Travelogue 1: São Paulo, 2025

This is a series of posts documenting my travels and experiences during what Nydia and I call our New Era. In short, we left our apartment in Mexico City and are now living for brief periods in different cities across South America and perhaps, eventually, Europe. The plan has no defined end, and in this series I recount our experiences and my personal observations. The first city of our New Era was São Paulo, a place that had intrigued us for a long time, perhaps because it is the only city on the continent with the same scale as Mexico City. In short, we loved São Paulo and had a very good experience, but many of my observations attempt to be objective and look beyond the tourist’s eyes that sugarcoat everything. I hope, therefore, that they will not feel like criticisms of the city or its paulistanos, but what they are: the impressions of a foreigner who has come to discover it.

Arrival

São Paulo welcomed us with cold weather, drizzle and darkness. For me, that is already an idyllic beginning to the story. I have a gothic streak. We did not technically arrive at night—it was 5:30 p.m.—but by then it is already dark during the austral winter. We were exhausted after two flights that had lasted longer than expected and were quite uncomfortable. We flew from Mexico City to Bogotá, where we had a connection to São Paulo. Naturally, we left Mexico City airport late, because it is Mexico City airport. We therefore arrived late in Bogotá, where we already had a very tight connection—one hour. We had to run, and how clichéd it feels to run through an airport, carrying four suitcases and two backpacks. We reached our second flight, which was running about fifteen minutes late. Once aboard and taxiing toward the runway, two people became ill. Two unrelated passengers felt so unwell that we had to return to the gate; doctors came on board, one of the passengers was taken away, and the whole affair cost us a little over an hour. I forgot to mention that the flight from Mexico City departed at one in the morning and left us in Bogotá at six, which was already grueling. I also resignedly discovered that Avianca’s Airbus seats do not recline on these flights. Imagine that. The second flight to São Paulo lasted nearly seven hours. By the time we collected our luggage, found the exit and located the Uber pickup area, we were shattered.

First impressions

Our Uber driver was named Tancredo, and he never stopped talking. During the hour-long journey from Guarulhos airport to Consolação, where our apartment was located, Tancredo welcomed us by telling us everything there was to know about Brazil, São Paulo, food, weather and life. We understood half of it and occasionally replied or asked questions in laughable Portuguese. This brings me to one of the first things I noticed in São Paulo: Portuguese is the only language, full stop. I do not mean that as criticism, but I found it remarkable. In many parts of the world one meets people who speak several languages, or at least a little English; here, in my experience, that is very rare. I also noticed that paulistanos do not seem particularly interested in understanding you or being understood. You might ask what time a museum closes or how to enter a viewpoint, and although your Portuguese is obviously poor and you are plainly a foreigner, they will talk and talk without checking whether you can follow. That is the answer: if you understood it, good; if not, so be it. Again, this is an observation rather than a criticism. They also have great difficulty understanding one’s Portuguese. I know my accent is far from perfect, but good grief, even the most basic words—which I felt I was pronouncing almost exactly as they did—had to be repeated three or four times. I know it is my responsibility to speak the language of the place I am visiting, but their apparent difficulty understanding foreigners surprised me. Brazilians have offered several explanations: first, Brazil has so many regional accents that even Brazilians sometimes struggle to understand one another; second, Brazilians are unaccustomed to hearing foreigners speak Portuguese and therefore do not automatically correct our faulty pronunciation in their heads; and third, paulistanos pretend not to understand other accents even when they do. Perhaps my experience arose from some combination of all three. Still, I cannot complain: people were cordial and treated me well. I merely found it difficult to make myself understood, and for someone who prides himself on eloquence, speaking like a three-year-old is frustrating.

Neighborhoods

I visited several areas and neighborhoods of the city. Here are some general impressions:

Consolação and Bela Vista

This is where I lived in São Paulo. It is full of apartment buildings, along with offices and hospitals, and has plenty of nightlife on and around Rua Augusta. Three major roads frame the area: Avenida Paulista, Rua da Consolação and Avenida Nove de Julho. There was a shopping center one block away and several supermarkets and convenience stores nearby. Construction was everywhere: four buildings were going up on my block alone, with noise beginning at seven in the morning and ending at nine or ten at night. Two metro stations were close by. The location is excellent, and the center is within walking distance.

Center (República, Santa Ifigênia, Luz)

São Paulo’s historic center resembles that of any Latin American capital: full of history and beautiful buildings, dirty and crowded with street vendors and homeless people. Such are the light and shade of our cities; one cannot deny them. It is a mixture of broad avenues and narrow streets. The contrast in these areas is bewildering. You can be in a superb district—for example around Edifício Copan and Circolo Italiano—and walk along Avenida São Luís and Praça Dom José Gaspar, both very beautiful, only to reach Avenida Ipiranga near Praça da República one block later and find yourself in a sea of homeless people. The same happens when visiting the beautiful Estação da Luz, Jardim da Luz and Pinacoteca de São Paulo: everything looks magnificent, but turn the corner onto Rua Mauá and you encounter a veritable encampment. It also occurs around Catedral da Sé. I understand that this may sound insensitive, but the concentration of homeless people and the conditions in which so many live are genuinely more striking than in other cities around the world. With order and cleanliness, São Paulo could possess one of Latin America’s finest historic centers.

Jardim Paulista, Jardim Paulistano, Jardim Europa, Jardins

Beautiful residential buildings and houses, attractive streets, shopping centers, restaurants and bars. A good place to live.

Higienópolis

By far my favorite neighborhood in São Paulo. It offers a fine balance between residential and commercial life, with lovely tree-lined streets and excellent architecture. The condominiums designed by João Artacho Jurado stand out for their beauty and distinctive personality. There are many other architecturally significant buildings, including Rino Levi’s Edifício Prudência; Edifício Domus by the Italian architects Ermano Siffredi and Maria Bardelli; and Santa Casa de Misericórdia hospital by another Italian architect, Luigi Pucci.

Itaim Bibi, Vila Olímpia

São Paulo’s City of London: corporate and residential towers, seas of office workers heading out to lunch, shopping centers and stores.

Barra Funda and Pompeia

I visited the area to see several architecturally significant buildings and even reached it one day while running along the median of Avenida Sumaré. It did not leave much of an impression; it felt more like an office district than a residential one. Perdizes and Sumaré have a little more life. At least, that was my impression after a couple of visits. At Casa das Caldeiras, I spent a pleasant afternoon at Brass Brew, a brewery and churrascaria in the former Fábricas Matarazzo building from which the entire residential and commercial complex takes its name.

Pacaembu

An interesting area for running. It is a residential neighborhood of large houses rather than apartment buildings, made up entirely of winding, maze-like streets and hills.

Vila Madalena and Pinheiros

Varied neighborhoods, with some comfortable residential areas and a high concentration of botecos and bars on certain streets.

Paraíso, Vila Mariana and Moema

Residential areas surrounding the immense and beautiful Ibirapuera Park, my favorite place to run in all of São Paulo. I know much of the city remained for me to discover and explore, but what I did see gave me a very good understanding of its more central districts.

The metro

I love metros, light rail and trams, so in every city I visit I make traveling on these forms of public transportation a priority. São Paulo’s metro is extraordinary: functional, modern, clean and well maintained. I wish every station accepted contactless cards. At most, one must buy tickets, and these can be purchased only with almost exact cash or Brazilian debit cards. If buying tickets were easier—or better still, if every station accepted contactless payment—the system would unquestionably rank alongside those of Europe’s great capitals. It is only the smallest step away.

Culture

São Paulo has a tremendous cultural offering. There are first-rate museums, some with free-admission days, as well as several cultural centers with free exhibitions and events. We had the opportunity to attend a double bill of opera at the Theatro Municipal: Puccini’s Le Villi and Strauss’s Friedenstag. What a marvelous production; it truly surprised me. Another fascinating cultural aspect of São Paulo is its architecture. The city is full of interesting buildings, both by the architects mentioned above and by Oscar Niemeyer, Lina Bo Bardi and many others.

Conclusions

São Paulo feels simultaneously very close and very distant. In essence, it is a Latin American city, yet it also produces a thoroughly foreign sensation. At times I felt I was in Mexico; at others, I might just as well have been in South Africa or New Zealand. Although it has many attractions, it is not a city for everyone. Those seeking conventional tourism may not find São Paulo especially appealing. But for people like Nydia and me, who enjoy exploring great cities, it is an excellent place.