#FlyWashington Magazine Fall 2019 | Page 31

Brazilian model and actress Thaila Ayala Credit: Getty Brazilians may mean business in São Paulo, but that doesn’t mean they don’t know how to have fun. Here’s how to embrace the best of Brazilian culture in this massive metropolis. It’s also historically been the country’s entry point for immigrants seeking new opportunities, making the mega-metropolis a true melting pot, with strong Italian, Japanese, and Arabic influences. São Paulo is a city of staggering size. Sprawling outward and upward with crisscrossing freeways and towering high-rises, it is home to an astounding 12 million people and is the largest city in the Western Hemisphere. São Paulo is also a sample platter for everything Brazil has to offer from its astoundingly diverse culture, boundary-pushing dining and art, to treasured traditions of samba, soccer, and coffee. While you may never become a true “Paulistano” — a moniker locals wear with pride — discovering these quintessential Brazilian experiences will get you feeling as if you were. Settled by the Portuguese in the 16th century and expanded by the coffee barons of the 19th, São Paulo today is where business in Brazil gets done. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE AUTUMN 2019 29 FLYWASHINGTON.COM