagining we were Havaianas models.

 Chico got himself a pair too!

 

We were only given an hour to shop so it was doubly exciting, like joining a shopping challenge.  Well, like any girl would be, if it’s shopping — for FREE at that—, I’m up to the task!  I can even find time to pose for a picture :)

Audie and Ammiel at my favorite section of the store.  Look at all the colors!  We want one in every shade!

You can customize your Havaianas in this section.  So everyday is Make Your Own Havaianas day!  This store is truly a Havaianatico’s heaven!

Chico poses with his loot bag and a rather strange colored pair.  As you see, real men do wear pink Havaianas!  But that’s a gift for his sister, he clarifies. 

 Audie and I show off our goodies!

One hour is up!  Here we are posing with our Havaianas.  What an experience!  Aside from excitement over the new pairs we now have obviously, I almost feel spiritual about it. Like a Muslim coming home to Mecca.  We are definitely going back!

Well, all that shopping made us positively famished!  Next stop is Montana Grill Churrascaria, which is a Brazilian/Portuguese steakhouse. Churrasco is the cooking style, which translates roughly from the Portuguese for barbecue.

Passadores (meat waiters) come to your table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, be it beef pork, filet mignon, lamb, chicken, duck, ham, sausage, fish, or any other sort of local cut of meat.

 Chico holds up a brochure they give to first time Churrasco diners, which shows which part of the beef a certain meat is taken from and how they taste.  I gotta say, Brazilians really know their meat!

Oona loved the barbecued lamb, and here I am holding a piece of filet mignon especially suggested by Cristiane. 

We then went to Daslu, an uber-posh shopping villa in Sao Paulo. The boutique is known ere in Brazil as the “fashion designers mecca” as it houses more than 60 labels plus 30 store-in-stores. It is the place where the Brazilian elite shop for the latest accessories and clothing. It is also a renowned shopping institution in South America for being a “purveyor” in chic and exclusive couture.

We looked for the cheapest item on sale, just in case we can afford it, you never know!  We found a Louis Vuitton key chain which sells for US$500.00.  Lucky for us, it’s on sale at 50% off haha!  

Well, realizing how ridiculous buying a $500 keychain is (just imagine how many pairs of Havaianas that can buy!), we decided to have a photoshoot instead.  These mannequins have got nothing on us.

After Daslu, we proceeded to the Sala Sao Paulo, home of the Sao Paulo Symphonic Orchestra. 

 

We were taken on a personal tour by our lovely guide Mayra, who is half-Brazilian, half-Japanese. She couldn’t speak English, so Cristiane had to translate for her, but it was worth it listening to her melodic Portuguese while she shared with us the rich history of the theater.  In fact, Ammiel was so taken by her, as evidenced by the above picture, he wants to come back for another tour!

We posed with Mayra at the end of the tour at the main theater.  Ammiel then started to sing “I Left My Heart In Sao Paulo.”

We then went to the Famiglia Mancini restaurant to have dinner and meet the lovely people from Havaianas Brazil.  Here we are with Marcelo and Claiton and their beautiful fiancees.

Famiglia Mancini serves amazing traditional Italian dishes, and even just the pizza below is to die for!   

 

That concludes our second day, happy soles!  Tomorrow is the day I’m personally looking forward to, I swear I’m beside myself with excitement!  Hint: FUTBOL!

Cheers,

Farrah