PoA is situated in the far south of Brazil (see map) in the state of Rio Grande do Sul the southernmost state. The countryside around is mostly pampas grasslands, hence the Gaúcho culture shared with Uruguay and Argentina. The city itself is on the shores of what is known as the Guaíba River, sometimes known as a lake, there's some debate as to what it exactly is, if you check the map it could be described in fact as an estuary which opens out into a much larger lake known as Lagoa dos Patos. So "Porto" in PoA is not a sea port but it is accessable by sea to large vessels via Lagoa dos Patos which opens to the sea through a narrow channel about 150 miles to the south.
Including Greater PoA the area covered is almost 200 sq miles with a population of a million and a half. The city itself consists of the old part, which is mostly the city centre, and residential neighbourhoods spread around. These neighbourhoods vary a lot in economic stature, from the very poorest of shanty towns to high class blocks each apartment which goes for perhaps quarter million Brit pounds sterling.
One thing with the housing that strikes me as different from Britain is that there are no large areas with all the houses the same, such as the British housing estates or terraced houses. If someone has enough money to buy a new house here, they normally buy the land and build the house according to their own specifications. There are lots of closed, secure, condominiums which have the houses all the same but it tends only to be about 10 - 20 small houses.
In some neighbourhoods (very few and getting less) the council have prohibited building more than 3 floors, so we find here only houses, these neighbourhoods can be found mostly to the south. Other regions have given way to mass high rise development and the houses have for the most part disappeared.
PoA has three large shopping centres, Iguatemi, Bourbon Country (these two being literally right next to each other) and Praia de Belas, and a variety of smaller shopping centres spread around. Under construction right now is Cristal Shopping, which reportedly when complete will be the biggest in Latin America.
There are also three large parks, Redenção, Parcão and Parque Marinha. The first of these has a dense covering of trees making it beautifully shady for walks, there is also a large lake full of turtles and rentable paddle boats. There's a nice bar on the lake to quaff cold beers while feeding the turtles. Parcão is less shady and smaller, it also has a turtle lake but no bar. Parcão is in a rich and fashionable neighbourhood, Moinhos de Vento, and the park is where the rich and fashionable people jog or walk around by the score, excersising or just showing of their imported nikes. The last of these parks follows the river/lake shoreline and extends almost to the city centre. Parque Marinha is wonderful for sunset walks along the river/lakeside promenade.
As I've mentioned, the city centre is the old part, there are a few historic buildings here including the public market, which dates back to 1869, and the Santa Casa Hospital founded in 1803.
The river / lake is extremely polluted due to the industries up river. There is a project to clean up but it will take a long time yet and I still see reports on the news of thousands of fish found dead floating caused by pollution of some factory or another, the factory is fined but then they just continue. Further from the city, about 18 miles the council have declared a beach clean enough to swim, Lami, I've seen the water there, it certainly doesn't look clean!