The Museum of the Portuguese Language is everything you'd want in a museum; it's creative, interesting, interactive, visually fabulous, and fun. This probably explains why in the short time it's been open it has become São Paulo's most popular museum. The only drawback? No English signage. However, anybody with a basic understanding of Portuguese, or an interest in the language, will enjoy the experience. The most magnificent display tells the history of the Portuguese language, as it slowly developed from Latin, only much later to be influenced by Arabic, eventually by African and Indian words and later by French and English. On the right side a giant timeline and several interactive displays impart a myriad of interesting facts, on the left, a giant 100m-long (328-ft.) screen runs the full length of this former train station showing images and clips relating to unique Portuguese words associated with cultural events such as carnival, religion, soccer, music, and so on. Allow 2 hours. Tip: The popularity of the museum is such that on weekdays it is packed with schoolchildren, and on weekends with families and Brazilian tourists. Either way, it's best to arrive either early or else late in the afternoon (after 4pm!)

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Brazil, 4th Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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