Day two was actually spent chilling out and going for a run, but that isn’t particularly ground-breaking news, so for story-telling purposes, here we are on day two instead of day three.
After a healthy breakfast of cereal, tea (I brought 2 packs with me knowing the tea aboard is poo) and enough water melon and mango to sink a small ship, we set off to see Parc do Ibirapuera. It is a park in the centre of Sao Paulo with lots of open, green space and cool architecture by Oscar Niemayer (the architect who designed the city of Brasilia). We walked around, enjoyed the sunshine, views and various wildlife in the park.
In the evening we went over to visit Rosana’s auntie in an area called Bela Vista. We had a little supper and then headed around the corner to watch Vai Vai samba school perform their last rehearsal before carnaval. The rehearsal consisted of the bateria (drums) performing on stage outside to an audience in the region of 5000 people, who gathered in the street. There were stools selling everything from beer and caipirinhas to hot dogs and t-shirts. In the Samba hall (kind of like a club house), the girls were parading around and showing off their outfits and having interviews with the local press.
Vai Vai eventually came second in the carnaval this year, but in recent years have won it on numerous times. It was an interesting experience, and for me, probably better than carnaval (which I watched on TV) as it wasn’t as intense and crowded as the real thing, but fun all the same.
