The Independence Park is the place where Brazil was claimed

This building was built on a great 19th century style. It is especially important because it hosts the personal collection of the Colonel Joaquim Sertório. The military's acquis of natural history turned now to be the Paulista Museum, located within the Independence Park, there you can find about 125 thousand items, such as indigenous objects, furniture, Armour, paintings, tools and other instruments, many of personal use.

The collection's pieces remain from the life in São Paulo, between 1500 and 1950. The building has also two libraries, some sections dealing with archival documents and laboratories for conservation and restoration. In the tour it's possible to observe the work of the Italian designer Ettore Ximenez, a granite and bronze statue representing the moment when D. Pedro I claimed the Brazilian Independence. At "Museu do Ipiranga" it's possible to find the spoils of D. Pedro I and his two wives.

The museum passed through a R$ 5 million rebuilding. This money was received by state law of incentives and sponsors. The fountains built in front of the museum express a tribute for the city's 450 years and September the 7th (Independence Day). Besides being considered a landmark, the Independence Park became a Cultural Patrimony in 1975.

Service:

Name:	Museu do Ipiranga - Museu Paulista
Address:	Parque da Independência
Suburb:	Ipiranga
Phone:	(11) 2065-8000
Website:	http://www.mp.usp.br/
Timetable:	Tuesday to Sunday, from 9am till 5pm

New law can prohibit smoking in São Paulo

A project of a new law against smoking in São Paulo's state was sent to the Legislative Assembly. The fines provided for establishments that permit smoking in the collective environments, both public and private, may reach R$ 3 million.
Photo by www.sxc.hu
The punishment is provided only for the establishment's owners. "There are no penalties for smokers because they already have been pained for smoking. There are people that is so flawed, that is able to pay the fine for smoking", said José Serra the governor this afternoon, during an event that highlighted the signing of the project followed to the Legislative Assembly and the launch of the campaign “Viva sem cigarro” (Life without cigarette).

The project's intention is: banning smoking in bars, restaurants, nightclubs, hotels and even the common areas of condominiums around the state. The proposal by the state government blocks the consumption of cigarettes, cigarettes, cigars or any other smoking product in the workplace, study, religious worship, leisure, sports and entertainment in places of plays, theaters, cinemas, inns, shopping centers, banks, supermarkets, butcheries, bakeries, pharmacies, drugstores, public offices, health institutions, schools, museums, libraries, spaces for exhibitions, public transport vehicles from, official cars and taxis.

According to the new regulation, the establishment needs to show warnings about the prohibition including telephones and addresses of the departments monitoring it. Establishment's owners will have to warn smokers about the ban. The idea is that anyone can report to the Health Surveillance.

If the person insists on smoking in prohibited environments, the owners can request that leave the place, even calling the police if necessary. "You can call the police, for example, if a smoker does not want to put out the cigarette and have to be removed from the establishment," said Serra. And will not be allowed any special place to smoke inside companies. "There is no place inside companies. smoke in the street, if you want," said the governor.

Exceptions
Some places are excluded from the project, such as religious temples where smoking is part of the ritual, some health care institutions where smoking is allowed for patients by doctors, public streets, homes and shops geared by consumption of these products, such as Tobacco's houses.

The governor said that the Assembly is expecting soon approving on the project's issue. But it can take whole semester.

Picasso is trying to leave São Paulo

The two Pablo Picasso stolen paintings are back to the Pinacoteca’s wall. It was the second time in less than one year that Picasso tried to escape from São Paulo's museums. The first one was from MASP (Art’s Museum of São Paulo) last December and the second one was on June at Pinacoteca.

What is wrong with São Paulo?
Actually, maybe the painting was just wanted to have a ride… Or it can be also something about grabbing attention. No one pays attention in one or another São Paulo’s museum where Picasso smoothly shows up. So it happens!

The truth is:
On August 2007, some paintings were stolen from the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Nice, France. Few months later some guys tried unsuccessfully to steal twice from MASP’s Museum before finally get one Pablo Picasso's and one Portinari's: Suzanne Bloch’s portrait and Coffee’s Farmer respectively. Coincidence or not, it happened!
The whole issue was on the Brazilian news every single day for 190 million people until they get the paintings back. Soon after, on June: bingo. One more Picasso’s to the black bag!

You can ask: “Why does it happen?”
First of all: The people doesn’t have enough education to know that stealing a painting is the same as stealing a Formula 1 race car. What can you do with that? Everybody knows it and no one will try to buy because is impossible to use it. That's simple!
No one controls what is up on the news since it doesn’t deal with power. So all the rest is allowed. About the MASP's case, on the News it was possible to see detailed directions about how the guys came inside the museum on the early morning, using a hydraulic jack pumping up the gate, everything becomes easier for the thief. Everything well shown on the television can give new ideas for those who like that kind of stuff.

But... not everything is lost
Both the MASP case and the Pinacoteca's one have an happy ending. The paintings were found on places that neither you nor I would ever go. "How did the cops find the paintings?" you’d ask; easy: the guys had nothing to do with that.
Now, Picasso is safely back to the Pinacoteca’s Museum. If you want to have a look, the exhibition is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday from 10am to 18h. The admission fee is R$ 4.00 and the entry is free on Saturdays.

Service:

Name:	Pinacoteca do Estado
Address:	Praça da Luz, 2
Suburb:	Jardim da Luz
City:	São Paulo
Phone:	(11) 3324-1000

Madonna is coming to São Paulo! Extra concert shows how wanted she is!!!

Besides the presentation on December the 18th, at Morumbi, she'll repeat the concert Sweet & Sticky on December the 20th. The selling of tickets for two concerts begin on September the 3rd.

Because the quantity of people trying to register on the site www.ticketsforfun.com.br, the producers thought it would be good to organize a second show of Madonna in São Paulo, so in addition to the presentation on December the 18th, she will be on the stage also on the 20th.

Anyone who wants to buy the ticket on Internet, 20% off, has to sign up on the website until Friday, August the 29th. Leave your details over there and wait a password by email. The registration does not guarantee the purchase, but it's gonna be faster when the new site will come up, from Sep. the 3rd. Run!

SPENDING AN AFTERNOON AT FEIRA DO LIVRO!

Last Saturday I have been to the feira do livro in São Paulo with my boyfriend. I was coming from Rio de Janeiro, so I found the weather pretty cold, and I thought it would be great to spend some time indoor, surrounded by books, (I love reading, when I was in Brisbane I read almost all the books in the new farm library plus many of the city library).
So we took the metro till the station Tiete-Portuguesa (blue line), where you can even find the biggest shopping center of São Paulo and the bus station (rodoviaria) to Rio. Soon out of the train there were some signs directing everyone in a long line, it’s crazy to notice how Brazilians love to queue, and they do it easily and with no protests, Italians on the contrary would never be able to do that, I was shocked.
Anyway, the queue was for a free bus till the exhibition centre, and despite the huge amount of people waiting for it, it was actually pretty fast. Funny thing: there were kiosks selling salgado + refresco (salty pie + soft drink) all around and I saw the cheapest ever, 99 cents (almost 20 cents of euro), so it could be an idea if you are out of money around this area and looking for a cheap meal.
So we arrived soon at the Feira do livro, 10 reais to get in and once there you really could choose between any kind of book, there were stands of every Brazilian editors, famous and independent plus some international, I visited a stand of the Italian Cultural Centre of São Paulo (Centro di cultura italiana di San Paolo), another of a Foundation from Brasilia that just publish books related to International Politics issues; I was really feeling at home.
The exhibition was almost at the end; so many books were on sale, which is a good thing since new books in Brazil are kind of expensive.
It was nice to spend few hours there, the place was huge but everything was well organized and then once out, there was a queue of course, to go back to the metro station.
That’s something a foreign that knows Brazil just because of its stereotypes would never expect to find here, and that’s a reason why I love São Paulo, cause it’s such a cultural city, always full of surprises

Skol Beats 2008

Skol Beats confirms attractions and format for the 2008 edition. The Festival's organization will provide tickets of subway to avoid going by car to the event, in respect to the new laws of transit.

The festival Skol Beats, most traditional electronic music event in the country, returns this year to the Sambódromo Anhembi in Sao Paulo, and at times of "dry law", as they call the new transit's rules, will give tickets for subways and buses to the public, trying to avoid going by car to the place. The biggest attraction of the 9th Skol Beats, which takes place on September the 27th (a Saturday), is the double French Justice, one of the biggest names in the genre today.

Other highlights of the program are the Germans Digitalism, the Australians Pendulum and the Brazilian Gui Boratto.

This Festival will be smaller if compared with previous editions. 15 thousand people are expected and there will be two tents and a main stage this year.

In this issue, the public was encouraged to participate in voting via Internet to set the location of the event and the line-up of DJs.

The value of the ticket on the day of the event is R$ 120 (student half price, $ 60). Buying in advance it will be discounted. Entries are beginning to be sold on August 23th.

Check out the full details:

Stage Skol Live
19h - 20.45: Killer on the Dancefloor
20.45 - 22h: Montage (Live)
22h - 23h00: Mixhell (Live)
23h - 00h30am: Justice (Live)
0h30 - 1h45am: DJ Marky & MC Santana
1h45am - 3h: Pendulum (Live - 60 minutes in September)
3am - 4h30am: Digitalism (Live - September 70 minutes)
4h30am - 7am: Armin Van Buuren
7am - 8am: Gui borate (live)

Skol Beats Tent
20h - 22h: Mario Fischetti
22h - 0h: Agoria
0h - 1am: Anderson Noise
1am - 3am: Dubfire
3am - 5h30am: Steve Angello & Sebastian Ingrosso
5h30am - 7h: Fabrício Peçanha
7am - 8am: Murphy

Tent Earth
20h - 21h: Zeo & Flow
21h - 22h: Marcelinho Cic
22h - 0h: DJ MFR
0h - 2am: Miguel Migs
2am - 4am: Renato Cohen
4am - 6am: Christian Smith
6am - 7am: Propulse
7am - 8am: Blake Jarrel

Values of entries (whole)
Until Sep 7th: R$ 80
Until Sep 26th: R$ 100
On 27th: R$ 120

Via Internet:
www.skolbeats.com.br / www.ticketmaster.com.br

19° Festival Internacional de Curtas-Metragens de São Paulo

Scene of "Megatron", film of Marian Crisan, that is in the Festival

Another great cultural event that our city is offering, Short Movies Festival in Sao Paulo.

The event is from August the 22nd to the 29th and it will take place in different cinemas of Sao Paulo. 381 films from 54 countries will be screened, you can choose between Brazilian, Latin American and international short movies.

The main theme is the "alive politic" but in general the show promotes the exchange of cultural experiences, economic and political issues, there will be new and old movies, tributes (this year dedicated to Argentine filmmaker Gustavo Taretto) and short digitals made at the peripheries of large cities, especially with the project Kinoforum.

It's an event you can't miss if you are in town furthermore all the sessions are free!!!

From August the 22nd to August the 29th, in ten rooms of cinemas throughout the city. To read a complete program, schedules and addresses, see the site of the event. http://www.kinoforum.org.br/curtas/2008/

Parque do Ibirapuera

Parque do Ibirapuera is a major urban park in São Paulo city. It's pretty safe and there is a large area for leisure, jogging and walking, as well as lots of different museums. Parque do Ibiriapuera is so important to São Paulo as the the Central Park is to New York City.

History

Inaugurated in 1954 for the 400 anniversary of the city with buildings designed by famous architects, such as Oscar Niemeyer and landscape by designer Roberto Burle Marx, Parque do Ibirapuera covers an area of almost two square kilometers.The second biggest park in the city. Entrance is free of charge.

What to do
It's a wonderful place to do jogging and walking, reading, there are some places to practice skating and roller blade. All over the park, you step over the bicycle lane that goes to everywhere. It's possible to rent bikes or bring your own.

Features

The park complex contains several buildings, most of them designed by Oscar Niemeyer. They include:

1- Monumento às Bandeiras - Launched in 1954 is recognized as one of the most important monuments of São Paulo. It's one of the most well known in whole city. Started in 20's it was built to celebrate the first century of Brazil's Independence.

2- Manoel da Nóbrega Pavilion - Which until 1992 was the city hall and now is the Museu Afro Brasil.

Schedule: Tuesdays to Sundays from 10am until 5pm. It's possible to stay until 6pm;

3- Planetarium and Municipal Astrophysics School - The Planetarium building is shaped like a flying saucer. It was the first Planetarium in the Southern Hemisphere and has a dome of 20 meters in diameter. A German projection machine shows the sky above São Paulo from dusk to dawn. During the projection a professional astronomer explains the most famous stars and constellations as well as the movements of the Earth and other planets.

Schedule: Planets of Universe, Saturday and Sunday 3pm and 7pm. Inside the Sun, Saturday and Sunday 5pm;

4- Japanese Pavilion - Built in 1954, was designed as a gift to the Japanese community of Brazilian society during the celebrations of the fourth centenary of the city of São Paulo held that year. Now a days, it is one of the major symbols of Japanese community in Brazil.

5- Armando de Arruda Pereira Pavilion, home for the Prodam - Companhia de Processamento de Dados do Município ("Municipal Data Processing Company");

6- Auditório do Ibirapuera - Controversial building that was on the original Niemeyer plan, but was only built recently. Programs can be found at http://www.auditorioibirapuera.com.br/ tickets can be bought through ticketmaster http://www.ticketmaster.com.br/

7- Lucas Nogueira Garcez Pavilion - Known as Oca ("hut", given its round shape), which hosts both the Museu da Aeronáutica ("Air Force Museum") and the Museu do Folclore ("Folklore Museum");

8- Museu de Arte Moderna - Where the MAM ("Modern Art Museum") is located; also Grande Marquise ("The great marquee")

9- Fundação Bienal - Pavilhão Cicillo Matarazzo, hosts the São Paulo Art Biennieal and the São Paulo Fashion Week. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer;

10- Museu de Arte Contemporânea MAC - Pavilhão Cicillo Matarazzo, home for the "Contemporary Art Museum" da USP (Universidade de São Paulo), and a space for events and expos, including the São Paulo Art Biennial and the São Paulo Fashion Week;

International Book Biennial of São Paulo is coming! Don’t miss it!!!

It’s the largest event of the publishing market in Brazil and the second largest in the world and it could only happen in the megalopolis of Sao Paulo.
Around 260 thousand tourists will visit the Anhembi Pavilion, between 14th and August 24th and it is expected to shift $ 75 million in the city's economy.

This year, three countries will be honored:
Portugal - for the 200 years of the arrival of the Portuguese royal family.
Japan - to celebrate the centennial of immigration to Brazil.
Spain - who helped to organize the Ibero-American Conference of Editors in Sao Paulo.

Among the attractions which will be distributed in an area of 60 thousand square metres, are: Hall of ideas, Literary Space, The Speech, Professor!, and Space University.

Info
Anhembi Park
Av. Olavo Fontoura, 1209
Santana - CEP: 02012-021
São Paulo - SP – Brasil
Tel: (11) 2226-3100
Date: from August 14th to August 24th.
Opening time: from 10 am to 10 pm
Price: R$ 10
Site: www.bienaldolivrosp.com.br

São Paulo

São Paulo is the third largest city in the world and the fifth in population. With 11 million inhabitants in the metropolitan area, São Paulo is the largest city of the southern hemisphere. However, despite not being present in international tourism routes, this city is a great surprise.
São Paulo is a city of business with an intense nightlife. By evening, the turmoil appears through more than 20 thousand bars and restaurants located all around the city. There are more than 50 different styles of food around the city. The explanation for all this diversity is clearly the greatness of the city, but also its history. The different moments of the process of urban development of this city, brought influences from the four corners of the world.

The language of Brazil is Portuguese, brought by colonizers in 1500. However, in São Paulo, the biggest influence is Italian and it is shown by its five million of immigrants. The Portuguese people are the next, with around three million inhabitants. Surprisingly in São Paulo you will also find the largest Japanese community outside Japan, around 1 million people. The reason for this diversity appeared at the end of the 19th century, when Japanese and Italians came to Brazil to work in the coffee plantations. Mid-century 20 the coffee industry saturated so the population starts to move, looking for opportunities of trade and job. São Paulo was the main destination of all immigrants and that’s how it became the financial capital of Latin America and one of the largest cities of the world. Another factor that influenced the financial aspect was the coming of Germans to São Paulo, also forming the largest community of descendants outside Germany.

Overall, São Paulo is part of the circuit world of Formula 1 and hosts one of the most important events of international fashion: Sao Paulo Fashion Week. This shows how São Paulo can surprise visitors, with the diversity of styles and beautiful people living in this great city. Thanks to the tropical climate, people dresses with a nice style, showing their body and sensuality more than in many of the European cities. You can see very well dressed women with tanned skin in everywhere.

The fashion stores can be surprisingly expensive due to high rates applied to imported products in Brazil. Not a good place for travelers to make purchases. It is also a city of extremes, where you can find helicopter on top of almost every building but even see poverty in many corners. Security is still a problem, although the economy is growing and police is quite present in the city. It is not difficult to face the electric fences on the walls of the houses and security guards at the gates of almost all the malls and shops of luxury products. These are still aspects that show one of the biggest problems of Brazil: the great social inequality.

Weather
The weather in São Paulo is great, sometimes a little unstable and rainy, but comfortably moist. The average temperatures range from the 19 degrees in winter (July) and 27 in summer (January).

Transport
Getting around in São Paulo is an exercise of expertise. This city is very famous for registering hundreds of miles of traffic jams, which is a good reason to avoid driving a car. The subway runs well, linking central areas and residences suburbs. Trains link the center with neighboring towns. In recent years the so-called "bus corridors” transformed the broad avenues in practically all lines of bus crossing the city.The great secret is to seek information on routes of public transport. Through the web site sptrans it's easy to steer. Another tip is to go on foot if the distance that separates you from your destination is reasonable. Check out the site google maps and find out how much effort you will need by clicking on the roadmap and then clicking on the option “a pé” (on foot). It is often less trouble to walk than go hiking adventure by car or train. Sao Paulo is surely less violent then before, especially in the central regions, where the police job is very intense.

What to do in São Paulo
Tourism - São Paulo offers a huge variety of museums of history and art. Unfortunately it is not easy to find appropriate tours to take people around the most important places of the city. Over the next few posts, we’ll give you more information on each one. But perhaps the most relaxing place of the city is the Ibirapuera Park. There you can find the Museum of Brazilian-African Art, the building of the Art Biennial, a Planetarium, the Auditorium, Japanese Museum and various other attractions with addition, of course, of a massive green space for the practice of sports.
Soccer - Six major Brazilian football clubs are located in São Paulo. Visiting the city and not to attend a football match in any of the stadium over the city, it means avoiding to feel a little of the energy and enthusiasm, peculiarities of this great metropolis.
It’s coming soon a new post just about Ibirapuera Park and all its attractions.