After 10 Do's and Don'ts first forray into Africa with Accra by Mac Jordan we cross the Atlantic and head to Brazil for first 10 Do's and Don'ts in South America thanks to Nana Soma. Amongst other things she blogs for Bag for Life whose models are inspired by recycling combined with images from Copacabana to the Atlantic Forest.
Here's Nana Soma's take on Sao Paulo.
SÃO PAULO
Do’s
1. Do go to the flea market at Praça Benedito Calixto on a Saturday morning. It’s a great program especially if you like objects from previous decades at special prices. Design, fashion and art shops are also located on both sides of this square, and the restaurant Consulado Mineiro serves the best food from Minas Gerais, a state close to São Paulo.
2. Do you feel like dancing? Voodoohop (below) is the hypest party nowadays! On the contrary of many expensive clubs around the city, this once a week party happens at any place around the old center of Sao Paulo and costs only 10 reais or, if you go by bike, it’s priceless.
3. Do eat the coxinha de frango (a Brazilian snack made of wheat flour and chicken) or the best ham sandwich of Sao Paulo at Estadão , a 24 hour bar.
4. Do well to go to Mercado Municipal , one of the most traditional gourmet points of the city and do eat the mortadela sandwich.
5. Do walk on Avenida Paulista , one of the most important postcards of the city. This great avenue has lots of must see and go places to spend the mornings or afternoons or even the nights. To name some of them: MASP (Sao Paulo Museum of Art); Casa das Rosas, a space where art exhibitions, small concerts, launch of books and a library take place; Conjunto Nacional, a commercial building which hosts, for examples, , one of the greatest bookstore of Brazil; Reserva Cultural, one of many cinemas located at this avenue and its surrondings; the building of FIESP/SESI, where art exhibitions and plays are for free; Parque do Triannon and, much more not only in this avenue but also in these streets, Rua Augusta, da Consolação, Bela Cintra, Haddock Lobo and Alameda Santos.
6. Do spend a day at Parque do Ibirapuera. Located in the urban area, there are many attractions in this famous park. Go for a walk or rent a bike; visit its museums, such as MAM (Museum of Modern Art), Museu Afro Brasil, Pavilhão da Bienal, OCA, among others, but check if exhibitions are taking place; do a picnic for lunch; visit the Japanese garden or the Planetarium and, end the day watching a concert at the Auditório Ibirapuera.
7. Go for a happy-hour with friends at Vila Madalena. This residential neighborhood is best known for its bars where music, food, drinks and flirts take place during the night between the young universitaries and professionals. And if you visit “Vila Madá” (as it’s called) during the daylight, you’ll find fashion, art and design studios and stores which worth the price.
8. Do go for a ride on a bike at Minhocão, an elevated expressway located near to Santa Cecília subway or at this address Avenida Amaral Gurgel on Sundays.
9. Do visit Vila Maria Zélia , the first workers' village in Brazil and today is a popular location for recordings of dramas, soap operas, advertisements and television news material for the reason of being a heavily wooded and quiet has its European architecture houses, warehouses and schools of the early twentieth century.
10. Do well to visit Pinacoteca do Estado , a museum where there are art exhibitions and a collection of national and international paintings. Go there on Saturdays so you don’t pay. Located next to Parque da Luz, there is a coffee house inside the museum where you can take your café or eat pão de queijo (a Brazilian cheese bread) at the outside tables which go to this park. The Museu da Língua Portuguesa (Museum of the Portuguese Language), the Estação da Luz, an old train station, the Sala São Paulo, a concert hall with one of the best acoustics in the world and Rua José Paulino, a street of popular and cheap clothes stores are the highlights near to Pinacoteca.
Don’ts
1. Don’t take the bus or the subway or taxi in the rush hour, especially between 5 – 8 pm. The traffic is just terrible!
2. Don’t miss out the SESC and CCSP (Cultural Center of Sao Paulo) programs which include many cultural events with popular prices.
3. Don’t keep your windows car open or your bag in the passenger seat of the car, there’s a great chance for thieves on a motorcycle to steal it.
4. Do never go to Rua 25 de março and Brás. Both places sell objects and clothing items for a cheap price, are ugly, full of salesclerk screaming in your ears and illegal sellers pushing their items to you on the streets and just impossible to walk.
5. Don’t contribute for the lack of education at the transit.
6. Don’t throw your garbage away on the streets. Otherwise, they will land into the rivers contributing for the caotic floods.
7. Don’t miss out the Mostra Internacional de Cinema (Internacional Film Festival).
8. Don’t arrive just in time at the theaters, you can miss the play.
9. Don’t pass through the city without visiting the MIS (Museum of Image and Sound), MuBE (Brazilian Museum of Sculpture) and Museu do Ipiranga, a museum with a great collection of objects, furmitures and artworks mostly related to the Independence of Brazil.
10. Don’t miss out the sunset at the end of an afternoon at Praça Por do Sol (below), a square located at theneighborhood of Alto de Pinheiros. Many people believe this is the best place to see this nature spectacle in Sao Paulo.
Tudo bem
You can keep up with Nana via For A Conscious Clothing, her bilingual (Portuguese, English) site.
(* Voodoohop image from Voodoohop site)