After saying goodbye to Rio yesterday, we took a short flight and arrived in São Paulo, a city of more than 12 million. Looking outside from my window seat, I saw skyscrapers that went as far as the eye could see. Luckily, our hostel is right next to the popular Ibirapuera Park, so we decided to take a look…three times in the last 24 hours.

The park is quite large and boasts a variety of water features. As the sun was already starting to set, we kept our initial tour brief. We planned to come back the next morning.

After waking up in our bunk beds (somewhat less luxurious than our hotel in Rio), we headed back to the park to get some exercise in. Both Rio and São Paulo have exercise stations located all over the city. There are even apps you can download to give you specific routines. I’m a big fan.

After realizing we cannot do as many pull-ups as we once could, we decided to have a little meditation session next to the lake.

Once meditation ended, the bird analysis began. We saw all sorts of avian friends, including what we have decided are black swans. Perhaps they are actually geese, but don’t tell them that (or us). We were pleased. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel before commencing our third park outing. This time we went to a modern art museum within the grounds of the park.

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There was a nice representation of many of our lives growing up. Given all the tests we took, we may as well be made of number two pencils.

I was a huge fan of the ending lines of this poem:

After the museum, we decided it would be a good time to have a sit. The inside of the park is completely devoid of traffic noise (or any other hint that you might be in a massive city). It’s truly an inner-city oasis.

I just looked up at the sky and gave thanks for the incredible opportunity to be alive.