Recommend January 2012 - (Page 88)

BRAZIL s p Sao Paulo, often called Brazil’s “Big Apple,” is indeed South America’s largest metropolis, as well as the country’s corporate and industrial core. And because business is Sao Paulo’s business, it enjoys the fringe beneﬁts of hosting most of Brazil’s ﬁnest restaurants—D.O.M., for one, Familia Mancini for another. There’s also nonstop nightlife—Skye bar atop Unique Hotel—and classy hotels—from the Soﬁtel to the Fasano. When Sao Paulo is not about business, it’s about culture, with museumhopping high on everyone’s list. Top of the line is the Art Museum of Sao Paulo (a.k.a. MASP), where Brazilian arts keep company with painters from Rembrandt to Picasso. Another standout is Pinacoteca do Estado with more than 3,000 works of art featuring Brazilian painters from the 19th and 20th centuries, plus sculptures by Rodin and Niki de Saint-Phalle. And in the evenings, you’ll ﬁnd serious performances of opera and classical music, theater and ballet at the Teatro Municipal. Sao Paulo is also a world-class city when it comes to shopping, from bargain hunting in Sunday’s Liberdade ﬂea market, to high-end boutiques showcasing Brazilian designers. However, the city’s grandest public market is the Mercadao, an architectural triumph of skylights and stained glass windows, packed with stalls of fresh ﬁsh, ripe cheese and exotic fruits. And despite its reputation as a concrete metropolis, visitors are surprised to ﬁnd lovely green spaces, such as the Botanical Gardens, with 340 species of Brazilian ﬂora and green houses abloom with orchids and rainforest species. But the granddaddy of all is the 400-acre Ibirapuera Park, a verdant oasis where—in addition to gardens and lakes—there are museums, a planetarium and the Japanese Pavilion. Facts Summer in Brazil, December through March, is hot; winter months, June through September, are mild to cool and cooler, depending on latitude and altitude; in Amazonia, the dry season lasts June to December • Fun Fact: Sure the samba (said to derive from the African slave dance called umbigada) was born in Brazil, but so were other undulating dance rhythms: lambada, ferro and bossa nova • getting there: Delta ﬂies from Atlanta to Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro; and from Atlanta, Detroit and New York (JFK) to Sao Paulo • entry documents: Valid passport, valid for six months beyond Brazil visit, and a tourist reciprocity visa, obtained in the U.S.; visa cost is $140, valid for 10 years; for Canadians, cost is $72 • currency: Brazilian real • must-try local Food: Feijoada, the national dish and traditionally served on Saturday, is a black bean stew, simmered for hours with meats such as sausage, beef and pork, served with rice, farofa (manioc ﬂour) orange slices, and stir-fried cabbage • Best Buys: Brazilian gem stones, leather goods, wood carvings, sports clothes and shoes • inFormation please: Brazilian Ministry of Tourism—brasiltour.com • Best time to go: chile Facts Facts • Best time to go: • • • • • • • November to May; of course, travelers coming to ski at the nearby resorts will head for the “winter” months: July/August/September Fun Fact: Chile is a long skinny country, measuring 2,653 miles north to south, yet averaging only 110 miles east to west getting there: Delta ﬂies from Atlanta to Santiago entry documents: Valid passport; Chile charges a reciprocity fee of $140, paid on arrival in U.S. dollars or credit card, valid for the life of the passport; for Canadians, cost is $72 currency: Chilean peso must-try local Food: Shellﬁsh—razor clams, mussels, oysters, sea urchins, and above all centolla (king crab) Best Buys: Lapis lazuli jewelry, silver work of the Mapuche indigenous people, alpaca woolen sweaters, shawls and ponchos, Chilean wine inFormation please: Tourism Promotion Corporation of Chile—chile.travel Santiago Long gone are the days when Santiago was seen as sleepy and staid, a capital just to transit en-route to the wilds of Patagonia or Easter Island. Centerpiece of Chile’s Central Valley, Santiago is home to a third of the people in Chile. Its city proﬁle combines French classic, Bavarian baroque and Spanish colonial architecture with 21st century skyscrapers and shopping malls. Among those high-rises are some of the city’s top hotels, which now mix international brands—W Santiago, a relative newcomer—with boutique lodgings like The Aubrey in the artsy Bella Vista area, one of the newest. The heart and soul of historic Santiago is the Plaza de Armas, dominated by the Metropolitan Cathedral and the colonial San Francisco Church and its Cloister Museum. Things not to miss are the Museum of Pre-Columbian Art; a visit to Los Dominicos, a handicraft pueblo with some 150 shops and stalls; and a morning meander around the Mercado Central, whose cast-iron ceiling towers above the fresh produce piled high in market stalls. Next door is the ﬁsh market, a showcase of Neptune’s domain and tiny restaurants serving up the fruits of the sea. Chilean seafood is unbeatable, always fresh and fun at Aqui Esta Coco in the Providencia district. Within a day’s drive of the capital is Valparaiso (75 miles away). A UNESCO World Heritage site, “Valpo” is a port city of marvelous Victorian architecture and multi-colored houses spilling across and down to the sea. Just up the coast is Viña del Mar, a resort where ﬂowers are brilliant, ﬁsh dishes superb, boutiques trendy, and casino smart and lively. En-route to Viña, stop in at a winery or two in the Casablanca Valley, or go vineyard-hopping for a day around the Maipo River Valley. D68 january 2012 recommend.com http://brasiltour.com http://chile.travel http://www.recommend.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recommend January 2012

Editor's Note
Hotel Desk: Hard Rock Hotels and Resorts
Tour Talk: Lindblad Expeditions
Holland America's Veendam
Delta Air Lines' 2012 Caribbean, Mexico and Latin America Travel Guide
The Ritz-Carlton Orlando, Grande Lakes
Las Vegas' 2012 Offerings
Hot European Tours for 2012
Hokkaido, Japan
Egypt's Antiquity Attractions are Eternal

Recommend January 2012