Butatan Institute

Snakes. Lots and lots of snakes. 50,000 snakes. Although we didn't see that many snakes. We went back to the Butatan Institute and this time it was open.

There were snakes inside...

that were hard to photograph. They had some huge anacondas but they were at the back of their cage and hard to see.

Then there were snakes outside...

that were taking it easy.

This guy had a infrared thermometer on the end of his pole and was taking the temperature of several rattlesnakes. Not a job I would like to do.

There were lots of cages with monkeys. Previously they had used these in their serum development but not now.

All around one of the museums there were mosaics in the sidewalk. I thought they were so colorful and fun.

Wall mosaic.

Snakes weren't the only subject.

Isn't this colorful?

 We were glad to finally get into the museums. It was an interesting day.

Liberdade aka Japantown

After being without internet for three and a half days I can finally get back to our travels. On Thursday we went to an area of town called Liberdade or Japantown. Think of Chinatown in San Francisco and you have a good idea what is there. Around early 1900's a lot of Japanese came to Brazil to work in the coffee fields. When they finished their work contract they would often come to Sao Paulo. Sao Paulo has the largest Japanese population of any city outside of Japan.

This is the beginning of the area.

I love these street lights.

The gate to the area.

There were a lot of Japanese grocery stores with items imported from Japan.

Stores that had beautiful dishes.

And all sorts of knick knacks.

At noon we went to a restaurant and had a wonderful lunch. Mike had Katsu Don and I had Oyako Don. The miso soup had 4 small clams in it. It was a very good lunch. I wouldn't mind going back again.

On a bridge I had this interesting view of Sao Paulo.

 We really had a great time in Liberdade.

Sao Paulo Zoo

Today we went to the zoo. It was an interesting venture. To get there we took three different subway lines and two bus rides which took one and a half hours. Waiting for the zoo bus.

 Leanne had pictures of the turtle she followed for 30 minutes. These guys hardly moved. We didn't hang around for very long.

 These photos of the animals are not necessarily about the animal but the lovely setting.

 The area has one of the few Atlantic rain forests left. It had a lot of trees .

 More trees

 These were very colorful birds.

 Monkey island.

 White tiger

 Lion

This was lunch. A cheeseburger, fries and a coke. We arrived in Brazil 4 months ago and this is the first hamburger I have had. I thought it was a fitting way to celebrate.

We spent three hours going to and fro and three hours at the zoo. Sort of a draw.

Mercado Municipal

 While wandering around Sao Paulo yesterday we went to the Mercado Municipal. We think in its former self it was a bus or train station but it has been remodeled into a shopping area for food stuff. The thing that struck me first was the vibrant colors that were there.

The fruit is prime quality and arranged so beautifully. The strawberries you see were about $15 a pound. They were the fattest and loveliest strawberries I have seen. But I didn't go home with any.

So here are some pictures of this very colorful place.

 This is the view from the balcony where several restaurants are located.

 There are stained glass windows that celebrate industry at the ends of the bays. Can't you imagine this as a train station in the past?

 This is a vendor or olive oil. cheese, vinegar and other goodies.

 This shrimp was mighty tempting.

 All sorts of grains, beans and nuts are for sale. We found cashews for a cheaper price than our local street fair. We now have more than one cashew a day. Woohoo.

 I was fascinated how much they were able to pack into such a small space. They would tie string around these products and hang them from the ceiling. I saw that same technique used for olive oil, vinegar and such.

There were aisles and aisles of vendors with such a wonderful array of goods for sale. It was a very fun place to be.

Downtown Sao Paulo

 Lots of pictures and a little bit of commentary. Yesterday was the beginning of our two week vacation. The temple closes every six months (more or less) for two weeks. During that time deep cleaning and maintenance are done. We get to do what we want. We can not travel outside the temple district unless we have permission. We got approval to go to Curitiba and Campinas. We also plan on going to Santos and Guaruja. Those cities are in the temple district. They are right next to the ocean and Guaruja is supposed to have some really nice beaches.

So back to the city. On Monday we decided to explore downtown Sao Paulo. (It really bothers me that I can't put the accents where they should go. I wonder how to do that.)

We now know how to use the metro (subway) and the buses.  There is no holding us back any longer.

We went downtown and for once I felt like I was in a really big city. Out where we live it doesn't feel that way. This building with the plants on top is the city building.

 I liked the looks of this group of buildings so I stuck Mike and another missionary couple in front of it.

 We really enjoyed the streets that were closed to cars. Vendors were set up along the side of this street.

 This street is known for the shopping. Lots of fabric stores. Not much quilting fabric but I really was amazed at how many fabric stores there were.

 At the end of this street is the Bank of Sao Paulo and to the right is their equivalent of the New York stock exchange.

 This is a federal building of some sort. I liked the architecture of it.

 This building was on our walking tour of buildings with architectural interest. Mike and I both thought it should be in a Ghostbusters movie.

 This is the Cathedral de Se. It really isn't that old. It was completed around 1957. It is very nice.

 Here is a side view of the church. The dome belongs to it.

 This guy was on the side of the Justice building. He looks pretty grumpy to me.

 This building marks the spot where Sao Paulo had its beginnings. It was so funny because we would be walking down a street and would be a little lost and then this building would come into view. That happened to us about three times, on different streets, going a different direction and this building would pop up.

 This is a monument to the founders of Sao Paulo right in front of the white building.

 This says Sao Paulo was first settled in 1554 on this spot.

 While wandering around we happened upon these street performers.  They were really quite good and very entertaining. I told Mike he needs a jacket like the fellow on the right. Stripped pants wouldn't hurt either.

 Here we are in front of the municipal theater. It really is a very nice building. It is strange to have the older European style buildings next to stark 20th century buildings. So many of their older buildings were razed and ugly nondescript ones built in their place. It is good to see they are now trying to preserve and restore the historic buildings in downtown.

We walked about six miles that day and got a good feel for the central city. It was a fun day and a great beginning to our vacation.