Surely, during your stay in São Paulo, you'll make your way to Mercado Municipal, the big produce market featuring fruit and vegetable vendors, fresh coconut sellers, and many, many casual restaurants. You'll do so perhaps, after having showed up for a historic walking tour on the wrong day. Then, maybe, you spent hours searching for a landmark that, when finally found, turned out to be closed for renovation. With such luck you'll be almost giddy when you see the street sign pointing the way to "Mercado Municipal". You'll hoof it in that direction even after having read elsewhere that you should arrive via taxi due to the dicey neighborhood it supposedly inhabits. And then you'll be there, late in the day after crowds have died down and most vendors are wrapping up. It'll seem smaller than you had envisioned from seeing photos. It won't have any second floor restaurants either, even though that's where you had advance-scouted the best places to eat. Here, along the perimeter, you'll find a restaurant that looks like it's been slammed by a lunch crowd: overturned dish of beans on a table, a whole table's worth of food that somehow has made its way to the floor. You'll take a seat regardless and hope for the best. The best is what comes. São Paulo inhabits what was once a rain forest and the humidity tips you to that knowledge even if you arrived here unaware. The dampness on your forehead will be momentarily soothed by Sucos/Bebidos (literal translation: Drink/Get Drunk, could that be right?). The menu features 12 unique juices, all fresh, all R$4.50 - $5 ($1 - 1.25 US), and many made from fruits which the US doesn't even feature. The ones we order are delicious. But I've read that I must try a Mortadela Sandwich when at Mercado Municipal so I do. Mortadela com Vinagrete (R$7.50 or about $2 US) it is. I think of all the things that $2 US doesn't buy. I think that this is the best thing - the best thing ever - that $2 US buys. I feel that way about the juice as well. The place isn't fancy, the food isn't fancy, but damn is it good. If I could ever find my way back here I might sit here all day, ordering up fresh juices and Mortadela sandwiches. Exiting the building I look back for one last glimpse of this place I'll probably never see again. The sign on the outside says not "Mercado Municipal" as expected, but "Mercado Kinjo Yamato". My son says that he saw a sign for Mercado Municipal nearby. This seems to be the theme of the day: we have found our way to the wrong place at the right time or the right place at the wrong time. In the end though? We were probably destined to find such a place. It was wonderful. read more

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