Did we discover the city?
Live at a fast pace and an overdose of energy, oblivious to tropical sensuality, in eternal rivalry with the voluptuous ** Rio de Janeiro **. **São Paulo, financial soul and economic supporter of Brazil **, is a concrete giant in a country of sun and samba.
A chiseled megalopolis without a horizon in a challenge to vertigo, with a profile that refers to the New Yorker, if it were not for the fact that it is even wilder and more unrestrained.
It is necessary to have an alert mind and a permeable heart to love this inexhaustible, chaotic, irresistibly contradictory city. A framework that multiplies itself with each heartbeat, with a momentum that very few cities in the world can compete with.
land of contrasts
Already said Stefan Zweig in that declaration of love called Brazil, country of the future : “Is this a city that grows towards tomorrow with such restlessness and impatience, that he hardly has any sensitivity left for his present and, even less, for his past”.
But although in its speed it destroys yesterday, although it is not hedonism what runs through his veins , although the photo of him is that of that city of garoa (city of the drizzle) of always leaden sky, there is something in this asphalt jungle that invites you to take a liking to it like an endearing monster.
Could it be that in its brutal dimensions, in its infinite verticality, in its motley aesthetics of steel and glass, it is easy to find genuinely Brazilian loopholes: flashes of color, of joy, of good life.
BLESSED ARCHITECTURE
Since colonial constructions (few, really) even beautiful samples of Art nouveau and, above all, masterpieces post-brutalists . This is the architectural reading of this city of 12 million souls , who manages to make beautiful what might seem abominable.
In sight is the Paulista Avenue , the nerve center, which is a perfect blend of culture and business: its skyscrapers host financial institutions, offices and banks , next to innovative buildings that are the headquarters of artistic spaces.
Paulista Avenue
One of them, essential, is the São Paulo Museum of Art , which levitates eight meters above the ground supported by two huge red columns. A milestone that we owe to the lady who managed to humanize the country's ** contemporary architecture **: Lina BoBardi , also the architect of SESC Pompeia , perhaps her most experimental work.
An old factory converted into a center for leisure and sport (rare is the day when there is no a jazz concert, volleyball competition, or theater show ) and in which she gave the use of concrete an amazing plastic expression.
When exploring this material, it is convenient not to miss the two icons on the Ipiranga Avenue : the winding Copan, of the famous Oscar Niemeyer , an undulating block of 38 floors whose shape symbolizes the tilde over the 'a' that bears the name of the city ; and the Italy Building , declared Historical Heritage, with a terrace from which fabulous 360º views are obtained.
JAPAN WAS THIS
Many do not know that Sao Paulo gathers the largest Japanese colony in the world. And much less that there is an oriental redoubt in the city that allows you to transport yourself, without too much imagination, to a little piece of tokyo . Is named freedom and everything in it (the shops, the restaurants, the urban elements...) has a clear Japanese influence, an orderly look of red benches, lanterns and bonsai.
Liberdade, the Japan of Sâo Paulo
In this fate of japantown , which hosts a picturesque market on weekends, not only can you find origami earrings, kimonos and tableware with samurai , but can also taste delicious sushi, tempura and yakisoba.
For this there are izakayas that dot the neighborhood, where you can eat great for a few reais. Especially in two: kintaro _(Rua Thomaz Gonzaga, 57) _ e issa _(Rua Barão de Iguape, 89) _. Simple but genuine. For a tribute there will always be **Kinoshita** with one Michelin star.
This Japanese influence, of course, is also felt in the art . That's why there is the Tomie Ohtake Institute , another glory of the paulista architecture. This red-striped skyscraper, which seems to recreate candy canes, is named after **a painter from Kyoto** in love with the city.
Very new is also the japan house , opened last year as the main center for disseminating this ancient culture: exhibitions, seminars, shows, workshops, gastronomic experiences...
Tomie Ohtake Institute
THE ALTERNATIVE VEIN
More popular and spontaneous, the explosion of the Street art happens in Vila Magdalena, the neighborhood of bohemian effervescence.
Here in the Rua Gonçalo Alfonso , commonly known as Beco do Batman , the walls are authentic canvases where graffiti artists (including the renowned kobra ) stamp works that will have an ephemeral life and that will be periodically replaced by new and colorful murals.
Vila Madalena is art
This open-air museum, Instagram cannon fodder, is just a sample button of district creativity , which meets the hipster quota of any self-respecting city.
In Vila Madá (as the people from São Paulo call it) will have to prepare the stomach in the lively bars of Aspicuelta street (**O Pasquim**, Boteco São Conrado , Hail George …) to then untie the hips in what is known as sambinhas , which are places where you press the Brazilian joy to the rhythm of their universal dance . a classic is O do Borogodo with live music and guaranteed fun.
Alternative nightlife has its elegant counterpoint in the sophisticated rooftops , which attract a more posh audience. What seen opened just a year ago on the 23rd floor of the hotel Tivoli Mofarrej . You can have a luxurious dinner, which is why the stoves bear the signature of the Portuguese chef Olivier da Costa.
But his thing is to stay for a cocktail (or several) in the central bar of this room set by a DJ , from where you can see the transformation of the city into an ocean of lights.
AIR PLEASE
To break the stereotype a bit, we will say that there are also in this metropolis a good handful of small oases. perhaps because Sao Paulo understood that making a hole in the nature It was a matter of survival green areas where to escape from the hyper-urban chaos to soak up serenity.
Botanical Garden
An interesting one? The Botanical Garden , which is part of the Fontes do Ipiranga State Park , where you can marvel at the most exotic flora flown over by more than 140 species of birds.
And a curious one? The Gardens of the Prefecture , not at street level but in the roof of the Matarazzo building , in which huge trees grow that almost scratch the sky.
But the real lung is the Ibirapuera Park , the favorite of locals and tourists. A gigantic space with more than 1,500 km2 of vegetation, three interconnected lakes and numerous museums, monuments, sports fields, planetariums and even a reading forest where we try to instill in children the necessary love for books.
There is no lack, of course, in the imprint of Niemeyer in the breaker Audience , **the Biennale Pavilion and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MAC) **.
Ibirapuera Park
GASTRONOMIC CAPITAL
If you have been considering for a long time Sao Paulo What the culinary mecca of the continent , this year there is a greater reason to confirm it: the Brazilian giant has been chosen Capital of Ibero-American Gastronomy , a title that has only reinforced its very juicy offer.
And it is that in this city that is a crossing of Portuguese, Lebanese, Syrian, Spanish, Arab, German, African, Japanese, Jewish, Italian, Turkish and it is not known how many more nationalities and cultures come together, how could it be otherwise, the most varied stoves.
They are, we have already said, the izakayas of Liberdade , but also french brasseries What Le Jazz , which has three stores; italian trattoria What Evvai , the latest author bet to join the list and even gastro-tascas typical spanish What Sancho with delicious tapas.
But above all, São Paulo is the place to discover the benefits of ** Brazilian cuisine **, which is much more than the national dish, Feijoada , that stew of black beans with all imaginable parts of the pork, accompanied by rice and vegetables.
A delicacy for which there is a reference restaurant, Bolinha , although they also prepare it delicious in Mocoto , a classic of traditional recipes that has once been cast among the best restaurants of the world.
Gastronomy autochthonous, but attached to the avant-garde is the one that has just inaugurated chef Marcelo Correa in View , located in the mac roof . Or the one offered by the also new Orfeu , self-defined as a sophisticated tavern very close to the Copán building.
Thus, in continuous expansion, the culinary panorama throbs in this superlative city, which attends business deals during the day and goes out to party at night.