2014 Brazil São Paulo Avenida Paulista (9/11/2014)

Thursday, September 11, 2014
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

I already needed a water break and went to a diner/store, Bella Paulista, on Rua Haddock to get a Gatorade. When I entered, I was given a plastic card with a number. When I exited at the cashier, I handed in the card, and was asked if I was a Paulista. Would that have given me a discount?

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) 

I needed another water break, and found a Starbucks!

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

My information stated Thursday was a free day at the art museum, but the free day was actually Tuesday.

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

Here Avenida Paulista ended after 2.8 km/1.7 miles. I continued on Rua do Paraiso to cross a highway.

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

I tried to use my CPTM ticket for the Metrô, but even though you can transfer between the lines for free, you must have a Metrô ticket to enter a Metrô station! Paid another BR$3/$1.50 to take Line 01 Azul/Blue from Paraiso to the Luz station, where now three CPTM and two Metrô lines meet.

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

The entrance by the small tower on the left side of the station leads to the Museu da Língua Portuguesa/Museum of the Portuguese Language that now occupies the upper floors of the station.
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

Nearby:

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

A water break to drink a bottle I took from the hotel.
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

Time to head back to the hotel! I used a CPTM ticket to enter the Palmeiras-Barra Funda station, then walked to the Metrô part of the station where there were shops. I purchased several bottles of water and "transferred" back to the CPTM side. Took the CPTM Line 08 Diamante to the Presidente Altino station, changing to the CPTM Line 09 Esmeralda to the Morumbi station, then hiking uphill.
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.