The Eagle Has Landed

Sao Paulo

Cordi loves a plane movie

It may have been a long flight but at least it was on along the same longitude.  We slept most of the night, and woke up just as the plane was shuddering through the lower atmosphere.  Apart from the frightening American air hostesses (one kept insisting that a giant man's jacket belonged to Valli, and urging me to take it from her), it was a good flight.  I drank red wine, watched Les Misérables - and bawled all the way through.  What can I say, it's one of my favourite books ever.  Initially I was gutted to find out that the movie was all singing, but I liked it once I got into it - especially if I took the headphones off when Russell Crowe started up - that was painful. So before I knew it we were in South America - in São Paulo, Brazil - for the first time ever!  I was excited -  but on first glance, the sprawling metropolis alongside the putrid smelling Tietê and Pinheiros Rivers just didn't inspire much appreciation.

The sprawl at it's finest

Busy busy

São Paulo is the seventh largest city - population-wise - in the world.  A massive grey wasteland on first sight, I think it's the kind of place that could maybe grow on you the more time you had to spend here.  If you like cities that is.  For people who don't - I would perhaps suggest avoiding São Paulo as a destination for your next vacation.  Culturally, economically, and financially, it is a very significant place, and of course has a great deal to offer in the way of art galleries, museums, architecture, parks, cuisine and general happening-ness you tend to see in large metropolitan areas.  It is expected have the most economic growth over the next decade than any other city.  Basically it is what you could call a mega city - or in correct terminology and "alpha world city" or "global city".  Apparently it is also known for the size of it's helicopter fleet (come to think of it I did notice a lot of helicopters), and also for it's horrific traffic of which we had direct experience of.

Us stuck in a traffic jam - for two hours

The very first thing I noticed about São Paulo, unfortunately, was the filthy river running alongside it.  It's true, I've never been to India - but I have, until this time, never seen (or smelt) a more polluted body of water.  Apparently as recently as the 1960s, the river still contained fish and was used for various leisure activities.  However, the dumping of industrial waste, and the disposing of untreated sewage until recently, has resulted in a sickly river system, full of garbage, that wafts the stench of poo over parts of the city.  I can only imagine how badly it smells in the height of summer.

Dying River

Further afield,  a toxic foam covers the river

Curious about the sheer revoltingness of it, I read an article about a diver who works as a contractor for São Paulo's public utility companies.  Amongst other various seedy items, such as carcasses,  he had discovered a suitcase with $2,000 inside, handguns, knives, stoves and refrigerators, countless automobile tires, and, in another suitcase, the decomposing remains of a woman who had been dismembered.  He said he stopped opening suitcases after that.  He said this, of being in the water's depths - “It’s like I’m in space, pondering a civilisation which has pushed itself to the edge of destruction.”   Obviously not a great place for appreciating the glory of nature.  I was actually shocked that a river would be "allowed" to become that putrid.  Apparently this was once the case for the Thames and the Seine, although they seem to have done a nice clean up job there.  Still wouldn't take a dip in them though, and certainly not open mouthed.

Was it a taxi stand or wasn't it?  None came or stopped for us

The Mercado on a Saturday

Our first day out and about, we went to the Mercado Municipal - a large market inside a giant hall with stained glass windows.  Apparently it's a bit of an weekend tradition, to do your shopping below, and drink caipirinhas and eat pastels on the upper floor.  The place was pumping.  And it was a little tricky to establish what the hell was going on.  You had to line up to get a table (the lines were HUGE), but first you had to get a ticket (which you also had to line up for).  Almost nobody speaks English in São Paulo.  It's Portuguese only - which sounds a bit like Spanish with a blocked nose (I'm sure that is an offensive description by the way).  It's always interesting to jump straight into a place where you have no idea how anything works.  You typically get the hang of it after a while - but initially, it is as disorientating as it is fascinating.  Luckily on this occasion, as we often do these days, we had an escort to the front of the line courtesy of the blondies - it's great to be back in a child-adoring country.

Munch out

treats and beers 

Yum Cordi

Walking and driving around the streets of São Paulo, you quickly come to realise the massive and obvious gap between the rich and poor.  The rich are astronomically wealthy, and the poor lie covered in rags in the city streets and under bridges, ignored by the passersby.  We just don't have experience of this in Australia.  Of course I realise that there are homeless here, and many people live below the poverty line and do it tough.  But not like here.  As Australians, we really won the location lottery.  We are incredibly fortunate, and it's a shame you sometimes have to witness the suffering of others to fully appreciate this.  And Brazil is not a third world country either - it's wealth has increased significantly in recent years.  I wondered today what the government might do about this problem before Brazil falls under the world's spotlight in the face of the next Olympics and the approaching World Cup.  Actually tackle it, or just sweep it under the carpet?  It remains to be seen.

incredible street art everywhere

Urban Wave

Inside the Cidade Jardim

The following day we witnessed  what the incredibly wealthy of São Paulo get up to on a Sunday, and that was also an eye opener.  We had decided to have a traditional Portuguese lunch at a Brazilian restaurant, that happened to be on the top floor of a shopping centre.  On further inspection, I discovered that this wasn't any old shopping centre.  You could only enter this one by helicopter, private car , and luckily for us, also by taxi.  Pedestrians were prohibited to just stroll on in, and there were certainly enough security guards outsides it's doors to enforce this rule.  The inside of the shopping centre itself was outrageously glamorous.  What a surreal world of wealth and privilege some people lead.  Women done up to the nines, dripping in jewels, and accompanied by their children who were dressed in lace and pinafores (and that was just the boys).  There was actually a shop which had an actual Italian motor boat inside it. A Feretti 570.  I've seen cars inside shopping centres, but never massive boats.  And you could board it and have a cruise around - after you signed in, took your shoes off, and got the once over by security guards.  I liked it.  I think I want one.  In my garden of course, I hate boats on water.

Unfortunately we didn't take our camera - but this is inside the boat Cordi pretended to drive

And at sea......noice......

We also saw a sight you often don't witness.  Unashamed displays of excessive wealth - A woman was seated in Dior like she was Lady Muck (that could have been her name).  She was wearing a flowing purple gown, drinking champagne and having sales person after sales person submissively present handbags to her.  She was privately attended by a personal servant - a black woman actually wearing a maids outfit who stood at her beck and call by her side, while the purple lady held a large, perfectly coiffed poodle on a gold lead.  It really was quite the sight.  We kept going back just to spy on her outrageous ostentatious-ness.  After that we got the hell out of there.  Even breathing the air in there was sending us broke.

After a couple more days of various stumbling around and not really knowing how to approach "discovering " the city, I asked Chalky if we could cut our São Paulo trip short, and get the hell out there.  I didn't like it much.  I'm sorry to admit it, and I'm sure it's a swell place, but I just couldn't deal with the oppressiveness of the urban sprawl anymore.  Chalky loved it there.  He loves urban decay, and the raw realness of a city that's not posing as some fancy digs.  But he loves me more (I think), so we checked out and got out, ready to go and broaden our Brazilian horizons.  I was happy.  It was time to get on the move again - this time into the unknown.  Always a fun thing to do.

So long São Paulo