Sao Paulo Part 2.

I'm already back in L.A., and back to work today. I'm at Jimmy Kimmel, working on the main stage show. Which usually affords me some spare time. That means I can finish my Sao Paulo blog. At least, post the rest of the pictures.

One more shot from the hotel...Here's the view from the window by the elevator. You can see in the foreground the very nice outdoor pool for the hotel. Just over the wall is the main drag into the heart of the city. Beyond that is a river. I think it's called the Tiete river. It stinks. Whenever I stepped out of my hotel room (even standing in the hall while I took this picture) I could smell the river. Words fail me at the moment to describe the smell. It's almost easier to just refer you to this show called "Vanguard" that did a documentary called the "World Toilet Crisis". You could almost smell that show. This river is black, and runs through the city. It even ran by the venue we played at. I think I know what was causing my headaches. I suppose if you live there, you probably get used to the methane stench, but I did find this article talking about an attempted clean up.


The second day we were in Sao Paulo, a few of us went over to the venue to see how the load in was progressing. The nice lady who sat in the lobby of our hotel (mentioned in this blog) arranged a van for us, and off we went. Above is a picture of the load in I took. They were starting to hang the video wall (the black grid in the middle of the picture) and were moving around some of my lighting trusses. As we were leaving the venue, we met up with the woman who was to be the "handler" for the band. More of a translator than anything, so we kidnapped her, and she translated to the van driver to take us around the city.

Our first stop was one I was anticipating for about three days before I left L.A. for Sao Paulo. I discovered the store, Decathlon, when I was touring Spain with Shakira. There was one near the venue in Zaragoza, where we rehearsed, and needless to say, I was hooked. It's like a supermarket of sporting goods, and cheap. They have their own lines of clothing and sporting goods. Even with the exchange rate of Euro's to dollars, the price was still better than similar items in the U.S. I even convinced Nicole to go to one when were in Paris in 2008. The best part of Decathlon? Cycling clothing! In addition their own line of clothes, they have pro gear cheap!

Alas, the Decathlon in Sao Paulo was a huge disappointment. I guess in a country not known for it's cyclists, I shouldn't have expected a good cycling department. They did have great soccer, volleyball, and table tennis departments.



It never really surprises me when I see a McDonalds or Burger King, or even a 7-Eleven when I go over seas. You see 7-Elevens all over Melbourne Australia. What you don't see there are Burger Kings. There, they are called Hungry Jacks because Burger King was already taken.

Imagine my surprise when I saw an AM/PM at a local gas station! As a matter of fact, while driving around the city, I saw several AM/PM's. I was able to snap this photo because we were at a stand still in traffic.



And speaking of traffic... There's lots of it in Sao Paulo. Everything gets stuck in traffic. We were touring through the garment district (That's what I called it because many of the store fronts were selling mannequins or were lines of people on sewing machines working away) and pulled up to a stop light. No sooner did we stop than a couple of motorcycles pulled up next to us and then this guy pushing a hand cart. He didn't have a horn, so he kept slamming his cargo on the road in an attempt to get the motorcycles to move forward. When they finally figured it out, he pulled up to the light, and turned right. Yes, he was in the street and not on the sidewalk. Go figure.



We asked our kidnapped "handler lady" to take us to a place that she goes to. So she took us to the farmers market.

The "Mercado Municipal" is a huge building, with stained glass windows and glass ceilings to let in natural light. Each section of the building had vendors selling similar products.

There was the spices and sauces section.


The salted and cured meats section. Butchers, fruits and vegetable sections. Even a section for cheeses and sausages. Upstairs was a food court of sorts, with four or five restaurants with open sections of seats. The "handler" (I wish I could remember her name!) recommended a sandwich place that she always eats at when she comes.



I ordered the most popular sandwich on the menu (so she says), the "Bellisimo" which as you can see is a mountain of mortadella and ham with melted cheese served in a flaky bun. Mortadella, if you don't know is like a baloney, but very salty. I guess it's a favorite of the Brazilian people. The restaurant was running a special of two beers for the price of one, so we took advantage of that.



After lunch we exited the Mercado Municpal and headed back to the van, on the way we noticed there trees, potted and suspended by guide wires above the stinky river. And it wasn't just this one, as we followed the road along the river there was a tree every 100 yards or so, suspended above the river. I couldn't figure it out, I chalked it up to some sort of modern art.

We headed back to the hotel, it was already late in the afternoon, and jet lag had caught up to most of us. It took us a while to get back, again because of traffic.

I think Sao Paulo is to South America what Seoul, Korea is to Asia. Both are economic centers for the regions, but neither are really touristy. Lots of businessmen doing business things. No one goes to Sao Paulo for vacation, not even the Brazilians. That's what Rio's for.

One more blog about Sao Paulo... Gotta talk about the Eminem show...

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