What a rad place! I was wandering around downtown Sao Paolo and checking out some tourist…read moreactivities related to the World Cup when I spotted a few signs for various galerias. And here's where I feel dumb... I follow the signs and think, "Galeria Do Rock? Is that a Rock N Roll museum?" So I keep following the signs until I get to this massive structure and realize that I'm at a shopping mall dedicated to rock/punk/goth/skater culture. Not a museum! Duh. Galleries are not just museums but also buildings or spaces dedicated to the sale of merchandise.
The sheer size of this mall had me intrigued so I proceeded to walk in and check it out. It was absolutely fascinating! There are about 7 stories and each one is practically identical. There are themes among each level though in general this is your one stop shop for all things counter culture. The first floor was primarily dedicated to small head shops, skater stores, salons, and wigs and weaves. The next few levels focused a little more heavy on the rock side with some goth inspired stores, some tattoo parlors and some piercing places. Keep going up and you'll find punk stores, more rock stuff, and so on. The very top level is mostly dedicated to silk screening stores, and I can only assume that these are the folks making the shirts and merch for sale in all the stores below. ACDC, Guns N Roses, Ramones, Slipknot... You name it, there's a store here that's got it! A few comic shops and toy stores are peppered about, but it's basically like the largest Hot Topic you've ever seen, just all split up into individually owned shops that are about 500 st ft each. So not really what I was expecting to discover, but actually quite a bit cooler!
If you're unable to climb stairs, be warned that the top two levels are accessible (insofar as I could tell) by stairs only. But the top 5 or so floors have escalators. The first level also has bathrooms which you pay a few reals for but it's worth it because they're pretty clean.
