First Day in Sao Paulo

I was last in Sao Paulo exactly 20 years ago, in December of 1989. I flew Pan Am while on break from Berkeley High School. Pan Am is no more, and I'm no longer a high school student.

According to Wikipedia, this place is huge and booming:

With an estimated population of 11,037,593 residents within an area of 1,523 square kilometers (588.0 sq mi), São Paulo is the most populous city in the Southern hemisphere.

The city also lies at the center of the heavily urbanized São Paulo metropolitan area, with an estimated 19,889,559 people in 2009[10] over 7,944 square kilometers (3,067.2 sq mi), is the largest metropolitan area in the nation. Depending on which definition is used, the São Paulo metropolitan area is ranked as either the most populous or second most populous in the Americas

In my first day, I noted the prevalence of old VW Busses (which are said to still be made in Brazil), hit the mall across the street from my hotel and noted the size of the city.


It's amazing how clear the skies are when you think about how huge Sao Paulo is.

That's it for day 1. Time to go off and do some work.