WorkLife Travel Destinations are posts about places we’ve lived in or visited. We’ll include tourist tips and add information about working in the city. At the end of the post, we rate the destination on a scale of 1 (lowest) to 10 (highest) where it falls in our list of favorite places to be.
“It’s been said, uncharitably, that São Paulo feels like L.A. threw up on New York.” –Anthony Bourdain
We have a precarious relationship with this city of urban sprawl we’ve called home for almost the past six months. On one hand, it has everything you could ever want: so many restaurants you could eat at a different one each night and never be able to try them all; shopping in specialty boutiques or throughout its more than 200 malls; entertainment and arts abound; and the people, like most Brazilians, are welcoming and inviting.
With a population surpassing 20 million people in 2009, though, you also have all the problems that come with any big metropolis: the city is known for horrendous traffic with traffic jams that go on for hours; subpar cleaning standards, especially when it comes to people walking their dogs on the street; and crime is always a problem, but it can increase to deadly levels at times.
It may sound strange, but we believe each city has its own “vibe.” Some are stronger than others, and São Paulo’s is on the weaker end. The city has its own vibe based on cultural diversity of all the mixes of people here, but it doesn’t feel like those cultures have melted to give the city a distinct feel. Or maybe it’s all the skyscrapers of the Concrete Jungle blocking the vibe. Either way, there are still some great sites to check out here.
Our favorite spots
São Paulo isn’t the best destination in Brazil for tourists as there aren’t many world-renowned landmarks, but nevertheless there are still some great sights to check out in Sampa.
Ibirapuera Park
Comparable to Central Park in New York, this is our favorite spot in the city. Like an oasis from all the concrete, there are nice ponds and walkways to enjoy, and there is always something going on. We’ve been to film festivals, skateboard competitions, Christmas lights shows at the fountain, and watched a medieval group practice jousting all in the park. There are museums and works of art throughout the space, and you can always find food vendors of every sort here.
Paulista Avenue
Right now, Paulista Avenue looks like “Miracle on 34th Street” as it’s all decked out for Christmas with giant Santas and trees everywhere. This is the cultural epicenter for the city as the main thoroughfare and brings most of the city’s comparisons to New York City. With stores, restaurants, museums and art galleries, this is the place to visit and see it all. If you’re looking for the Paulista, a native of São Paulo, nightlife, you can also find bars and nightclubs galore in this district.
Theatro Municipal
One of the few antique buildings left in the city, this is our favorite building for historical architecture. It was the original opera house, built in 1912, for the city and still hosts shows today. If you’re into historical buildings, like we are, we suggest taking the São Paulo Free Walking Tour, which is offered Saturday mornings. The tour takes you around the old part of the city, giving you lots of details on the historical buildings that are left. Unfortunately, a lot of São Paulo’s historic district has been demolished to make way for more modern skyscrapers.
Museu do Futebol
Three professional football teams dominate the headlines of the São Paulo jornals (newspapers). Corinthians is known as the people’s favorite, having swarms of fans in the favelas and offering cheap tickets. The rivalry between their fans and the fans of São Paulo FC is more heated than we have ever witnessed including Auburn-Alabama and Yankees-Red Sox. A third team, Palmeiras, was also dominant until recently but is now falling to the second division for a second time, leading to death threats for the president of the club from faithful fans. The museum is housed in São Paulo’s major football stadium which has been home to many of these rivalry games. It includes photos, videos and radio replays of the highlights that make up Brazilian football, such a large part of the Brazilian culture. It is also very evident here that the 1950 loss to Uruguay while hosting the World Cup still greatly stings despite winning the cup five times since. For more on how greatly soccer/football influences Brazilian culture, read “Futebol – Soccer, the Brazilian Way” by Alex Bellos.
Mercado Municipal
Each neighborhood has a feira one day of the week, like farmer’s markets in the U.S., and we love going to these. The Mercado Municipal is one big feira open every day where you can buy fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. It reminds us a lot of the Public Market in Milwaukee. This is also the place to get the world-famous Mortadella sandwich, a São Paulo original that’s like a souped-up bologna sandwich with melted cheese on French bread.
Vila Madalena
Villa Madalena is where the young people of São Paulo hang out to dance samba, attend night clubs and watch UFC (a sport that is wildly popular in Brazil and much more popular than in the United States due to the high percentage of Brazilian fighters).
Working in São Paulo
Take it or leave it, this city is the economic powerhouse of Latin America. As a BRIC nation, many companies are breaking out on the scene of this emerging market in São Paulo. With recessed economies in Europe and the United States, global companies have increasingly looked to increase profits in emerging markets over the past several years. With about 90 percent of Brazil’s wealth, São Paulo possesses most of those jobs and a large number of expats who have moved to partake in this work. The major struggle and complaint that you will hear from most São Paulo workers is not about the eight hours they work but rather the heavy traffic that they will face on their way to and from work, often adding additional hours on each end. The city is attempting to add more metro lines but growth is slow and much of the city remains untouched by the metro while having wildly outgrown its highway infrastructure.
We give São Paulo an overall rating of 4 on our list of favorite places to be. What is your favorite place to be?
-Chris & Monica
We haven’t traveled as extensively as you two, but La Jolla and London have been my favorites so far. La Jolla is such a laid back place and London is my favorite city on earth (so far). I understand what you mean about cities having vibes — Philly has such a different feel from NYC, and NYC feels so much different than Boston, and all those places are pretty close together, geographically and culturally. When you start comparing, say, NYC to San Diego, or San Diego to London, wow! And yet London is still part of Western culture and about as similar to the US as you can get, but still they are worlds apart. I can’t imagine comparing a place as different as Sao Paolo to American cities.
Paulista Ave sounds similar to Las Ramblas in Barcelona. I am interested to know y’all’s favorite cities on earth.
Abby, we love reading your comments on our posts. Thanks! Yes, we feel each city has its own vibe, and it either clicks with us or it doesn’t. I’ve (Monica) never been to London (unless you count a layover in Heathrow Airport, which I don’t), but it is at the top of my list of places to visit. I’ll probably make it a single or girl’s only trip as Chris has been there many times. Maybe you can give me some suggestions? Our favorite city on Earth, so far, is New Orleans. The food, the people, the music, the architecture, just the overall vibe has been our favorite, and we haven’t found a place, yet, that can beat it.
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