My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
This morning we had a very nice drive from the coast at Iguape inland and south to the town of Curtiba. The road was very good and the scenery was verdant.
On the road to Curitiba
The Pestana hotel where we are staying in Curitiba is wonderful. We have a very comfortable big penthouse room.
Our room
While we waited for the room to be ready we went out to visit the Curitiba Botanical Garden. To get there we used the ride share app 99. It was easy and very efficient.
Botanical GardenIn the garden of the seasons
After we got back to the hotel we went to a grocery store and got some water and snacks.
Duke admiring the mangoes
In the late afternoon we had a torrential downpour and the temperature went from around 90 to the high 70s.
For dinner we went to an excellent Peruvian Japanese restaurant. Nuu Nikkei.
After breakfast this morning we got a taxi to take us out to the rental car agency where we had a car booked. Unfortunately the taxi driver misunderstood where we were going and took us to an address near São Paulo’s other airport. Eventually we were able to make him understand where we wanted to go. He was apologetic and eventually we arrived at FOCO car rental.
Duke got a number and waited a bit then started the rental process. When they were about finished the agent realized that we had booked the car to return it at Foz do Iguazu. Duke made the reservation in May and as he soon learned they closed their Foz do Iguazu office in June.
Luckily their customer service was good and they wanted to make the situation right. The agent started trying to find an agency with an office in Foz do Iguazu that had a car available to rent. Eventually she found one, they drove us to the Movida rental car office and five hours after we left our hotel we were on the road out of São Paulo.
Duke renting the carNot our rental car!Ready to leave São Paulo
The drive was long and there was quite a bit of traffic but about 5pm we arrived at Pousada Coisa Mais Linda, on the coast, where we are tonight.
When we checked in the credit card machine wouldn’t take a credit card without a PIN. And the lady checking us in didn’t speak English or Spanish. Google Translate was helpful. Luckily we finally thought to try ApplePay and that worked.
After we unloaded it sure was nice to sit in the bar and enjoy our beers as we overlooked the water and unwound!
Relaxing after a long day
We had dinner at our hotel. We hadn’t eaten since breakfast at the hotel is São Paulo. Our fried casaba and fish was really good!
We are staying at the Meliã Paulista in São Paulo. We had a good breakfast there this morning. I have never seen corn on the cob on a breakfast buffet before.
Part of the breakfast buffet
São Paulo is one of the biggest cities in the world. According to Google the only cities bigger are in Asia.
The view from our hotel room.
São Paulo is on the Tropic of Cancer. Spring is starting here. The weather has been hot. We walked about a mile down Avenida Paulista to the SESC building. they have a free viewing platform on the roof. Along the way we walked through Trianon Park.
Trianon Park
We had to wait a while to get tickets to go up the SESC building. They had a nice air conditioned lounge with free wifi for us to to wait in.
SESC waiting area View from the top of the SESC buildingUs on the viewing platform.
On our way back from the hotel we stopped at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo (MASP).
São Paulo Art Museum
The art work is displayed on crystal easels with the descriptions on the back.
Inside the MASPRenoir paintingsBack of the painting of the two little girlsHieronymus Bosch painting
Tonight we went to a show at a jazz club called JazzB. The group played mainly tango music. We had a fun evening.
Duke and I are at the start of a seven week adventure. Tuesday morning we got our Covid shots and Tuesday evening we flew to Oakland. We spent Tuesday night in Walnut Creek with Allison, Doug and two of our grandchildren.
Off to school
Wednesday morning Doug dropped us at BART. We took BART to San Francisco Airport and then flew to Atlanta. After a short layover we took a ten hour overnight flight from Atlanta to São Paulo, Brazil.
We were dropped off at BARTKnitting on the plane to AtlantaReady for dinner after leaving AtlantaSunrise over Brazil
In São Paulo we took a taxi to our hotel. Traffic was really bad. The taxi ride took about an hour and cost $37.
We had a couple of hours to wait for our room to be ready so we went for a walk and had coffee.
The street outside our hotelCoffee
Once we checked in we slept for about three hours and felt much better. Duke had bought tickets to a Marvin Gay tribute concert put on by Mark Lambert at the Blue Note Jazz club near our hotel. We had a great dinner and enjoyef wonderful music. I feel like we are aleady in the travel groove!
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