São Paulo, Brazil
Arrived in Sao Paulo from Brasilia and settled in for a couple of nights. After the social whirlwind of Brasilia, Sao Paulo felt like a change of pace — bigger, grittier, and more anonymous. But the World Cup had one more unforgettable moment in store.
Brazil versus Germany. The semi-final. We watched it at a pub in Vila Madalena, packed wall to wall with Brazilians who had shown up expecting to celebrate their team marching into the final on home soil. What happened instead was one of the most extraordinary things I’ve ever witnessed in sport. Germany scored. Then scored again. Then again. Then again. And again. By the time it was 5-0, the pub had gone from deafening to silent to something beyond disbelief. People were laughing because crying seemed inadequate. The final score — 7-1 — is now etched into football history, and watching it unfold in real time, in Brazil, surrounded by Brazilians, was pretty unbelievable. You could feel an entire nation’s heart breaking in that room.
We stayed at the pub drinking afterwards, partly because we were processing what we’d just seen and partly because, well, what else do you do? Eventually we stumbled out, grabbed hotdogs from a street vendor, and walked home through streets that were eerily quiet for a city of 12 million people. It felt like someone had pressed mute on Sao Paulo.
The next day had its own drama. Jorden nearly got thrown into a taxi by some random men on the street, which shook him up pretty badly. A reminder to keep your wits about you. On a lighter note, I had breakfast with Shaun and we walked along Avenida Paulista, Sao Paulo’s main boulevard — wide, impressive, lined with museums and office towers.
That afternoon we headed to Esch Cafe for food and a cigar while watching Argentina versus Holland. Bit of a stalemate, that one. Neither team wanted to commit to anything, and it ended up going to penalties. Not exactly a classic, but the cigar was good.
The following morning I woke up to discover Jorden was in hospital with stomach problems. Found him lying there with a drip attached to his arm, looking thoroughly sorry for himself. Sorted out his medicine and got him on the mend, but it was a reminder that travelling through Brazil isn’t always beaches and barbecues.
With Jorden recovering, I did some solo exploring. The Banespa Tower gives you a view of the city, and honestly, Sao Paulo really is just a massive concrete jungle. Endless towers in every direction with barely a patch of green. Impressive in scale, if not exactly pretty.
The Mercado Municipal was the food highlight — a beautiful old market where I tried the famous mortadella and cheese sandwiches. Absolute doorstops, overflowing with filling, worth every calorie. Finished the Sao Paulo stint with sushi alongside Vanessa and Gustavo, which was unexpectedly excellent.
Next stop: Rio. The grand finale.