Yesterday’s gallery tour took a lot of energy. With the help of a few caipirinhas, a very hot, hot shower, I managed to recover enough to go on the free city walking tour. Although I didn’t manage to do the WHOLE tour, which is over four and a half hours. I still wanted to find and visit Batman Alley as well. The tour met at the metro entrance on Republican square. A lovely tourist office was there as well. I was a tad early so I had to wait. There was a local craft market and it was a pleasure just to look and walk around.

São Paulo is home to 21 million people! It has more sky scrapers than could be counted! The building on this photograph has its own postcode!! You can imagine that three days is absolutely nothing, it doesn’t even scratch the surface!!

The walking tour visited the Theatro Municipal, although we didn’t go inside. This building was begun in 1903 in the style of Paris’Palais Garnier. It’s facade is heavily ornamented, combining every style possible!

It would have been awesome to also visit the theatre on the inside! I just have to go back one day! We walked on to the cathedral Se. I know it took an enormous amount of time to finish this cathedral. I was shocked by the contrast between the elaborate cathedral, that cost billions, and the enormous amount of homeless, old people living in tents, surrounding this building! It was very in your face, unexpected, and very, very hard to deal with. The tour guide just skipped over this, like it wasn’t that important!

We did enter the cathedral, where the ” benches” were divided into ” chairs” so homeless people couldn’t stretch out on them, or God forbid, sleep on them! By now I had a hard time dealing with these destitute people. Most of them elderly and a majority of them black. It makes me feel that organised religion seems to miss the point that Jesus tried to make , love ” your neighbour” like you love yourself!!

The tour went on, I was tired, cold and quite shocked by what I had just seen. We all went to the oldest cake shop in São Paulo, but somehow I had lost my appetite.  My knee was giving me grief, and I was feeling miserable. I said a polite good bye and caught the metro back to Vila Madelana, the artistic quarter, where my hostel was. I had had my map with me and this time I managed to find Batman Alley!

An area full of little boutiques, cafes, art and an enormous amount of murals. I walked for about an hour, visited two galleries and one shop. Then the rain started and I was back to being cold, wet and miserable! I had a hot chocolate. Did some drawing, and when the rain eased of a bit, walked back to the hotel. It was time to pack, sort and prepare myself for my flight to Santiago tomorrow. Then home! Another great trip has come to an end! I am ready! My body has had enough! Time to go home, relax and plan my next trip! Bon voyage!