Day 26 - Highway

Bia’s flat in São Paulo has a floor-to-ceiling view of ugly skyscrapers and the Minhocão (Big Worm) – an elevated highway built in the late 60s that destroyed this part of the city. Nowadays, it’s closed for traffic on weekends and used by runners and cyclists.

I enjoy breakfasts with her while staring out of her window.

Late afternoon, we go for a walk in the Minhocão. I buy us some coconuts for the water and we briefly stop to watch a circle of lesbians playing samba.

Then we dance for a few hours at Desmanche, a brazilian music queer night.

Day 27 - Coach

By the time I wake up, shower and eat breakfast, Bia is long gone to work.

My coach leaves São Paulo at 10am. I give myself plenty of time to travel the metro from her house and visit the bus station’s bookshop.

Seat 13, my lucky number. The sun doesn’t shine on me, neither do I have a nearby companion.

São Paulo’s ugly concrete self gives way to bushes and farms as the coach travels north. I listen to podcasts then a bit of music. I have a book on the history of England’s canals but I don’t read it.