Sao Paulo, Brazil to Host the 2011 MISS UNIVERSE

São Paulo is hosting the Miss Universe 2011 on September 12, 2011. Everything is now set for this long-awaited beauty pageant. Beauty contestants from all over the world fly to São Paulo and experience the grandeur, hospitality and well, glory, of being chosen the Miss Universe 2011.

Below is an excerpt of the news when São Paulo was chosen to host the event:

NEW YORK, Dec. 16, 2010 /PRNewswire/ — Donald J. Trump, NBC Universal and Miss Universe Organization President, Paula M. Shugart, announced today the 60th Annual MISS UNIVERSE® Competition will air live from Sao Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011. The glamorous live event, featuring the most beautiful women in the universe, will air on NBC in the United States, with a Spanish simulcast on Telemundo.

“I am very pleased to announce our partnership with media conglomerate Grupo Bandeirantes de Comunicacao and the selection of Sao Paulo as the host location for Miss Universe 2011,” said the pageant’s owner, Donald J. Trump. ”Brazil is rapidly becoming an economic powerhouse and is a great place to do business. This decade, Brazil is hosting three of the greatest and most-watched worldwide events: the World Cup, the Summer Olympic Games and now, to kick it all off, Miss Universe.”

“Grupo Bandeirantes is delighted that we have reached an agreement with the Miss Universe Organization to host the Miss Universe 2011 pageant in Sao Paulo, Brazil,” said the network’s president, Joao Carlos Saad. “We believe it is fitting for Brazil to set the stage for this glamorous event, and we look forward to showing the contestants, and the almost 200 countries around the world who watch the pageant every year, the exciting and vibrant culture of our beautiful country.”

Contestants from more than 80 countries around the world will travel to Brazil for almost a month of activities leading up to the live telecast. They will be judged in three categories: swimsuit, evening gown and interview, as they vie for the coveted title of Miss Universe 2011. This is first time in its 60-year history the Miss Universe contest will be held in Brazil.

Mexicana, Ximena Navarrete, Miss Universe 2010, will crown her successor at the conclusion of the telecast. During her reign, Navarrete has traveled the world as an advocate for HIV/AIDS education, research, and legislation. The next Miss Universe will continue this work.

About MISS UNIVERSE®

The MISS UNIVERSE® pageant is a Donald J. Trump and NBC Universal joint venture. Utilizing its international grass roots infrastructure, the Miss Universe Organization is committed to increasing HIV/AIDS awareness by focusing on women’s health and reproductive issues by forging relationships with organizations committed to research and education, such as Aid for AIDS, the Latino Commission on AIDS, God’s Love We Deliver, PSI/YouthAIDS, The Global Network for Neglected Tropical Diseases, Gay Men’s Health Crisis and the Same Sky Trade Initiative.

For more information, visit: www.missuniverse.com.

SÃO PAULO – SEPTEMBER 2011

São Paulo is South America’s biggest metropolis, buzzing with cultural and business energy. During the summer (December through March), the city is hot and humid. Luckily, those traveling to São Paulo in September for Miss Universe will experience milder temperatures (between mid-20s to mid-30s degrees Celsius).

São Paulo is an artistic centre, home to the São Paulo Museum of Art (MASP), dedicated by Queen Elizabeth II in the first half of the 20th century, Pinacoteca do Estado art museums and the São Paulo State Symphony. Soccer games are played year-round in major stadiums around the city.

Getting Around the City

São Paulo has a convenient public transportation system and many tourist destinations can be easily explored by walking. There are three metro lines: the North-South line, East-West line and the line that travels underneath the Avenida Paulista. Metro tickets cost R$2.30 (US$1.15) for a single ride.

City Layout

Centro, the old heart of the city is situated around Praça da Sé. The neo-Gothic Catedral da Sé was built in 1913. Rua Direita, São Paulo’s original main street, leads to a viaduct crossing over a busy freeway going towards the newer section of the old town. This area, centered on Praça República, contains government and office buildings. Teatro Municipal, a Parisian-style opera house, is near the city plaza, Parque Anhangabaú.

West of Centro is the upscale suburb Higienópolis, where the Museum of Brazilian Art is located. To the south of Centro are two working-class neighborhoods populated by immigrants, Liberdade and Bela Vista. The Avenida Paulista is home to the city’s banking and financial headquarters. Along the street is São Paulo’s Museum of Art. Southwest of Avenida Paulista are a series of upscale neighborhoods named gardens (Jardins), emphasizing their separation from the urban center. Where Rua Augusta intersects Alameda Lorena and Rua Oscar Freire is São Paulo’s upscale shopping haven.

In addition, Pinheiros is an area containing some of the most famous and popular night clubs in the city. Plenty of restaurants and cafes can be found in Vila Olímpia, and Ibirapuera Park is the perfect place for basking in the sun and taking in a great city view.

Cuisine

São Paulo is the gourmet capital of Brazil. There are approximately 62 different types of cuisines and more than 12,000 restaurants. There are also numerous bars, pubs, lounges and discos. Residents usually go out around 9 or 10pm. Local ingredients used in Brazilian cooking include cassava, yams, peanuts and tropical fruits like pineapple and papaya.

Typical dishes include caruru (okra, onion, dried shrimp and toasted peanuts cooked with palm oil), tutu de feijão (bean and cassava paste), moqueca capixaba (slow-cooked fish, tomato, onion and garlic topped with cilantro), salgadinhos (cheese buns), pork chops accompanied with pork rinds, sausage and fried bananas and rice and beans. The native liquor is cachaça.

The cuisine of São Paulo is influenced by European and Middle Eastern immigrants. Besides traditional Brazilian fare, there are also a number of top Italian, Middle Eastern, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and Thai restaurants.

São Paulo’s 17 million inhabitants help to make it an ethnically diverse and welcoming city – be ready to kiss the people you meet here on their cheeks when saying hello and goodbye!

References include Frommer’s, Fodors, NYTimes, Wikitravel, Wikipedia and AOL Travel

São Paulo, Brazil

Image via Wikipedia

Image via Wikipedia

Sao Paulo, Brazil is one of the countries most splendid jewels. This gem is a radiant city, alive with culture and industry. 45 miles from the Atlantic coast, Sao Paulo (which stands from St. Paul in Portuguese) is an amalgam of the various cultures that shape the face of this modern, bustling Brazilian metropolis.

The city of Sao Paulo, despite being so populous today, remained for hundred of years a smaller colonial town, evident in the relics of the old city that can still be found all over Sao Paulo.

Today, 32 malls, hundreds of boutiques and scores of fine stores line the busy streets of this prosperous city. It is also proud to be the home of 2 of 15 of he world's finest zoos, as well as a great number of parks and a magnificent botanical garden. The nonstop pace of Sao Paulo makes this a premier destination for nightlife in Brazil outside of Rio de Janeiro.

Sao Paulo has the best of both worlds, with virtually everything you could want to find in a large city, as well as some things you wouldn't expect. One notable fact is the large immigrant population, giving this centuries old metropolis a cosmopolitan and diverse face. The over 1 million Japanese who live here give this city the notable distinction of being the largest Japanese city outside Japan. Liberdade is the name of the neighborhood where you can find this hub of Japanese culture - it is a center of the Asian community, enhanced by the quaint gardens and exotic shops.

To add to the cultural wealth of Sao Paulo, Brazil, the museums here have some of the best permanent exhibits of Latin American art and architecture anywhere in the South American continent. The contemporary profile of a half dozen buildings of The Latin American Memorial Complex is replete with Latin American art. This complex is easily accessed via the clean and modern subway system, one of the world's finest.

Marvel at the exquisite furnishings of Brazils imperial era at the Ipiranga Imperial Museum (Museu Paulista), another one of Sao Paulo's cultural highlights. With so many resources and modern conveniences, this city is a delight to live as well as to explore. The wide boulevards of Paulista Avenue, Sao Paulo's main street, is a great place to start exploring the city of foot, and is a busy center of commerce and tourism.

Sao Paulo is a fascinating juxtaposition of old and new - here you can find colonial era splendor set against modern comforts. Sao Paulo is a city that begs to be explored. Clean, bright, and exciting, this city will completely revolutionize your ideas of the country of Brazil. 

São Paulo overwhelms the senses with its sheer size. With over 10 million inhabitants, it is the world's third largest city and the largest in South America. São Paulo and its rival Brazilian city, Rio de Janeiro, have often been compared to New York and Los Angeles respectively. If Rio has gained fame for its striking natural setting, São Paulo's attraction lies in its people and its vibrant cultures. The Avenida Paulista's canyon of upthrusting skyscrapers only hints at the city's sources of energy. A more cosmopolitan city than its counterpart, São Paulo possesses significant ethnic minority communities, including substantial Japanese, Italian, and Arab and Lebanese Christian neighbourhoods.

The array of nationalities living in São Paulo have made it a legendary city among gourmands: Japanese, Italian nuova cucina, Brazilian, Chinese, Jewish, and Arab restaurants are all familiar parts of the city's landscape. Brazil's famously good beef is put to good use at the numerous rodizios and churrascarias. Succulent, roasted cuts of meat are circulated around the tables and cut to patrons' order. In fact, people often visit São Paulo just to dine out. The Jardins district is the center of the dining scene, and thus the center of the São Paulo social scene. Paulistanos eat late--restaurants often don't begin serving until 9pm or 10pm, and it is common for them to stay open until 3am.

Brazil's most modern, cosmopolitan city has much to offer in addition to its outstanding cuisines. Its museums are among the finest in South America, its surrounding coastline is graced with many lovely beaches, and its entertainment and nightlife have for years attracted some of the best performers in the world. In recent years, the city has evolved into a center for Brazil's own martial art, capoeira, whose dance-like motions are performed to music. The art has its own traditional instruments: drums and the berimbau, a stringed rod used to keep time. Originally developed as the martial art of the slaves of the Bahia, capoeira was banned by the ruling classes. To keep their art alive, the slaves turned capoeira into a dance, and the berimbau, which had warned of an approaching master, began to accompany the dance itself. As late as the 1920s capoeira was still outlawed and practiced only underground; today, it is a well-known and much-loved spectacle. 

Source: www.justbrazil.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

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