Spending time more time in Brasil is a lifelong dream of mine, having been born there but moved to London when I was small. Being in Brasil for me is the opportunity to immerse myself in a culture that belongs to me but that is far away day to day.
So, when an opportunity came up to visit Sao Paulo for business, I leapt at the chance. I didn’t have long there, and my free time was limited, but I made as much of my time there that I could.
Let’s dive in to some of my favourite bits:
The Hotel Fasano
The Hotel Fasano is a beautiful hotel located in the lovely Jardins district of Sao Paulo.
Whilst we didn’t spend much time there, I can very much recommend the room (beautiful, comfortable, full of amenities like beautiful picture books), the service (quiet, courteous, accommodating) and the food (the buffet breakfast is a dream, full of both brasilian and more european options).
Our area
On our first day, once we’d settled in a bit to the hotel and rejuvenated ourselves (that long flight and jetlag are a bitch), we went for a walk around our neighbourhood.
It was really interesting to see the juxtaposition of buildings in our surrounding area.
Of the newer buildings I could see, there was some beautiful details, like the geometric pattern on the side of the building above.
For the older, or less well-kept buildings, so many of them had been turned into canvases for bright, bold graffiti. I personally loved how the ever-present graffiti helped to make them into a rich tapestry of the city, versus functional, dreary shells.
The other thing I loved about the places we walked around in Sao Paulo was the real community vibe.
Vila Madalena
Speaking of graffiti, we had heard that one particular area of Sao Paulo was famous for its graffitied walls, creative vibe and delicious street food – Vila Madalena.
After business meetings, we hopped over for a stroll around the neighbourhood and a bite to eat.
The area was everything that had been promised – streets and streets full of vibrant grafitti and artwork, cute cafes and bars nestling throughout.
The one call-out is that it turned out every other tourist had the great idea to go there as well, so it was pretty busy. But to be honest, I think it adds to the atmosphere!
High-rise views
After spending a bunch of time on the ground-level, it was time to go higher!
It’s super hard to get the scale of a place when you’re on the ground, and I really really wanted to see Sao Paulo from up high. I had done some googling on the plane and found out that it was one of the largest cities in the world by population, and so I was keen to understand how that translated in reality to our landscape.
We went to this high-rise bar in more central Sao Paulo that was famed for its 360 views of the city, ordered some drinks and waited for the sun to go down and do its thing.
I’m so glad that we did this because honestly, the sunset over Sao Paulo was breathtaking to see in person, and generally being able to see a complete 360 view of the vastness of the city was absolutely incredible.
The city seemed to stretch forever into the horizon in every single direction, and not only that, seemed to stretch upwards consistently too. Suddenly it make sense why this was one of the most populous places on earth.
Nature
Like any urban jungle, you may wonder where the greenery is, and we were too.
We had heard that one of the best green spots in Sao Paulo was somewhere called Parque Ibirapuera. So we decided to pop down, check it out and have a break in the sun!
This was a great little excursion, and the park was really lovely. It was great to people watch a little too and see the locals go about their business… we saw a heated football match, cute little intimate picnics, and lots of jogging.
It was also a great reminder that Sao Paulo isn’t all concrete, but also has green havens.
The food
One thing I have yet to mention, and definitely need to, is the culinary scene in Sao Paulo.
I was absolutely blown away by the breadth and quality of delicious cuisine everywhere we went.
I won’t share all my favourite food pics because then we will be here all day, but here are a couple of highlights:
We went to a delicious Japanese restaurant (did you know Sao Paulo has over 1.5m citizens of Japanese descent, the largest concentration outside of Japan itself!), called Jam Jardins.
I’m not sure if it is the absolute best one there, as we picked it because of proximity to where we were, but I can tell you that it was delicious!
Outside of specific restaurants, there were just some genuinely good eats and drinks I had there. Things that standout were these beautiful lychee martinis, banana based snacks, and sakerinhas – a beautiful fusion of the two national drinks of Japan and Brasil: Sake and Caipirinhas
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A final word on Sao Paulo.:I would love to go back and have more time to explore.
But, I’m forever indebted that I got to go on this trip, and hope I will be back again!
