Day 1

After waiting 2 months for my visa, I could finally fly to Sao Paulo....
The fly was really okay and in the end not as long as I expected it to be...
I can recommend everybody to visit the airports of Frankfurt and Zurich.. Especially Zurich is impressive as it has an own airport-subway, which drives you from the airport to the gates... During the ride you will hear typical Swiss noises in the background like moos and yodellers... simply awesome

After arriving in Sao Paulo, I went from one queue to the next... The reason for these queues remains a mystery for me because in the end there was no logical reason, why they had existed :D... I waited 2 hours for a promised taxi, which never came... and then decided to take the next taxi... I had the longest taxi ride of my live (approx. 2 hours).

The city as such is huge and there is a constant stream of traffic, whether day or night going through the city.... I will not mention hear how cars behave in this traffic system and how crazy bikers act.... If you have visited bigger cities in China, India or even southern Europe, you will know what I mean...

On the way I have got a first impression of the city... especially the skyscrapers with regard to amount and scale are very impressive... Looks like in New York. There is also a quarter here called "Brooklyn". Although I had known that there is often no space between skyscrapers and favelas, which means rich and poor people, it still has been very depressing to observe these huge gaps with my own eyes.

After arriving at the hotel, where I will stay for the next 3 days, I was faced with western prices but "enjoy" western quality standards.. The view out of room on the 8th floor would fit for many cities in the USA... most likley New York or Chicago.

The weather also fits, as Sao Paulo at this time of the year is very cloudy, but it is not cold at all, although it is actually winter.

In the afternoon of my first day, I visited "Shopping Center Morumbi", which is also huge, like everything in Sao Paulo... A big collection of stores, which sell brands you know at western prices or even higher. The second floor was filled with restaurants. Some highlights were the "German Biergarten" with all kind of German beers and sausages like the "Australian Steakhouse", which offered grilled kangaroo. But also typical Japanese, French and Italian food was available.

In the end I tried Brazilian food: a steak with salat, rice and "Guarana Antarctica"... it was really good.. especially Guarana is a beverage that I will drink more often ;-)

At the end of this day I would like to tell you two curiosities, which I could observe in Sao Paulo...

1.) The cashier system at the supermarket:

In the supermarket you stand in a queue.. that's pretty normal.. but then you come to a monitor which announces the number of a free cashier, where you are supposed to go to... So you have a queue, the monitor and around 11 cashiers, which are organized in two lines opposite to each other and serve customers...

2.) A very special sign...

In the Shopping Center, a BANK announced to close 2 hours before and reopen 2 hours after each game of the Brazilian National Soccer Team during the World Cup...

Okay that's the news of DAY ONE...
More to come....