A stroll along the Avenida Paulista

I have enjoyed an excellent first full day in São Paulo. Renato (my host) collected me from my hotel this morning to drive me to the university campus. There he showed me around campus and his department and introduced me to some of his colleagues.

Four of us went for a buffet lunch at one of the many restaurants on campus. The meal was amazing. I'm afraid that Renato will be rather disappointed by university catering when he visits the UK. 

After a couple of meetings in the afternoon Renato took me into town to show me around the Fundação Vanzolini. Then we walked along the Avenida Paulista. This is considered one of the most important streets in Brazil. It was constructed at the end of the nineteenth century, but there is very little evidence of the original buildings. According to Wikipedia 'old' neo-classic, Hindu and Middle Eastern style houses on the avenue were torn down in the 1950s 'overnight' to avoid popular resistance to a modernisation programme! My blip is one of just two houses that survived the demolition. As you can see, it's not in a very good way.

After supper at a restaurant just off the avenue, Renato dropped me back at my hotel.

My first impressions of the city are of its immense size, a lack of old architecture (despite origins that go back to the sixteenth century), and lots and lots of traffic.

Exercise today: walking (9,841 steps).