The plan!
Today we had a lazy wake up and late morning, we embarked on a walking tour Zuz had in her Lonely Planet guide book. The weather was not its finest today and by the afternoon water had got under the lense of my camera and I was not a happy Hannah.
Before that though we climbed (went up in an elevator) the fourth tallest building in SP: the Altino Arantes Building; as you'll see from the video we had to stay inside and take pictures because the weather was too awful. I guess we were lucky enough to even go to the top because due to the rain, many other skyscrapers were not admitting anyone at all. The skyline in SP is incredible! So many buildings!! It is literally a concrete jungle! You cannot see anything but buildings! According to good old Wikipedia, SP has the 3rd highest concentration of buildings in the world (falling behind New York and Hong Kong) and the 10th highest number of tall buildings above 90 metres in the world. Once you're there, you can see exactly why :)
We briefly visited sites such as the Municipal Theatre, which had the most breathtaking decor, but due to renovations running on 'til July 2014, we couldn't actually set foot in anywhere but the ticket office or the Café. It was like being transported in time though, so pretty! :) We scurried on down the Avenida Xavier Toledo where we stopped for lunch in a really cute corner restaurant/bar. One thing that I will definitely miss when I leave is the fact you can purchase freshly squeezed juice in almost every food outlet! I'm obsessed with freshly-squeezed passion fruit juice (maracujá/ "mah-rah-coo-jah")! It's soooooo good!
Later on in the afternoon we took a wrong turn and instead of ending up at the main food market, we stumbled across the Estação da Luz, an old-school train converted to overground metro station). It was almost like looking at Kings Cross Station in the first Harry Potter film. *Cue nostalgia*
We took a quick turn around the park on the opposite side of the road - coincidently named - Parque da Luz and then decided we were feeling kind of miserable and wet, so we head home.
That evening around half six, took a quick gander around the neighbourhood of Sé. We saw the Cathedral, Law School (Faculdade de Direito), the main Square, and then headed for a bar. It was cool because it was the time when people had finished work and were having chilled time with friends and co-workers. Although SP doesn't actually feel that touristy, the both of us felt more like locals, sitting in a small bar away from the main roads. I really felt like I was on some level connecting with the city a little, like in terms of experiencing it for what it really is, rather than a brief view.
The Samba event!
Our hostess was an absolute babe! That night she offered to take us to one of the Samba hot spots in SP that night. It was a sweet little place but you would've never guessed it was a popular venue from the outside. It was one room, not much bigger than our apartment back in Floripa and it was rather run down on the inside. It added to the charm though for sure! The bar was made from an eroded old kitchen, a band was squashed into one wall and a couple of tables lined the rest of the room. These were folded away once more people turned up. The band played lots of different types of Samba, some sets just instrumental consisting of drums, ukuleles, basses and then a flute as the lead and then there was a little elderly woman who would make an appearance every now and again to sing. She had a throaty, rough voice and she sung a couple of tango songs. This made my night for sure! I'm a sucker for a good tango song. Apparently when she wasn't singing, she was being (quote) "fed cerveja" (beer). She was so tiny it seemed impossible to believe.
All four of us got asked to dance by quite a few guys, not even exaggerating. The SP girls got very into it, but me and Zuz not so much. I got to chatting with most of them and it was surprising how open everyone is here! They chat and get to know you, but you don't then have to exchange numbers or go home with them. It was funny for me because most people were at least 30, but apart from the fact that I don't have a full time job, I didn't feel like a baby in comparison. For a Brazilian however, most people can't afford to go out until 25ish years old; so it took them aback when I told them my age. Along with my name though, most guys were too drunk to remember five minutes later, which made me laugh even more. Another surprising thing was how creative people were there! Apart from one guy who studied Economy at UNESP (the local university), most guys worked as musicians; one even worked as the sound guy for movies. And they all love their jobs - I'm not surprised! There was even a guy who owned a hostel and had learned English from the people who went through. We had a funn moment when I casually dropped in a subjunctive phrase ("estivesse") and he went nuts (in a good way), asking me what kind of foreign language speaking prodigy I was xD
I've decided Samba is not quite a dance I want to pursue though as the footsteps are just too complicated to follow, and as with the Waltz, I'm just not that good at multi-task dancing (in other words: counting steps while trying to keep my head up, while trying to keep a strong hold with my partner, while trying not to step on my partners feet, (you get the idea).
One guy really took the cake (I think that's the metaphor) though. He was a 30 year old musician who danced quite well and I danced a few dances with him. His problem though? He was desperate as. Apparently his mumma never said no because he would not stop trying to make out with me. Slightly irritated I told him no (several times) until the point where I told him I had a boyfriend back in Floripa. There was a funny lost-in-translation moment where he thought I had actually said "girlfriend", and I actually half wish I had gone with that, because he then let go of my waist, but for some reason I said "namorado" (boyfriend) not "namorada"(girlfriend), and he took up my waist again. Anyway! Long story short, after not seeing him for an hour, he came over to where I was sat and told me that one day I would regret staying faithful to the boyfriend back in Floripa and not going home with him. I told him thanks and ta ta!
I have to say it was a fantastic night though all in all!! The best part however, was definitely the fact that I wasn't asked if I was British or American! Allllllll night! Yes most people thought I was actually Argentinian, but it definitely revived my faith in my Portuguese language. Allow the accent! :D After dropping Vivi's friend Ramone home, we hit the sack ourselves! It was 4am, 18C but surprisingly chilly and getting light by the time we got home xD
Vocab learned today:
"tirar barato" (tee-rah bah-rah-toh) - a way of saying "just chilling/taking it easy"; used when talking about travel it means that you don't really have a time schedule and you're just taking each day as it comes. This was used when I said that we were visiting SP for leisure not work.
"caraca!" (kah-rah-kah!) - kind of "whoa!"; used when surprised by something in a casual conversation. Synonyms: nossa (oh my!); meu deus (my god!).
ALso! A massive thank you to Tim Wilson for letting me use this track! Check out his YouTube channel for more amazing mashups:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyyWoDO7AnDOsD8Njhd01Q
Today we had a lazy wake up and late morning, we embarked on a walking tour Zuz had in her Lonely Planet guide book. The weather was not its finest today and by the afternoon water had got under the lense of my camera and I was not a happy Hannah.
Before that though we climbed (went up in an elevator) the fourth tallest building in SP: the Altino Arantes Building; as you'll see from the video we had to stay inside and take pictures because the weather was too awful. I guess we were lucky enough to even go to the top because due to the rain, many other skyscrapers were not admitting anyone at all. The skyline in SP is incredible! So many buildings!! It is literally a concrete jungle! You cannot see anything but buildings! According to good old Wikipedia, SP has the 3rd highest concentration of buildings in the world (falling behind New York and Hong Kong) and the 10th highest number of tall buildings above 90 metres in the world. Once you're there, you can see exactly why :)
We briefly visited sites such as the Municipal Theatre, which had the most breathtaking decor, but due to renovations running on 'til July 2014, we couldn't actually set foot in anywhere but the ticket office or the Café. It was like being transported in time though, so pretty! :) We scurried on down the Avenida Xavier Toledo where we stopped for lunch in a really cute corner restaurant/bar. One thing that I will definitely miss when I leave is the fact you can purchase freshly squeezed juice in almost every food outlet! I'm obsessed with freshly-squeezed passion fruit juice (maracujá/ "mah-rah-coo-jah")! It's soooooo good!
Later on in the afternoon we took a wrong turn and instead of ending up at the main food market, we stumbled across the Estação da Luz, an old-school train converted to overground metro station). It was almost like looking at Kings Cross Station in the first Harry Potter film. *Cue nostalgia*
We took a quick turn around the park on the opposite side of the road - coincidently named - Parque da Luz and then decided we were feeling kind of miserable and wet, so we head home.
That evening around half six, took a quick gander around the neighbourhood of Sé. We saw the Cathedral, Law School (Faculdade de Direito), the main Square, and then headed for a bar. It was cool because it was the time when people had finished work and were having chilled time with friends and co-workers. Although SP doesn't actually feel that touristy, the both of us felt more like locals, sitting in a small bar away from the main roads. I really felt like I was on some level connecting with the city a little, like in terms of experiencing it for what it really is, rather than a brief view.
The Samba event!
Our hostess was an absolute babe! That night she offered to take us to one of the Samba hot spots in SP that night. It was a sweet little place but you would've never guessed it was a popular venue from the outside. It was one room, not much bigger than our apartment back in Floripa and it was rather run down on the inside. It added to the charm though for sure! The bar was made from an eroded old kitchen, a band was squashed into one wall and a couple of tables lined the rest of the room. These were folded away once more people turned up. The band played lots of different types of Samba, some sets just instrumental consisting of drums, ukuleles, basses and then a flute as the lead and then there was a little elderly woman who would make an appearance every now and again to sing. She had a throaty, rough voice and she sung a couple of tango songs. This made my night for sure! I'm a sucker for a good tango song. Apparently when she wasn't singing, she was being (quote) "fed cerveja" (beer). She was so tiny it seemed impossible to believe.
All four of us got asked to dance by quite a few guys, not even exaggerating. The SP girls got very into it, but me and Zuz not so much. I got to chatting with most of them and it was surprising how open everyone is here! They chat and get to know you, but you don't then have to exchange numbers or go home with them. It was funny for me because most people were at least 30, but apart from the fact that I don't have a full time job, I didn't feel like a baby in comparison. For a Brazilian however, most people can't afford to go out until 25ish years old; so it took them aback when I told them my age. Along with my name though, most guys were too drunk to remember five minutes later, which made me laugh even more. Another surprising thing was how creative people were there! Apart from one guy who studied Economy at UNESP (the local university), most guys worked as musicians; one even worked as the sound guy for movies. And they all love their jobs - I'm not surprised! There was even a guy who owned a hostel and had learned English from the people who went through. We had a funn moment when I casually dropped in a subjunctive phrase ("estivesse") and he went nuts (in a good way), asking me what kind of foreign language speaking prodigy I was xD
I've decided Samba is not quite a dance I want to pursue though as the footsteps are just too complicated to follow, and as with the Waltz, I'm just not that good at multi-task dancing (in other words: counting steps while trying to keep my head up, while trying to keep a strong hold with my partner, while trying not to step on my partners feet, (you get the idea).
One guy really took the cake (I think that's the metaphor) though. He was a 30 year old musician who danced quite well and I danced a few dances with him. His problem though? He was desperate as. Apparently his mumma never said no because he would not stop trying to make out with me. Slightly irritated I told him no (several times) until the point where I told him I had a boyfriend back in Floripa. There was a funny lost-in-translation moment where he thought I had actually said "girlfriend", and I actually half wish I had gone with that, because he then let go of my waist, but for some reason I said "namorado" (boyfriend) not "namorada"(girlfriend), and he took up my waist again. Anyway! Long story short, after not seeing him for an hour, he came over to where I was sat and told me that one day I would regret staying faithful to the boyfriend back in Floripa and not going home with him. I told him thanks and ta ta!
I have to say it was a fantastic night though all in all!! The best part however, was definitely the fact that I wasn't asked if I was British or American! Allllllll night! Yes most people thought I was actually Argentinian, but it definitely revived my faith in my Portuguese language. Allow the accent! :D After dropping Vivi's friend Ramone home, we hit the sack ourselves! It was 4am, 18C but surprisingly chilly and getting light by the time we got home xD
Vocab learned today:
"tirar barato" (tee-rah bah-rah-toh) - a way of saying "just chilling/taking it easy"; used when talking about travel it means that you don't really have a time schedule and you're just taking each day as it comes. This was used when I said that we were visiting SP for leisure not work.
"caraca!" (kah-rah-kah!) - kind of "whoa!"; used when surprised by something in a casual conversation. Synonyms: nossa (oh my!); meu deus (my god!).
ALso! A massive thank you to Tim Wilson for letting me use this track! Check out his YouTube channel for more amazing mashups:
http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzyyWoDO7AnDOsD8Njhd01Q