February 27, 2025

SAO PAULO - BRAZIL

Not knowing when I may ever be in this part of the world again, I made a quick decision without much planning to day trip to SAO PAULO, BRAZIL when we pulled into the port of SANTOS on Monday morning 2/24/25. Scott was of same opinion and he worked out a driver deal, while I started focusing on what we should seek out to see. We also canvased our friends, to see who  wanted to join us on this impulsive adventure. Gary and Christy were game, but had commitments till 10:30 am, so we got a little bit of a late start. Also finding our driver, who was a friend of another driver already engaged, took some time in the busy port, but we squeezed into her Fiat ( tight for 3 in back seat) and arrived in Sao Paulo at our first stop by 1pm. Did I mention driver spoke hardly any English, so we had to translate everything with an app. Regardless, first stop was giant park called Parque Ibirapuera similiar to central park in NYC. Gary wasted no time embracing his coconuts and got the party started!

Next we went to Metropolitan Sao Paulo Cathedral - sadly a lot of homeless and drug addicted in square all around Cathedral.

We then drove by Central Square & Performing Arts center  ( which was covered by a lot of renovation scaffolding) on our way to the Beco do Batman neighborhood. Back in 1980 one artist did a mural of Batman and then more mural started to sprout here, now several blocks are dedicated to street art and their are lots of artisans and cool cafes mixed throughout.

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We grabbed a quick bite in this neighborhood and then went to find the most beautiful church I think I have ever seen Parroquia de Nuestra Señora de Brasil. It looks like a fancy hotel at the entry and the ceiling and mosaic tile work are stunning. An evening Mass was just getting ready to start - so we were limited in where we could stroll but the grounds and auxiliary spaces were equally charming. Was such a gorgeous little find.

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Final sights to see on our list was the Whale Sculpture, Baleia Espelhada Metallica and the Octavio Frias de Olivera Bridge.

HA LONG BAY, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 31, 2026
Ha Long Bay in Vietnam is one of those bucket list places I have had in my sights for years. It's the iconic picture in my mind's eye, whenever I think of Vietnam . We had made plans to go with 8 others on a brand new, swanky Red Dragon Junk boat for a harbor cruise and overnight stay, but sadly the weather did not cooperate the whole 4 days we were in port. No ships were permitted to sail, per the local government. Many of us were bummed! This is typhoon session and there was a lot of rain and high winds our first couple of days - we were hoping it would blow out the last day and we could at least do a day trip but no luck! 

HAI VAN PASS to HUE, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 30, 2026
To get to the final stop on our Vietnam FUN Tour in Hue, we had our driver take us on the scenic route called the Hai Van Pass. This 3 hour drive took us back through Da Nang and then into mountains and along coast for what is generally a very scenic route. Unfortunately for us, it was mainly covered in clouds and fog.

HOI ' AN, VIETNAM

By Pat Patrick • August 25, 2026
Next stop on the VIETNAM FUN TOUR is HOI'AN - The City of Laterns! I had arranged a private car to take us between all the major locations and towns for the 5 days we were touring the interior. He delivered us to Hoi'An in just about an hour from Ba Na Hills . Here we stayed 2 nights and had lots of relaxing time built in. Again the heat was oppressive! The driver recommended below tailor to me as I mentioned I might want to have a dress custom made as that is another thing the town is known for with 24 hour turn around.