Vida no Brasil: Uma Semana Passada

As we've been exploring the area around the hostel, we've found some really neat places. One of my favorite places is a cafe called Kopenhagen. It's a small place with delicious coffees and chocolates - how could you go wrong?

Kelly with her delicious Martin Macadamia (cold chocolate drink) 

Cinnamon espresso con leite - so tasty!

We also tried a place called Acai Beat. The acai bowl is their speciality; it's a cold sorbet-type acai substance, and you add whatever toppings you want, such as granola, condensed milk, bananas, chocolate, etc. It's delicious!

It's like a party for your taste buds

We also discovered a second-hand store with some very unique clothes. Hayley bought this classic shirt.

Even in Brazil

Also, the boxed food at the grocery store has braille on it!

There are also ridges along the sidewalks for blind people. Sao Paulo is a very accommodating city!

Last Tuesday we visited Pinacoteca, a Brazilian art museum. On the way there, we stopped to look at the Luz train station. It was built in the late 19th century and was the main entrance to the city. In the 1940s it caught fire and part of it was rebuilt, creating a distinct line between the two styles of architecture.

The renovated section to the right...

And to the left, the original station.

Also, there was a pianist in the station! With an actual piano, not a keyboard!

We then headed to the museum:

The Pinacoteca had a lot of amazing pieces of art. Unfortunately my phone was low on battery and I couldn't take many pictures, but these were some of my favorites:

This is titled "não sabíamos" which translates to "We didn't know." It shows how the media publishes stories on corruption, crimes, and general illegality, yet when everything escalates and eventually blows up, people claim "we didn't know."

This sculpture was just so bizarre

Friday was very exciting; we took a samba class! The instructor didn't speak English, but you don't really need it when learning how to dance - it's mostly monkey see, monkey do. Samba is a lot of work! Definitely a good time. We had some time to kill after samba, so we visited a park nearby. There are monkeys there, but unfortunately I didn't see any. There were a ton of chickens though! 

Bamboo is really awesome

Hayley and Joe being adorable

Oh hey Kelly!

Chickens everywhere!!!

Brazil is very recycle-friendly

After the park we took a tour of a Latin America museum. There were different sections with historical artifacts from different countries in Latin America.

From Peru

Hand-woven baskets so masterfully crafted they are completely watertight.
It takes about two years to make one basket.

Dia de los Muertos display 

These ribbons represent the solidarity of Latin American countries

After the museum we headed to dinner at a super swanky restaurant called Angelica's Grill. However, before that, we had the chance to see the sunset over the skyline.

 

Dinner was at a buffet with delicious food. It boasted having 22 different types of meat, which as a non-meat eater was less than exciting for me, but there were many other options. Lots of shrimp, some tilapia, and so many veggies! Also, sushi!

And a make-your-own pasta bar!

They came around to the table to serve the meat - really good service!

Hayley got creme brulee and they came out with the blowtorch!

 

Yesterday was a relaxing day. Seven of us went to Parque Ibirapuera, an expansive park near the hostel. We packed a picnic lunch and enjoyed good company and an awesome fountain show!

Once we realized there were fish in the water, we started throwing bread crumbs. They went crazy! 

Sunset over Sao Paulo

 That night we went out to a bar crawl. One of the bars was a salsa/samba bar, and we got to try out our new dance moves we learned on Friday! It was a really good time.

From the brochure for the bar crawl

(more pictures to come!)