Brazil 3 months in paradise

Serra de Cantareira and As velhas Restaurant

2007-02-19T18:05:02Z

So in one of the days of what i can call already a routine during my stay in SP , i got away to Serra de Cantareira, honestly, in SP, if you stay there for long, there is nothing left to do, except visiting places you already been to, which is not really traveling, but living, or going to parties, so i didn't miss chance to get away.
Serra de Cantareira is the name for a mountain ridge and an area around it, it have some village communities, very nice nature and i got at last a breath of quite different atmosphere.

After looking for our final destination for 30 minutes we got there, to magnificent restaurant. I haven't ate such a good food for cheap anywhere in the world, I can swear on holy bible on it, i really can, if you will be around Serra de Cantareira, go there ! i suggest you, i strongly suggest you, it is pleasure you won't actually forget so fast. Name of Restaurant As velhas
You pay only 26R$ which is 14$US and you can eat all the food in there and they have a lot, and not cheap, tasteless grass-like mass, but cooked like in descent restaurant, It is first place in the world that i`ve been to , i officially announce that which have descent, good, tasty food in a self service industry. Maybe i exaggerate a little bit, of course there are nice self serivices somewhere out there, but i haven't been there hehe

So look at those photos they talk better than words.

Entrance

Inside, doesn't look like cheap service food doesn't it

And the food mmmmmh.

Awesome

Look at the variety and quality of veggies, respect to people woh run this place

Look at this bread, i mean i`ve been a lot to different cultures, i lived in Australia, been to Asia, Africa, ate in every country in europe, everywhere i ate, i tried bread. but this will stay in my mind as the best bread i have ever ate, it should cost 1$ a piece in my opinion and you can eat as much of it as you want, i asked cook to buy one piece for me to take away, but it was still preparing.

This is the one thing you actually pay for 6$R per plate

I wish there were more restaurants like that in world, it's quietness reminds me of some places in Chezh republic, or good Latvia countryside restaurants.

This place turns out to be a small museum as well if you wanna do little exploring
(pics coming shortly)

The area where restaurant is situated has some shops, Cacaca shop, Brazilian tequila or w/e it is 40% strong, ewww. Too much for me

Serra de Cantareira and As velhas Restaurant remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Farewell party

2007-02-15T11:46:56Z

So there i was, walking back home after Batizado, proudly wearing my yellow belt ahead of me there was last big party in Brazil and behind me there were 84 days of unforgettable experience and i just wanted get drunk.

My doctor said, don't drink beer nor wine, since my jaw was broken after fight, and i have 12 titanium bolts in my jaw, and i followed his advice for 83 days, but what the hell, it`s my last day here, i will try Brazilian beer, i had to undergo another operation on jaw anyway.

And there i am drunk,this party was so much different than the first one, i had in Brazil, i couldn't talk at all, i didnt knew anybody and here i am now talking Portuguese with all new friends I came a long way and it was good.

On this day there was biggest rain in sao paulu in last few years, some blocks got under water, so about half of invited people couldn`t reach us.
It was a god crying that i was leaving Brazil.

Farewell party remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Batizado de Capoeira

2007-02-15T11:20:26Z

Finally, after 3 months of hard training, on November 25th I had a chance to participate in Batizado; an event that takes place every year in Capoeira school where i was training where all students have chance to attain next level in Capoeira. The atmosphere at Batizado is so amazing, unique, actually indescribable with words. I can compare vibrations floating in the air with mass in church. It really feels like a ritual that tune you to some perspective of the world.

For information Capoeira is a martial art originated in Africa and Brazil, It combines, singing, dancing, acrobatic movements, some hits and playing various musical instruments.

This event was leaded by the master of the school, Mestre Aberre of Aberre Capoeira school. Ceremony lasted for about 4 and a half hours, after about 40 min of warming up, which was really intense already, we stayed around roda (the circle) clapped our hands, watched the more experienced capoeristas dance, then belt inauguration ceremony started, guys who were eligible for next level, were supposed to play dance with the master and between each other of the same level. there were a lot of different levels there, so my group waited about 2 hours for our turn, standing, singing and clapping hands.
So finally our master put our new belts around our waists and fun began!

I did some serious martial arts training in my life before like military ju jutsu, the same that special forces in army undergoes, and others martial arts training, getting up to 18 trainings per week, thats about 3 traings a day on average, so my organism is prepared for long, exhausting trainings i dont even notice 1 training in capoeira or 2 hour tennis game, but here, i dont know why, i was just falling of my feets when i danced, i guess emotional and physical effort that we put in, was enormous.
So finally there i am, legitimate holder of the first level belt in Capoeira :D
Congratulate me

After Batizando ended, everyone went to a pub, but i couldn't go awww, because i arranged a farewell party for me in a different place, since tomorrow was my last day in Brazil.

Batizado de Capoeira remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Sao Paulo

2007-02-28T20:08:20Z

4th biggest city in the world. Without 1 major center, SP is a business city, 2nd in the world by amount of private helicopters after New york.
Brazilians spend their times, by working, doing barbecues on weekends, going to cinema, museums, football matches, dancing samba, shopping, living their life off just everywhere else. Since i spent hell of time in SP i indulged my self with all listed above and i`l like to to point out activities i had during my stay SP.
Every weekend barbecue - thats obvious, Capoeira, i grew more fond it every day, shopping, honestly i don't know why, i bought 15 pairs of jeans in SP.

Major shopping centers are Ibirua Puera shopping, Bras where you will see all little shops, and stands outside, occupies 15 blocks
Mercadao Area, the same occupies about 10 blocks, of course there are a lot more than just those, but those are the major and most famous.
Prices in SP, 1$ USA = 2.12 - 2.19 Brazilian reals $R the rate of their currency was changing that fast because of president elections that was taking place when i was there.
So metro costs 2.10$R
good lunch will cost you 15$R you can eat hamburger at Bras for 1$R but i wouldn't do it though 3-4$R hamburgers were just fine.
T-shirts from 10-20$R, jeans, 40-100R$ for non brand ones.
If you want to buy a car, don't do it in Brazil, they are so expensive there, 2-3 more times expensive than in my country, i dont know why..
In Europe for example new A6 costs 70000$US, now probably cheaper, and in Brazil it costs 150000$US
Hotels, 50-60$R 2-3 star hotels all around SP, appartament in a secured area with security, pool, sauna and other activities will cost you up to 1500$R a month, thats without furniture, you can get apartments in casual house, that just has apartments and without all these services for about 600-800R$ a month. so if you are staying in SP for a long time its a good idea to rent one.
Museums; Pinacoteca it has all kind of Brazilian painters, Ipiranga the house of royal family in SP, Rio has a better one since it was capital in Imperial Brazil, Ipiranga is not a best area, so just watch out there, you cannot make photos or movies inside museum, but i made some, until guard caught me hehe
MASP: it has example of very fine art of such artists as Cezannes, Toulouse-Loutrec, Van Gogh and others, rumor is this museum is in a very bad shape, due to low funding.
In streets close to Av.Paulista there are lots of bars and discotheques if you`re interested, SP is huge, there are probably a lot of best bars and places to choose from, i can't really give names, because i don't remember
Cathedral de Se, biggest cathedral in SP.

Municipal theater it has quite low admission fee and has a lot of shopping around it

Liberdade, Japanese quarter, some people living there don't even speak Portuguese, you can buy lot of Japanese stuff there, like sushi, katanas and anything else.

Patio de Colegio, Colegio Square with probably oldest church in Brazil where first mass Christian mass took place, around this area you can get to the top of some building and get a nice view.

Praca de republica on weekends, artist gather around there selling their paintings, for 500-600$R they can make a painting of you 150x100cm. And it is quite great, he will ask for your photo, and 2 weeks. Also this place has a lot merchant that sell lots of accessories;eg bracelets, necklaces, apparel and souvenirs

All these places reachable from city center, Avenida Paulista in 10 minutes max by subway. Patio de Colegio, 25 de marcio, Praca republica, Cathedral de Se and Liberdade are all in the city center, you can get to Sao Bento metro and just explore it all, easy to move around, just ask policeman or vendor for a name and he will point you direction.
Av.Paulista

Ibira Puera Park, must visit site, huge, awesome park with museums, attractions, bike rentals, thousands of people on weekends, etc.. i have separate blog entry about it.

SP has 4 football stadiums, I went to one of them to Palmeiras - Botofogo game probably team names won't tell you much, but Brazilians love their football, obviously.. I learned so many bad words that day standing on tribunes, hearing 25000 people shouting son of B.... in Portuguese when someone missed a pass or made a mistake.
They have special songs they sing to discourage the opponent team and fans, you can buy bear and concentrate on it if you feel bored as i did, honestly it was my 2nd time on football game, first one was in Rio in Maracana, by the chance it was also a Botofogo - something else game, and i didn't really enjoyed it, so we left after first half, but here ihad to stay, because i came with a lot of Brazilian friends so i had to stay with them, so i did in cold heavy rain that lasted for 50 minutes and of course i did not had umbrella with me, so you can imagine how i felt, though i enjoyed the energy of the mass, when someone scored, whole stadium exploded with energy and you feel very much in action.
You see those guys on photo; they stop every 5th car or a bus for a minute, surround your car completely, sing a hymn of their team, while about 40 hands pumping your car with palms. Nobody seem to object though, i imagine what kind of reaction first day tourist would have if he have gotten him self in this situation hehe

I know who lives in those houses :D

SP Zoo, I wasn't amazed honestly, feels like in any other zoo in the world, nice place spend a day, about 50 min from centre of SP by car in 2 hours you can see whole place.

honestly after visiting everything possible in Sao Paulo i grew quite tired of it honestly, to visit SP is a great place, but to live i prefer Rio

Sao Paulo remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Use sun protector in Brasil !

2007-02-28T19:23:43Z

So one night, before i bought ear plugs, my friend was snorting so loud, i couldn't fall asleep all night and in the morning i told him i`m going out and totally pissed went to Ibira Puera Park where i decided to sleep for 4-5 hours, I just found a bench in park and fall asleep, when i woke up, i felt quite all right, but closer to evening i started to feel funny, my friends were telling you`re so red, i said its no problem at all, im gonna be black in a few days, closer to midnight, my body started shaking, so i put some alcohol on it, i didn't really wanted to do it, but my friend suggested it to me. oh well, i must say i didn't sleep this night as well, my body was all cold and shaking, and i couldn't feel my legs, like i could move then no problem, but the feeling was as if i didn't have them.
Next morning my face was a huge red balloon, i got lots of laughs from friends with that. I was doing sunbathing almost every day to get tan, but after that episode all my efforts were lost for nothing, i lost all my color, and couldnt go to sun again for a week or so at all..I believe there are other ignorant people like me hehe, so guys buy sun protection there it costs 15$R, protection 4 is good for sunbathing, if you plan to stay a lot in sun, like all day use protection 15.
This happened in October, when sun weak by Brazilian standards, imagine what it feels like there in January

Use sun protector in Brasil ! remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Ibira Puera

2007-02-28T19:33:04Z

This is a big place with 5 or 6 museums, cafes, and random merchants along the way, selling icecream and water. Restaurants, basketball areas, children yards, Main road is build in a circle around lakes and parks with loads of small passages, Nature is amazing there, it has different places with different kinds of trees, you can rent a bicycle there for 3$R an hour, and make a full circle in park in about 10-15 minutes on it, but if you want to ride a bike i stronly suggest you to come on weekdays, because on weekends there are so many people, that driving it on a speed higher than walking is nearly impossible, so you can leave the bike and do some running there is no better place for it than here in SP. One day i met there Minister of Culture there Gileberto Gil, who was propagandizing for one of candidates for presidents post, hehe.
About museums, there was a museum of some Afro-Brazilian art, some paintings museum, astronomical museum, another painting museum, sorry i dont really remember what kind of paintings it has. and some creatures museum i think this were snakes or spiders, so i definitely did not go there :P
If you`re stuck in SP which is stone jungles, go to Ibira Puera, you`ll love it.

Ibira Puera remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Assault :(

2007-02-13T06:01:41Z

I was told, all the time, by different people in Brazil: Don`t show off, don`t wear expensive stuff like watches, don`t talk on celurar in crowded places. Be careful, always look around you. That`s what all Brazilians do.
So one day me, my friend and a our woman friend were driving in SP, about 5 minutes from main street Av. Paulista. We stopped under the bridge on a traffic light, before us there were about 3 rows of cars, to the left, to the right and behind there also were cars, so we could not move. to the left from road there was a fence, and a gym apparatus under the bridge, just behind the fence, and to the right, rows of houses, with no visible doors..So there i was, siting in front of driver, playing my celurar phone, it was 6PM in november its already dark, and the light from phone was very visible, next thing happens, my friend hits on my hands, my phone flies under the seat, im trying to get it back, and telling him like wtf are you doing, he said look, so i looked outside, and i saw 3 black guys walking towards our car, with guns, they were no more than 16-17 year old, so my friend beeped horn, tried to move his car a little, then those guys turned to car 2 meters away from ours, surrounded them took something from inside and then just walked away.. So that was unnecessary attention i was drawing, i won`t do it again...By the way if it happens to you, don't try to resist, give what they want..

Assault :( remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Santos

2007-02-13T05:34:52Z

City of Santos is a closest beach to Sao Paulo about 2 hours by bus.
Road to Santos follows some nice scenery, including favelas and mountains. Upon arrival you perhaps had grown a question in you, what you gonna do there, unless you already know there are information booths where people speak English, they`ll give you map and point out major points, such as beach, coffee museum, football museum, (Pele comes from Santos team) beaches and mall if you`re interested in shopping. There are also diving school and eco tourism companies there which have tours every weekend, also there is an aquarium. I spent about hour on a beach, spent some time in mall, then walked old city, i was too late to enter coffee museum So by the evening i absorbed the atmosphere of this place, small town about 500.000, nobody hurries nowhere, unlike SP. Very very nice trip for 1 day. If you want to stay more, there are hotels there, but i`d suggest to get into hotel for 50R$ in there, cuz hotels for 25$R which there are a lot are filled with putas (hookers) and probably attract some dubious personalities...well, like everywhere, and not necessary at all.
Santos is 1 of the beach towns situated on the eastern coast in SP state. There are other places very much likes Santos - Praja Grande, Guaraja , Sao Vincente, Sao Sebastiao. but be warned that busses circulate among some of these place once per 3-4 hours, to some directoins twice a day only, so look at schedule upon arrival, before you leave to city. I visited Guaraja as well, this place is a resort, all it has, beaches, hotels, cafes, little shops and lots of houses owned by people from SP who come here on holidays. If in Santos there are museums, in Guaraja you will not find even one muesum, this place is a 100% resort. If you looking for it, its your place, i can compare Guaraja to Rio de Janeiro, it has similar city planing, lots of beaches, houses among those beaches, but Rio is Rio, much more beautiful, if your aim is to get some sun, to relax, go to Rio, Guaraja can wait

Santos remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Mercadao, 25 de Marcio

2007-02-12T05:11:09Z

This place, Mercadao a Big covered Bazaar where they sell raw food, fish, all kind of berries, cheese etc, also have some medicore fast foods, and outside that place in all directions there are streets crowded with merchants where they sell everything, fake Johny Walker from Paraguay, baby whistles, you hear them everywhere, and if you came before christmas lots of that stuff, if you need to buy cheap clothes, apparels, head over there, look at first, cuz basically they sell all the same things in that huge area, and if you plan to buy illegal dvd from merchats be carefull, buy only from guys who have dvd players with them, so you can check Disk you bought because, some people sell cheaper discs, and they dont have DVD player for you to check, but those discs are empty, it happened to me..
I forgot the name of the big Bazaar in Sao Paulu where 1 day of the week , in 1 certain day they sell only flowers,its easy to find it where abouts if you`re interested i bought 50 roses for 2$, in my country this quality of rose costs 1$ each at least, so if you want to impress your girlfriend, do this :P

Mercadao, 25 de Marcio remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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Capoeira

2007-02-12T06:26:32Z

September the 12th, when i made my way to the Martial Academia, and introduced myself to fantastic world of Capoeira, this sport has music, singing and dance/fight. I trully started absorbing brazilian culture there, i liked it this much i was doing it 2 times a day, and that was enough to be granted my first level in Capoeira in just 80 days :D
At first i was like all noobs, was a bit shy, because i was in country which language i didnt knew, so i couldnt even communicate. But later on i just got into capoeira rhythm

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Rio De Janeiro

2007-02-12T04:01:16Z

It really is unique city in the world, I have been To Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, S. America, but this city stand aside from every other by its unreal atmosphere of romantic. You can really get this kind of thoughts that all happy people live in Rio, but its one of most dangerous cities in SA, there are houses of CEO and bankers and across the road huge Favella with 1 million inhabitants (favela is a place where all poor people live without water, perhaps without canalization and a very dangerous place)...

We went to Rio by car, which is 4 hours from Sao Paulo, we stoped at Parecida Church, huge church in the middle of nowhere, Brazil is extremly religious country, you can see people whispering something when walking past churches and doing cross on their chest, so there were like 20000 people around that place, if you religious its a place to go.
We arrived at about 1pm, got settled in hotel, then hanged around Capacabana, famous beautiful beach. In the evening we went to Maracana stadium for a game of BOTOFOGO - Corinthias. we spent only 45 min there, cuz it started feeling quite boring. On the 2nd day we visited christo redentor, that big statue of Jesus on the mountains, to my surprise it was small, and most of people when they see this picture asking me where is another stature big one..So its not quite big at all. There is an amzing view on Rio from up there.
During our stay there we went to some Restaurant i dont remember its name, but its famous and will be easy to find if you want to. There you pay 40$ and can eat all you want, there are waiers walking arround with all kinds of meat, if you want him to give it to you, you just have to turn your mark to green side, they give special papers with 2 sides red if you dont want mean and green if you do it has even sharks, crocodiles, some rare birds. so if you`re hungry go there

Rio De Janeiro remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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First Week

2007-02-12T04:03:16Z

from the first days being in Brazil, i was dragged to every party that was happening there. Jara`s BBQ, 25 people, only 1 speaks english.
There I learned to make caipirinha, famous Brazilian drink made of lemons vodka and sugar with variations. A lot of fun, drunk people and pretty looking non english speaking girls :D
Cida BBQ Again 40 people, noone speaks english, so guys you can imagine what kind of fun i had there. Though some folks could say like 20 words in english, that helped a lot in communication.

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Just arrived

2007-02-12T04:04:26Z

So Arrived to Garrulous Airport at 16:45 PM, on the last day of August, after long, exhausting flight, i was looking forward to start new life, short life for 3 months away from European experiences of civilization. My first impression was, honestly that Garrulous Airport is dirty, so i had impression of some not dirtiness but rather uncomfortableness to which added the fact that my friend who was supposed to meet me, never showed up, i spent another 40 minutes by calling to his work, as i found out i had only this phone number of his and at his work, nobody spoke english, only portuguese, later in my expirence after 500 different contacts in brazil i realized that only 8 person spoke some english and only 1 spoke perfect english, that was a foreigner who decided to live in Brazil. So meanwhile i was desperately browsing my emails in airport cafe looking for his cellular number, a guy next to me approached and as i found out he had the same problem as me, so he helped me, he called to the phone number and got me assured that my friend will come soon and after 30 minutes he arrived. So went to his house which was about 1hr from airport in Paraiso District, fantastic place, a real fortress in those stone jungles.

I just got relaxed, had a drink and went off to bed in expectations and thoughts what i`m gonna see in next 3 months.

Just arrived remains copyright of the author vanbest, a member of the travel community Travellerspoint.

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