After the entertaining evening at the Morumbi it was time for an early morning bike ride and a guided tour around the city. Adriana that lives at the apartment explained via our google translator how we do this and where we are going. I’m all over this!

There are plenty of bike depots everywhere with bikes included, being as São Paulo is such a flat city so you can cycle around it for miles, same set up to what we have back in London with the ‘Boris’ bikes just obviously cheaper! We set off for an hour and I take in the breathless views the City had to offer. We grabbed a coffee after about an hour as the day was reasonably humid and muggy, was in need of a caffeine fix and a pick me up! We went to a very traditional coffee place and the taste was as good as what I experienced back in Colombia.

The homeless based here is once again a big thing in just a different South American country. A lot of people with missing limbs which shared it’s similarities to other countries I had visited as well so far. Think this clearly show’s there is obviously a written rule here that those who defy the law end up paying for it in some of the harshest ways you can think possible but obviously for those that don’t go upsetting the law it’s a cruel thing to go about witnessing. I even walked past a rather peculiar lady with no arm at all in a wheelchair begging for money and looking slightly the worse for wear. I felt obliged to contribute something. Do people just walk around here with machetes here or something!? I honestly don’t know!? Either way I am not going to let this take the gloss off such an amazing country. Who am I to judge!?

It was here I got introduced to a very unique Brazilian food dish, Coxinha! Who would of thought something just in breadcrumbs was so god dam nice on the inside! It’s like a warm cheesy chicken sensation that melts in your mouth. High in fat but I can see myself having one of these cheeky bad boys everyday I think as a treat! There’s also the Pao de Queijo which is like a chewy cheese puff bread. These are also very addictive and high in calories! I am a sucker for savouries though!

We then set out to venture through one of the local markets to try out some of the exotic fruits which for the first time in a longtime are actually a lil bit pricey! Up there with London prices to be exact! The guy on the stall obviously picked up on fact I’m a tourist and kept piling me with so many different sensations of flavours which all tasted so much better then fruit I have tasted anywhere else but in the end I decided to go with blackberries and blueberries which therefore led me to get a bit of an upset stomach from eating too many, no matter how good they tasted! Too much of a good thing I guess. I even tried some pure fresh coconut water which was cut directly infront of me by a guy with a machete. The taste was unreal and keeps you very hydrated for ages.

Gotta great shot above there with the pregnant lady and her partner. Throughout our walk round and overall throughout my whole trip I have been grabbing footie jerseys from everywhere recently and had built up quite a collection so far from where I had visited but here in Brazil I am after a lot of different club sides. Palmeiras, Corinthians were next up on my list after grabbing São Paulo’s last night. Some of the kits here though are quite laughable fakes and you can determine that immediately with the rough feel of the material or if you’ve been suckered into buying one after its first wash of how quickly they shrink! I bought one that day of Palmeiras but something didn’t feel right with it and in end I passed it on to an infant who was walking along with his parents. They didn’t seem to be too appreciative of the choice of the team but were equally grateful for doing a nice deed! Have love for Palmeiras guys! I kept my options open into searching a bit harder for more suitable jerseys as only the best normally works for me.

More sightseeing after the market took me further into the City to discover that São Paulo has quite a big number of Chinese, Japanese areas which took me by surprise a bit if I’m honest. They had their very own Chinatown like we have in Soho London England and Adriana took me through a wonderful Chinese garden where when it’s warmer they normally throw barbecues most days but sadly today it were closed. I managed to pick up some street wifi on my way round for free obvious, this is South America people and you don’t get charged as it’s on tap everywhere! Time for another check in on Facebook me thinks!

The city in itself is absolutely huge, reminded me a little bit of Buenos Aires infact which I’m sure wouldn’t impress most of the locals here! There are some breathtaking big buildings as well as the incredibly artistic graffiti designs everywhere.

It was time to head back eventually to plan my route out for the next day which is going to be all about probably the most well known Brazilian football team there is today, Corinthians! Their stadium isn’t that far away on the train and luckily Adriana knew the way but first things first.

Let’s get the day started with my new found favourite dish, Coxinha of course! Might as well live it up a bit more before the trip to Riooooo!

Boarding the Brazilian version of their own tube network I found very easy, a lot easier then what I experienced with the U.S. Subway in NYC! We got there in no time and the anticipation was starting to kick in. The objective mainly is to get some tickets for the São Paulo vs Corinthians game coming up in a few days there which was obviously a good enough reason to pay it a visit! Maybe try and see if I can get to be lucky enough to get a look inside the stadium itself, grab a proper official jersey this time round! You can only purchase tickets at the grounds as all websites are a little confusing on how to purchase online. It’s tense in the title race at the moment but looking like it will be a Corinthians title regardless although it would be nice if São Paulo decided to throw a spanner in the works wouldn’t it ;).

Let the mass of the Corinthians photos begin…

Once getting to the stadium I am given some unfortunate news that the game had sold out in advance and there were no tickets available unless I purchased on the black market or chanced it on the day of the game itself and sit with the São Paulo fans who only had been allocated a thousand seats! Be lucky if I got a chance to sit in the stadium at all at this rate! Anyways I didn’t let this dampen my mood and thought on to my next mission on buying a jersey anyways. I ended up going with one of the centenary shirts as I am a man who likes a unique look and these were one of a kind.

My next move was to try blag my way into getting a closer look of inside the stadium. I blagged and blagged with a little persuasion from Adriana to help translate how much it would mean to me and it actually ended up working! I managed to get across how far I had come so far on this trip on my own and I think the guy who gave in was actually a bit blown away how remarkably well I had done to get as much as I have done in such a short space of time! My gift of the gab had paid dividends and they agreed to let me have just five minutes upon the inside of the stadium! Let’s not forget the real Ronaldo played here once before. Not his imposter from Portugal! Still love him just as much too though. Here’s some of the stadium. I was informed by the guy who escorted me around that it takes something pretty dam special for them to budge on private spontaneous tour stadium requests. Lucky I have a way with words I guess! I got some worthy footage, a few selfies and soaked up what was going to be a very frantic derby atmosphere here soon, see below!

We hit off and Adriana then topped off my day by asking if I was intrigued on testing out her cooking specialities back at the apartment. I can’t give you what it was I had exactly that night for food but it tasted absolutely awesome! One of her other delights were jelly yoghurts which were something I loved as a kid but had not had for years! It made for a lovely desert. We all got talking regarding what else there was I could go see here that was a bit unique to see and Museu Do Ipiranga/Museu Paulista stood out for me. Now me being me I love a bit of a history and this was a Brazilian history museum famous for it’s outstanding artwork, huge collection of historic furniture, documents all relating to the Brazilian empire era!

I obviously had no idea of this famous building’s existence until now of course but after taking a few peeks on Google Images I was instantly hooked there and then, I simply had to go see this place. Approaching the gate when I arrived there I witness a park where tons of kids are skating, playing foozball, running around. It reminded me of a typical kids playground at lunchtime with stack loads of activity going on everywhere, a lot like at mine when I was younger. There could well be the next Neymar or David Luiz’s of the future here for all I know lol! I was itching to join in! I left the translating with Adriana to ask whether I could join in the fun with a kick around and whipped off my havaianas! It’s game time without shoes! These guys are playing bare foot so guess I am going to have to also! Concrete isn’t the most ideal surface to play bare foot and I was hobbling around after fifteen minutes with blisters as these kids were remarkably good and skilful for their such young age! They could not of been any older then seven or eight and I am given the right run around here, got taught a few things or two which I was in awe of but I am currently living out something I have always wanted to do even before even coming up with the idea of travelling. A Ramires (formerly of Chelsea) lookalike joined in also. A truly memorable and remarkable experience! Close to tears here! Did that even just happen!?

I finally got round to taking some photos of the ‘Museu Paulista’ and what a beautiful building it really is. I am sure Adriana was probably explaining to me about all of it’s history but in truth my google translator was struggling to keep up with her! I took some great shots and some were as good to grace my Facebook cover photo. Take a look!

Heading back after another active day I had the night to pond on and think over what my plan of action was going to be for the game tomorrow. Either going back to the stadium on match day and chancing my luck like I did before in the previous or watch it on TV close to where I was staying? I needed another input on this. Enter Erika! Now Erika is somebody I hadn’t even met yet before but she was someone’s close friend to somebody who I met in Boston ages back earlier on during my travels (if your still trying to keep up with me!). That night I would be heading out with Erika and friends to an Irish bar of all places. I even got picked up by her from near Adriana and her partners apartment. I had never even met this person before! Luckily the reference must of been that good back in Boston. We spent a while searching for an active ATM as all are closed off with no money in any of them here in São Paulo after 21:00. Well that’s a first! Bit dodgy but safe I guess.

As I got myself back to the car and after giving up in my search for a ATM I witnessed my first ever phone mugging off of some poor dude a hundred yards away from me across the street. I had been warned not to make it obvious if I have something of such high value to not wave it around and checking it in middle of street at night time in some areas during the day like most do normally. Moral of the story, never advertise your valuables the same way this poor fella did as he was simply walking along just texting without care in the world. All of us are guilty of doing this around the world on a daily basis but a cyclist sped past him and WHAM! That phone was stolen directly from his hands right infront of him! In fairness I had to give him credit as he chased the guy on his bike as far as he could but was never going to get anywhere near him.

It took me seeing that to realise I gotta be extra vigilant tonight at all times I think. Erika introduced me to all her friends who just so happened to be female but drunk just as much as my local group of guys I would hang out with back home! All of them were really friendly nice girls and all spoke perfect English! One of them I got speaking to about Rio and she promised me that I would be having a wicked time there to finish off the trip. They gave me a list of all the good places to go including the great Cristo which I was so desperate to see!

Brazilian girls love a beer also too and I don’t mean the bottled type either, I meant pints! This was certainly different to what the girls in Essex where I come from tend to turn to on a drunken night out! These girls were all in agreement that I was better off staying in to watch the game tomorrow as it would be way too much aggravation all round. With me rooting for São Paulo and it being a very divided city of who to follow here between the other two of Palmeiras and Corinthians I had to be careful if I was wearing club colours of the wrong kind in the wrong side of town.

After drinking more beer then usual, a few flavoured Caprinhas for the first time here in Brazil and the live music band show all finished the night was soon over before I even knew it and I decided it would be best to call it a night. It had been a long day and Erika drove me home as she had only had a couple. I insisted better I get a taxi but she would not take no for an answer so I reluctantly agreed. This was sadly the last time I ever saw her after I got out as she was on a flight to Argentina the day after with work. Was such a shame but it was something I had become used to on this trip. You meet somebody and get to know them better and then don’t see them ever again as they go one way and you end up going the other. Top girls though all round! Great night.

The morning after I was very hungover but was equally excited about the game! I had become Brazilian soccer mad! The game in itself was probably the most one sided game I had ever seen and although I was rooting for São Paulo they got turned over good and proper that day, big time! 5-1 in total! Not much for The Battle Of São Paulo! With that win Corinthians were champions! Deservedly so as well. I won’t go into full match analysis like I had before as the scoreline spoke for itself although I was kinda glad I didn’t make the effort of going back to the stadium to witness that drumming!

I went out for one last walk about to get some more photos of the area location I have been based in and a nice big meal. I also came across a football competition where you get chance to win 100 Brazilian Real by knocking down all the bottles in two strikes of the ball. I came close but not close enough! I needed to head back as I had to pack but as I got closer back to the apartment a bunch of homeless guys who stank of booze and urine were arguing among themselves and I was asked by one of them in broken English if I wanted to fight his friend!? It appears they had made a bet with one another who could take me. With what money they even had between them I have no idea!? To be fair I wasn’t fancying my chances as there were five of them and one of little old me and I politely declined their agreement which then led me to a barricade of unneeded and unwanted shouted abuse to which I just laughed off. I don’t thInk my reaction helped but hey ho what do I care. Go beat the crap out of each other yourselves lads and hopefully I can get watch the local policia evict you from the unfortunate area I have had to pass through past you all week! I gave them a cheeky wave as almost if to say see ya round chaps 😉

After the game it was time to pack for almost the very last time. A week had flown by and my night’s on the sofa bed were over! Adriana had made my stay so worthwhile and even washed my clothes for me during the time I was there. I had been well and truly looked after and a bit spoilt also too if I do get to say so myself. I will always be in debt to the efforts she made in letting me stay with everything she and her went and did for me. An amazing AirBnB host couple and thought I better leave a fantastic review also!

My taxi arrived at the apartment for the airport and I said my final goodbyes. This was going to be my last internal flight of my whole trip. Feeling emotional just writing about it now. The trip is now almost over! Next stop will be Rio De Janeiro in a couple of hours. The last final stop before flying back home.

For a well known Brazilian city I expected a lot of heat but in São Paulo it tends to rain a lot and can come across as quite humid and muggy but I loved São Paulo, loved the people, got very attached to it in general and not to mention the food as well! There is an all round good vibe to it here altogether and recommend to visit if your planning to visit Brazil.

Rio, you have a lot to live up to!!