Arriving in Sao Paulo we exited the GRU terminal. The first thing we saw was a taxi station where for a fixed price we could get a taxi to the city Centre. I remember how different everything looked from the taxi window. It was raining in Sao Paulo that November day. The air was humid and hot. We could see the skyscrapers and we were so excited! We booked a flat on Air B&B in one of the most famous buildings in Sao Paulo, where we stayed Tuesday-Saturday. So a busy few days were waiting for us.
The check-in was smooth and easy. We both studied and worked from the apartment. The internet was fast and reliable. The apartment was well-equipped, stylish and comfortable with an amazing view of the city. Personally, I recommend this flat for a short or longer stay for a single person or couple.
The area was within walking distance to the city centre, with plenty of shops, ATMs and restaurants nearby. A local friend said later, this was not the safest area. Honestly, we did not have any trouble even when browsing for a place to eat at 22:00 or taking out cash from the ATM. There were many homeless and prostitute on the streets, but this was a part of the experience. First, it was shocking but we expected something like this in a city of 20 million people. When you arrive in a city, you must walk confidently trying to blend in with the locals. While enjoying the experience, make sure your valuable personal belongings are kept hidden and secure.Our first day (Wednesday) started with a lot of walking to find a place for a PCR-test as we expected to continue our journey on the weekend. We got some hospital recommendations from our host. The clinic, Salomao Zoppi was one that was recommended. Their first clinic didn’t have any PRC-tests, the second branch said they didn’t do them there, another wasn’t available and finally after a bunch of walking we ended up at their 3rd branch. The clinic was modern and clean but nobody spoke in English. As we don`t speak any Portuguese, Google Translator was our friend. I can go into more details about the administration, process etc but it’s not worth it, as I do not recommend this clinic at all. The receptionist was very rude and we got the result 17 hours later than they promised it! Without our new friend Urias, the result could take even longer. So, this is a clinic not recommended by me.The area was within walking distance to the city centre, with plenty of shops, ATMs and restaurants nearby. A local friend said later, this was not the safest area. Honestly, we did not have any trouble even when browsing for a place to eat at 22:00 or taking out cash from the ATM. There were many homeless and prostitute on the streets, but this was a part of the experience. First, it was shocking but we expected something like this in a city of 20 million people. When you arrive in a city, you must walk confidently trying to blend in with the locals. While enjoying the experience, make sure your valuable personal belongings are kept hidden and secure.
As vegans, we tried to find vegan-friendly restaurants but due to Covid, we could not find many. Most of them had a very limited operating hour, permanently closed or just served take away orders. The best restaurant we tried was an Asian style place called Panda Vegan. There was a nice variety of food that was very tasty and inexpensive. This might not have been the best place to eat in Sao Paulo but we enjoyed it, returning twice.
Our first day (Wednesday) started with a lot of walking and finding a place for a PCR-test as we expected to continue our journey at the weekend. We got a recommendation for hospitals from our host. Salomao Zoppi the clinic was recommended and first we walked to one of their branches where they said, they don`t do it there, pointed to an other branch, which was also not available, so ended up at their 3rd branch. The clinic was modern and clean but nobody spoke in English. As we don`t speak any Portuguese, Google Translator was our friend. I can go into more details about the administration, process etc but not worth it, as simply I do not recommend this clinic at all. The receptionist was very rude and we got the result 17 hours later than they promised it! Without our new friend Urias, the result could take even longer. So this is a clinic not recommended by me.
On our second day (Thursday), I wanted to book our next flight to Paraguay, but my first experience was that LATAM Airline did not accept any of my European debit and credit cards. After hours of trying, I decided to visit a LATAM Travel Agency in Patio Paulista Mall in the hope they could help with the booking. It is a part of the story that we have a friend in Austria, who is originally from Sao Paulo, he introduced us to his cousin, Urias, who is living in the city. Urias came with us helping at the travel agency As we noticed, very few people actually speak in English, even in a large city like this. It was a hard job at the agency. It took a good 2 hours, even with a local friend like ours. We finally could find a ticket for the same week, Saturday operated by a local airline Olathe trouble was that this flight was going to Foz do Iguaçu International Airport, which was close to the Paraguayan border but far from Asuncion. As we did not have more option, we booked our tickets on this flight. In the next episode, I will write in details how we got into Asuncion from this Airport.
The weather was quite humid in November. The morning was 20-24 and the daytime was 30-32 Celsius degrees. We enjoyed this climate coming from the cold Europe where winter just started.
We had a nice walk in the city, viewed some famous skyscrapers, towers with our friend, Urias. Unfortunately, museums were closed but even walking in a big city like this was an amazing experience.
The city from Covid point of view looked safer than many parts of Europe. Everybody wore masks even on the streets and not under the nose. At shops, shopping centres there was a temperature check and at the entrance there was alcohol hand-sanitizing.
We were ready to depart on Saturday however, we were a bit anxious about our PCR-test results. We sat on the plane ready to take off and just before switching off my device, I got an e-mail from Urias. After hours on the phone with the lab, he managed to get the results and forwarded them to us! What a hero! Both results were negative and we were ready to take off, yay! What a relief! The lab had some kind of IT-system problem or something, either way, it was not a nice experience.
During these days, we were often emotional about how much Urias helped us. We knew each other for only hours but he sacrificed his time to help us in many ways. We were truly amazed, we have never seen such kindness in Europe. We will always be grateful for him forever and we surely will return to Brazil. Urias was our guardian angel in this big city and surely, it is a fantastic thing where ever you go in the World, if you know even just one local person who can help you.
In the next episode I will write about our arrival to the border of Paraguay, how we got into the country and our first night in Asuncion. Our first night will be always remembered as it was one of the scariest experience of ours so far.
