I'm Back from Brazil!!!

[jazzy mary]

Hey guys, I have a headache from trying to figure out this new board, so I hope this works. I'm back form Brazil and I can't wait to tell you all about it. It's my first day back at work so....I'll see you guys later.

Pete, you are the best!! "Ouro Negro" is magnificent. I had to go to three places to find it and then I got the last one!!! I have something for you, so I'll be e-mailing you!

[Monte Smith]

Cool JM. Tell us all about it.

We have a new hire here at my company. I walked by her cubicle and heard the lilting strains of a samba coming from her Apple. Sure enough, she's from Sao Paolo.

[Uli]

JM, don't torture us. Spiil the beans!

[jazzy mary]

I'm sorry, Uli. I will soon. Sao Paulo was great. I just wish I had had more time there!

[Pete C]

Mary, when you get a chance visit the hot new Brazilian Music thread and tell us what you heard.

[jazzy mary]

I'm sorry, guys I haven't forgotten. it's just that 've been so busy at work. I'll try to post first thing tomorrow. :-)

[jazzy mary]

All right, let me try to re-cap my Brazil, or should I write Brasil, adventure. We landed in Rio and a travel person here at my work had hooked up an incredible deal for us. A 5 star hotel right on Copacabana Beach with a total unobscured ocean view w/ a terrace for $100 a night. Every morning and night we'd look and take in the sweeping view from Sugar Loaf all the way down to Ipanema Beach.

The first afternoon, we walked around the Ave. Atlantica which has that wavy stone design (if you've ever been to the ocean towns in Portugal you've seen it) and we walked all over, oh yeah, before that we had caprianis or whatever those drinks are (I had probably a dozen of them during my stay in Brazil), and ate a restaurant by the ocean.

Brazil is amazingly cheap, the second night we had dinner at the Copacabana Palace hotel at Cipriani's (I can't afford that in NY) and for a complete dinner w/ a great bottle of wine and impeccable service it came to $80 for two! All over Brazil, you can eat at the most splendid 5 star restaurants and get a really GOOD bottle of wine for one-fourth the price you'd ever pay in NY. The Brazilians are really nice too. We toured all over Rio and went up the tram to Sugar Loaf, to the Christ the Redeemer place, toured all around, saw that incredibly modern and hideous church--but terribly interesting in that you can scarcely believe someone would design such a thing. We spent a day in the "Centro" area, and also had a chance to hang on the beach by the water and watched surfers. We did do a little shopping. Brazil is reknowned for its gemstones and for a jewelry freak like me it was heaven!! I bought some way too expensive earrings at Amsterdam Sauer (emeralds and diamonds) but here in the States they's be 4 times as much!! But since I shot my wad, so to speak, so early on in the trip jewelry wise I had to really keep a lid on any further spending. Both of my girls play soccer so I got them some official soccer shirts (way cheap) 'cause ,as I'm sure you all know, the Brasilians LOVE futball

Of course one quest I had was to find the cds Pete C had so lovingly outlined as essential. I went to three places trying to find "Ouro Negro" and finally found it at a beautiful Rio bookstore called Livraria da Travessa. Bruno, the cat who helped me, was so sweet and he'd let me listen to all these cds. They have this cool thing where all they do is scan the thing and presto you can hear it! I was really delighted with that. I guess Bruno was taken with my enthusiam 'cause he told me "you are so beautiful". Thanks, Bruno. You were a sweetie! Norah Jones is being promoted LIKE CRAZY in Brazil and in both Rio and Sao Paulo there are BIG posters of her and her cd playing in the record stores. I also bought a bunch of other cds at a Rio version of K-mart and they were quite cheap (around $7 a cd) but I was buying somewhat indiscriminately and now there are several I'm not really very crazy about. But I had such a hard time finding the ones Pete mentioned, I just felt I'd better grab what I can. I never did find the Ed Motta one anywhere. I was finally able to find "Elis Regina in Montreaux" at a bookstore at the mall in Higienopolis (healthy city) in San Paulo. I always asked for "Elis and Tom" and was told that it always gets sold out the moment it arrives. At any rate, Pete, thanks for hipping me ot "Ouro Negro" it is truly wonderful!!! FWIW, it costs around $24 in Rio.

Ok, we rented a car to make, what I thought was an easy little drive up to Tiradentes, Ouro Preto and Marianna in the Minais Gervais area. Well, what I thought would be 5 hour trip turned out to be 9 hours of the most scary, terrible roads we have ever encountered in our LIFE!!!!!!! And we have driven in some wild places!! DO NOT EVER DRIVE IN BRAZIL!!! They have potholes that are as big as moon craters and absolutely NO indication that they are there. We carefully avoided hitting them but did hit one on our way back to Rio and had a blow-out. It was a little frightening changing a tire on the side of the road with almost no shoulder, in *utter* darkness and the only light being my little key-ring flashlight I had gotten at the San Diego zoo!! Thank goodness for that flashlight! And then, of course, trying to get out of Rio, we could not find the right road and we made what we've come to call the "favela tour". I'm sure you've all heard and seen pictures and stories about the Rio shantytowns. Well, it's true. Ringing around Rio are these shacks all built up on top of one another in the hills and people, dogs and horses all just walking or running around. We saw this guy, wearing only pants, with his son beside him (wearing only pants) standing straight up on this cart that was just 4 boards hammered together holding the reigns of this horse that was galloping --transporting them to wherever. It really was a sight. I have to say though, that we never felt unsafe or threatened in Brazil (except for those damn potholes!). All the way up to Ouro Preto, along the *mountain* roads, you see people walking, walking, walking. I don't know how they do it. Then, in the middle of nowhere there'd be this little wood shelter where someone was selling coconuts or this fried dough like stuff.

Ok, Tiradentes, Ouro Preto and Marianna are these old gold mining towns that are now historical towns. They are filled with magnificent churches. In Tiradentes I saw one of the most splendid churches I have ever seen and I have seen some churches, you name it, Notre Dame, St. Peter's , San Chappelle, Chartres etc. but this one "blew my mind" it was COVERED in gold leaf all over inside. Did anyone see the Brazil exhibit at the Guggenheim a couple of years ago? It was a great exhibit and really got me thinking serioulsy of going to Brazil. If you did, you kinda know what I'm talking about. I have NEVER seen anything like it. The religious art in Brazil is really interesting. The Christ on the Cross is always very "over the top" and more gruesome than say, Italian or French renditions. Lots of blood,scraped skin, really intense! And the statues are usually wood with human hair on them, real cloth robes and then a hollowed out back so they can be used in the Easter processionals. Yikes, a little creepy and scary! Tiradentes was the quaintest of these towns, filled with not cobble-stone, but more like big shards of stone (*very* uneven--really hard to walk) fitted together. When I die I want to be reincarnated as a dog living in Tiradentes. There were these cute mutt types dogs running around and man, did they have the life! They didn't have to work like the horses did during the day, but would just come and go in the village where ever they wanted. Meet their friends, hang with them, maybe see their owner, run over and get a big hug from him and then wag their tail and trot off with their friends. They'd sit in the middle of the street and cars would go around them or give a gentle toot of the horn an the doggie would be like, ok, I guess I'll move! What a life! They were good little dogs too, I never heard them bark or fight. Horses would get to be free at night and you'd be walking down the street and you'd see horses hanging around, walking the street, relaxing and you would recognize ones that you had seen pullling a wagon earlier. We saw horse pulled wagons all over these towns being used for work, pulling things, carrying things etc. Trucks are not that plentiful and prob. couldn't get throught the streets anyway.


Man, it's gettting late. Is this getting too long!!?? I still have to write about Igazu falls and Sao Paulo!! Can I do that later? Do you all want to hear it?

[Uli]

Originally posted by jazzy mary

Man, it's gettting late. Is this getting too long!!?? I still have to write about Igazu falls and Sao Paulo!! Can I do that later? Do you all want to hear it?

Can't talk for the rest of them all, but I sure do, JM.

[jazzfiend]

Count me in too, Jazzy. Welcome back!

[Valerie]

I'm loving every minute and every word - even though I heard a lot about the trip during our telephone call!! You're a good storyteller, girl!!

[SinginSumo]

Just a reminder...

it's been roughly 24 hours since your last post. I anxiously await the next part of the story of your Brazilian adventure, jm.

[Pete C]

Mary, I'm surprised you had to pay so much for Ouro Negro. It's listed on somlivre.com for R$36.10, which should be under US $12. I'm also surprised you couldn't find Dwitza.

[gonzo]

what about the incredible poverty and culture of street children
right around the corner from the resort areas of all the major cities.

[jazzy mary]

Hey guys, I have lots more to tell you about but I've been busy and I had to run out and get tickets to see Neil Young and Crazy Horse at Madison Sq. on June 26!! Yeah!!

It's snowing like *crazy* here and I WAS totally unprepared, no boots, no umbrella. I'm soaked!

Let me dry off and go do some things and I'll come back.

Pete, I saw "City of God" this weekend. Suffice it to say that we didn't see any gang warfare and shootouts while we were in Rio. Of course the film takes place in the 60s-80s. Actually those housing project like homes they showed in the film looked *better* than the shanty town homes we saw.

Gonzo, we really didn't see too many homeless, poor kids in Rio. We did quite a few homeless grown men who were on benches along the Ave. Atlantica--either sleeping, hanging etc. But, I'm from NY and the sight of homeless people doesn't shock me. I didn't find them threatening or anything. We walked late at night (well, midnight-1a.m. ---not that late for Rio) along the Ave. Atlantica and did not feel unsafe. There are alot of people around and there are police too. I got the feeling that everyone knew these guys and they were "regulars". I sure didn't see anyone bother them. I saw more poverty in Sao Paulo but more about that later.

I know there is incredible poverty and illiteracy in Brazil and I'm sure near the resort hotels there are poor people. It would be somewhat unlikely that someone in Rio on vacation would see all that. Like if someone visits NYC, they probably wouldn't go to East NY to get the real flavor of those "hoods". No doubt when someone is on vacation in a big city, they are usually not going to see the "other side of the city" so to speak.

[tippy]

Mary, I too wanted to tell you how much I enjoyed your first installment--I printed it out immediately and held onto it for good read on the subway ride and home and it was really really terrific and I was sorry I hadn't told you how eager I was to read it before I left for the weekend.

Oh yeah, and Welcome Back!

[Pete C]

Mary, you need an avatar.

http://www.inspirational-time.com/virgin-mary-orange-white-s.jpg

[jazzy mary]

Thanks, Tip! Pete, I don't think that's quite the right avatar for me. I'm Catholic, don't forget and we Irish Catholics take the Virgin very seriously! BTW, does that watch keep time well?

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Only during Lent and Easter...............

[jazzy mary]

I'm not posting again until I get at least 300 "views"!! I'm only kidding. I really thought I'd have time today to do this but I've been busy saving a man's life! No kiddding, one of my pro bono cases is a Texas death penalty case and I've been working on it all day!!

[Kevin Bresnahan]

Welcome back Mary.

Hey, Mary, can you do me a favor?? Call Danny and ask him what the hell his goal is with that terrible post (now since deleted) over at All About Jazz's bulletin board where he made fun of recently deceased pianist Jutta Hipp. If his goal was to alienate every single person who's ever logged onto the Internet, tell him he's pretty close by now. What the hell was he thinking making fun of a woman who died so broke she donated her body for scientific research to avoid burial expenses? He's just nuts if he thinks people are going to join in on that. Nuts.

Later,
Kevin

[jazzy mary]

I didn't see the post. But I don't call Danny--that's long distance! HE calls me. Why don't you just e-mail and ask him? From what I know of Dan, his whole thing is to provoke no matter how tasteless or disgusting he can be. I don't understand it.

[jazzy mary]

Ok, here's some more stuff about Rio which I didn't have a chance to talk about earlier. And I'm listening to disc one of "Ouro Negro" right now. Btw, Pete, I think you may be right. I think $24 is not the right calculation for the CD. I'm not exactly sure how much it costs because Bruno had me listen to this one cd that was "Brazilian jazz" that he thought I would like but I didn't dig it that much so he put it back behind the counter. When I went to pay for "ON". I was in a big hurry and I paid and started to run out the store but I looked at the receipt before I did and I thought "wow that's high" . I can't recall exactly how many reals it was but I think it was something like 77 or 79 reals then I realized that they had put in the cd I didn't want, so I ran back, returned it and the guy gave me the $ back but I really don't know how much "ON" was. At any rate, maybe someone can figure it out. I'm not sure *where* I got $24 from but that's too high--maybe it was more $15?? Anyway, it's so good and what a beautiful package with the booklet and all people should buy it even at the import price. But I recommend specifically going to Brazil just to buy cds, if for no other reason!! :-) I had taken Pete's recs. with me and had highlighted the titles so if (and this happened) someone couldn't understand me I could just show them the names and titles. Hey, I'm nothing, if not organized! I did find some Ed Motta but not "Dwitza".

Ok, music. So many people asked me if I heard or saw Samba. Well, the center of the universe for jazz and music in general is NYC and I had a hard time finding live music in Brazil. There was this, seemed to me jive, Samba extravaganza you could go to but it had all the appearences of a Las Vegas floor show, which I dig in LV, but it wasn't for me in Rio. A couple of folks recommended this place called Vinicius in Impanema as the only place to go. It's named for Vinicius de Moreas and the night we went there there was a woman singing who kept referring to her dad as the the namesake of the place --so I'm guessing it was his daughter?? (I'm pretty quick). She was accompanied by a man on guitar. She was good. There is something about the Portuguese language that is so beautiful when it is sung. She also sang, in English, a lovely version of the Beatles' song that has the lyrics ".....hole in my head, to keep my mind from wandering". What song is that??? It's been driving me crazy! Even my 9 year old, who is a Beatles expert, and can play "While my Guitar gently Weeps" on her guitar didn't know. Or, at least, she didn't get it from my singing it to her.......

Anyway, this woman's guitar player was good and then another guitar player played who was also quite good and then a Japanese woman sang Brazilian bossa nova and samba songs. It was neat. BTW, Antonio Jobim is REVERED in Brazil. They renamed the Rio International airport the "Tom Jobim" airport. I don't understand the "Tom" wouldn't Antonio be "Tony"? Can someone explain? Whenever you look for his cds, it's always "Tom" like "Tom Jobim e Convidados" which I bought.

Also, I haven't emphasized enough how dreadful those Brazilian potholes were. Not only were they HUGE but they were VERY DEEP!!!!!!! If a bicycle or a motorcycle hit them the front half of those vechicles would be swallowed up. I'm still haunted by those potholes! The Minais Gervais mountains are where they mine all those wonderful, wonderful gemstones like Imperial topaz, amethyst, tourmaline, citrine, emerald and so on. *Sigh*. And, of course, at one time gold. But the gold rush is over and now aluminum is mined there too. We saw so many trucks (smaller than their U.S. counerparts--but big enough to be all on top of you and passing you while you're trying to avoid potholes) and the trucks, and our car, were *covered* in the red clay of the mountains. On the way back to Rio, we stopped to get gas (complete service, of course) and asked them to wash the windows and they took buckets and washed off our entire car!

Oh yeah, the beaches in Rio. They are very clean and total white sand with no shells and nary a rock. I thought women would be walking around half naked with those thong things with their bottoms all exposed and stuff but I guess modesty has hit Rio a bit. The women wear bikinis but I scarcely saw any thongs. And I mean ALL the women--even really old women wear bikinis. The men wear small bathing suits too and man, they do not care about their bellies all hanging out like crazy. Rio is incredibly casual. Most peple go around in shorts, flip-flops or barefoot and just a t-shirt or pullover top. At night some woman dress up a little. But they always wear real skin tight short shirts with maximum cleavage. Like a Victoria Secret catalogue. I swear bra manufacturers would starve in Rio. I had a couple of outfits with some cleavage going on, but JM could have done a *lot* more. Next time, I'll bring my most cleavage oriented stuff, but I was too modest this time. The women all wear flip-flops and open toed sandals but no one paints their toe nails! Before I went I gave myself a pedicure and did my toenails and all that 'cause I thought the Rio women would be all that, you know. But, I was the only one. Oh well. We saw a few "tall and tan and young and lovely" types but on the whole the Brazilian women all kindof look alike. Dark skin, long curly hair (always long hair) somewhat small framed but making the most of that cleavage. We really needed one more day in Rio just to hang out on the beach and chill.

I'm coming to the end of my trip--Igazu, utterly amazing, Falls and Sao Paulo. I have to run now and I can't stay late 'cause I HAVE to see the film about Fellini at the Film Forum tonight!!!! And last night I had ultra primo seats to the Knicks game. I've gotten a bunch of tickets to the Nets and the Knicks this season through a really sweet court reporting agency I used and it's been so much fun! All I can say is Allan Houston rules!!!!!!!!! I know it sounds like I do a lot but that's just lately. Usually all I do is work, shop for groceries, cook (sortof), do laundry ( I'm awesome at laundry), spend hours on the subway (I HATE the F line) and hang with my girls. So, I'll pick this up later. Thank you all for your patience!

[Pete C]

Mary, Dwitza is very different from most of Motta's output. It's a mostly instrumental concept album, whereas most of his career has been as a soul singer in the mold of Tim Maia, who I think was Motta's uncle.

Mary, I don't suppose the Japanese woman was Lisa Ono, was it? She's a bossa singer who was born in Brazil, but moved to Japan where she's quite big.

http://www.lisaono.homestead.com/files/Lisa_Namorada_on_floor_w_guitartest90.jpg

[jazzy mary]

Thank you so much!!, David! Whew!!

[jazzy mary]

I don't know, Pete. I don't think so..........

[Jimmy Cantiello]

So, Mary, how soon can you send me two of those Knicks tickets?............

http://a1259.g.akamai.net/f/1259/5586/1d/images.art.com/images/PRODUCTS/large/10046000/10046333.jpg

[jazzy mary]

Alas, not anytime soon, Jimmy. I hope I get some more soon. I'll tell you something funny, every time I've gotten them, I've asked a friend of mine who is a musician if he would like to go with me (cause he's always such a sweetie in re: hooking me up when he plays) but *everytime* he has a gig. I thought for sure he could go last night, but he was at the BN!! Maybe next time.

[gonzo]

what ever happened to badi assad?

[Pete C]

Originally posted by gonzo
what ever happened to badi assad?

Gonzo, there's a Brazilian music thread.

[jazzy mary]

Yes, yes, Dave. Igaussu and Sao Paulo. I had a HORRIBLE day at work yesterday so I have had no chance to post. I hope I will be able to today and I can wrap this story up!

[jazzy mary]

Ok, let me wrap this up. When we came back to Rio from the Minais Gervais, we were so exhausted and shaken from the trip we just fell into the first hotel we could find that had a vacancy and that was cheap. After all, it was nearly midnight and it was only for a night. We found the Hotel Vermont and it was only $40, just a small room but with a decent breakfast in the morning. It reminded me of the kind of hotel we used to always stay in when we would go to Europe. Man, we have stayed in some doozies. Like the hotel near the Rome train station--just us and the transvestites! Anyway...... We were so eager to get rid of the car that we dropped it off that night back at the Hertz car rental in Rio. We got a receipt from the garage. Yesterday, that Hertz office called me to ask me where the car was! I'm not kidding. Thank goodness I had the receipt!

The next morning we caught the TAP flight to Igaussu Falls. The Falls are just a hop, skip from Rio (about 3 hours 'cause of a half-hour layover in Sao Paulo) and well worth the trip! We only had a day and a half really. BTW, my over riding feeling about Brazil is that I we needed an extra day EVERWHERE! To really do it right, including an Amazon trip (a must for me next time) one really needs 3 weeks. When we got to the Foz do Igazu Int'l. airport, I headed straight for the Caribe Tourismo office and put myself in the man's capable hands there. Well, not like *that*. But man, that cat took care of business. His first question was "How long are you here"? When I told him he was "OK, we have to make the best use of time..do this, do that, stay here etc." I was like "Yes! Sir!" He took care of *everything*. He hooked us up at the Tropical Hotel which is the only hotel actually in the National park. Right after we checked in we were to report back to the front desk so we could take a boat ride on the Brazilian side, then, the next morning, report for duty at 8:00 a.m. to take a full day tour of the Argentine side of the falls, have our suitcases packed, be checked out and then, at the end of the day, we would be dropped off at the Airport in time for the flight to Sao Paulo.

We did exactly as he told us. The Tropical Hotel is an absolutely beautiful, splendid resort hotel right *next* to the Brazilian Falls. You can walk to the end of the driveway and see them! The boat ride we took on the Igaussu River and into the Falls (you get completely drenched) was amazing, spectacular fun! To get there you first take a jeep ride through the beautiful forest. All through the Igaussu falls there are, literally, *millions* of butterflies of all kinds (800 species they told us) flying about. It is truly spectacularly beautiful. They were everywhere, all colors and sizes, flying here and there, in big bunches, flying through the tram, landing on your sleeve. I've never seen anything like it.

The falls are hard to describe. Any photo you've seen just does not do them justice. They are located at the corner of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina and cover an amazing amount of distance. And, there are all kinds of falls, there is the huge "Devil's Throat" and then the "2 Sisters" and the "3 Musketeers" and "San Marco" and on and on--just magnificent Falls everywhere. When we got back from our boat ride, we had some time to spend at the hotel but not enough. I took a swim in the incredible pool they had, had a capriani, walked the gardens, looked at jewelry at the *2* H. Stern stores in the hotel. In Brazil there is an H. Stern store on every corner--sometimes 2! Thank God, I had to go before I ended up buying some more earrings. The hotel had a couple of restaurants but we chose to eat at the one by the pool and that night they had a huge all you can eat bar-b-que which in Brazil means grilled meat over a fire--not w/ bar-b-que sauce. And man, they piled on the meat. Brazil is NOT the place for vegetarians--'cept they do have good seafood too. Again, we had a great meal, with a very good bottle of wine and some caprianis of course for a very, very reasonable sum. FWIW, the Brazilians wines are ok but I found the Chilean and Argentine wines to be better. We walked down by the Falls at night and I could not believe the sky!! I heard that the stars are brighter in the Southern Hemisphere and I wonder if that's true. Because these stars were SO bright, and SO numerous and it almost looked like you could see galaxies. It was breath taking. I couldn't help but sing "So many stars, which one is mine, so many stars". How wonderful it was to *see* Jobim's inspiration.

The next day we ate a quick breakfast (the tour guy even told us to eat at 7:30 then be ready at 8) and then we were ready for our tour of the Argentine side. We had our passports and our hiking shoes ready. With us on the tour were an Italian couple, Marco and Patrizia, who were on their honeymoon. These guys had traveled *all* over--including NYC and CA. and Canada as well as other parts of the world--but not Asia or Africa yet. Marco worked for Fiat in Turin. He was born in Brazil and worked a lot in France. Therefore he could speak English, Italian, French, Spanish and Portuguese! They were really nice. Our tour guide was a total sweetie. The Argentine side really has the park thing going on and there were all these walkways and paths etc. all through out so you see all the Falls from all different perspectives. Mother Nature had conspired with us that day to make it a beautiful, flawless sunny day--a tad hot--95 degrees would be my guess- but so lovely. There were all these *rainbows* all over the falls too. And, of course,the butterflies! Well, our tour guide wasn't kidding about this taking the entire day. We walked from 8:00 a.m. to about 3:00 p.m. I'm sure we must have walked about 7 or 8 miles. We took another boat ride, this side on the Argentine side. My one wish was to see a toucan. I've been somewhat fascinated with this bird since I was a schoolgirl (I remember drawing one for my 3rd grade geography class, and giving a report) and I asked our tour guide "how can I see one". He told me they came out in the morning. But we were leaving that afternoon! Then, on the jeep ride back through the forest--there he was was-- a toucan--flying, quickly because they can't fly too long with that beak, from limb to limb and the sun shone right *on* his yellow beak! I was so excited!

We got to the airport and it was time to go to Sao Paulo for our last night in Brazil :-(

I don't mean to write so long, really. This is like a serialized novel or something but I *have* to write about Sao Paulo but I can't write any more right now. Will you all stay with me? I hope so!

[Valerie]

JM, please don't apologize for nothin', girl, it is such a pleasure to read your trip report. Living vicariously is not quite my thing but if this is the closest I can get to Brazil right now, I'm grateful! I say, take all the time you want in writing about this wonderful trip!

[Jimmy Cantiello]

Mary, you put out a great story. It sounds as if you had a great time..............


http://www.geosc.psu.edu/~kosei/images/Brazil2000/BraMagazine/iguasucard.JPG

[jazzy mary]

Thanks for that pic, Jimmy. I'm not sure if that's the Brazil or the Argentine side. At any rate, we walked all around there and went into those falls too. Imagine being right next to those falls. It was really something.

[Elliot]

JM,
Glad you had such a great time!
Fun thread to read.

[bluenoter]

JM--Got time for São Paulo yet? http://www.brazilinfo.net/sky3/usbrazi2/public_html/images/cities/spview.gif

[jazzy mary]

Wow, bluenoter, that pic. helps to bring it back. I'll try to post today.

[jazzy mary]

Sao Paulo today, guys and I'm not kidding!! Just sit tight a moment and I'll be right back.................

[jazzy mary]

Whew, I think I can take a moment and finish this up.

We left Igassu Falls to take the quick flight into Sao Paulo. Cities fascinate me. I love to see how other countries "do" cities, the architecture, the dynamics, the people.....everything! I really wanted to see Sao Paulo as it's one of the biggest cities in the world. I'd also love to go to Brasilia someday too. I'd love to see a city like that that existed from nowhere and was created. Brazil invited all these architects from the all over the world to "do their thing" and the result must be interesting, to say the least. But, we didn't have time for that.

The Sao Paulo airport is about a million miles away from the city and it took awhile to "get" to the city. I saw all these tall buildings and sprawl and I just thought "oh my God this city is too much for me!". But ya know....it wasn't!! Once I got the hang of it, I loved Sao Paulo. Again, we had such little time a day and a half. Our hotel was in the Jardim section. A nice, kindof like Madison Ave. shopping type street. Lots of nice boutiques, restaurants and shops. The hotels in Sao Paulo are almost all "suite" hotels so we had a big bedroom, living room, bathroom and terrace type room for $70 a night (the weekend rate, that is--Sao Paulo is mainly for business travelers so the weekday rates are higher, or so I've read. On weekends they also give you a very late--like 6p.mp check-out. That was great because the flight to NYC leaves very late at night like 10:50 p.m.). From our terrace we looked out and you would think we were looking out at 63rd. and Third in Manhattan. Sao Paulo is a "new" city so, alas, most of the architecture is that 60s-70s really ugly grey or white concrete box stuff. We hit the streets and man do you have to LOOK where you're going in Sao Paulo and all over Brazil. The sidewalks (if there are any) are ALL broken up and uneven--even worse than NY! There will be this small square of the sidewalk that will just be this HOLE that's like 2 feet deep--you know how in NYC they put a wastecan or a pole or something in those holes so you won't break your leg?? Well, in Sao Paulo--nothing!! So, I assiduously watched the sidewalk like crazy when I walked anywhere because I did not want to break my leg.

Here's a "small world" or something story for you. We bopped into a nice bookstore/magazine store in this area and I saw this French publication called "Jazzman". The cover story for the Feb. 2003 edition was called "New York is Now" (in English) and "Une Nouvelle Generation. Qui sont-ils? Que jouent-ils?" In English : The New generation, who are they, where are they playing? Tom Storer, do you know this publication? I thought wow, I should get this because wouldn't it be a gas if they talked about people I know. Well, did they ever! They had a bunch of my friends in there, including a story about Ron Horton, who I had just gotten done sending a postcard to!! There were stories about Nasheet Waits, Jeremy Pelt, Jason Moran, Seamus Blake, Ben Allison etc.

The guy at the counter started talking to me but I don't understand any Portuguese so who knows what he was saying? That night we ate at one of the fanciest, most beautiful restaurants in Sao Paulo called Cafe Antique. It was wonderful. Again, the whole nine yards- 5 star food and service for around $100 (It would be $300 in NYC). We wanted to go hear some music in Sao Paulo so we took a hair-raising cab ride to this club where was I don't know where it was---but it was someplace where there were tons of young people all dolled up all *over* the place. There were basically no sidewalks. And the club we wanted to go to didn't have any music that night! It was called "Club Tom Jobim" and I was looking forward to some good music. I guess we should have called. But, at least, we saw this really different area of Sao Paulo filled w/ young people all over the place, all dressed up, waiting in long lines to get in to some "hip" club. Man, I wouldn't wait in lines like that for NO-ONE (well maybe Tom Harrell). So, we made our way through the crowd and headed back to the hotel.

Darn, I have to go. I'll finish tomorrow.

[Jim R]

Originally posted by jazzy mary
"So many stars, which one is mine, so many stars". How wonderful it was to *see* Jobim's inspiration.

Everybody knows I'm a huge Jobim fan, but in this case I thought I'd just point out that "So Many Stars" was actually written by Sergio Mendes, with lyrics by Alan and Marilyn Bergman.

Anyway, thank you Mary, for describing your visit to Brazil! It's a real treat for those of us who have only dreamed of visiting there.

[jazzy mary]

Jim R, I didn't know that!!! Thanks so much. I like the version Sarah sang on her "Brazil" album and I guess I never really looked at the composer and the lyricists. My bad!

[Valerie]

Fire in Historic City Ignites Debate in Brazil

From an article in yesterday's Boston Globe

Ouro Preto, Brazil - Blackened rubble and ash-covered wrought- iron railings are all that remain of a 200-year old building that burned last week in the center of this historic gold mining city.
The fire, which gutted the red-tiled commercial building, also left a gaping architectural hole in what many consider to be the cradle of Brazil's national identity and fueled complaints that government neglect could ruin the city's chances of becoming a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The blaze lasted hours as hundreds of people watched and wept. Firefighters did not have enough water pressure to douse it quickly enough to save the building.
"If it continues like this, in 15 years Ouro Preto will be a Baroque archeological site, not a living Baroque town," said the Rev. Jose Feliciano Simois of our Lady of Pilar, one of Ouro Preto's 13 ornate churches.
Ouro Preto, which means Black Gold in Portuguese, was founded in the 17th century after huge gold deposits were discovered under its steep hills.
Some 235 miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro, it quickly became one of South America's richest and important cities, and gold money financed the construction of churches such as Our Lady of Pilar, which has hundreds of pounds of gold and silver artwork adorning its interior.
The main square is named in honor of poet and dentist Joaquim Jose da Silva Xavier, who helped launch the first Brazilian rebellion against the country's Portuguese rulers in 1789. Silva was hanged by the Portuguese in 1792.
Tourism draws thousands of Brazilian and foreign visitors, especially during Easter week, but preservationists are worried that Ouro Preto's charm could be lost because of modern perils.
Aluminum mining became an important industry in the late 1970s. Heavy trucks and buses constantly lumber over its cobblestone streets, which were built for horses and carts. There is no road to divert traffic from the historic center.
In December, a beer truck barreled out of control and smashed an elaborate fountain next to Our Lady of Pilar. A few months earlier, a bus slammed into a stone retaining wall, barely missing a small 18th-century chapel.
Government officials say it has earmarked $3 million in restoration funds to maintain the city's historic buildings, but UNESCO says the city is being most threatened by traffic and sprawl. "The city has intense urban activity, and it is surrounded by steep hillsides that are eroding," said Jurema Machado, head of UNESCO's cultural division in Brazil.

[jazzy mary]

Wow, Val. Thanks for posting that! I wonder which building it was and where? Ouro Preto is actually a relatively big city of about 250,00 people whereas Tiradentes, named after Xavier the dentist or "Tooth Puller"--"Tiradentes" who launched the first revolution is much smaller and "doable" and relaxing.

At least it's good the fire didn't happen during Holy Week. Ouro Preto, Tiradentes and Marianna all have big Easter processionals then and all the hotels and paradors are BOOKED UP!

[jazzy mary]

Ok, guys, I'm really going to finish now. Sao Paulo......ok. After the music thing didn't pan out (btw, the name of the club was Club Tom Jobim) and we got back to the hotel it was late and we only had one more day in Sao Paulo. The next day, a Sunday, we booked a tour of the city because with such a vast city and so little time there was no way we could really figure it out on our own. Our driver was a retired guy who had worked in Africa for the phone co. He spoke English very well. He drove us all around the city and that way we were able to see all the various neighborhoods, some churches, some public buildings, some of the not very good public art and just all kinds of things. He was a really good driver and it is not easy to navigate those streets. He drove us all around the "rich" people's neighborhoods which were filled with big, beautiful houses (kindof like you see in Bel-Air or Beverly Hills) except that they were totally surrounded by high iron fences and they all had a guard posted outside. At one time crime was very bad in Sao Paulo but I guess it's not nearly as bad now. I can see why. There is quite a police presence and, for example, our first night there when we were walking around the Jardims section I kept seeing all these old, kindof scruffy men hanging out in the doorways of buildings. At first I was a little apprehensive until I saw a badge they were wearing which said "Vigilante" or something like that. I guess the city or the establishments pay these guys to hang out and watch for trouble. Like many cities where unemploynment is high, Brazil often has 3 people to do the job of one. For example, when we would go to the really nice restaurants there were usually 2 doormen--in beautiful suits--outside and then a host guy inside then the owner of the restaurant and then lots of waiters and so on.

We drove around some more and then when our tour was over we asked our guide to let us off at this mall in Hygienopolis (healthy city). Living in New York we don't really have malls and I was eager to see this one. It was built in 1999 and was quite nice. As it was Sunday a lot of stores were closed but I did get the "Elis in Montreux" cd I wanted and we had a chance to rest and have a coffee. Thank goodness Starbucks has not taken over Brazil yet. We had coffee at a Brazil coffee house. There were quite of few of the Sao Paulo "rich" type people around, spending a leisurely Sunday. The women were all coiffed and elegently dressed and all had their cell phones and all. Really groomed in that sort of Texas way. At another table were their men, all smoking cigars. Sao Paulo was "settled" by the Italians, Japanese and Germans mainly. The first skyscaper in Sao Paulo was the "Italian Building" and there is a Japanese section and there are supposed to be fabulous Japanese restaurants in Sao Paulo. As a result the Paulistas have much lighter complexions than the other Brazilians we saw. In Rio, as many of the people came from Africa, are much more varied in hue and of course, darker.

After that we rushed to the Sao Paulo art museum which is devoted to Brazilian art. There was a tremendoulsy long line to get in and we despaired of getting in at all which really made us unhappy as this museum is known for having an amazing Brazilian art collection.. I realized that the line was to see the special exhibit on Eckhout who, I gathered from the little Portuguese I was able to read, was an artist from Holland who painted in the late 1600s to early 1700s and his main subject was Brazil and its people. The exhibit looked great but we didn't have time to wait in that line and fortunately we were able to just go in the regular museum. Hey, maybe when we get to the "E" thread, Brian can fill me in on Eckhout's art. That'd be great!

The museum is very interesting architecturally. It was an art studio from the 1800s (nothing in Brazil, building wise, is all that old) which they gutted--keeping the outside brick walls but turning the inside into an airy, very accessible, lovely setting for the paintings and sculpture. The collection was fantastic. The museum is about three floors and is world class in the choices of the collection. The only thing they need to do is translate the narratives about the paintings into another language, English preferably. I would have loved to learn more about the works and from the look of the text, it seemed like it was well done and pretty comphrehensive. After that, we hung at the adjacent park "Park Luz" which was quite a lovely park. My guide book said it was a haven for female prostitutes but we only saw a couple--of course it was 5 in the afternoon. As our plane was leaving that night at 10:50 we didn't have alot more time. We tried to find the Museum of Sacred Art but couldn't figure out exactly where it was and we were running out of time. We had seen the one in Marianna, which is supposed to be the best one in Brazil, so we felt ok about that. On the way to trying to find that museum we saw a boy who was begging for money so I gave him all the reals I had but held some back becasue I wasn't sure exactly what I'd need still. And I REALLY did not want to have to look for an ATM machine that accepted my card--almost NONE of the ATM machines in Brazil accept any cards other than that particular bank. So, the convenience we have in basically every other country of finding a machine that says "cirrus" or what have you does not happen in Brazil. But I didn't want to have any reals when I got back to the States. Also I made the mistake of taking travelers checks. Don't do this in Brazil. they are very hard to cash--no one seemed to even know what they were and the exchange rate was not as good as cash. When I go back to Brazil I'm just going to take a bunch of cash abnd exchange that. As it was I wish I'd given him all my reals as I came back with maybe 40 reals which netted me a little over $10 when I exchanged it here.

We had our last meal in Brazil at a "bar-b-cue" restaurant our hotel person had recommended and man was it great!! It was called "Barbacoa" and it was beautiful and elegant. They had an enormous salad bar but the real deal was the meat. They put these little discs on our table and we weren't sure what to do with them--were they minature coasters for our ciprianis? Finally, a waiter asked us if it was our first time and then he told us that you flip the disk when you're ready for all the meat to be brought on and then you flip it back when you've had enough or want to take a rest. They bring out all these different cuts of meat, at different times, and go around to all the tables and if you want some, they carve it and you take your tongs and take the meat. It sounds a little gross in describing it but it really wasn't . All the cuts were wonderful and they gave us a card that described them all. They also have a restaurant in Tokyo! Of course, it's easy to overeat. But it was really good and a great meal to end our trip. We went back to our hotel and our taxi driver from the night before was waiting for us just like he promised and we went to the airport.

Man, do I miss Brazil.

[jazzy mary]

David, did you live there? When, where and so on? You should really plan a visit soon. I think you would see a HUGE change from 20 years ago. Many of the buildings, cultural things etc. we saw have been put up in the last 10 -15 years. Brazil is SUCH a bargain and so nice (there is so much to do and it has something for everyone). If you can do the airfare, or better, use frequent flyer miles like my sister gave us, then it's an extraordinary value!!!!! Even so there are many very reasonable tours there--Brazilnuts.com is particularly good and good value, I've been told.

[jazzy mary]

I'm bringing this back up because I'm so excited by all the "views" I've gotten! I wonder if I can get to 1000!!

[Uli]

Wonder no mo', JM!

[jazzy mary]

What did you do,Uli, just click on it 40 times? Now, that's not *really* fair, is it!!!!? I just want everyone to read about my adventures. I'm listening to "Ouro Negro" now!

[jazzy mary]

I can't believe this has over 1,000 views! I'm so excited! yet, there are only 53 responses. Who is viewing this? Reveal yourself now!