36 Hours in Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo, Brazil

I would have never thought I’d say 36 hours was not enough time for visiting Sao Paulo. I personally am not a big city enthusiast, but always feel like I should explore for a day at the beginning or end of my wilderness trips. We planned to arrive mid-day, stay overnight and then leave the following evening.

GOL moved our flight from Cuiaba to São Paulo from 8am to 4am which gave us extra time (which we originally didn’t want) in the giant metropolis. São Paulo is the 9th largest city in the world, the most populous city in both the Western and Southern Hemispheres, and has the 11th largest GDP globally.

The city of sky scrapers is home to the largest populations of Arabs, Italians, and Japanese outside of their homeland. Our visit to Brazil’s economic and cultural hub was surprisingly pleasant.

With a little help from a friend and some naiveté, I managed to book a hotel, Melia Paulista, on Paulista St. While the hotel was nothing to write home about it was located in a fantastic location, especially for a Sunday. Though I think probably could have found a nicer place just a few blocks off Paulista in the Garden District.

Paulista street is an eight lane road that is shut down to traffic on Sundays! Locals walk their dogs and roller blade through the street. Others join Zumba classes or cycle along the bike path. Vendors sell their wares while food carts sold kabobs. The street entertainment was incredible with different acts on every corner. Street performances included slack liners, bands, musicians, dancers, and comedians. We were easily entertained and could have spent hours just lounging around the area, especially in the afternoon when the activity really picked up. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).