My first day in São Paulo had been great just as the next days. I stayed a total of 3 days in this huge city, I discovered the main touristy spots which are quite limited in there so I think I have seen the major things such as the Banespa Building and the Cathedral of Sé. Moreover, I have been to Parque Marx which is really a jungle inside the city… The experience was nice, read more for details.
My day started early morning by witnessing the rush hour of São Paulo which is estimated by myself to be like 5 times bigger than London and 20 times more than Casablanca… The single metro ticket costs R$ 3,00 like £1 including all connections inside the subway. I have noticed that people are rather relaxed and walk slowly even though the subway is so packed by people and they might all be late for their work, but they take it easy, everyone stands on the left in the elevator. I couldn’t fit their way of walking as I walk fast.
My first stop was Cathedral of Sé. It’s a fairly big cathedral in the heart of São Paulo, it has some amazing stained glass windows that let the colourful light get into. I was really amazed by the lights and also how high the cathedral is. Just in front of it, I found the Point Zero of São Paulo where this megalopolis has begun… Also, some homeless and beggars are taking over this place as refuge and are sometimes scary so extra care was needed around this area.
After the Cathedral of Sé, I have visited the Banespa Building known as Altino Arantes Building… It is just few minutes walk from Sé. The entrance that day was free however the queue was unbelievably long that I wish I’d pay for a queue jump! I waited for two hours at the reception of the building without air conditioner, awful experience. But the main reason why it is long to get to the top of it, it’s because the observatory can only hold 5 persons at a time. Banespa is the highest building in São Paulo with 35 floors spread over 161m, the architectural inspiration is taken from the Empire State Building in New York. Anyway, when I got to the top the view is just amazing but it’s hard to believe I was on the highest building of the city… as there are many other buildings that have less the height of Banespa but appear to be taller!
The view was breathtaking and at the exact moment I realised I could never live in a city like São Paulo. It is abusively big compared to any city I have been to before. Even though, I am a city person, I love living in the city and discovering big cities but that one, no thanks…
From the observatory of the Banespa, I saw the Mercadeo Municipal which unfortunately I have missed to visit as I was quite tired but it is something that every Paulista would suggest first to tourists. After that, I have been to Avenida Paulista which is the main avenue in São Paulo, within all its towers and large roads I found the São Paulo Museum Art that is very special with its architecture. Unfortunately, on monday most museums and galleries are closed so I ended up just walking the avenue and stopping by Trianon Park to breath which looked just like a little jungle in the heart of the city.
Talking about jungles, I have also been a bigger jungle which is Parque Marx. This huge park has even animals in freedom inside it such as monkeys jumping all over when greeted by visitors. Me and my friends walked all over to explore this little Amazon and end up our hike by taking a natural coconut water. The next part of my trip lead me to Rio de Janeiro, I’ll tell you more about it in few days…
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