Thurs.-Fri., December 12-13, 2024
To say that I enjoyed this past week in São Paulo is a vast understatement.
I found the people at all times to be warm, friendly, fun loving and tremendously helpful to this lone stranger in a foreign land with little knowledge of the local language, Portuguese.
Speaking of Portuguese, when I first encountered this wonderful romance language in the southern most region of Portugal, the Algarve, it sounded a lot like Russian to me.
Here in Brazil, people speak that very same language but it always sounded in much happier, upbeat tones. It fit the people of this South American country perfectly.
As for São Paulo, it has both the beauty and the problems that all huge cities have.
Starting with the problems, we had tremendous traffic congestion issues where my Google Maps said that walking somewhere was almost as fast as grabbing a cab or "99" vehicle. The Brazilian "99" app offers inexpensive ride share opportunities akin to Uber. Traffic issues like these always go hand in hand with big cities all over the world.
There are the same homeless issues as you find in any oversized urban area.
The heat and humidity, as we were only days away from the official start of Summer in the Southern Hemisphere, was oppressive at times.
As seems to be the norm in all of the cities I've visited South of the border, the sidewalks can be treacherous as they are often in need of repair. Being in tip top shape though, I was able to maneuver them without incidence.
On the plus side, the air was clean and crisp. The colorful murals all over the city were a big hit with me as were so many buildings painted in bright colors.
I loved traversing the city using São Paulo's neat, clean, inexpensive and efficient underground Metro system.
As mentioned earlier, the "99" app for ride sharing was a God send to someone exiled to Uber's maximum security prison as is my fate.
The large number of well maintained parks made for several wonderful, shaded rest stops given the late Spring weather.
The architecture blending the old with the new made for a cosmopolitan city.
I visited several museums throughout the city and found them all to be first rate in all ways.
The cuisine was both delicious and relatively inexpensive. Brazilian coffee, Picanha steaks and Pernil (roast pork) sandwiches are not to be missed.
My stay in the historic Hotel Nacional Inn Jaragua was a complete joy from the helpful staff, clean room and perfect location in the city's old Centro district.
The multi-cultural Paulistas.
By far the best thing about São Paulo was the people of the city who call themselves Paulistas.
The vibrant, upbeat life styles led by the Paulistas, both day and night were simply a joy to observe and take in.
"The Colors of Brazil"
The vibrant colors included the fauna, flora and architecture to be sure, but mostly the Paulistas to me.
Now the big question for me was what to do on Thursday before the first leg of my two flights home to Los Angeles?
My biggest issue is that I did not want to go on another adventurous walk in the sultry weather before leaving for the airport as it would not be fair to my fellow travelers.
I have social conscience after all.
My first LATAM flight was scheduled to depart São Paulo for Santiago de Chile at 6:35 p.m.
My hotel's Noon check out time helped a bit.
I walked about half a block
to get breakfast at this spot
Some toast, a pastry and two rations of café con leche did the trick.
I then headed back to the hotel to shower and finish packing.
Once done, I decided to stay in the comfort of the hotel's air conditioned comfort as long as possible. I found myself a nice, comfy chair to people watch away until about 12:45 p.m. when I left for the airport.
I also found a drawing and a photo in corners of the lobby area that I had not seen before.
A good drawing of the
Hotel Nacional Inn Jaragua
Three movie stars
This photo from their September, 1961 stay at the Hotel Nacional Inn Jaragua is of Tony Curtis, his then wife Janet Leigh and their daughter Jamie Lee Curtis.
The finest people stay here during trips to São Paulo.
Finally, I caught a cab ride to Guarulhos International Airport. The air conditioning was excellent and, for once, the traffic was light.
Guarulhos is a fine, modern example
of efficient airport architecture
I decided to eat lunch before going through security.
NO!
I liked this wine vending machine
This restaurant's logo caught my eye
In the end I opted for another rare Picanha steak, french fries and a Brazilian craft beer.
All three were good.
Passing through Security was a breeze, now I still had about three hours to kill but at least it was in an awesomely well air conditioned terminal.
After some last second souvenir shopping, I settled into . . .
. . . seat with a view
Pão de Queijo are small bread rolls
stuffed with delicious cheese
They are not to be missed while visiting Brazil.
This Mark Johnson doppelganger sat next
to me on the flight to Santiago de Chile
This first flight lasted four hours and 15 minutes but left São Paulo about 20 minutes late which was an issue for me as I only had a one hour and five minute layover until my flight to LAX.
I raced through the airport (I am a former athlete you know) to the proper Gate and was the last person to board what was thankfully a half full airplane.
The flight from Santiago de Chile to Los Angeles was scheduled to take 11 hours and ten minutes. I needed some level of comfort on this one.
The Exit Row's leg room was
AWESOME!
This actually made catching some sleep a real possibility as it turned out.
Both airplane flights coming home were comfortable. I have found LATAM to a good airline to use on recent trips to Argentina, Brazil and Chile.
My traditional photo at the
Tom Bradley International Terminal
at LAX
If you do not already have a Global Entry Pass, get one STAT!
They make going through Security and Customs lines an absolute breeze.
Laurie, bless her heart, picked
me up at Zero Dark Thirty
My plane had landed at 6:04 a.m., so she had left Casa Contreras at 4:45 a.m. to pick me up.
Having a good friend for a spouse is a good thing.
Not Bad for a Travel Thursday
Considering that I spent most of the day sitting in a hotel lobby, taxi, airport and two planes, I thought that this was a remarkable step count for the day.
Once Laurie whisked me away in her Blueberry, we headed to Eggs and Things in Camarillo for breakfast.
Along the way, she filled me in on all of the "action" from Thursday night's Los Angeles Rams-San Francisco 49ers game.
Six Field Goals?
The Rams (8-6) trailed the 49ers (6-8) at the end of the Third Quarter by a score of 6-3. That's when the Rams Kicking Game got into high gear scoring three Field Goals in the last 15 minutes of the game.
With the defensive oriented victory, the Rams are still in second place in the NFC West, a half game behind the Seattle Seahawks (8-5).
A win for sure but NOT the
trucking depicted here
This is doable, I kind of hope
that it comes down to that Week 18
game against the Seahawks
Now, that would be high drama indeed!
At 10:30 a.m., I had a one hour Zoom
meeting scheduled with the Mariners'
Defensive players and coaches
After our fine breakfast, I had time to unpack everything and take a much needed shower before the meeting.
We covered a lot of ground. It was a solid meeting as our first game is only about a month away.
After the meeting, I passed out.
It felt good.
On a great side note, my official post-trip weigh-in showed that I lost 1.3 kilos/2.86 lbs. during my week in São Paulo.
Maybe exercising daily is indeed a key ingredient in a weight loss program?
São Paulo was a wonderful experience, but it's good to be home.
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