So let’s start with the journey to Brazil. I stopped at Lisbon on my way to Sao Paulo, I arrived at around 7:30pm. I had to wait 15 hours for the connection flight which at first seemed like a daunting prospect. To be truthful, it wasn’t that bad. About an hour into it I got a phone call saying my priority pass membership was renewed (I’d been trying frantically to get it renewed) so off to the lounge I went until it closed at 11.

After getting kicked out at closing time I decided to put the finishing touches and proof read the Orlando blog, and then do some unfinished work I started. By 5am the lounge reopened, as soon as I went in the tiredness kicked in. Apart from dropping in and out of sleep on the flight to Lisbon I’d been awake since 6am the previous day. I couldn’t function and went into one of the sleeping pods and set my alarm so I’d have enough time to freshen up, eat and get to the gate for the flight.

10 hours later I’m in Sao Paulo. I was warned that TAP Portugal were shocking to fly with, I thought they were good. They definitely weren’t the worst airline I flew with and the food was better than your standard airplane food.

The flight felt like it took forever, I guess the 15 hour wait didn’t help, though Bob the Dutchman I befriended  agreed (unless he was implying that sitting next to me made it feel like the flight took forever). Thankfully, I’ve only got a 2 and a half hour wait when I eventually make my way back to England from Sao Paulo via Lisbon.

Baggage claimed and Uber ordered. I was greeted by Uber my driver Mauricio. He didn’t speak any English, and was a talkative guy so it forced me to speak Portuguese. I didn’t mind speakng Portuguest (or attempting to at least), and plus I’ve been learning for a while on the duolingo app so it was a good chance to test it out. It pushed me out of my comfort zone which is something I love to do.

If you’re asking for an opinion, I can just about cope at this point. Thinking about it I couldn’t realistic expect to speak Portuguese fluently after learning for a matter of months on an app, though I could understand a fair bit of what Mauricio was saying.

I’ve always felt that if you’re going to visit a country where you don’t know the language you might as well learn as much of it as you can. Wouldn’t it be cool to tell people that you can speak another language? Regardless of how good or bad I was it was nice talking to someone in a different language and learning more of it.

I arrive at Hotel Moncloa for 8pm local time. After checking in the first thing I do is shower, I didn’t get a chance to shower since I left home. I hate going more than 24 hours without one, I love the fresh feeling you get after a shower.

So I have a full day to do everything I planned. It wasn’t going to be easy as I’d have to go our of the centre of Sao Paulo. Before heading out I spent a few minutes with the hotel receptionist with a map and pen planning out where to go in what order. I decided to leave my phone at the hotel as it was unlikely I’d have access to Wi-Fi, and I didn’t fancy taking valuables with me either.

I start with a short walk to the Sao Paulo Museum of Art (or MASP as it’s also known as). It’s a private non-profit institution which is recognised internationally for its collection of European art.

I probably stayed less than an hour though MASP wasn’t the biggest you’d come across. Admittedly I have little to no idea about art but I like looking at what creative individuals can do. For me creativity is something we take for granted in everything (from art to sport). You can inspire someone to be creative but you can’t teach creativity.

Next stop, the Obelisk of Sao Paulo. This is the biggest monument in Sao Paulo, standing at 72m in height. The monument represents the Constitutionalist Revolution of 1932 in Sao Paulo. Getting to it was a bit of a mission, the receptionist at the hotel said it wasn’t far from MASP. Once I got back to the hotel, I Google mapped it and it turns out it was just over 3 miles away! The only saving grace for me was the majority of the walk was downhill.

Now comes the not so fun part. My next stop would be the Municipal Mercado for lunch (a popular Sao Paulo public market) I was told by the receptionist (after consulting the map) to walk down the road after stopping at the Obelisk Monument to take a bus. There was a problem, there wasn’t a bus stop!

For about an hour I walked around to random bus stops asking people what bus to take and if I was in the right place.  Here’s the thing, I can just about understand Brazilians if they speak really slowly which is ironic because I’m guilty of talking really fast.

I found what I thought was the right bus stop (after confirming this with two people). I get on the bus. On buses in Sao Paulo you go past the driver and there’s someone in a designated ticket booth next about 10 feet away who issues your tickets. After about 2 or 3 minutes of trying to explain to the ticket lady (in Portuguese) where I wanted to go, there was a lady on the bus who kindly translated for me. It turned out I got on the wrong bus. Between the two of them and a gentlemen sitting nearby they told me where to get off and what bus to get.

I get off the bus and another lady who’d just come off the bus taps me on the shoulder and tells me to get on the same bus which was just in front. She didn’t speak a word of English but I was just about able to grasp what she was saying. I did my best with the minimum Portuguese I’d learnt, there were countless times over the journey which I noticed people smiling or trying not to laugh. It was hard enough to keep a straight face myself.

The lady tells me to get off the bus and gives me directions and hand gestures I could understand. About 10 minutes later I arrived at Municipal Mercado. I was relieved, I needed a break after getting lost. I’m in the country until March 24^th so I’m hoping by then to improve my Portuguese, and not get lost again.

After an hour or two I was off again. My next stop was The Altino Arantas Building. This is Sao Paulo’s version of the Empire State Building. It was 700m away from Municipal Mercado according to Google maps, but it looked like I’d have to negotiate a few turns which would’ve made a good maze map.

I got directions before leaving the Municipal Mercado and followed them to a tee. I end up getting confused as to where I was and asked for more directions from a couple of people working in a kiosk. They pointed me the complete wrong way, but it was a blessing in disguise as I found a tourist information centre. After speaking with them it turned out the Edificio Altino Arantas had closed 5 years ago! There was an alternative, the building next to it called the Edificio Martinelli. It was free to go in and you were allowed on the roof. I got to see Sao Paulo in all its beauty.

Now it was time to head to the Interlagos Race Track. This was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Sao Paulo. I’m a huge Formula One fan and I’ve never been to a circuit never mind a race. It was also a chance to test Sao Paulo’s metro system (or tube as we call it).

Over here you can only buy single tickets which is also the same with the buses. They have their own version of an oyster card, but it’s highly unlikely to be used by someone travelling abraod. It costs the equivalent of £0.80p – £1 per journey, there’s no route restrictions and you can go as far as you want. Now if this was the case in back home, I imagine British people bitching and moaning about the inconvenience of buying an extra ticket. For that price I wouldn’t complain, especially at how much we have to pay to use public transport.

On the way to the circuit, it starts raining. I’m cursing my luck, I came to Brazil to get away from the rain and instead it follows me around.

After changing metro lines, I arrived at the Autodromo station, thankfully the rain stopped. I walked 10 minutes up a smallish hill, and there I was, at one of F1’s famous circuits.There’s been a lot of historical moments over the last 10+ years at this track since it was moved to the end of the F1 calender.

As I’m approaching the entrance I wasn’t sure if I’d be allowed in. Luckily there was no problem. There’s a section where you can walk around, take photos etc. People were jogging in that area, and there were cars doing some sort of test on the track. You had a view of the start/finish straight, the Senna S’s and the straight that leads to the end of the first sector (so basically the best parts of the track).

I stayed for roughly an hour, as I’m about head off, I hear thunder storms and a torrential down pour begins. The security guard at the entrance, Marcos allows me to seek shelter from the rain. I was there for approximately half an hour. Of all the Brazilians I’d spoken to, he was the easiest to understand. I clocked a water dispenser in his office and he kindly filled up my bottle…twice! He liked F1 as well so it was easy finding common ground with him. As far as first impressions go, Brazilian people ticked all the boxes.

The rain died down so I thought it would be a good time to go back to the station. After seeing several flashes of lightning I decided to bolt for it (pun intended). About half way down, there was another torrential downpour. I got caught badly despite trying to seek shelter. It was a bit humid so it wasn’t too bad walking through it once it died down again.

After all of that was it worth it? Of course! I got to tick something off the list. Never did I envisage the first Formula One track I’d visit would be Interlagos. On top of that I managed to do everything I set out to do so you could call it a win/win.

How would I describe Sao Paulo? While planning the trip I turned to someone who was a Brazilian native for advice, Carol, who I’d met on my travels in America last year (if you’ve been following my blog, you may remember her from the San Diego blog). She described it as Brazil’s version of New York. I couldn’t agree more with that description. Sao Paulo has many big buildings. Earlier in the day someone told me there was more than 72,000 big buildings in Sao Paulo (I’d hate to be the person who researched that fact) However, I would add that Sao Paulo has a touch of San Francisco about it because of its many hills.

If you ever go to Sao Paulo, you wouldn’t need more than two full days to do everything. I managed to do it all in one. If I hadn’t planned the day I probably would’ve stayed the extra day, though Sao Paulo was always a quick stop gap for Rio de Janeiro.