Wowsa Brazil - Part One

Last week I had the opportunity to go to Brazil for work. I'm really fortunate that I have the ability to travel to all these amazing locations. Brazil was a first for me, however. I've never been farther south than Belize, therefore, never into South America. When I arrived at the airport, I wasn't overly impressed with the setting of Sao Paulo, but I can say that I didn't have a perspective to compare it to.

My taxi ride to the hotel changed my mind. Along the way, I was greeted with the visual intensity of some amazing graffiti. And not your run of the mill "I tag this wall with my symbol in morphed block type" graffiti. This art blew my mind. It was colorful, mostly tasteful, creative and EVERYWHERE. Little did I know, this is a city that embraces the artistic freedom to paint for the world to see – not covering it up in exchange for a boring gray two-tone effect that is achieved when cover-up colors don't match the original. No, this art was magnificent. It was so overwhelming that it wasn't until I had passed some if for the third time that I realized the nuances of the imagery.

Enter my friend Doug. Doug is the guy I travel with 90% of the time and he's a great guy. He loves to watch sports, try out new restaurants, drink beer and gawk at blondes. He's more or less a male version of yours truly. We have a blast together and we travel well with each other. For any of you who are road warriors, you know how important it is to travel with someone that doesn't drive you bat-shit crazy on an hourly basis.

Doug is one of those guys who is constantly reading travel magazines and newspapers so he always has these little nuggets of information on where we should go next or a new place we should try. It makes for adventurous evenings after work and we mostly are pleased with the choices. Doug found a small clipping in the New York Times that highlighted some cool areas of Sao Paulo and he tore out an image of what the Brazilians call "Beco do Batman" – Batman's Alley in English. This urban gallery is tucked in the Villa Madalena neighborhood and is on a narrow alley that winds through the middle of town. Every single square inch of wall is covered with art – some of it amazing, some of it not – but it's hard to NOT be impressed when you wander through this little street.

There are too many photos for me to include in one post, so I'll tease you today with some of my favorites from OUTSIDE the alley. These were just a sampling of some great murals that popped up as I walked around other areas of the city. Enjoy!!

Photos: ©2011 Biased Baby