Tuesday, July 15, 2008
When You Were A Map
That's a line from a song I like, 'Mad As Rabbits.' It also reminds me that as a tot I collected maps, and was fascinated with their many routes and destinations, though it was a few decades before I had the wheels and the means to hit the open road and see them for myself... When you read this I'll be in São Paulo, São Paulo - so nice they had to name it twice. I've been using Google Maps Brazil to plan our schedule. One great feature of Google Maps is photos attached to specific map points. Above, for example, is the northern border of São Paulo state with Minas Gerais state, brandishing 'Welcome to Minas Gerais' - I love the design.
São Paulo state is the size of Arizona, but more of an oval than a square, it takes eight hours to drive from east to west. At left, here's the intersection of Rio Parana and Rio Peixe, on the far western side of São Paulo state, where it borders Mato Grosso do Sul state. On the Mato side, about 50 miles northwest, is a slaughterhouse in Nova Andradina that I toured last November.
São Paulo state's southern border is the Atlantic Ocean, and at far left is a postcard from Santos, which despite this view is a huge industrial port, Brazil's largest. Just southwest of Santos on the coast is Praia Grande, literally, 'big beach.' There are many, many beaches on the São Paulo shoreline - kind of like a tropical New Jersey, if you will (given the proximity to the 20 million plus metropolis of São Paulo.)Sardonic Cartoons du Jour:
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