My first objective for the day was to find the Tourist Office. I found an office at Avenida São Luís 115, just along from the busy Praça da República (Portuguese: Square of the Republic). This is a park and public square in the República neighborhood of São Paulo, Brazil.
The park covers several city blocks between Rua Pedro Américo, Rua Vinte e Quatro de Maio, Avenida Ipiranga, and Avenida São João in the historic centre of the city. Praça da República had many names before 1889, including Largo dos Curros, Largo da Palha, Praça das Milícias, Largo Sete de Abril, and Praça 15 de Novembro.
I was the only customer and the kindly lady on duty spent a lot of time going through brochures and making suggestions. Unfortunately, most tours and events seemed to take place at the weekend. I eventually got away with a sheaf of leaflets and a number to ring if I had any problems.
I then found a second-hand book shop setup in a caravan on the pavement. Here I got a couple of good books for less than $2US dollars. I had brunch in McDonalds and returned to the hotel. I spent an hour or so marking my route through Latin America on my large wall map and planning the route ahead.
Paraty (or Parati) is a preserved Portuguese colonial (1500–1822) and Brazilian Imperial (1822–1889) municipality. It is located on the Costa Verde (Green Coast), a lush green corridor that runs along the coastline of the state of Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil.
Paraty has become a tourist destination, known for its historic town centre and the coast and mountains in the region. The historic centre of the city, as well as four areas of the Atlantic Forest, were inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019 under the title "Paraty and Ilha Grande".
It was raining outside and a helicopter hovering over the tower blocks attracted interested glances from the scurrying crowds. Policewomen in groups of three patrolled the efficient Bus Depot. I got off the Metro at São Bento on the way back and walked over the colourful viaduct, now a pedestrian way.
Santa Ifigenia Viaduct, São Paulo Viaduto Santa Ifigênia was opened in 1913 and links Largo de Sao Bento with Santa Ifigenia. Although never proven, it was once rumoured to have been built by the famous Gustav Eiffel, creator of the Eiffel Tower. The viaduct was restored in 1978 and in 1982 was painted with the colours of the rainbow.
Back in my room I wrote some postcards which I posted before going to the flicks (cinema) at 18:00 hrs. to see “Extreme Prejudice”, which is a 1987 American Neo-Western action thriller film, effectively an updated Spaghetti Western, starring Nick Nolte. A Texas Ranger and a ruthless narcotics kingpin - they were childhood friends, now they are adversaries.
I bought supper and some wine in a supermarket on the way back to relax in my room. I popped out to ditch some rubbish at 22:00 hrs. and pretty, scantily-clad girls were just taking up their strategic positions for the night’s work ahead.
I started reading “Firestarter” before falling asleep. “Firestarter” is a science fiction-horror thriller novel by Stephen King, first published in September 1980. Andy and Charlene "Charlie" McGee are a father/daughter pair on the run from a government agency known as The Shop. During his college years, Andy had participated in a Shop experiment dealing with "Lot 6", a drug with hallucinogenic effects similar to LSD.
The drug gave his future wife, Victoria Tomlinson, minor telekinetic abilities and him a telepathic form of mind control he refers to as "the push". They both also developed telepathic abilities. Andy's and Vicky's powers were physiologically limited; in his case, overuse of the push gives him crippling migraine headaches and minute brain haemorrhages, but their daughter Charlie developed frighteningly strong pyrokinetic ability.
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