Lunch at the Market

Friday was a busy day. Both Jimmie and I woke up excited knowing that a) it was Friday and b) we would be going to the Sao Paulo Central Market for lunch. Valderes and his family came by to pick us up around 11am that morning. Traffic was bad as usual but I think once you understand that it is like that all the time you just tend to deal with it. The central market is an indoors and has a variety of booths or shops that sell anything from fruit and vegetables to meats and ice cream. Basically a farmers market on steroids.

We took a tour of the market sampling everything we could. I would call most of the fruits I tried exotic but most of the ones I tried were grown somewhere in Brazil so if you put it in prospective it was just sampling the locally grown foods. Tons of pictures taken here but we are just going to give you a little sample today. I plan on doing separate posts on some of the amazing foods I have had the privilege of sampling and will need Jimmie's help for the names. More on that later.

After walking through the market we went to an upstairs balcony that had several eateries to choose from. We ate at the famous Hoca Restaurant where we tried their signature sandwich, the Mortadela and a couple of different pastels. Pastels are folded bread with stuffed meat inside. We had the shrimp, codfish (bacalhau), and mortadel pastels. All were very good. A must have if you ever visit Sao Paulo.

After lunch and the market we went straight to the school to prep for the night's class. We met up with some old friends and students who visited us in North Carolina this past February. It was great to see Wendel and Jullian again and to receive a brief update on how they were doing. After class Jimmie and I met up with Ana Paula and Trey to unwind. We hung out at Grazie A Dio and got to check out a samba rock band "Club do Balanco". A typical Friday night out in Sao Paulo so to speak. There we met several locals and two guys from San Francisco who were on their way to Rio. A fun night but Jimmie and I both are walking zombies today. We need to rest up. Who knows what tomorrow may bring.

Market Pictures