What I did on my holidays, part 37

Executive summary: I did the Turismetro tour of the Se district today. Photos here in the 'Central Sao Paulo' set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/45804996@N03/sets/

If you just want to see new pictures, it's probably easiest just to keep checking http://www.flickr.com/photos/45804996@N03/, which shows all my photos, most recent first.

Read on at your peril, insane amounts of waffling follow.

As always I struggled to get out of bed, but I knew I had to be at the Se metro station by 1:30pm to sign up for the Turismetro tour at 2pm. I made it OK, although it was a bit of a rush.

While I was hanging around waiting for the tour to start, I noticed that the metro station itself is quite interesting. It's on three levels, with the ticket hall kind of area at the top, then two levels underneath for the two metro lines that run through the station. And there's a big circular cut-out in each of the top two floors, so you can lean on the balcony and see the other floors. It's a bit like being in a life-size cutaway diagram. Photos in the Central Sao Paulo set, including one of the massive suntan lotion advert hanging in the cut-out for anyone who might find it entertaining. :-)

There were about 15 people on the tour and I was the only one who didn't speak Portuguese. Consequently, although both tour guides spoke English, the primary woman did the tour in Portuguese while the assistant/trainee guide acted as my personal translator/guide in English. So I can't complain at the level of attention I was shown (and the tour is free, as well!), although I felt a bit awkward some of the time as a result.

I really would have hoped there'd be a few (North) Americans around but apparently not. They're probably like buses, I expect loads will turn up all together soon. :-)

The tour was fairly interesting and informative, but we were walking for about four hours and I hadn't had time to eat anything before we started. (We did stop off at some old bank which has now been converted into some sort of cultural centre where I could have got a coffee, but I didn't.)

I found out that the area I wandered around yesterday near the Edificio Martinelli is apparently a big financial centre, with two of the biggest stock exchanges in Brazil. Perhaps more pertinently, I also found out that the Edificio Martinelli and another tall building nearby (that one being the third tallest in the city, apparently) are open to the public for viewing during the week, which explains why I didn't see how to get into the Edificio Martinelli on Saturday. Now I know it's possible and, even better, free, I will probably try to visit both before I leave. You apparently get only five minutes at the top of the third-tallest building before they throw you out, but WTF. Like I said yesterday, I'm a sucker for anything like that.

The guide told me that when the Edificio Martinelli was first built, it was such a novelty in the area that people were reluctant to live or work there as it was so high. Allegedly, the owner said he'd live there on his own and set himself up on the top floor, including a big hall where he'd host free parties. People started going to the parties and in the end they decided the building wasn't so scary. :-) I doubt this is true, somehow, but it's a nice story.

By the time the tour finished (at the cathedral, which I'd already seen but wandered around a bit anyway) my feet were killing me and I was starving. I had my heart set on steak and chips so I walked over to the bar/restaurant I'd been to yesterday. But, presumably because it was Sunday, it was shut and a load of homeless people were sleeping under the canopy. Everywhere else I passed seemed to be shut as well. I always seem to hit a point like this anywhere I go abroad, where I don't know where I can find something to eat. In the end I got the metro back to the area where my hotel is and went into a restaurant round there. They did have steak on the menu, but there were too many options and complications, so I compromised on a pizza. So at least it forced a little bit of variety into my diet.

As already waffled about, I had a relatively early night - a few beers after the pizza, then back to the hotel about 9pm where I paid for another 3 nights (I was only expecting to pay for two, but I'll keep the receipts handy and as long as they don't charge me for more than 6 in total I don't care how they divide it up) and had a look into the Easter Island part of the trip. I've also sent another e-mail chasing up the people about the hotel in Puerto Williams, fingers crossed they get back to me. If not I have asked a Spanish-speaking friend (hi Zuhamy!) if she will call the hotel direct for me and see if she can get anything out of them. I hope they will just get back to me in response to my e-mail though.

(Yeah, I should seize the opportunity to practice my Spanish. But it's incredibly difficult/expensive for me to make an international call while I'm away, plus my phone keeps quietly dropping bits of the conversation and that's enough of a problem when I'm speaking to a friend in English, never mind a hotel receptionist in Spanish. Excuses, excuses.)