Monday March 2, 2015 - Santos and Sao Paulo, Brazil

Monday March 2, 2015 – Santos and Sao Paulo, Brazil

We were up at 6:30 and had a light breakfast on the pool deck.  We sailed into Santos which is the largest port in Brazil – may be the largest in South America.  It is huge.  Fortunately, the captain docked us close to the passenger terminal.  We loaded up on a bus and headed for the 50 mile drive to Sao Paulo for an all day tour.

Santos, Brazil is a HUGE port – the largest in South America.  The city seems to be crumbling in front of our eyes, but once we got out of the city the scenery was beautiful.  The drive up the mountain to Sao Paulo was spectacular.  Beautiful pink and white blooms on trees and others full of yellow blooms.  John was our tour guide and I wasn’t impressed.  He didn’t share a lot.

We arrive in Sao Paulo to a lot of traffic.  There are 11 million people in the city and 21 million in the metropolitan area.  Traffic galore.   We first went to the statue known as the Cradle of the country – where the country was declared independent of Portugal.  We went to a beautiful museum that is closed as it is falling into disrepair.  Reminded me of Buckingham Palace but the gardens were designed with Versailles in mind.

Beautiful flowering trees in Sao Paulo

A huge mansion with great features, but in a state of disrepair

Gorgeous mansion and gardens in Sao Paulo

Beautiful gardens and fountains

Statue of war heros in Sao Paulo

The Brazilian flag

One of the oldest churches in Sao Paulo

Statues throughout the city

Large cathedral in Sao Paulo

Art museum in a former private home - the grounds in the middle of Sao Paulo were spectacular!

Art work throughout the gardens

Large statue in one of the parks in Sao Paulo

The views driving up and down the mountain between Santos and Sao Paulo were spectacular.

The pictures don't do the view justice.

Beautiful yellow and purple flowering trees all over the hillsides

The city of Santos at the port that serves Sao Paulo

 

We then took a riding tour through the city and saw the opera, many government buildings and cathedrals.  Lots of people and traffic everywhere and still crumbling infrastructure.

We went to a charuscarria (meat restaurant) for lunch.  Not impressed – chewy meat.  Tim was so aggravated with this woman on our tour – her winey voice, her stupid questions and her butting in line because she thinks she is special.  I’m trying to ignore her but she is getting on my nerves too.  Tim called her “inconsiderate and rude” when we got off of the bus for lunch.

We headed to a national park for our last stop and then headed back to Santos.  The drive down the mountain was spectacular.  Made the trip worthwhile.  Well, we have been to Sao Paulo, but there is no need to go back!

We got back on the ship about 5:15 – Tim went to the gym and I went to nap.  He had napped on the bus and I hadn’t so I was tired.

We went for drinks with Putu and then to Polo Grill for our “sharing dinner”, but the maître d’ told us he had a table for 2 which we quickly took.  Great dinner – we both had surf and turf and ate too much.

We went to the Horizons Lounge after dinner and had after dinner drinks with Gwen and Mike and Pat and Joe from Naples / Minnesota.  They are too much fun.  We drank way too much and then went to bed.  Tomorrow is a day off and we may do the beach of not even leave the ship – we’ll see.