One of the biggest cities in the world (Sao Paulo)

Member Name: Pingo

Product:	Sao Paulo
Date:	17/07/00 (460 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: you find anything

Disadvantages: all the disadvantages of a metropolis.

As a native of the city I must say São Paulo does not have all the typical features of a Brazilian city as seen in adverts. No abundant green, but there's a wonderful and enjoyable park, the Ibirapuera, which is the main one and most popular and some more. The nearest beach is almost two hours down the tableland. Wilde animals only at the zoo and also on the Simba safari. São Paulo is a big and cosmopolitan metropolis with everything you find in any major city of the world, good or bad: polution, good parks, increased violence, some service facilities, major investments, very good food, all the shopping.
I'm not an expert in figures, but I imagine that the crimes may be greater than other major cities but it's not something totally rebel yet; if you know the districts where you can be safer than others than it's fine. A very down side is the public transport sistem which is litereally chaotic apart from the underground that is growing only now and still doesn't cover most of the town so lots of times is not so useful.
The best feature in the city is the gastronomy and every Paulistan will agree with me. You can be sure that you will find the best restaurants of every culture there, no way of eating Mc Donald's all the time, but if you want to than there's also plenty.
There are also some great museums and expositions such as MASP (Museu de Arte de São Paulo), MIS (museu da imagem e do som), Memorial da America Latina, Museu da Independencia, Centro Cultural São Paulo, and the space inside Ibirapuera park with the Bienal de artes e Bienal do livro, and so much more.

Summary: