Portugues? Cerveja?

Monday morning and Lu´s gone to work which to put it simply means i have a serious communication problem. My vocabulary is growing slowly and i can now say "meu portugues e um lixo" - my portugues is rubbish. This proves extremely useful because it raises a smile and thus people are willing to listen to the gibberish that follows. Fortunatley "free box" - packet of cigs, espresso purro - neat espresso, and cerveja aren´t proving too difficult. Weight loss is occuring because food ordering is a whole different world of pain.

I opt for a long walk. Mainly because it avoids talking to anyone. Manage to buy a map, unfortunatley said map is of Sau Paulo province not city and is thus 2 quid down the toilet. Decide to head to centre, takes an hour along the equivalent of the north circular (if it were lined with shit shops). The gallery i want to see is shut, in fact it´s a Monday and anything interesting is shut. Buy a guide book, with a map. Drink a beer, read said book. the park is only a few kms away so i walk there. Sit by a tree and watch the wildlife and read.

Now i have to find the right exit. An hour later and i´m lost. My map proves to be bollocks and i´m at the museum we visited yesterday. Head north from here and hope for the best, cross a 14 lane road, by flyover, and head up the hill. Now i have no clue where i am and have to bite the bullet and talk to someone. "disculpe (spanish/portuguese) soy perdito, donde esamos? (spanish). Excuse me i´m lost where are we? He replies are you English? (good american) I reply thank f....k, and he shows me the way home - good lad. 6 hours from setting off and approx 15 miles i buy 6 lagers at the local supermarket and collapse onto the sofa.

You see, this travelling lark ain´t easy, it can be tough, but at least in life there´s always a constant to return to, lager always hits the spot, doubly so after a hike like that.