IBIRAPUERA AND OTHER PARKS IN SÃO PAULO

If you ask someone in São Paulo which is the best park in town, you will probably hear the name Ibirapuera (the weird name comes from the original indigenous language and means ‘rotten wood’).

So yes, Ibirapuera is one of the largest parks in São Paulo, and it was chosen the 8^th best park in the world by a recent survey conducted by Tripadvisor. SEE MAP
 

Aerial view of the park

Practical info:

The park is open from 5am to midnight.

Pedestrians may get into the park via gates 2, 3, 4, 6, 7A and 10.

 

The park is home to several museums, such as the Museum of Modern Art, the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Afro Brazilian Museum; it also owns two major exhibition spaces, the OCA and the Bienal Building. The park has a large lake, a plant nursery and an auditorium, designed by Oscar Niemeyer (as many other of its buildings) where concerts are held regularly.

Ok, so let’s say you want to go there… unless you are staying nearby, there are no subway stations nearby and it’s not within easy reach from the center of São Paulo. The best suggestion is to take a bus. Check on this website the bus lines (numbers and names)  that get to the park, and see which one runs next to where you are: http://www.parqueibirapuera.org/como-chegar/

Other nice parks in São Paulo are:

- Parque Trianon – easy to reach, in front of the Trianon/MASP subway station, right on Avenida Paulista

- Parque da Água Branca – near the Barra Funda subway station/bus terminal


- Parque da Juventude – near the Carandiru subway station, the park occasionally hosts music concerts

- Parque do Povo and Parque Villa Lobos – reachable by train using Line 9 – Esmeralda –

 

Souvenirs from São Paulo - Where to find

São Paulo is not a touristy city, so you will not come across a souvenir shop on every corner. Actually you may want to buy a souvenir after all, no matter how kitsch it might be, and not find anything. So I’ll give you some suggestions in case you want to make the effort to take something back home.

Two arts and crafts markets that are usually recommended to tourists are the ones that are held on Praça da República (held during the day on Fridays and Saturdays), which is easy to reach with the subway (Red and Yellow Lines, República station), or the one held in front of Parque Trianon, just across MASP on Avenida Paulista (just off the Trianon subway station), which is held on Sundays. Both have several stalls selling mainly things crafted in wood; though not extremely creative, they are bound to please tourists.

I would suggest a more ‘sophisticated’ arts and crafts market, whose exhibitors are young artists or designers. This is the fair called “Como Assim?”; it is held every Sunday from 10am to 10pm in the corridors of the Shopping Center 3, also located on Avenida Paulista (close to the Consolação station). Though you have a bit of everything, custom jewellery and clothes occupy a large part of the market, so most probably it will please girls, or boys wishing to purchase creative gifts to their loved ones. Specifically on the lower floor there is a stall with souvenirs (t-shirts, mugs, etc) using São Paulo as their theme.

For some reason, foreigners are usually drawn to objects made of Brazilian gemstones. You can find a wealth of these (from kitsch to really delicate items) on some shops near Praça da Liberdade. Though Liberdade is São Paulo’s ‘Chinatown’ so to speak, these shops are easy bets – and you can take the chance to taste a legitimate Japanese Brazilian dish. Try the shop Ho Kim Do, on Praça da Liberdade, 276, right on the corner with the main street in the area, Rua Galvão Bueno. Easy access with the subway – take the blue line to the Liberdade station.

 

 

 

Finally, if you have some energy left, walk down Rua Augusta to #2795 (just after it crosses Rua Oscar Freire) and visit the shop called Arte Tribal. Brazilian souvenirs, popular art, crafts from Brazilian indigenous tribes are available at the shop. To have an idea, access their website www.artetribal.com.br (available in English).



Bars in Vila Madalena - How to get there

If you are a foreigner in São Paulo, so surely someone has already told you Vila Madalena is the place to go if you want to go to a bar, have fun, meet people... in other words, to have a real night out.
Just to support this argument, check this search on Google Maps for the word "bar" in the neighborhood:

But you can also see on the map that the buzz is quite far from the nearest subway station, which is called Metrô Vila Madalena, but is actually in a neighboring area (indicated by the green arrow on the top of the image). Although you could say "I don't mind walking", you can see that most streets in the area are not straight. This was originally a very montainous area, so you will have lots of steep streets to go up and down. If you risk it on your way there, it will be impossible on your way back, after some drinks...

So I'll tell you another route to get to the same spot. You can check from the map above that the bars concentrate around some blocks of streets, between Rua Mourato Coelho, Rua Wisard, Rua Girassol and Rua Inacio Pereira da Rocha. If you get to these parts, you can simply walk around and find the bar or nightclub that suits you best, or where you spot more interesting people going in.

Focus on these two streets that lie to the east of the hub of bars: Rua Cardeal Arcoverde and Rua Teodoro Sampaio (to the right). On the map below you can see they are quite close to the location of bars, and, better still, only straight and plain streets connect them to the desired area. (Yes, the green area near the "A" is a cemetery). Av. Rebouças, that you see on the bottom, to the right, is also a good alternative for buses.

These are main streets served by many bus lines. Rua Cardeal Arcoverde runs from the top of the map to its bottom, so it will be perfect if you are coming from Centro, or from somewhere near Av. Paulista. Rua Teodoro Sampaio runs "up", so it will work for you if you are coming from some neighborhood in the south of the city of São Paulo. (From somewhere near Av. Brig. Faria Lima, for example).

To find which bus line might work for you, go to this website: www.sptrans.com.br

You will see this on the top of the page:

Click on LINHA DE ÔNIBUS (which means 'bus line' and this is what you want to know), then insert your address in the first slot, in front of DE/Endereço. Put an approximate number of your location. On the second part, complete like me: R. Cardeal Arcoverde N° 1600. Then click on "Buscar".

You will get some bus lines that will take you there, and their routes.


GOOD LUCK!!!



FOOD TRUCKS IN SÃO PAULO

A recent local regulation has established rules to allow for food trucks to sell food around the city. As the new ventures start to organize themselves and brand new trucks look for the best location in town, a pioneer idea has already taken shape in the format of a "Food Park".

BUTANTAN FOOD PARK is an otherwise unattractive space close to a busy hub of major thoroughfares, avenues, bridges and minor street. However, as a home to several food trucks and some stalls selling delicacies, it managed to become an almost pleasing setting, specially on a fine day, as, despite of a covered area with tables, most of its buzz takes place in the open.

Food vendors will take turns, so most likely when you come back after some time you will find different options to taste. In my visit last Saturday (June 6th) there were, among others, Argentine empanadas, Uruguayan sandwiches, Indian samosas, sweet and savory waffles, pork ribs, gourmet burguers, Argentine wines, ice creams, French pastries, churros, artisanal beers, apple pies, pasta, and the very Brazilian macaxeira.

The intention is not to offer cheap food, but rather items with some gourmet addition... most things ranged from 5 to 10 US dollars, but in the whole I believed they were worth the price.

All around the area there are communal wooden tables for you to share with other foodies. Avoid Sundays which are usually extremelly crowded. A Saturday afternoon would be a perfect time to visit.

Where?

R. Agostinho Cantu, 47 (in the neighborhood called Butantã)

Opening times: Mon-Wed 11am to 4pm/Thu-Sat 11am to 10pm/Sun 11am to 8pm

Within walking distance of the Butantã subway station (Yellow Line)