Saturday, December 7, 2024
Pearl Harbor Day in America was an adventurous, walking tour of São Paulo day for me.
I have an app on my phone called GPSmyCity that lets you access information regarding fun walks in the major city of your choice globally.
For São Paulo, they offer ten different walks, so at 8:00 a.m. I started the apps' São Paulo City Introduction Walk.
This walk had six stops, let's begin at . . .
Stop #1
Mercado Municipal de São Paulo
The Mercado Municipal de São Paulo
I love visiting markets like this one in the great cities of the world.
While this was the colorful fruit and
vegetable stall that I was hoping for . . .
. . . this one with bovine tongues
and hooves was not
Pro-Washington Huskies fish?
Ham and cheese omelet, anyone?
Goodness, how I love cheese!
The dried fruits looked good
Laurie and Jacob would have loved
seeing all of these different olives
Me, not so much.
If you can eat it, somebody in this
Mercado is probably selling it
It was time for a cappuccino,
I was long overdue
Question, is there a barista of either sex, in any hemisphere, under 35 years of age that does not have at least ten highly visible tattoos?
Maybe there is an international law that I'm not aware of that is supported by the courts in The Hague.
How many bags of coffee beans has
this veteran ground over the decades?
That cappuccino got my blood flowing again, it was back to the hunt.
Don't know if you eat this or smoke
it, either way its aroma was plain
NASTY!
Bold, bright, wonderful colors . . .
. . . everywhere one looked
The sausages above were hooked to
a moving conveyer belt, adding to the
entertainment value of the Mercado
Bottles of products hung all around us
One of three stained glass windows
just added to the Mercado's ambience
My choice for best display
in the Mercado
A wondrous Mercado indeed!
Besides olives, Laurie also
loves her cherries. . .
. . . and her wines
GELATO!
For some crazy reason, they were not open at 8:30 a.m.
A team of hustlers ready
to sell their fresh produce
A view from the Second Floor where
many of the restaurants are located
I had read in one of my guide books that Paulistas, as the locals are called, love to eat mortadela sandwiches.
As a kid, when it came to mortadela, I could take it or leave it.
Usually I left it.
But as the old saying goes, when in São Paulo . . .
This seemed like the obvious place
to see what the Paulistas were so
hyped up about
DAMN, IT WAS GREAT!
It tasted a lot like pastrami to me and I do love me some pastrami.
The two beers were needed for medicinal purposes due to the day's oppressive heat and humidity.
I like their motto which translate to
TRADITIONAL SINCE FOREVER
One last peek before moving on
to this walk's next stop
One of the many interesting murals
that I saw on my walk today
up quickly with Saturday shoppers
Oh no, sorry!
I had one of those "The Boys From Brazil" moments that I get from time to time.
Stop #2
Mosteiro de São Bento
1598 but this façade only goes
back to 1914
most beautiful and vivid church
in all of São Paul0
No argument from me on this belief.
There are still 45 monks who live, work, contemplate and pray in the adjacent buildings.
but I'm not sure where they
would be found exactly
For some unknown reason, Ireland's St. Kevin of Glendalough was not in this house of God.
vividly presented, FABULOUS!
I had to keep moving to our next stop which was nearby thankfully as it was getting hotter and muggier by the minute.
Decorating with oversized coins
of the realm is always a good look
Stop #3
Farol Santander
A farol is a lighthouse and this structure is often referred to as the Empire State Building of São Paulo although it is not nearly as tall.
Still is easily visible from a distance, when it first opened in 1947 as the headquarters for the State Bank of São Paulo, it was the tallest building in the city and the tallest reinforced concrete building in the world.
building is now next door
to the Farol Santander
lobby was in the holiday spirit
offers spectacular views of the city
the Mosteiro de Sã0 Bento
Those 45 monks have ample living space upon closer inspection.
a coffee shop selling . . .
authentic Brazilian coffee
Santander has a mini skate park
a Guiness World Record for the
Highest Skate Park in a Building
On several subsequent floors as I descended, I found interesting and diverse exhibits.
The History of Motorcycling in Brazil
Winged Goddess
on invisible motorcycles
Google it if you don't believe me.
of an accident
when it sees one
OK when that chunk of paint
exploded off his helmet
The old Bank of São Paulo
Corporate Board Room table
even bigger from above
A cool building to say the least.
It should be noted that, as a grandparent, I would have no qualms if Mary opted to ride her skateboard on the 21st floor.
Time to move on.
"Hi" back at you.
for today's weather
arrived at . . .
Stop #4
Pátio do Colégio
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was founded in 1554 by those
fun loving Jesuits
and opera singers performing
Don't ask why, if I told you the Jesuits would kill us both.
the path to heaven
one native woman this time
us all in the Christmas spirit
despite the heat and humidity
Stop #5
Catedral da Sé
14-tower, neo-Gothic affair that was
constructed between 1913 and 1967
The Cathedral's four esteemed greeters
on the left side of the doors and . . .
wise looking greeters on the right
Powerful Columns
Stained glass and gold mosaics
Lots of parishioners far
Getting the Cathedral's Nativity
The ornate Baptismal font
Graffiti of interest
On the edge of Praca da Liberdade
There was a HUGE street fair going
Colorful kimonos on sale
I bought this festival hat in
The man who sold me the hat
Big cats are, well, big in Brazil
The Liberdade streets were
The juice inside these looked tempting
This mural was apt for
Nice car
Who are these people?
Who are these people?
Native shaman?
The OXXO chain is Central and
If it's a wall, PAINT IT!
EXCELLENT!
With Guarulhos Rhynos QB
I had dinner in this nearby
The beer was COLD and the weather
I was hungry
This stroll took me past the
Another solid day of exercise!
Mormon oriented BYU has
Spacious
are Cathedral MUSTS!
Recreating the famous
Angel Tug-of-War at Heaven's1213 A.D. Easter Sunday picnic
from the Main Altar
ready for His birthday celebration
was the last impressive sight
in the beautiful Cathedral da Sé
I set off for the sixth and final stop on the walking tour.
Stop #6
The Liberdade District
Liberdade means freedom and the name stems from the 1888 abolition of slavery in Brazil.
Before abolition, slaves and convicts were executed in the public square now known as Praca da Liberdade.
a sure sign of cityhood
In the early 1900s, the area became popular with Japanese immigrants.
Today over a million Paulistas of Japanese, Korean and Chinese descent call the Liberdade District their home.
on all over the Liberdade District
on Praca da Liberdade
These Japanese drummers, all women
by the way, were loud, powerful and
really good
order to blend in with the natives
for about 80¢ USD, wanted to make
sure that the festival sponsor was
more visible in this photo
For Laurie's Dad,
Rotarian "Ol' Skinny" Bill
jam packed!
This entrance arch to the Liberdade
District is commonly found at
the entrance to Shinto Shrines and
called a Red Torii
but the long queue was not
the Liberdade District
With the excellent walking tour now complete, I decided to go home but stopped every block or two for either a water, a Powerade or a beer to once again replenish my precious bodily fluids.
I was sweating like only a fat man can and seriously needed to get into my air conditioned hotel room STAT!
South America's answer to 7-11
Catullo Góes in the Hotel Nacional
Inn Jaraguá's lobby this evening
Catullo's team plays the Spartans (town unknown) tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. for the CBFA's Division I National American Football Championship.
In that old blue suitcase were the 40 St. Francis H.S. jerseys that I brought with me to donate to his club.
Our transfer complete, I can only say "GO RHYNOS!"
food emporium
was much nicer at 8:15 p.m.
After some flan for dessert along with a café con leche, I needed to take an evening constitutional to properly digest my meal.
Theatro Municipal again
It looked like they had a performance of some kind letting out.
One last bit of fun news from the net . . .
a Jewish QB this season named
Jake Retlaff known, with his
approval, as "The BYJew"
His NIL deal with Manischewitz Matzos is a classic one in my opinion.
Sunday should be a BEAUTIFUL day for an American football championship game.
Stay tuned . . .
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