The second day we were off to Santos an old, but very important seaside town. We had read the weather reports and knew to expect rain all week. Yesterday we a little overcast but no rain. Today it is fogged in, but the morning had no rain either. We arrived at the bus 15 minutes late and everyone was standing around. We had to take the Metro because it was raining in the city and traffic goes to standstill. Be very careful to protect everything on your body as there are pickpockets everywhere we are warned. And the metro is very crowed. But the people are so polite to older people like us. They jump out of their seats offering them to you. And, if you are over 60 the metro is free.
The bus is wonderful, with speaker systems that culd work better, comfortable seats, and a really nice bathroom. We are all excited and share with the hosts and the other ambassadors stories and thoughts. The trip takes about two hours and most in the fog which is too bad because the views I am told are spectacular as we are coming off a plain 800 meters high so the cliff next to the road are quite steep. This is very tropically vegetated and preserved from development. They say on weekends you can spend all the time on the highway getting to and from the coast as so many people go to this resort town of 400,000.
We arrive at the Church of St Antonio which was established in 1640. It is really quie lovely. It took forty years to build using shells, rock, and animal fat. Now is it quite beautiful with all the catholic adornments. I left offerings for my family and also for Maria, my mother-in-law. I have a habit of kneeling and making the sign of the cross even though I have never been catholic - just in case. I buy Iracema some holy water and Zosia buys a bandanna with the symbols of St Antonio.
Now we are on the trolley tour of this old city that dates back 375 years and became on of the most important port cities in the development of Brazil.
It has the longest port in the world and has hundreds of cranes to bring and put goods onto ships. There are only two roads back to plains and no rail road anymore so that is why the roads are so crammed. It was a very interesting tour as we heard about how first sugar then coffee dominated the economy and why there are so many people in this country. Slavery was very big in these parts and Brazil was one of the last countries to set them free (shortly after the US). Then came the immigrants from Europe and Asia.
Lunch at a large Japanese buffet where they weighed your plate. It was interesting and of course,like all buffets I loaded my plate with food trying to taste everything. That is why we avoid buffets, There is security everywhere in this country. Limited access, large fences, and even electric fences topping the walls. One of our people learned the wires were hot by touching them It reminds you that poverty and thievery are around. As part of the restaurant there was a small soccer grass court with nets on all sides including the top to remind me that soccer is king here. We saw a new species of Kisskadee and were there and Magnificent friggotbirds were abundant over the port. We loaded up the crew on the bus and drove down the coast where the industrial port turned into miles of high rise condominiums. It was interesting, but not that I would like get involved in that kind of vacationing. We drove over to an overlook to see the whole area we had been exploring and all piled out.
At this overlook there was group photo after group photos.
I found myself longing for the days of file where one was careful on how many pictures one took. I spent my time looking at the birds realizing how difficult it is to identify birds in a foreign place without a guide. Zosia was wonderful to have marked all of the birds in our Brazil Bird book that we could possibly see in our location. It sure helped and must have taken quite some time. Then, our host Luis, said to look at this beautiful red bird down the hill. OMG, it turned out to be the Brazilian Tanager - beautiful scarlet bird with black wings and a white beak, I had to drag Zosia away from a deep conversation to see it as we would likely never see it again. It is so beautiful it is on the cover of our book. The bird flew up where everyone could see it and all were very excited. They could have been converted to birding by this bird.
Back in the bus to the next stop - the Coffee museum. This is very important to Brazil psyche because this is what made Brazil wealthy and populated. This is the port where much of it was exported. We arrived and then stood around for 40 minutes where no one knew what was going on. In reality we were an hour late for the tour and then there was no longer an English speaking guide for us. Margaret and I decided to be the guides and pretend to read the Portuguese information and translate into English. I think we did pretty well. Zosia was getting tired so she went down to get a cup in the cafe and buy some coffee to take home as gifts,
Next we drove the bus many blocks from the long beach that boasted the longest garden in the world (several miles) The walk was very strenuous for some and there was confusion on what we were doing. Once at the beach the garden was really a long lawn with some average flower plots, not much to see. Everyone was really tired at this point and some did not want to walk back to the bus. So we waited for the bus to come to the beach, but it could not stop. So after much confusion we were plodding back to the place we were left off with much grumbling from some.
The bus was parked at the restaurant we were to have dinner.
The spread, once again, was extensive, particularly the scores of desserts. By this time I needed a beer and was the only one who ordered one. It was also an upscale convenience store below so I bought a couple of beers for the ride home and a bottle of rum for our hosts home. On the way home I drank a beer and read my book on my phone in the back of the bus, We arrived in Sao Paulo at 10:30 and the had to take the metro across town so Iracema could pick us up. I was tired and tomorrow was going to start early.
The bus is wonderful, with speaker systems that culd work better, comfortable seats, and a really nice bathroom. We are all excited and share with the hosts and the other ambassadors stories and thoughts. The trip takes about two hours and most in the fog which is too bad because the views I am told are spectacular as we are coming off a plain 800 meters high so the cliff next to the road are quite steep. This is very tropically vegetated and preserved from development. They say on weekends you can spend all the time on the highway getting to and from the coast as so many people go to this resort town of 400,000.
We arrive at the Church of St Antonio which was established in 1640. It is really quie lovely. It took forty years to build using shells, rock, and animal fat. Now is it quite beautiful with all the catholic adornments. I left offerings for my family and also for Maria, my mother-in-law. I have a habit of kneeling and making the sign of the cross even though I have never been catholic - just in case. I buy Iracema some holy water and Zosia buys a bandanna with the symbols of St Antonio.
Now we are on the trolley tour of this old city that dates back 375 years and became on of the most important port cities in the development of Brazil.
Lunch at a large Japanese buffet where they weighed your plate. It was interesting and of course,like all buffets I loaded my plate with food trying to taste everything. That is why we avoid buffets, There is security everywhere in this country. Limited access, large fences, and even electric fences topping the walls. One of our people learned the wires were hot by touching them It reminds you that poverty and thievery are around. As part of the restaurant there was a small soccer grass court with nets on all sides including the top to remind me that soccer is king here. We saw a new species of Kisskadee and were there and Magnificent friggotbirds were abundant over the port. We loaded up the crew on the bus and drove down the coast where the industrial port turned into miles of high rise condominiums. It was interesting, but not that I would like get involved in that kind of vacationing. We drove over to an overlook to see the whole area we had been exploring and all piled out.
At this overlook there was group photo after group photos.
Back in the bus to the next stop - the Coffee museum. This is very important to Brazil psyche because this is what made Brazil wealthy and populated. This is the port where much of it was exported. We arrived and then stood around for 40 minutes where no one knew what was going on. In reality we were an hour late for the tour and then there was no longer an English speaking guide for us. Margaret and I decided to be the guides and pretend to read the Portuguese information and translate into English. I think we did pretty well. Zosia was getting tired so she went down to get a cup in the cafe and buy some coffee to take home as gifts,
Next we drove the bus many blocks from the long beach that boasted the longest garden in the world (several miles) The walk was very strenuous for some and there was confusion on what we were doing. Once at the beach the garden was really a long lawn with some average flower plots, not much to see. Everyone was really tired at this point and some did not want to walk back to the bus. So we waited for the bus to come to the beach, but it could not stop. So after much confusion we were plodding back to the place we were left off with much grumbling from some.
The bus was parked at the restaurant we were to have dinner.
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