Based on my experience during rush hour, I planned to return to the hotel much earlier today!
While Kent enjoyed another day in the air-conditioned hotel, I set off to the Morumbi commuter train station, bought 4 tickets to use during the day, and took Line 09 Esmeralda to Pinheiros to change to Line 04 Amarela to the Paulista station.
Avenida Paulista/Paulista Avenue is the "main street" of São Paulo. "Paulista" is the name given to a resident of São Paulo, and this avenue initially was lined with the mansions of coffee barons. Most of the mansions are now gone, and the street is a blend of the old and new faces of the city, with historical architecture coexisting with glass skyscrapers.
Igreja São Luíz Gonzaga/Church of St Aloysius Gonzaga (1932-1935) designed by Luis de Abhaia Mello in Romanesque style, with colorful stained glass windows |
Conjunto Nacional/"National Assembly" (1953-1958) by David Liebeskind; this multi-use building was the first shopping center in Latin America |
House of Coronel Joaquim Franco de Mello (1905), the only Ramos de Azevedo designed coffee baron mansion left in São Paulo |
No smoking campaign |
The angled building is Edifício Luís Eulálio de Bueno Vidigal Filho (1979) designed by Rino Levi, home to the powerful union, Federação das Indústrias do Estado de São Paulo (FIESP) |
Museu de Arte de São Paulo/Art Museum of São Paulo (MASP), (1968) designed by Lina Bo Bardi, containing works collected by her husband, Pietro Maria Bardi |
Fountain for dogs in Parque Trianon |
Parque Trianon was originally designed by French landscape artist Paul Villon in 1892; renovated in 1968 by Roberto Burle Marx |
The red and white tower topped building is the Edifício Gazeta (1970), the tallest on Avenida Paulista at 85 m/280' with the communications tower |
Gazeta is a local media company |
Pasteur Institute (1903) designed by the Ramos de Azevedo firm |
Escola Estadual Rodrigues Alves (1907), the first public school in São Paulo, it was refuge for rebels in the Revolução Constitucionalista de 1932/ Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 |
Old (1906) and new (designed by Maximiliano Hell) Hospital Santa Catarina, the first private/psychiatric hospital in São Paulo, now a general hospital |
Instituto Itaú Cultural (1992-1995) |
Casa das Rosas (1935) in French-style by Ramos de Azevedo for his daughter, now a state art gallery |
"Versailles-inspired" rose garden at Casa das Rosas |
Shopping Patio Paulista (1989 and still expanding) with mural |
Mid-day traffic jam |
Catedral Metropolitana Ortodoxa/Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral (1954) for the Syrian & Lebanese Orthodox |
Catedral Metropolitana Ortodoxa/ Orthodox Metropolitan Cathedral; the first church that was not open |
Estação Luz/Luz Station (1867-1901) interior |
Estação Luz/Luz Station, the oldest train station in São Paulo |
Pedestrian overpass to Vila dos Ingleses/Bristish Quarters |
Vila dos Ingleses/British Quarters (1918), built for the British engineers who worked for the São Paulo Railway |
Back to Estação Luz/Luz Station.
Estação Luz/Luz Station designed by Englishman Henry Driver in Victorian style with a copy of the Big Ben clock tower |
Across the street to the Praça da Luz/Luz Square.
Pinacoteca do Estado/National Art Gallery (1897-1905), designed by Ramos de Azevedo recalling a brick firehouse |
Praça da Luz/Luz Square Ficus sp/Fig Tree roots |
Praça da Luz/Luz Square "Pincelada Tridimensional/ Tridimensional Stroke" (2000) by Marcello Nitsche |
Estação Luz/Luz Station from Praça da Luz/Luz Square |
Estação Pinacoteca/Station Art Gallery, an annex to the National Art Gallery, in a former railway administration building (1914) designed by Francisco de Paula Ramos de Azevedo |
The basement of the Estação Pinacoteca/Station Art Gallery once housed dissidents during the military dictatorship of 1940-1983, and now is Memorial da Resistênca/memorial of the Resistance |
Strange to see the Monumento à Duque de Caxias/ Monument to the Duke of Caxias/patron of the Brazilian military (by sculptor Vitor Brecheret, cast 1948-1952, erected 1960), rising above the rooftops |
Half of the Estação/Station Júlio Prestes (1925-1936) designed by Cristiano Stockler das Neves in French Louis XVI style, inspired by the Grand Central Station in NYC |
The above half of the station has been renovated to become the Sala São Paulo (1997), an opera house and home to the Orquestra Sinfônica do Estado de São Paulo/São Paulo State Symphony Orchestra (OSESP).
Entrance to the second half of Estação/Station Júlio Prestes that is the terminal station of CPTM Line 08 Diamante/Diamond |
I took CPTM Line 08 to the Palmeiras-Barra Funda station. Next door and across the street was the Memorial da América Latina/Latin American Memorial (1989), comprised of two concrete squares with seven buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer.
The long low Pavilhão da Criatividade/Creativity Pavilion and the Auditório Simon Bolívar/Auditorium as seen from the pedestrian overpass |
Biblioteca Latino-Americana Vitor Civita/Latin American Library seen through the arch on the pedestrian overpass |
Salão dos Atos/Hall of Acts |
Mão/Hand (1989) by Oscar Niemeyer, with a map of Latin America dripping red blood, symbolizing the oppression and sacrifices of the Latin American people |
Fish sculpture |
Tonight I joined the BASF workshop participants for dinner at Restaurante Fogo de Chão, a churrascaria/Brazilian steakhouse that started in Brazil and now has branches in the U.S. The meats are roasted over pits with open fires. For anyone who has not been to a churrascaria, it is usually a fixed-price menu, with a salad bar. At your place at the table, you have a card that is red on one side and green on the other. When you are ready to be served meat, you turn the card to green. You are then besieged by waiters, each bearing a different cut of meat, and if you want a piece, they will slice it upon request (rare, medium, well-done). As they slice the meat, you have tongs to grab an end and take it when sliced through. Not only were there many cuts of beef, but also lamb, pork, and chicken.
It seemed even when our cards were turned to red, they still kept coming! There were also plates of French fries and fried polenta on the table. We ate too much!
When we were taken to the restaurant in a mini-bus, it took about an hour; the return to the hotel (not during rush hour!) took 15 minutes or less!
Next: São Paulo Morumbi.
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