A Day in Sao Paulo

Walking to the Museum of Art Sao Paulo

Last night John spent an hour booking tickets for the two of us to go to the Museum of Art Sao Paulo, or MASP. The reason why it took so long is because they ask for a lot of information and the English translation of the website is unhelpful. Finally we got tickets for 10am.

It is close to a 20 minute walk from our apartment but takes a little longer for us because I am having some vertigo issues.

There are a lot of people with dogs here. Most of the dogs are small but really well groomed. I also noticed that some people do not pick up after their dogs.

Bela Vista is one of the safest areas in Sao Paulo. There are lots of people walking the streets. However there is still a very noticeable presence of homeless people. An article I read said that Sao Paulo’s homeless population increased by 31% during the pandemic. I am sure that can be said for places all over the world. A sad situation.

Museum of Art Sao Paulo (MASP)

The Museum of Art Sao Paulo is a large rectangular building that hovers high above the ground and is supported by four leg-like pillars. The architect chose this design so that the building would not take space away from the people at street level.

The building creates a roof for people below and a number of homeless people in tents and some just in blankets have taken up residence underneath.

A beautiful, lush park is across the street from the museum.

I am so glad we came. There are many wonderful pieces of art by the likes of Van Gough, Picasso, Degas, Renoir, Monet, Manet, Bosch, Botticelli, Rembrandt, and so, so many more.

I also love the way the paintings are displayed; all in one huge room in lines from latest to earliest. This way I could go back and forth up and down the lines and not have to worry that I missed any.

Liberdade

We return to our apartment where we meet Graham and grab an Uber (yes, that clandestine transportation) and go to Liberdade which is also known as Japantown.

This area is home to the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan.

Graham takes us through a tall shopping building crammed with stalls and stalls of vendors…and then you go up an escalator to more, and up again to more. We only did a few floors because it was very crowded.

We next travel through a lantern lined street (passing a Japanese garden) to the Museum of Japanese Immigration to Brazil which was really interesting.

It seems strange to see Japanese people speaking Portuguese as their native tongue.

We make our way to a Japanese restaurant Graham wants to take us to but there is a long line up. There are line ups to a lot of places.

Graham knows of another restaurant and on our way there, we stop at an old church. Graham speaks to one of the people there who tells him lots of interesting stories about the church which Graham translates to English for us.

The streets are busy with a stage set up with performers and all kinds of merchants and artists. I even see someone selling Spirographs which was a popular kids activity when I was little.

We have to stand in line at Graham’s next chosen restaurant which is also Japanese. Once seated I am able to find one vegetarian option on their extensive menu.

Because of my vertigo, I do not have much of an appetite but John and Graham both enjoy their meals.

Cathedral Metropolitana

The main downtown area was just a short walk from where we are. We all get a good chuckle when we notice a street dog stopping at crosswalks and only crossing when the light turns green.

This area is much grittier that the Japanese area with larger numbers of homeless people.
Apparently it is not a safe place at night time but fine during the day, just keep an eye on your pockets.

There is a huge line of homeless people in front of the main Sao Paulo Cathedral because a truck is handing out prepackaged hot meals.

The Catedral Metropolitana is one of the five largest neo-gothic temples in the world. The Cathedral is considered the very centre of Sao Paulo.

It is as impressive inside as out and we spend some time appreciating the architecture, art and beauty of the place.

The large square in front of the cathedral is filled with homeless.

Downtown Area

Graham takes us for a tour around the downtown area and shows us many gorgeous buildings from different periods including the Altino Arantes Building which was inspired by the Empire State Building and a beautiful Art Deco bank which has turned the old safe box into a very popular bar.

Police officers are around but I still can’t get over the large number of street people; on par if not more than even New Delhi, India.

Municipal Market

We go through a sketchier area (although no one bothered us) and visited the large Municipal Market which was filled with fruit and produce stands, butchers and fishmongers, restaurants and little cafes. Very cool.

The outside of the building is covered with netting…John says it’s to keep out the fruit flies…haha.

On to the Municipal Theatre

Graham takes us through some shopping streets, up a steep hill, past a few homeless camps to the stunningly gorgeous Municipal Theatre. Such a beautiful building.

It is across the street from another lovely park with a large fountain.

It’s starting to get dark so we grab an Uber and head back to the apartment for the night.