São Paulo day 6

 Moving day today.

I woke up at my usual time, had a nice breakfast and shower.

I had plenty of time to pack all my stuff. As far as I know, I didn't leave anything behind.

I found a pretty convenience bus to get to my new digs, only a little walking on both ends of the bus ride.

After getting off the bus and walking to the hostel, I came across this business. I was thinking I should check into this as a side gig.

This new place is definitely on my top 5 list of best hostels I have stayed at. It might be number one. It may be displaced from that number one ranking by the place I will be staying at in Lima. That one also looks pretty sweet.  I'll keep you posted.

I got checked in OK and got my bed assignment, unfortunately on the top bunk, but it is not a tall bunk, so It will do.

I got a little guidance from the guy working the desk at the hostel for finding the bus and subway stations close by.

Once I put my stuff away, I headed out. I decided to take a bus to the theatre to see if I could take a tour today. This is also next to the sight where they had been setting up for todays concert, so I'll be able to check that out to.

Arriving at the theatre, I again found out the tours were sold out for today. Strike 1

The next thing I found was that the area of the concert is now completely surrounded by an 8' tall metal fence wall. I couldn't even find a small gap in the fence to be able to peek inside. There must be close to a mile of this fencing installed to make sure that only those with tickets are able to view the concert. Strike 2

I stopped for lunch while in the area. It was right across the street from a bike station, so I picked up a bike to head back towards the hostel and also look for Museo de Arte São Paulo.

I got close to my destination and started looking for a bike station less than 20 minutes into my ride. Then I got all twisted up and ended up going in the wrong direction which was also downhill. The only way to get back on track was all uphill. I had to walk the bike uphill and take several sit breaks along the way. I finally got back on track, found a bike station and parked it at 69 minutes 3 seconds. The bike was due back at 45 minutes so I ended up paying a small penalty. I thought I was going to have a heart attack before finally parking the bike.  Strike 3 and I was out, of energy anyway.

There was a McDonalds across from the bike station. The place was swamped with people, but it was air conditioned. I found a place to sit for a few minutes, I wasn't ready to deal with the crowds to order anything.

Once I recovered a little, I did go outside and order an ice cream sundae from their outside kiosk. I needed it bad. I found a ledge to sit on, ate my sundae and watch people in amazement. All this people, kids, young adults and adults were coming by posing for selfies in from the McDonalds french fry sign next to where was sitting. 

I am now officially out of the ghetto section of town and into the other side of town. All new modern high rises. Residential and commercial. Very upscale.

I checked google maps to find a way back to the hostel exerting the least amount of energy and chance of getting lost. There were some bus connections, but offered opportunity to get lost again. Another option was to get another bike. I tossed that option out immediately for 2 reasons, I could get lost again and reason 2, what if I had to climb another hill. Google showed it was only about a 12 minute walk. I went for option 3. It definitely took me more than 12 minutes at my slow pace, but I made it back to the hostel. 

Greatly relieved and tired. I headed straight to my room to take a short siesta.

After my siesta, I took a nice shower to complete the recovery process.

I again have to tell you this hostel is number 1 with me.

The bath and shower room was large. I thought maybe I wandered into a hotel by mistake or I was dreaming. I pinched myself, nope it was all real and right next to my room without having to go up or down any flights of stairs. 

Slightly off topic, I saw someone buying a bottle of Coke yesterday. I wasn't sure at first because  the bottle was so small. I checked the cooler and sure enough it was coke. A 200 ml bottle of coke, that is 6.73 ounces. I realized today that the soft drinks are a bit pricey here. I had a 16 ounce bottle of coke with my lunch and it was over $2 usd.

It was not a wasted day. I didn't see anything that I headed out to see, but I sure got a lot of exercise.

Tomorrow, I will check to see if the Modern Art museum is open and maybe head over to the largest park in São Paulo, Parque Ibirapuera. The Museo Afro Brazil is also in the park. Maybe it will be open, the park will be for sure. I'm definitely not going by bike. I figure I dodged the grim reaper today and don't want to give him another opportunity tomorrow. The bus will work just fine.