Day 10 São Paulo, Brazil

Today we met our driver for a driving tour of Sao Paolo, Brazil. To get there we had to pass thru Santos and make our way over a small mountain to see the city. Sao Paolo is the fourth largest city in the world. Having a driver was the only way to get around with any speed in this city. We saw the China town section and the business section along with a number of other sights such as the train station, a statute celebrating their independence, and some beautiful parks. We were able to sandwich in a nice lunch at a Brazilian restaurant, Alberto. We made a small side trip to on of the 25 Starbucks in the country so Mike could see how one of the stores was operating. Leaving Starbucks we headed directly back toward the ship. This was slightly ahead of schedule and we would learn that was a good decision. On the way back we were stopped in traffic for over an hour in the same place. This apparently is a common occurrence as there are many trucks ferrying ore to the ships in the harbor. Since we were on our own private tour this could have been a problem if the ship decided to leave before we returned. We got back with plenty of time to spare but some of the ships tours did not so the captain delayed departure until they arrived which was about an hour and twenty minutes late. This scenario seems to be a way of life in the Sao Paolo and Santos area. Chris – San Paolo was exhausting because of the traffic and the pace of the city. There are only two roads in and out of San Paolo and the 45 min drive tool 2 hours to get there and almost 4 hours to get back to the ship. The city itself was divided between the old section and the newer section. Each has its own beauty and was interesting to tour via van. Our lunch at a Brazilian restaurant was fabulous and very interesting. It was a buffet and it was always a surprise what you were eating, but all of it delicious!