Visit Santos: I am a Caiçara, you know what I mean?

Santos may be a city that is not well known among foreigners. Those who have heard of it may know it more for footballing superstars Neymar, Robinho and Pele. But Santos is much more than a city where great footballers arose from.

It is also a very beautiful city, with very good quality of life.

Real Santistas - people born in Santos - called Caiçaras (the traditional inhabitants of the coast of the Southeast and South of Brazil) know the advantages the city provides for its inhabitants very well.

Santos has a natural talent for sport. Just check out the Orla Beach, which runs throughout the day as an outdoor gym. Besides the beach, the city has several public and private sports centers, football pitches, athletics tracks, swimming pools, stadiums, gymnasiums, simple and multi-sport courts.

Curiosity 1:

The garden of Santos is one of the main attractions for tourists and in 2000 entered the Guinness Of Records as having the world’s largest beach front. Every year governments improve this beautiful garden.
It has been very well calculated, with plants more resistant to climate change; perfect sand near the beach; and well judged height of vegetation so they do not create a barrier from the perspective of people who are going by car, on foot or by bike. In 2003, a great bike path was built that runs along the entire Orla Beach, as well as other city parts.

Curiosity 2:

Some tourists are amazed to see that some buildings opposite the beach are extremely skewed. This is due to shallow foundations used in the 40s, 50s and 60s. Deviations occurred due to the weight of the buildings. Whilst walking on the beach you can view of the amount of crooked buildings. It is impossible not to see them as people always point and take pictures.

In addition to sports, gardens, bike paths and crooked buildings the city is full of bars and cool and reputable restaurants. There is a restaurant in particular that I really like called Oca. The assembly of the dishes are true works of art and have stunning flavour, with the finest ingredients. I always attended with my family on holidays and other occasions. The service has been just as good as the food.

I will also emphasise the Coffee Exchange Palace of Santos (Bolsa do Café de Santos) which is in the city’s financial center. The coffee has always been a drink that pleases the palate of Brazilians and Brazil is also known for its coffee. For those who like to drink coffee, I would strongly suggest the Coffee Exchange Palace, which provides guests with various types of coffee for every palate. If you are really really into coffee then the area boasts a coffee museum and baristas courses for those interested.

I wrote a bit about the city I lived but in fact this article is more an invitation for you to discover a different Brazil, different from the ever popular stereotypical view of cities like São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, or soccer, samba, carnival and caipirinha. It has several lesser-known cities that has incredible natural beauty: Santos, Fernando de Noronha, Ilha Bela, Maceio, Recife, Salvador, etc.

For those who one day have the opportunity to explore a different Brazil, I recommend Santos.