Exploring Sao Paulo . . .

No matter what time of day we walk out on the streets of Sao Paulo, there's always something new to see. Today we took the METRO and made three transfers to take a walking tour in the Sampa neighborhood (see the slideshow below). Allen's gray hair causes people to jump up and offer him a seat for here in Brazil most people are younger. The METRO is easy to use and was very crowded on the way back to our hotel.

But we were able to see the Theatro Municipal with its monumental sculptures in baroque style, including Hercules, and pass by a lovely Parque Anhangabau, where once the Tupi-Guarani people called this valley, Demon's Valley, for they believed bad spirits once lived here. Today the Parque is entirely baroque in style, with a fountain of bronze horses to rival Rome's Trevi Fountain. We visited several churches and a cathedral, stopped for coffee, and then ended the day at Kazan, a highly recommended Japanese restaurant. Sao Paulo has the largest community of Japanese outside of Japan and their sushi is touted to be the best in the world. We agree!

Thanks to craigslist again and the internet, we were able to secure an apartment in Rio just one block from the beach in Copacabana, where temperatures will be in the upper 70s. By Jan 8, we'll be headed south, with fond memories of Sao Paulo to carry us. I think I will remember most the little gated city gardens, the very friendly people despite our fragmentary knowledge of Portuguese, the very fast drivers (including helmeted motorbike drivers), and with a population in the city itself of 12.6 million (29 million including the suburbs), I think we barely scratched the surface!

Enjoy the slideshow or download any picture directly from Webshots (see link to the right).



Sao Paulo, Brazil

Sao Paulo . . .

2009 begins in Brazil. Orchids grow wild here, high in the trees along busy Sao Paulo streets. We see flowers I cannot name along with bouganville, impatients, hibiscus trees, and palms of every order. The people do not rush. They stroll hand-in-hand and arm-in-arm, dressed for warm weather in shorts and skirts and sandals. They sit in cafes sipping coffee in the afternoon and wine in the evening.

After a 24-hour journey (including champagne at midnight on the plane) and two layovers, we nearly napped all of January 1 away at our hotel for this week in Sao Paulo, the Pousada Dona Zilah in the very green jardins (gardens) district.

Today we walked 10 blocks or so to MASP, the Museum of Art, Sao Paulo, to stroll as Brazilians do before the masters – Picasso, Rembrandt, Modigliani, Diego Rivera Joshua Reynolds, El Greco, Bosch, and new to us, the Brazilian artist, Portinari, among many, many others. We’ll return tomorrow.

Tonight I can sing praises to Brazilian pizza, the best I’ve eaten anywhere in the world. One day I will try to make our choice at the Margarita Pizza restaurant, their Godfather pizza with rough chopped boiled egg, slices of fresh tomato and ham, delicately flavored black olives, and cheese all baked crusty in an old-fashioned brick oven. We sleep comfortably with a simple fan turned on through the night for temperatures in the high 70s. Except for missing family and friends, this approaches heaven! I officially thank United for their mileage plus program! Total flying cost for two, round-trip from the US to Brazil, US $120.

Greetings from Mackinaw Island in Michigan. We drove here yesterday, up through the rolling farmland of Michigan, past the turn off for Travers City, and noting how small towns dominate here, the largest being about 3,000 people. We're in Mackinaw now over night after spending the day biking on the Island (no cars are allowed). We took the winding bike path up the hill to Arch Rock and saw lots of white and pink trillium and these lovely yellow ladies slippers along the way.



We're still headed west, through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan tomorrow, then on to Wisconsin and Minnesota. Gas prices here are averaging $4.04 with lots of rain predicted for Friday, Saturday and Sunday; my heart goes out to those in the midwest now fighting floods. We're skirting the top of the bad weather AND only 1800 miles to Spokane!

It's the morning after the day before, Easter parades, that is. We all walked through the French Quarter and along the Garden District to watch Easter finery in two parades, one featuring white convertibles and the other a small marching band and mule-driven carts. Both featured beads and bunnies thrown to the admiring throngs. My favorite moments came, though, when we walked atop the levee along the great Mississippi River, passed the Natchez steamboat complete with a calliope concert. Click the PLAY button!


New Orleans is a city of joy and celebration, hope and mystery, a love of life, yet a history of hidden lives. Now, post-Katrina, fearsome challenges remain that call for a community dialogue that stretches throughout the city and across our country.

On Monday, the sun broke through clouds and a light breeze riffled the palm trees and the water as we strolled along one of Fort Myers’ many canals, this one at Manatee Park. Armed with polarized sunglasses, we scanned the waters and immediately saw little snouts peeking up for a moment or two, then dipping back down. The manatees, we learned, prefer water warmer than 60 degrees, so they clustered together in a cove by the canal. We leaned on the waist high cyclone fence at the observation points to see those noses breaking water, and a glimpse of enormous bellies (they can eat up to 15% their body weight each day), before the manatee sinks to the depths. The manatees can stay underwater up to 20 minutes, but normally they surface about every 2-3 minutes, or every 30 seconds, if they’re very active.

What a mystery of life! These slow-moving manatees have simple needs, eating, resting, and traveling, with a lifespan almost human, 60 years. A park volunteer told us the manatees had nail-covered flippers, vestiges of toes somewhat shaped like those of elephants. Something led these plant-eating air-breathing creatures to stay in the water, those long eons ago, marked only by evolution and the rising and setting sun. Scientists estimate about 3,000 of these creatures remain, the survival of their species threatened by diminished habitat, litter, and speeding boats, though local governments have passed laws that protect the manatee and encourage research.

We followed the wandering paths through Manatee Park to see Red Mangrove trees, King Palms, and the shorter Cabbage Palm with its fibrous trunk, comprised entirely of long strings of golden vegetable fiber. We encountered only one large and very plastic alligator.

Tomorrow we’ll hike through the Corkscrew Swamp Sanctuary, and Wednesday, we fish on the open sea, with projected weather at 75 degrees. I still struggle with access to Internet, but found a coffee shop a few miles away from our condo, and each morning, the writing goes well. Make it a good week!

PS The mystery bird was a Domestic Muscovy duck, but it still looked like a turkey with a red head, thus qualifying it as a tur-duck at least.