An alternative route through São Paulo

Sampa is cool, man!

Many people think that São Paulo is a gray city, that everyone is rushing to their business meetings and that it doesn't stop, do they?
But it's not like that! We were invited by the guys from Vem para Sampa, man! to explore a São Paulo that captivates like this, a bit naughty and different from all the stereotypes they've tried to pin on it.

First came Bem São Paulo StoreA website that connects hosts with people who want a more alternative itinerary, there's no better way! As I've said here countless times, traveling and being introduced to the city by locals is ideal, after all, they're the ones who know the magical corners of the city itself.

We chose the hostess Dani Ruano, owner of instagram @realcoolsampaso we can walk around a cool Sampa, with a touch of Rio, you know? Huh? What do you mean? You'll understand soon enough.
We start with MACThe Museum of Contemporary Art, which is relatively new, has taken the place of the old DETRAN DE SP. #bbbytheworld you're already excited about the giant cat on the first floor!

We went to the terrace, with a very nice view of the city, and saw the great concentration of green that São Paulo has, the first "taboo" to be broken: the city has nothing gray in the Ibirapuera region, an incredible and huge park, with several options of toys for the little ones to enjoy!

The next stop was another amazing sight, this time not so wooded, but impressive nonetheless, the Terrace Italy! A must-see on your tour of the city, with a sea of buildings that make for an unusual and beautiful landscape! The terrace is also charming, very chic and perfect for a dinner for two or to celebrate a special date with the family, I loved it!

Still in the center of São Paulo, we managed to walk around a bit and see the famous Copan, a huge and famous building there, they say that those who move into this building wouldn't want to go anywhere else, because there's an incredible amount of shops around, you don't have to go out for almost anything, it's close to one of the most beautiful views in the city and it's full of apartments ranging from kitsnets to huge apartments! There's everything there and it's so big that you'd need a mayor to act as a syndic, just think!

We continued walking through the center until we came out in front of the Igreja da Consolação and entered a beautiful cultural center, the Cultural MatillaIt is an independent, non-profit organization, and I found it very interesting, especially for introducing babies to the world of art. There, they have a socio-environmental approach, focusing on debates on environmental issues and human rights. Free Tapajós.

My son's interaction with the paintings filled me with pride, he recognized the flowers, the animals and watched like a "big person", on the second floor he interacted even more, it was enchanting and inspiring to be able to provide this experience and even more so to be participating together!

I thought it was great that the bathroom was all graffiti, in a fun way that made up the place very well, if you get hungry they have a snack bar, I also liked the elevator for people with special needs or strollers, you can't talk about such modern themes and not have accessibility, right?
From there we went to the Bexiga area, a traditional Italian neighborhood, to eat at the restaurant Villa TavolaI loved the gnocchi, very tasty, the baby enjoyed the lasagna and Igor was delighted with the dulce de leche!

Every care was taken for the baby. They brought an orange juice with a more appropriate glass, a straw and a chair to make it easier for the little one to eat.
Stomachs full, let's wander around, take a cabify I hitchhiked with my friends from the Traveling Nerds blog, but unfortunately my app wouldn't work for some reason! But apart from that unforeseen event, the service was good, with friendly drivers, personalized water and sweets during the ride.

Now the tour was starting to feel more like Rio de Janeiro, what do you mean? We went to Pinheiros, a neighborhood that has become very trendy, with several art galleries, bistros, ice-cream shops, restaurants, bars, all charming!
Our first stop was at Cartel 011a kind of gallery with a store, a hairdresser, a grocery store, a bistro and a concert! The place is great, there was a very nice samba going on. There are several tribes at the same time, the baby got into it and danced a lot!

We moved on, there was so much to see and the itinerary had to continue, we couldn't stay there too long, unfortunately, Igor wanted to enjoy more of that good music by the group Com Pandeiros. So off we went, walking and Dani showing us these special corners. Here in Rio, it's quite common for people to get around by bike, more and more bike restaurants are popping up, and it's no different there!

The city now has an incredible 400km of bicycle lanes, good for relieving traffic and it was on one of these that we had our first pit stop of the afternoon. Las Magrela, was one of the first bike shops in the city, selling coffee, snacks and even complete bikes! As well as parts to repair or upgrade your bike, lol, I thought it was a great idea!
Oops, let's keep going and this time it was time to visit a store that was inspired by a travel blog, you can feel the affection right away, right? lol One of the owners ran a travel blog that fed his travel agency, the love grew and the idea became an incredible store with everything that refers to travel, it's a cluster of cool things, books, decorative objects, utensils that can be used on the trip, clothes and everything you can imagine, but of course it's always linked to our passion, travel! Events also take place there and there's even a DJ in the back - cool, right? Of course, the name couldn't be more appropriate, it's called Daily, lol

Right next to Diária, we find King Og The ForkIt's also a bike shop, with objects for bikes or even a place to meet friends, have a more informal work meeting and eat one of the best cookies in São Paulo. I haven't tried all the cookies in the city, but it's famous, hehehe.
I thought it was really cool that this whole journey through Pines until Vila Madalena you can do it on foot, I did it with a stroller, the biggest test that everyone can do.
We continued along the sidewalks and soon came across another cute establishment, the La Quiche bistrotThe atmosphere was very pleasant, everything was in extremely good taste, the walls were beautifully decorated, I don't want to leave, how do you do it? We didn't stop to eat on any of the tours, but we felt like it on all of them! There's always a presentation of very nice cakes, sweets and sandwiches, if you eat at one of them, let me know!

We kept walking and getting excited at every corner, the neighborhood was very cool, every bar we passed was a totally different group of people, some with pagodas and everything!
The next thing we knew we were in Batman's Alley , one of the most coveted tourist spots at the moment, is a lane located in Vila Madalena, a very bohemian neighborhood of the city, while we were walking we felt this transition from the cool Pinheiros to the bohemian Vila Madalena, very cool to get to know a bit of the city on foot, at least I love it!

We met there at Batman's Alley, Dani explained to us that these walls belong exclusively to each artist, not just anyone can come and paint them, and that they are renewed more or less every year. The paintings are incredible and each artist has their own signature, with a very different style from the other, it is a highly democratic place where we find all kinds of tribes, once again the baby loved being able to touch and observe the art up close, he went crazy with the colors.

For him, the highlight came when a mascot arrived who ended up stealing all the attention, a Golden Retriever who is not hard to find there, the real mascot of the Alley.

Hmm, but why Batman's Alley? We asked Dani and she told us that this is a rather obscure question, everyone tells a different story, but the most common one was that many years ago there was a graffiti of Batman and people always said that they would meet there at Beco do Batman lol, and then it caught on!

Well, it's gone by so fast, the day is over, and so is the Cool Sampa itinerary, but first we're going to go to São Conrado,lol carioca neighborhood, but boteco Paulista to have a chopinho and end the day, of course in the company of the show ball crowd of the Come to Sampa, man!

It's very close to the Alley and full of beautiful people. The bar was inspired by the bars in Rio, so needless to say, I felt right at home, right?
Did you see that São Paulo is not so much the land of drizzle or gray as they say?

I couldn't bear it, I had to put up this photo of #bbpelomundo taken by Alessandra from the blog To Pensando em Viajar.

Check out the people who took part with us! Congratulations to the organizers of Vem para Sampa, man! It was amazing!

Supporters of the event