There is no bigger cliche than saying that the Paulista Avenue starts on at Paraíso (heaven) and finishes at Consolação (consolation) – and so does São Paulo. The funny quote are related to the two subway stations that respectively starts and ends at the famous address.
Image Credit: Isabella von Haydin
The most famous avenue of São Paulo, and of Brazil, says a lot about the city and its behavior: a metropolis full of culture, food, business, but also poverty. Paulista, as called by the locals, has about three museums, not considering the cultural centers, thousands of restaurants and tables food trucks selling the different types of food, uncountable buildings that shelter offices, a park, schools and colleges, financial centers, tons of people’s home – and, unfortunately, another tons of people sleeping in the streets. For me, that’s a perfect portrait of São Paulo, a very rich city where the contrasts share the same spaces every day.
Image Credit: Isabella von Haydin
The most passionate day is Sunday, when the streets are closed and people can freely walk, ride bikes, skates and rollers where cars and busses merge horns and pollution during the week. More than this, many local artists come and sing on streets, giving every corner a free concert.
Also, under MASP, the biggest museum of Paulista and the most important of the south hemisphere – that has Van Gogh’s and Picasso’s to Anita Malfatti’s and Portinari’s arts –, there is an antiques fair and on the other side of the street an everything fair, with food, art, plants and coconut water!
Image Credit: Isabella von Haydin
However, during the week Paulista is chaotic: thousands of people walking in every direction, and eventually bumping into each other without even apologizing. It may be too scary or too familiar, in controversy there is a feeling that nothing wrong can happen when you are surrounded by so many people crossing streets in firm steps.
Image Credit: Isabella von Haydin
São Paulo is also the graffiti city, surrounded by the colors projected by man in concrete, the location found her own way to project beautiful scenarios and that is perfectly expressed in Paulista Avenues different buildings, quotes and graffiti’s widespread.
Walk in Paulista may also present another major factor of São Paulo: it’s cultural plurality. You can hear people speaking in many languages and accents from different parts of Brazil – the world living in harmony.
Image Credit: Isabella von Haydin
São Paulo can be scary and cozy, unpolite and educated, polluted and have many parks and threes. However, such as Paulista always seems to have room for more buildings, the city and the famous avenue will always have a space in your heart.