The streets of Sao Paulo.

Having been in the "middle of nowhere" (I really don't like that phrase as it is always so disrespectful to people from "nowhere") it was strange to be seeing the big lights and tall buildings of Sao Paulo. I have always found architecture photos interesting and especially enjoyed playing with the wide angle lens on my new (well only 5 months old) digital camera.

Rather colorful if I do say so myself. Of course these smaller buildings are probably older and will at some point be torn down and replaced with dull behemoths.Hard to see from this far away but this is a two story wedding dress store.

Somewhere between Iracambi's single lane dirt roads and the eight plus lane highways (one way) in Houston. I think the short buildings on the left must be older than the tall ones on the right.

Nice framing of the building using these Palm Trees if I do say so myself.

I felt like I was back in Rome:) I guess maybe features such as this fountain and the fact that the Pope was in Sao Paulo during the same week that I was could be the reason for having this feeling.

More scenes from Parque da Luz.

It was nice and cool but a bit smelly inside the "cave" which I looked out from to take this picture. Landscaped features such as this waterfall can be lovely but I prefer the real thing back at Iracambi or near Portland.

A lot of meticulous work went in to work such as this path with stones used to make designs for those walking on it. You have to wonder how many people actually look down to admire the ground beneath their feet.

Estacao da Luz (Light Station) in the distance and part of a whale like looking sculpture in the foreground. Estacao da Luz was once a busy train station but now is mainly used as part of Sao Paulo's metro rail system.
Here fishy fishy!

Parque da Luz, Sao Paulo, Brasil.

Pinacoteca do Estado, the State Art Gallery, is surrounded on two sides by Parque da Luz or Park of the Light, which is a large park including natural (landscaped and thus man made) and man made features such as a pond, waterfall, bridges and sculptures. The few hours I spent at the park after visiting the stadium I saw all kinds of people enjoying a lovely afternoon in the park playing, taking pictures, listening to live music and napping.

No, this is not one of my necklaces or bracelets from Africa strung up between these two trees.This Terminatoresque metal sculpture had a lot of grit and texture.

I had fun taking pictures to try and catch different reflections in this sculpture.

Parque da Luz's very own Gipsy Kings or Buena Vista Social Club.

Reminiscent of East Berlin or some Soviet Era military symbol.

Tiles, trees and more art in Sao Paulo.

Plastic flowers don't die.....

Roses don't talk.

Japan and Brazil have strong ties as illustrated with this tile art.

Living Town Project. I found various trees like these in Vila Madalena in Sao Paulo. It has the name of the tree in Portuguese, the scientific name, countries where it comes from and info on sponsors. In a big city such as Sao Paulo it is nice to differentiate between the neighborhoods and good to have green spaces to be able to "get away".

Cemetary photos in Sao Paulo

For many years now I have enjoyed taking pictures at cemeteries that I have come across during my travels. I visited a rather big and old one while in Sao Paulo to take some pictures while trying to respect the dead (and living as in family and staff) but also get a feel for how a Brazilian cemetery looks. This was an overwhelming cemetery in terms of religious icons, large head stones and other pieces made out of marble and ohter materials and it was interesting to see the range from care to disrepair.

The name on the grave above which is very Italian was not a surprise to come across. At times in Sao Paulo I had to remind myself that I wasn't in Italy. The way Portuguese is spoken, the architecture, food and more were really reminiscent of my three weeks in Italy in 2000.

Very pious....almost reminds me of a Mel Gibson movie.

Not as over the top as others in terms of materials used but you can see that this one does not get visited as often as there are no fresh flowers, plants, etc.

A more obvious state of disrepair. Was this person trying to get out or was someone trying to get in?

You know your family is dead and gone, has left the country or doesn't care when your grave turns in to the cemetery trash dump.

At least something is growing but it looks like the family went to Europe on vacation for a few months.

This is more like it, simple marble work, little well pruned hedges, well kept flowers and a vase.

And finally just to make sure you don't do anything bad once your body is dead here is Jesus to watch over you.

Textures of life in Sao Paulo: mosaics, art, architecture, landscapes, people and more.

Sign indicating one of the many entrances to the Metro in Sao Paulo. Mass transport from buses to subways is rather good and really important in one of the largest cities in the world.Someone lose their shoes?Not exactly what I had in mind for dinner. Fish for sell at a local farmer's market.This farmer's market held every Saturday was just around the corner from where I stayed in Sao Paulo and had a pretty good selection, mainly food stuff but also some arts and crafts.I bought hot sauce from this stand to take back to Iracambi as the "hot" sauce we have in my opinion (and the opinion of others) is more adequately called NOT sauce. I am very disappointed at the weak and tasteless sauce we can get from town.

Sao Paulo Graffiti pictures take III