Sao Paulo

We were sad to leave the beautiful beaches of Uruguay, but it wasn’t too hard as we were already looking forward to the Brasilian colour and flair. Our plane touched down in Sao Paulo GRU more than 3 hours late causing us to miss our ride with Patricia’s cousin who had valiantly stayed at the airport despite the lack of information. We caught a taxi deep into the heart of this enormous city and fell gratefully into our bed in the wee hours of the morning.

This trip was all about family as Patricia’s entire set of relatives live in Brasil. She herself is Brasilian, having moved to Canada at a young age, but the family connections have remained strong with frequent visits over the years. Patricia had the fantastic idea to arrange for both of our parents to join us during our stay here. Ben was making his third trip but for his parents it would be a first in many ways. Fortunately, they had met many of the Brasilian family through various weddings and visits in Canada so it was a mix of reunions and new experiences, much of it conducted in Portuguese. Ben’s dad bridged the language barrier with gusto and displayed his mastery by naming all of the ingredients in the famous Caipirinha drink while mixing himself (and others) this delicious cocktail. Quite the feat after the second or third of these boozy beverages! Margaret was soon chatting away with a mixture of hand gestures and facial expressions, making fast friends with the whole family. Lucila and Paulo, Patricia’s parents, were wonderful hosts and co-ordinated the entire trip with the family to ensure maximum fun and adventure!

We were able to experience the infamous nightlife in Sao Paulo when Patricia’s cousin took the two of us out for an adventure with his friends to an exclusive rooftop party and then off for midnight sushi and drinks at the best Japanese restaurant in the city. We recovered the next day with a brunch at the local "panaderia" (bakery), where the food has no equal - fresh bread, empadinhas, kibes, coxinhas, croquettes, and pao de queijo, just to name a few of the amazing Brasilian baked goods that make visits to Brasil a great culinary experience.

The most amazing experience of all was the incredible hospitality displayed by all of the Brasilian family and friends - their warmth and generosity was the highlight of the trip. Throughout our stay we maintained a breakneck pace of social visits, getting together for churrascos (barbecues) and pool parties, cocktails and appetizers, breakfasts, lunches and dinners. We were even able to give Ben an early 33rd b-day celebration with family. It was wonderful to catch up with loved ones over good food and drinks and we already miss them all so much!