Sao Paulo: Impressions

We're back and finally over the jet lag of our latest adventure, which was South America. The goal of the trip was to visit my brother whom I haven't seen in over 3 1/2 years. We started with a few days in Sao Paulo, Brazil as that's where I could get the best flight from Abu Dhabi.

Sao Paulo is one of the most populated cities in the world. It's huge ... and dirty ... with lots of homeless ... and not a ton for a tourist to do. So, it isn't going to make the top 10 vacation spot list for us, however, we managed to have a nice time (a vacation is a vacation after all!). Here are some general impressions.

It was winter in Sao Paulo, which meant the high was around 72F - heaven for us after surviving most of the summer in Abu Dhabi. Some beautiful trees like the one in the photo above. The weather was perfect for us.

SP is a mix of old and new and rundown. This photo captures the contrast you see all over the city - very old buildings, buildings looking rundown or even in the process of being demolished and then some newer structures.

This was just funny - do you see the kitty? Not sure if it's some kind of gas tank, water tank? or maybe just urban art? Definitely a casual and open almost hippy or bohemian vibe from the city. People kissing in the streets - literally. I think we saw a couple smooching at least once per day - one was quite an old couple sucking face inside the Art Museum! A long way from the strict conservative nature of Abu Dhabi. And don't worry, Brian and I didn't take up the habit. :)

This is a good example of the many hills we climbed as we walked around the city. Steep streets - clearly they don't even get any ice or snow. My calves were killing me!

Another impression? TRAFFIC! It's pretty much rush hour all day long so you need to plan well ahead if you're going to travel by car to anything. We ended up leaving 4 hours early for the airport even though it was only about 45 minutes from the hotel because we couldn't count on the traffic. Lots of traffic jams as well. The city just isn't designed for the number of cars on the roads.

This is a shot of a group of protesters leaving one of the main avenues in SP on a Monday early afternoon. The Brazilians we talked to mentioned the government corruption and frustration with the current regime. There had been some very large protests in June and July this year - in fact, we kept a close watch and were ready to cancel our trip if needed, but things have calmed a bit since then. Still, there are protests often in the city and the population seems used to it. One of our guides said that as long as it doesn't significantly disrupt traffic, everyone is pretty tolerant.

The last impression was the number of dogs we saw (sorry, no good photos from SP on this). We're not sure if it's because we don't see many dogs in Abu Dhabi or if there really are a lot more dogs in SP, but they were everywhere. And many had goofy looking sweaters, slippers or bows in their ears. Sissy little things! :)