São Paulo

São Paulo was the second stopover destination on our trip. We chose to spend some extra time here as Brazil seemed like an interesting country and a few days of room for potential canceled flights wasn't bad.

We arrived in the morning and took the metro to the beautiful neighborhood of Vila Madalena where our hostel was located. During the walk from the metro station to the hostel, I could already tell that this city would completely subvert my predefined ideas of what Brazil is. The neighborhood was far more cosmopolitan than I could have imagined. Along every street were restaurants serving all kinds of cuisines, bars with interesting craft beers and walls and sidewalks covered in street art. The hostel we stayed at fit in well with the neighborhood, and the cozy bar offered a complementary welcome Caipirinha (the national cocktail of Brazil, made with sugar, lime and a sugar cane liquor called cachaça). We stayed in a six person dormitory with bunk beds and small lockers for valuables, however during the days and evenings we spent most of our time outside on the roof, at the communal tables or under the shade of the vines alongside our dorm. We met some amazing people at the hostel and in the evenings played cards and drank terrible Brazilian wine.

On our last day at the hostel we tagged along with Patrick and Julia to a flee market. The market had a few interesting things but the film cameras on offer were incredible. There were a lot of mixed emotions seeing so many rare and unique cameras but also not having space to bring any home. After the flee market we headed down town to join a free walking tour. The old city of São Paulo was definitely the flip side of the luxurious Vila Madalena and was much more what you would expect from the biggest city in the America's. São Paulo has a rich history of immigration and industry which have left thier marks on the city and it was fascinating to see and hear about the history.

After the free walking tour and walking around the Japanese neighborhood, we headed back to the hostel and prepared for our next flight.Read more