Sunday, December 4, 2011

Days in the concrete jungle…

No question that every time we visit Sao Paulo, it seems an even larger and more chaotic metropolis, a vertical concrete jungle that spreads its grubby fingers to every horizon.  Our stay was a blur of traffic, afternoon tropical rainstorms, delicious pao de queijo(small cheese rolls), and the throngs of paulistanos moving like a series of tornadoes through every street and at every intersection. 
We spoke with wandering poets at the city’s main art museum, MASP, talked soccer with endless cab drivers, and wandered the wonderful street food markets that can be found in every corner of the city, sampling the pasteis, savory fried pockets stuffed with palmito(hearts of palm),or cheese, and the freshly extracted sugar cane juice with lemon, and then feasting our eyes on the mountains of mangoes, papayas, plums, and exotic tropical fruits, half of which we cannot even identify.  Daily visits to get a fresh suco de maracuja(passionfruit juice) at one of an endless series of juice bars or lunch stands that serve freshly squeezed or blended fruit drinks along with fare that includes everything from rice and beans to sandwiches, fruit salads and snacks of all sorts.  Many also have their own bread bakeries.  P1000616






Check out  two views from one of the highest points in the city, just off Avenida Paulista.P1000593
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