São Paulo – Around 8:30 am every Saturday and Sunday, a train whistles at Estação da Luz, in the city of São Paulo, announcing the departure for a different route. There, two wagons are boarded by groups and pairs of smiling people, filled with good expectations, their countenances lighter than those of people boarding the regular trains of Companhia Paulista de Trens Metropolitanos (CPTM – the São Paulo Metropolitan Train Company) every day to commute from home to work. The two wagons and the locomotive comprise Expresso Turístico (Tourist Express), a project that takes tourists on rides to three destinations in the interior of the state of São Paulo: Jundiaí, Mogi das Cruzes and Paranapiacaba.
Jundiaí is the least sought destination. And precisely for that reason, here we go. One of the wagons has straight seats, made for trains, ideal for those who wish to dive into the past. The other one has bus seats, which are more comfortable. But you can walk from one wagon to another, and that is what the travellers do, as the train carries them across the paths of the land of grapes. The tour guide’s recorded voice tells the story of the stations the locomotive passes through. It also points out the neighbouring Mercado da Lapa (Lapa Market) and a few historical sites. Passing through a tunnel, the train’s lights go out and the darkness is all-encompassing. Some are euphoric, the youngest are scared.
The route that the train takes is the same as the CPTM’s daily route up until Jundiaí. And the landscapes are therefore also the same. One sees the borders of neighbourhoods such as Perus, cities such as Caieiras, Franco da Rocha and everything they include: some green, but also some shacks, some open-air sewers. From halfway through the trip onwards, the landscape gets better and becomes more interior-like. Green hills, a few grazing cows, a couple of horses, a plantation.
An hour and a half later, the train arrives at Jundiaí. The station is peaceful and has an antique-like look. No wonder, it dates back to 1867 and still preserves its old architecture. Tourists are set free, due to return at 4:30 pm, when the locomotive leaves back to Estação da Luz. Each person may go their own way, but tourist operator Rizzatour offers packages lasting exactly the right duration. One is called Circuito das Frutas (Fruit Circuit) and takes travellers to fruit farms in Itatiba and Louveira, cities near Jundiaí.
The trip to the farms is taken on a bus and the guide tells some of the history of Jundiaí, its foundation, Italian immigrants and grapevines. Soon thereafter the first stop is at Mr Roberto Ferrari’s farm, in Itatiba. A simple, talkative man, he welcomes the tourists himself and invites them to a tasting. Since it is strawberry season, after hearing the owner explain the different varieties of strawberries grown there, visitors try the fruit. He takes them along the farm, where they see the grape and strawberry crops, and taste blackberries underneath the trees.
At his porch, Mr Roberto offers a typical local meal. On the table there is fruit, jelly, fresh juice and fresh coffee. It is also shopping time, including wines, jellies, fruit boxes, and other of the farm’s delicacies. Right by, the children in the group play on a slide in the patio, and the Tamarin monkeys soon show up, eager to accept some fruit scraps from the visitors’ hands.
The next stop is Louveira, and there Mrs Vera Da Ros also welcomes the group at her farm. Vera owns a restaurant and lunch is served, featuring homemade food, juice and typical dessert. After a short rest, she showcases her farm, where grapes, peaches and plums are grown, among other fruit. But here there is no tasting under the trees. The fruits are only to be looked at. Vera explains how she grows them, discusses the daily routine at the farm, the life of a farmer, and the help she gets from her family to run the place.
Once the tour is over it is time to return. The bus ride to the train station is taken in silence. Almost everyone is tired and sleep in the bus. Back on the train, the route is the same, but this time there are no explanations from the guide. The tourists take pictures, including poses by the duly uniformed crew, which are tireless in giving attention, information and smiles to the travellers on the ride from São Paulo to Jundiaí and back.
The Tourist Express
The Tourist Express started operating in April 2009, and on its first two years it carried 25,000 people, according to the CPTM press office. From January to October this year, 13,633 people took the trip. Currently, the São Paulo-Jundiaí route is offered on Saturdays; the trip to Mogi das Cruzes takes place on Sundays, every 15 days; and the one to Paranapiacaba is also biweekly, on Sundays. All trains leave from Estação da Luz. According to CPTM, there are plans of adding new routes to São Roque, Aparecida and Campos do Jordão.
In all destinations, Rizzatour offers different tours. In Jundiaí, for instance, aside from the fruit farm route, there are tours turned to the city’s Italian heritage and its wines, cultural routes on foot to attractions in Jundiaí, and wine tours to witness the winemaking and taste it, among others. In Mogi, eco-tours, bicycle rides, visit to orchid nurseries etc. There are similar options leaving from Paranapiacaba, including visits to river springs, city tours, and trekking, among others.
Service
Train – Tourist Express
Site: www.cptm.sp.gov.br
Telephone: (+55 11) 3226-4428
Times: Jundiaí (Saturdays, 8:30 am), Paranapiacaba (Sundays, every 15 days, 8:30 am) and Mogi das Cruzes (Sundays, every 15 days, 8:30 am)
Price: 30 reais for one person, 45 for two, 60 for three and 75 for four persons. Lower prices for boarding and alighting in Santo André (only for the Paranapiacaba tour).
Sales: cash only at Estação da Luz and Estação Prefeito Celso Daniel-Santo André box offices, from 6:00 am to 6:00 pm.
Packages – Rizzatour
Site: www.rizzatour.com.br
Telephone: (+55 11) 4817-1618
Email: rizzatour@rizzatour.com.br
*Translated by Gabriel Pomerancblum
