Carnival Sampa style: blocos, booze and even bebezinhas
A friend recently asked if I was looking forward to carnival in Brazil, famous for staging probably the world’s most awesome spectacle. I didn’t really know, was the answer. Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is a pretty legendary affair , but I had no idea what it would be like in S ã o Paulo. Although Rio is considered the carnival, S ão Paulo has caught up to attract millions of revellers . It wasn’t long after we arrived in Sampa at the end of July 2017 that we could hear the samba school near us in Vila Madalena practising its rhythmic beats pretty much every Sunday afternoon, from about 6pm to around 10.30pm. Of course, this ramped this up to twice a week as we got closer to carnival. Bloco for kids in Sampa I’m no samba expert and I’m sure they were very good, but it was a bit racket (I know, a very British thing to say). More so, it’s a bit tricky with a one-year-old and getting them to go to sleep (and stay asleep). I was intrigued by what lay in store, but also