Driving Ms Betty around Sao Paulo
Our day trip to Sao Paulo.
I discussed earlier our problems with transport here. I have learned more about it. Seems that the problem is this. If your government has total collapses, intermittent bouts of runaway corruption, years of legendary inflation and the like, you then get no public transport system to speak of and an understaffed, underpaid and thus ineffective police department. The bus system is confusing and requires local knowledge because it is mostly private - and thus there is no single point for getting information about schedules, routes, costs and there is no regulation of safety and insurance. The large rail system works fairly well between one large city and another, but not on a commuter level. The light rail system collapsed twenty five years or so ago, there was a failed attempt to rebuild it and there is a very nice museum about it all, but that will not help you get from Campinas to Sao Paulo. Renting a car for the weekend would be a lot like paying for the limo service, except that we would also have the problems of getting lost and parking. Also we would need the limo service to get TO the car rental lot, which, BTW, is closed all weekend.
So we hired the car for the day at a rate of $R450, which is a bit more than $200 US. We tipped another $50 US, in two pieces, 10% when we started and another 10% when we ended because he went above and beyond good service more than once.
I forgot to take my camera, so the whole trip and the BBQ are sans photos. Bad Betty. So, I'm linking in some pictures from other people.
So, we were picked up at 9:00 AM yesterday at the hotel and were dropped off at Ibirapeura Park. This is a huge park, their equivalent of NY's Central Park. http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/brazil/brazil_photos_12.html
The folks in the park on a Sunday morning were what you would expect of a big city park - office workers doing their jogging, old ladies with tiny dogs, beautiful young ladies in jogging clothes but not jogging, the occassional beggar and street dweller, young families with kids looking for something free to do. The guide book predicted a music concert in the morning - and actually there is stuff going on in this park off and on throughout the weekend, pretty much every weekend, but the only guides I found were in the park itself. This morning's concert was a Brazilian city symphony doing a theme of Nationalism. Translate, a quick romp through hackneyed favorites you all should recognize. It was nicely done, though and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
We walked about while waiting for the concert and had some ice cream. It was self service - you paid by weight at the end. TQO had three scoops of vanilla and I had a scoop of coconut, a scoop of pineapple and a chocolate chocolate chip with cashews on top. Personality difference? You bet. The park, as you can see from the picture is awesome in a tropical way. The giant covered walkway is very necessary in the 'summer' when temperatures can get up to 110+ with high humidity and daily sudden and extreme downpours. It's not called a rain forest for nothing as some of the rain culverts here attest. I'm just thinking they need them or they wouldn't have built em. Anyway, under the covered walkway were groups of folks using skate boards, inline skates and bicycles (their own or rented). These groups segregated themselves pretty well, the cyclists seperated those doing tricks from little kids with training wheels and I though they were kinder to old folks like TQO and I trying to navigate between them than American teens would have been.
The music included Sibelius, Wagner, Overture from Carmen, Pictures at an Exhibition, some Shostokovich, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Brahms, Dvorak, etc. It lasted about an hour and a half.
Rimming the park are several museums, modern art, brazilian art, Afro-Brazil museum, and indoor and an outdoor theater. The driver waited in the parking lot near the modern art museum.
Our next stop was a pedestrian bridge that was supposedly going to give us excellent views of both old and new Centro. However, the guide book failed to note that this is a terrible neighborhood in the stinky, scary inner city variety. The much touted park over the giant throughway which was below us was full of winos and the leaves of the trees were dying of car exhaust. The 'new' side featured some of the ugliest concrete modern buildings I have ever seen, the 'old' looked like it needed a serious renovation with the exception of a few churches and none of it was picturesque. The driver earned his extra 10% by parking at this point and following us at a discrete distance, looking worried, and ready to get us help if we were mugged or something of the sort.
The park below the bridge: http://wikitravel.org/upload/en/thumb/5/55/Anhangabau.jpg/400px-Anhangabau.jpg
So, next we went into the "American Jardins" neighborhood for dinner. The Jardin's neighborhoods were planned communities built around the turn of the previous century around the park mode that was popular at that time. This neighborhood is not American, but is bounded by the Avenue of the Americas and thus gets it's name. We went to one of the most famous restuarants in the world, which is built around a giant Fig Tree, inside the building.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?page_id=5267
As soon as we sat down, a herd of waiters surrounded us, and there was suddenly Indian flat bread, toasted mediterranean bread that was so thin and fine it was like lace, tiny puff rolls just large enough for a bite of cheese and fingers of bread sticks. A plate of appetizers to put on the bread was placed before us and tiny cups holding about four tablespoons of soup. The soup was a spicy/curry squash of some kind. There was salt cod with mango salsa, smoked salmon with an amazing mayo thing on it, the ubiquitous eggplant Italian salad with raisins this time, a little terrine of eggs and cheese, two bite balls of mozzerella and other things I can't remember. We also got the classic Brazilian drink which is this not-rum firewater made of sugar cane that is about 100 proof, shaken with sliced limes and sugar. The residue is so good that I pour my water into it to soak up the lime flavor.
I wanted the lamb special with potato provencal, but at 2PM they were already sold out. TQO was ordering a cod in a creme sauce, so I ordered the Turbot with eggplant suace. We had a dozen oysters to share. They were the best oysters I've had in years - incredibly fresh, with four little ramekins of toppings. But really the best topping was just chopped onion and garlic with lime juice and salt. The Turbot was a half of a good sized fish seared in butter. It was some trouble to excavate it from the bones but well worth the effort. We got a Chilean Sauvingon Blanc and I wish that I had looked better at the label because it was awesome. (I hates me some Chardonay.)
Then we did the dessert buffet. Fresh pineapple slices, pears poached in wine, dulce de leite, chocolate mousse, marzipan and white chocolate subtleties - and that was just the stuff that was gluten free! TQO ate a frightening amount of pastries as well.
We finished off with tiny bitter cups of very strong coffee and waddled our way back to the car. OK, we might have to eat beans and rice for a month, but it was worth it.
Then we went to the MASP (Museum of Fine Art, Sao Paulo), also in Jardins, which has across from it a park which is named something else, but is called Trianon. In the common area around the Art Museum, an antique fair was in full swing. I bought a framed Orientalist print, which I have no idea how I will get home on the plane. I was seriously tempted by a number of items, including a dealer in historic glass bits, beads, amphora and coins. He had real Sicilian Tari with Greek on one side and arabic on the other. But I just wasn't feeling a $75 coin after signing the credit slip on that dinner.
The classical part of the art museum which is supposedly quite good, was closed. It's a super power I have relative to travel. Anyway, we saw the Brazilian art show and a bauhaus exhibition. I hate post modernism. The most interesting things I saw was a video of a black woman, naked except for a shower of flour, needing bread in total silence, and a clockwork that was just black spots on a white background like a normal clock except that they moved around in a totally random looking pattern. I really wanted to know how it was made. There was also a very large photo in grainy black and white of a beautiful blond model who had "Christian Dior, Paris" tatooed or rather branded (it looked that way, but honestly, I don't know how they did it) on her upper arm. I thought it was genius and wanted a copy. No matter how I explained it, hubby could not figure out why I liked it. I guess some things can't be put in to words.
The gift shop was disappointing and all we got were some post cards and a three d card of superman (you can guess who that is for - don't say I never got you anything).
The MASP: http://p.vtourist.com/1/528396-MASP_and_museums-Sao_Paulo.gif
We then went across the street to the Trianon park. This was awesome - not like any park I have been in. It was like the rain forest with broad yellow brick road kind of walkways. There were strange hobbit looking little buildings here and there, stuff kids could climb on, hand made wooden benches that looked like art works. It was awesome, and even more so because of being in the middle of this huge city.
This does not do it justice: http://www.write-away.co.uk/images/Brazil%20Chile/sao%20paulo%20park.jpg
We bought two brazilian soccer tshirts from a street vendor to give to family as gifts. Then back to the car at around 5:30 PM. We cuddled in the backseat for the long ride home, watching the rolling hills turn pink and blue as the sun went down.
I discussed earlier our problems with transport here. I have learned more about it. Seems that the problem is this. If your government has total collapses, intermittent bouts of runaway corruption, years of legendary inflation and the like, you then get no public transport system to speak of and an understaffed, underpaid and thus ineffective police department. The bus system is confusing and requires local knowledge because it is mostly private - and thus there is no single point for getting information about schedules, routes, costs and there is no regulation of safety and insurance. The large rail system works fairly well between one large city and another, but not on a commuter level. The light rail system collapsed twenty five years or so ago, there was a failed attempt to rebuild it and there is a very nice museum about it all, but that will not help you get from Campinas to Sao Paulo. Renting a car for the weekend would be a lot like paying for the limo service, except that we would also have the problems of getting lost and parking. Also we would need the limo service to get TO the car rental lot, which, BTW, is closed all weekend.
So we hired the car for the day at a rate of $R450, which is a bit more than $200 US. We tipped another $50 US, in two pieces, 10% when we started and another 10% when we ended because he went above and beyond good service more than once.
I forgot to take my camera, so the whole trip and the BBQ are sans photos. Bad Betty. So, I'm linking in some pictures from other people.
So, we were picked up at 9:00 AM yesterday at the hotel and were dropped off at Ibirapeura Park. This is a huge park, their equivalent of NY's Central Park. http://www.theodora.com/wfb/photos/brazil/brazil_photos_12.html
The folks in the park on a Sunday morning were what you would expect of a big city park - office workers doing their jogging, old ladies with tiny dogs, beautiful young ladies in jogging clothes but not jogging, the occassional beggar and street dweller, young families with kids looking for something free to do. The guide book predicted a music concert in the morning - and actually there is stuff going on in this park off and on throughout the weekend, pretty much every weekend, but the only guides I found were in the park itself. This morning's concert was a Brazilian city symphony doing a theme of Nationalism. Translate, a quick romp through hackneyed favorites you all should recognize. It was nicely done, though and we thoroughly enjoyed it.
We walked about while waiting for the concert and had some ice cream. It was self service - you paid by weight at the end. TQO had three scoops of vanilla and I had a scoop of coconut, a scoop of pineapple and a chocolate chocolate chip with cashews on top. Personality difference? You bet. The park, as you can see from the picture is awesome in a tropical way. The giant covered walkway is very necessary in the 'summer' when temperatures can get up to 110+ with high humidity and daily sudden and extreme downpours. It's not called a rain forest for nothing as some of the rain culverts here attest. I'm just thinking they need them or they wouldn't have built em. Anyway, under the covered walkway were groups of folks using skate boards, inline skates and bicycles (their own or rented). These groups segregated themselves pretty well, the cyclists seperated those doing tricks from little kids with training wheels and I though they were kinder to old folks like TQO and I trying to navigate between them than American teens would have been.
The music included Sibelius, Wagner, Overture from Carmen, Pictures at an Exhibition, some Shostokovich, Tchaikovsky, Grieg, Brahms, Dvorak, etc. It lasted about an hour and a half.
Rimming the park are several museums, modern art, brazilian art, Afro-Brazil museum, and indoor and an outdoor theater. The driver waited in the parking lot near the modern art museum.
Our next stop was a pedestrian bridge that was supposedly going to give us excellent views of both old and new Centro. However, the guide book failed to note that this is a terrible neighborhood in the stinky, scary inner city variety. The much touted park over the giant throughway which was below us was full of winos and the leaves of the trees were dying of car exhaust. The 'new' side featured some of the ugliest concrete modern buildings I have ever seen, the 'old' looked like it needed a serious renovation with the exception of a few churches and none of it was picturesque. The driver earned his extra 10% by parking at this point and following us at a discrete distance, looking worried, and ready to get us help if we were mugged or something of the sort.
The park below the bridge: http://wikitravel.org/upload/en/thumb/5/55/Anhangabau.jpg/400px-Anhangabau.jpg
So, next we went into the "American Jardins" neighborhood for dinner. The Jardin's neighborhoods were planned communities built around the turn of the previous century around the park mode that was popular at that time. This neighborhood is not American, but is bounded by the Avenue of the Americas and thus gets it's name. We went to one of the most famous restuarants in the world, which is built around a giant Fig Tree, inside the building.
http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?page_id=5267
As soon as we sat down, a herd of waiters surrounded us, and there was suddenly Indian flat bread, toasted mediterranean bread that was so thin and fine it was like lace, tiny puff rolls just large enough for a bite of cheese and fingers of bread sticks. A plate of appetizers to put on the bread was placed before us and tiny cups holding about four tablespoons of soup. The soup was a spicy/curry squash of some kind. There was salt cod with mango salsa, smoked salmon with an amazing mayo thing on it, the ubiquitous eggplant Italian salad with raisins this time, a little terrine of eggs and cheese, two bite balls of mozzerella and other things I can't remember. We also got the classic Brazilian drink which is this not-rum firewater made of sugar cane that is about 100 proof, shaken with sliced limes and sugar. The residue is so good that I pour my water into it to soak up the lime flavor.
I wanted the lamb special with potato provencal, but at 2PM they were already sold out. TQO was ordering a cod in a creme sauce, so I ordered the Turbot with eggplant suace. We had a dozen oysters to share. They were the best oysters I've had in years - incredibly fresh, with four little ramekins of toppings. But really the best topping was just chopped onion and garlic with lime juice and salt. The Turbot was a half of a good sized fish seared in butter. It was some trouble to excavate it from the bones but well worth the effort. We got a Chilean Sauvingon Blanc and I wish that I had looked better at the label because it was awesome. (I hates me some Chardonay.)
Then we did the dessert buffet. Fresh pineapple slices, pears poached in wine, dulce de leite, chocolate mousse, marzipan and white chocolate subtleties - and that was just the stuff that was gluten free! TQO ate a frightening amount of pastries as well.
We finished off with tiny bitter cups of very strong coffee and waddled our way back to the car. OK, we might have to eat beans and rice for a month, but it was worth it.
Then we went to the MASP (Museum of Fine Art, Sao Paulo), also in Jardins, which has across from it a park which is named something else, but is called Trianon. In the common area around the Art Museum, an antique fair was in full swing. I bought a framed Orientalist print, which I have no idea how I will get home on the plane. I was seriously tempted by a number of items, including a dealer in historic glass bits, beads, amphora and coins. He had real Sicilian Tari with Greek on one side and arabic on the other. But I just wasn't feeling a $75 coin after signing the credit slip on that dinner.
The classical part of the art museum which is supposedly quite good, was closed. It's a super power I have relative to travel. Anyway, we saw the Brazilian art show and a bauhaus exhibition. I hate post modernism. The most interesting things I saw was a video of a black woman, naked except for a shower of flour, needing bread in total silence, and a clockwork that was just black spots on a white background like a normal clock except that they moved around in a totally random looking pattern. I really wanted to know how it was made. There was also a very large photo in grainy black and white of a beautiful blond model who had "Christian Dior, Paris" tatooed or rather branded (it looked that way, but honestly, I don't know how they did it) on her upper arm. I thought it was genius and wanted a copy. No matter how I explained it, hubby could not figure out why I liked it. I guess some things can't be put in to words.
The gift shop was disappointing and all we got were some post cards and a three d card of superman (you can guess who that is for - don't say I never got you anything).
The MASP: http://p.vtourist.com/1/528396-MASP_and_museums-Sao_Paulo.gif
We then went across the street to the Trianon park. This was awesome - not like any park I have been in. It was like the rain forest with broad yellow brick road kind of walkways. There were strange hobbit looking little buildings here and there, stuff kids could climb on, hand made wooden benches that looked like art works. It was awesome, and even more so because of being in the middle of this huge city.
This does not do it justice: http://www.write-away.co.uk/images/Brazil%20Chile/sao%20paulo%20park.jpg
We bought two brazilian soccer tshirts from a street vendor to give to family as gifts. Then back to the car at around 5:30 PM. We cuddled in the backseat for the long ride home, watching the rolling hills turn pink and blue as the sun went down.