Sao Paulo is sao ugly...

Sorry for the delay in postings, kids. I wish I had a good excuse, but really it's just a matter of being lazy...So, let's pick up again, shall we? I went to Sao Paulo last weekend in an effort to get to know more parts of Brazil. Now, I should have thought twice about this when EVERY Carioca (ie, Rio inhabitant) responded to "I'm going to Sao Paulo this weekend" with "why the HELL would you do that"?? But, I figured hey, I'm a city girl and I'm sure I'll appreciate something about Sao Paulo.

So, I planned to go from Friday afternoon until Sunday evening. Fred was working out of town, so it was the perfect opportunity for me to do some solo exploring and test my Portuguese. Things got off to a great start as I got FREE food on the plane AND a newspaper! HELLO! Do we EVER get this anymore in the US?

The quick 1-hour flight put me in my hotel at around 1230, and I was ready to begin my discovery of the city so hated by all Cariocas. Using my Lonely Planet book, I did a 3 hour walking tour, which was painfully boring, and I discovered this: Sao Paulo is a crumbling, ugly city with haphazard parks throw in just so people can say, "oh yes, we have greenery here, too!" I don't think my pictures do it justice (which I don't mean in a good way). Finding nothing appealing about the idea of spending another 2 days in Sao Paulo, I changed my flight to the following afternoon. On Friday night, I went to dinner at a fabulous restaurant (if you're there, you must try it: www.gostodebrasil.com.br/inicio.php) and was tempted to go for a brew at the bar up the street. But, alas I decided that meandering around Sao Paulo solo was not the safest option, so I retired back to the Blue Tree Paulista for the night.

I woke up the next morning early, with the intention of hitting the famous MASP (Museu de Arte de Sao Paulo), but then heard there were great Brazilian designer jeans at the mall near my hotel. FYI, ladies, Brazilian jeans are specially designed (via proper shading, beaded patterns on the pockets, etc) to make your ass look like a million bucks - where America is obsessed with breasts, Brazil is butt-country. I figured that this was WAY more important than Picasso, and I headed to the Iguatemi mall. Plus, the dollar was at 2.30, so how could I NOT go shopping??
2 pairs of fabulous jeans later, I left Sao Paulo and headed for the airport.

It was an...interesting 2 days. I think Sao Paulo is great if you 1) are gay and want a really great gay scene or 2) are REALLY into eating and shopping, and that's pretty much it. If you happen to hit Brazil, I'd skip Sao Paulo...your time is much better spent on the beaches of Rio :)