SÃ£o Paulo Trip, February 2015

Posted on February 13, 2015 by Rick Freeman

I left the cool rainy weather of beautiful Seattle for SÃ£o Paulo, Brazil to soak up some warm sunshine and stuff my belly with some charcoal grilled red meat at one of the many Churrasco style restaurants through-out Brazil. I was supposed to get my dental braces installed before this trip, but I knew this carnivore was going to be grinding down some succulent red meat so I postponed the metal work for after this trip.

My friend Afonso Fernandes picked me up the airport and for a 22 mile ride it took us a little over 2 hours to get to my Hilton Hotel. One of the biggest challenges of living in SÃ£o Paulo is definitively the commute, according to Time magazine SÃ£o Paulo has the world’s worst daily traffic jams. Getting around SÃ£o Paulo is a pain in the ass unless you rent or own a helicopter, go figure SÃ£o Paulo metro area has 19 million people.

In SÃ£o Paulo, the average traffic jams on Friday evenings is 180km (112 miles) and as long as 295km (183 miles) on bad days according to local traffic engineers. There are 420 helicopters registered in SÃ£o Paulo, a total second only to New York City. There are up to 500 helicopter flights daily in Sao Paulo and the city has a staggering 193 heliports.

Although the traffic was a pain in the ass during the day, I had a great time with my friend Afonso Fernandes during this trip. He is a master at providing unlimited hospitality and finding fabulous restaurants.

: You get many side dishes to compliment your meat.

: This is a typical day of traffic in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

: The famous OctÃ¡vio Frias de Oliveira Bridge. The view from my Hilton Hotel. Some lucky person is skipping the traffic today.

: I visited Piracicaba, Brazil one day. This was actually the warmest day of my trip.

: I usually work-out at the gym to offset my wining / dining. I did 80 minutes on the treadmill at 15% incline.

: When in SÃ£o Paulo you must enjoy the many Churrasco style restaurants.

: Enjoying some snacks in Piracicaba, Brazil with my friends Renata Tabai and Afonso Fernandes

: Afonso insisted that I should get the best shoe shine in the world before our flight in the Curitiba Airport. He was right…it was the best I have ever had, they spent 10 minutes per shoe.

: Afonso showing me how it’s done in one of the Churrasco style restaurants we visited.

Sao Paulo Trip, February 2012

Posted on February 24, 2012 by Rick Freeman

I usually make a trip down to Sao Paulo, Brazil every year and as alwaysâ€¦.walking off the airplane in Sao Paulo is usually the exact opposite from walking off the airplane in Seattle. Warm air greets you unlike the cool wet weather of Seattle. My good friends Afonso Fernandes and Desmond Simoes were waiting outside of customs for me. The drive from the airport to my Hilton Hotel was unusually quick due to the national holiday Carnival that I just missed. Any other day it would have been another slow going commute; Sao Paulo is well known for having some of the worst traffic in the world. After getting checked in at the hotel, I got caught up with emails and had time for a snooze before we headed out for a late lunch.

We headed to a typical Churrasco style restaurant and as usual I indulged way too much on the various slices of beef and lamb. I always follow Alfonsoâ€™s recommendation when selecting piece of meat from the Passadores (server).

Next day we headed up Piracicaba, a smaller city Northwest of Sao Paulo. There are many restaurants along the Piracicaba river, but this trip we had a great lunch in a German restaurant with my Renata Tabai and a few of her co-workers.

: Hotel View

: Flight Path

: Afonso Fernandes

: Afonso Fernandes

: Local Bridge

: City Center

Sao Paulo Trip, April 2011

Posted on April 16, 2011 by Rick Freeman

A trip to Sao Paulo is always a good time, especially when the city that you areÂ living in (Seattle)Â is getting inundated with rain every day.Â This was more ofÂ a business trip this time, but still had time to enjoy the great restaurants and good friends.Â The weather was sunny and the temperature stayed in the mid-seventies.Â The last time I was in Sao Paulo was 2008 and I can’t remember the traffic being so horrendous.Â It would take us on average a couple of hours to get anywhere in the city, you would spend half of your day just driving.Â

The area is exploding with economic growth, you couldÂ see manufacturing buildings going up representing America, Japan, China and South Korea.Â The taxes are so high here that you almost need to have your company here instead of importing; taxes are higher than the cost of your product you are shipping.Â Cars that cost $25,000 in America, will cost you over $50,000 in Sao Paulo because of taxes; maybe it’s a deterrent to keep cars off the road.