São Paulo

São Paulo is one of the biggest cities of the world. Being like that, with so many people, its natural that there is more violence and robbery than in the small, quiet countryside villages. Thats´s obvious, and its a pity people who only see pollution and robberies and poverties in sao paulo. It is yes, a city of contrasts, i agree, but there are much more things to do. and you dont need to be rich to have fun in São paulo. there are restaurants for all the tastes. if you are a limited budget traveller, I wouldnt go to a mc donalds or pizza hut, there are many reastaurants all over the palce where you pay what your plate weight..you can eat loads, have a couple of drinks for about 2 pounds. the best restaurants are the italkians in bexiga, but ther are japanese, greek, french, all sorts...For the nighttime if you have money to spend, go to vila olímpia or vila mariana. These are 2 regions full of nightclubs and bars as well and the nightlife is great. maybe not reasonable but the atmostphere is worth it! About the transportation, the traffic can be a bit horrible early in the morning or in the beginning of the evening and the parking is usally expensive, but its the safest way for going out at night .id avoid buses (they can be quite confusing) and give preference to the subway during the daylight. For gadgets and cheap stuff go to "vinte e cinco de março" street. if you dont mind many peopel around because its a street full of shops and sidewalk vendors, but beware because there are many fake stuff being sold and you dont want to be arested! If you prefer somewhere with less people and more enterteinment, there are many malls, like ibirapuera, shooping paulista, etc. The malls there have not only shops but cinemas, bowling pool tables, restaurants, all inside the same place. There are also many museums (masp, oca, etc) and good cinemas ithat play european moveis in a street called Augusta, thats traversal to paulista avenue (most famousstreet, and most expensive square meter in latin american, where all the banks are). well sao paulo isnt a beuatiful scenery or a nature like place, and there are bad things, but its good if you like cultural programs...and also if you feel sorry for people, dont gibve money to the beggars, help a proper and reliable instiution, thats what the brazilian government asks for anyway...