Visiting Sao Paulo was a bit intimidating.
We weren't really sure what to expect prior to visiting South America's largest city,
however, we found that in that midst of the crowds and chaos there were cool pockets filled
with parks, street art, and an abundance of restaurants.
For this video, we also had two of our Brazilian friends join us and they were able to provide
a unique window into the city.
This travel guide will showcase 20 things to do in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
This morning we are visiting Ibirapuera Park.
And it is actually a really cool place.
Like this area is full of art galleries and museums and you can go skateboarding.
You see tonnes of people exercising and the park is kind of divided up into different
sections so you've got all kinds of museums and different activities.
And it is massive!
Yeah, super cool hangout spot and I can see it being really popular on weekends.
Like this would be a great place to come and just enjoy being close to nature in the middle
of São Paulo.
Within the park grounds you’ll find the Afro-Brasil Museum, which is a contemporary
museum that looks at African culture and influence in Brazilian society.
And not too far from there, you’ll come across the Museum of Modern Art.
So it is time to get artsy in Sao Paulo.
We are currently visiting Beco do Batman and that is Batman's Alley.
And it is basically a series of little lanes and alleyways covered in graffiti and it is
super cool.
So let's go.
Batman Alley is located in Vila Madalena and it has become a popular tourist and Instagram
spot.
Apparently the place gets its name because the first piece of graffiti to go up was one
of Batman back in the 1980s.
If only they played hockey in Brazil Sam.
These aren't your kind of people.
I know this would be the most amazing museum if this was a hockey museum.
But so far we're loving all of the posters and artifacts on the wall.
Like there is a very impressive display.
Let's go see rest of the football museum.
Yes!
I win!
I beat Sam at Foosball.
If you’re a football lover, this is a place you won’t want to miss.
We thought the coolest part was a section where you can see projections of crowds cheering
at a game, and the powerful speakers make it feel like you’re in the middle of the
action.
Yeah!
Being the foodies that we are, we couldn’t skip the
Municipal Market.
Here you can find exotic fruits, fresh vegetables, meats, spices and even restaurants.
We went there right around the lunch hour to try the famed mortadella sandwich.
Look at that.
So we just arrived in Sao Paulo's Municipal Market.
It is lunchtime.
We were starving and we saw that they have these amazing Mortadella sandwiches.
Have a look at this.
This is a monster.
As I was approaching the table Sam was like 'Wow'.
You know what, I haven't seen a sandwich that big since we've had it from Katz's in New
York City.
Do you remember the pastrami sandwiches we had there?
Amazing!
And this place is called Hocca bar.
I think I'm pronouncing that right in Portuguese.
Hocca.
Hocha?
So yeah, there is a huge line here, the place is packed and we've ordered the sandwich that
is called Bellissimo.
If you have a look here it is thick amounts of Mortadella, some melted cheddar cheese
and also sun-dried tomatoes in there.
And like a fluffy white bun.
Like French bread.
Ah, you know what.
Let's dig in.
That's going to be hard to bite in to.
Okay, so let's try to dip it into this spicy pepper sauce.
Like this is so gooey and greasy.
Oh, look at the cheese!
Look at the cheese.
Wow!
Crazy.
So good.
Yeah?
So, good.
Also their sauce is quite spicy.
A lot spicier than I was expecting.
So I'm like burning in my throat.
Your tongue is on fire.
It is just so juicy, I know I keep saying this but look at that.
It's like oozing juice and grease and it is just the bread is sopping it all up.
My gosh.
One more bite and then I'll share.
From there, we visited São Paulo Cathedral.
We only learned this after our visit, but there’s a crypt you can visit underneath
the church.
Next up we headed to the neighborhood of Liberdade, which has the largest Japanese community in
the world outside of Japan.
And because it was right around lunchtime we decided to hit up a sushi buffet for some
food!
I love sushi!
So how are you feeling after three massive plates full of sushi?
Like beyond stuffed.
Absolutely beyond stuffed.
But I have to say for this sushi buffet place it was amazing.
Normally when you go to a sushi buffet the quality tends to be low.
But the quality was really high here and like we were leaving very satisfied.
Yeah, so if you're in Sao Paulo and you're craving sushi come to Tanka.
Tanka!
That evening we met up with our Brazilian friends, who took us out for a night on the
town.
So today we are hanging out with two of our Brazilian friends from Sao Paulo.
This is Dani and Andre.
Hey.
And they've taken us out to a Izakaya to have Japanese food.
So, what are we having?
It is both Japanese and Brazilian food.
This is coxinha probably the most famous Brazilian snack.
That looks good.
And this is eggplant with miso and mira with egg.
Oh, and it is all delicious.
And I think this is going to be some of the best eggplant we've ever had apparently.
Let's take a bite of that.
That's really good.
Oh yeah.
Yeah.
It's good?
Unbelievable.
That's more than good.
That's good.
Good start.
Over here it is like intestines from pork.
Pork intestines.
So chicken throat and pork intestines.
Yeah.
Go for it Sam.
It sounds exciting.
Go for it.
I love the sauce.
I'm going to get lots of sauce on here.
Let's try that.
Yeah, you know what.
That's pretty good.
I like the sauce.
The sauce is awesome.
So was that the neck or the intestine?
Intestine.
I ate the intestine.
Yeah.
Okay.
Brave boy.
We have somehow ended up at a Karaoke bar with our friend Andre and his wife Dani.
This is the type of Karaoke bar where don't get your own private room.
You are performing in front of everyone in the bar.
We're singing in public.
So you better be good and we suck.
Sam is up next.
How are you feeling?
Nervous.
I'll be fine.
Your first time doing Karaoke in public.
Yes.
It really is.
A few minutes away.
All eyes upon me.
No, just kidding.
So good morning from Sao Paulo.
We had a bit of a late night last night singing Karaoke with friends.
But it is our last day in the city so we need to go out and sightseeing.
So we're starting off the morning with a traditional breakfast.
So if you have a look down here we've just ordered coffee.
Coffee with milk.
Pretty simple.
I've also got my Pão de queijo.
And that is a big one!
And that is a massive one.
So this is the cheese bread made with the manioc flower.
Yes, and here comes the other part.
This is the bread that has been cooked in butter, right?
It's like the toast.
Okay, so can you tell us how pão na chapa is made?
So basically the keep it really simple here in Brasil which is kind of cool.
It's just your bread, cooked on a pan with butter.
It is really simple but it looks really tasty.
Yeah.
But it is so nice and buttery and like the bread is flaky.
It is like a French bread.
They must put a lot of butter on there.
Yeah, that's really nice.
But you know what I do wish they had a bit of jam.
Like this bread with a bit of strawberry jam would just be magic.
You know what I would put cream cheese on mine.
Cream cheese?
With a dollop of strawberry jam on top.
Oh.
Now that is the winning combo.
Oh, look at that.
It is so cheesy inside.
This is amazing.
Because you know what we've been going to a place called Case de Pão de queijo.
And over there you get like these tiny little balls that are just like bite sized.
But this is like a proper gigantic.
The is the grand daddy of them all.
That is bigger than our hand.
Yeah, and see if you can get the texture of this.
Just look at that.
It is so cheesy.
Oh.
How is that?
That is good.
Perfecto?
That is authentic.
Yeah.
It is like really chewy because of all the cheese in there.
Nice and starchy.
It is good stuff.
This is what I'm going to miss when we leave today.
Pão de queijo.
Alright, time to try the coffee.
Wow.
It is really sweet isn't it.
Really really sweet.
There is a pile of sugar added.
I like it.
I'm loving the coffee.
I like it too.
I usually have my coffee black but this is a nice jolt of energy in the morning.
It tastes more like a dessert coffee.
And now this is completely unrelated to breakfast but you saw cocada.
I saw the cocada and this is like our favorite coconut slash snack slash dessert and it is
basically just coconut and whole bunch of sugar and maybe a little bit of milk.
Look at this thing of beauty.
It's like a coconut bar.
Oh man, that is so good.
This has nothing to do with breakfast but I'm already eating sweets for breakfast.
Why not?
You just couldn't resist it.
It's your last day in Sao Paulo.
You may as well enjoy it.
I'm doing whatever I want.
That morning we visited Pinacoteca do Estado, which is a cool art museum that focuses on
works by Brazilian artists or works with Brazilian subject matter.
After that we headed over to Parque da Luz.
This park is right next to the museum and it has a lot of interesting sculptures scattered
about.
Sao Paulo’s Teatro Municipal first opened in 1911.
It’s a beautiful building that houses the symphonic orchestra, the lyrical choir, and
the city ballet, and it also has a cafe on site where you can enjoy some tea and cake
in a setting unlike any other.
The Martinelli building is 30 stories high and it was the first skyscraper in South America.
At the time people were frightened of such heights, so in order to prove the building
was safe, the architect built a 4-story mansion on top of the building and moved in with his
family.
Today you can visit the viewing deck where admission is free and you get some great views
of Sao Paulo.
Not too far, you also have Edificio Italia, which is a 46-story high skyscraper.
It too has a rooftop observation deck that is open to the public.
Sao Bento is one of the oldest and most important churches in the city.
Its foundations date back to 1598, though the facade you see today is from the 20th
century.
We were also pleasantly surprised when we learned there’s a bakery inside the monastery.
So we just finished visiting Mosteiro de São Bento which is a monastery and they happen
to have a bakery inside.
So they make their own local bread and cakes which is pretty cool.
So we picked up a little muffin and this one is made with apples, cinnamon and walnuts.
Wow, that looks delicious.
Yeah.
So apparently all of the proceeds from the sales go back to the Monastery and back to
the church.
Which is cool.
And now let's see what it is like.
The big unveil.
There it is.
How does that look?
It looks good.
Let me break off a piece.
Break off a chunk and try it.
That is pretty good.
It has chopped walnuts inside.
A nice cinnamon flavor.
This is pretty good.
I give it a thumbs up.
The priests know how to bake.
Surprise, surprise.
A short walk from the monastery, you’ll find Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil, which
is a cultural centre that hosts contemporary art and exhibitions.
And lastly, we went by the Renault Theatre where you can catch some of the latest performances
in the city.
Now let’s talk about transportation.
São Paulo has the largest population of any city in South America and traffic jams are
a daily struggle.
We gave up on taxis early on and started taking the metro which is affordable and efficient.
It might be a little packed during rush hour, but it’ll get you where you’re going the
quickest way possible.
And that’s a quick look at how we spent 2 days in Sao Paulo.
We hope you enjoyed this guide and that it gave you some ideas on how to tackle South
America’s largest city.
As always, if you have any other suggestions of fun things to do in Sao Paulo, feel free
to share those with us in the comments below.
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