Mar 20, 2013 - Tiradentes and Brazilian Independence

“What do Brazilians think of the violence and dangers in big cities like Rio and Sao Paulo”, I ask Fernando. Breakfast has just finished as we strike up a conversation in the pousada Ibiscus in Jericoacoara where he, his wife Genôva and I are staying. I had asked the same question before of a young Brazilian professional woman over breakfast in Paraty. She also spoke decent English, like Fernando who has spent 11 years in the US, but she had said it was: ’too complicated’. “Well, it certainly has something to do with poverty and the great...

Mar 17, 2013 - Belo Horizonte: The Dress Rehearsal

Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais state, is not strictly on the Estrada Real, but I make a stopover there for another reason that becomes clear when you look at a map of BH, as the locals call it: the perfectly symmetrical pattern of streets betrays that this city was designed from scratch. In fact it was designed in two stages. Mariana was the first capital of Minas Gerais state, but ceded the role in 1720 to nearby Vila Rica (renamed Ouro Preto in 1823), a town which became synonymous with Portuguese colonial power and...

Mar 15, 2013 - Three Compositions: Congonhas, Mariana and Lavras Novas

The Prophets of Congonhas After admiring the architectural gems that Aleijadinho designed in the town of Ouro Preto, I am wondering how he can have improved on them with his much vaunted The Prophets in Congonhas. He was already 62 (or 70, depending), an old, sick and above all crippled man when he sculpted the twelve statues between 1800 and 1805. When I arrive I take some time to walk around and take in the three parts of the composition: the Basilica do Bom Jesus de Matosinhos, the symmetrical placement of the twelve statues along the...

Mar 7, 2013 - Ouro Preto: The King and the Cripple

The (Little) King Mauro, my guide, points me to the first bench of the old cable operated trolley and goes on to sit behind me, on the last bench, releases the brake and with a slight bump we begin the steep descent towards the gaping mouth that is the Mina da Passagem mine entrance. I look through the open floor to the rusted narrow gauge track on which we bump and lurch, not maintained according to the UIC technical leaflets¹, that’s for sure. Then we are swallowed and at the end of the 800 metre esophagus we come to a stop 315 metres...

Feb 24, 2013 - Diamantina and Two Sparkling Performances

‘After two thousand years India’s Golconda diamond mines were nearly depleted by the early 1700s...miners prospecting for gold along the Rio Jequitinhonha river, near the town of Tejuco...made Brazil’s first diamond discovery in 1725...by 1740 there was a major diamond rush to Minas Gerais...’¹ Another source² describes the discovery as a bit more happenstance: ‘...as early as 1670...stones...found...in the gold washings...attracted attention...gold miners used them as counters in their games of chance...a man who had seen rough diamonds in...

Feb 19, 2013 - Estrada Real: From Diamantina to Paraty

‘...la route royale (Estrada Real)...ancienne voie construite par les bandeirantes pour acheminer l’or du Minas Gerais vers les ports côtiers de Paraty et Rio...est un chemin stratégique sur la route du baroque du Minas...c’est le long de cette route que le corps du héros malheureux de l’inconfidencia Mineira, Tiradentes, a ete exhibé...après la découverte des mines de diamants de Serro et de Arraial la route fut ensuite étendue vers le nord...’, the Petit Fûté guide tells me and goes on to explain that it is more than 1200 kilometres long...

Mar 16, 2009 - Paraty, Iguacu and Buenos Aires

Hi All, We are now in Buenos Aires. We went from Ilha Grande to Paraty, which was absolutely beautiful. Lots of cobbled streets lined with white colonial houses, with brightly coloured doors and window frames. You really got a feeling of the former grandeur of the town. Sadly the town frequently gets completly flooded at high tide, and with sea levels rising, they reckon that Paraty has only about 10 years left as a functional town - so if in Brazil, then you must go! We then bussed it to Sao Paulo, during a flash flood, which was very...

Jul 23, 2008 - Starting the trip to the Panatal

Day 12 - Ouro Preto, Belo Horizonte and bus to Sáo Paulo After a morning reading books etc in O.P, we got the bus to Belo Horizonte (pronounced Horizontch), bought our Sáo Paulo x Campo Grande tickets and set out to see a bit of the city. Before it got dark we checked out a couple of the local markets where nuts, spices, fish and of course red meat were the pedalled wares. These big cities aren´t great after the sun sets, so it was either waiting at the bus terminal for 3 or 4 hours, or finding something else. After agreeing to see a movie,...

Jul 22, 2008 - Ouro Preto and Colonial Brazil

Days 10 & 11 - Ouro Preto This city will give you legs of steel, (un)fortunately we wont be here long enough for that - Ouro Preto is all about walking up, down, up, down and up again on cobblestone streets that gave my feet their very own deep tissue massage, through my flip flops. O.P is one of the oldest colonial towns in Brazil and the 3rd biggest holiday area for Brazilians - despite this, or maybe because of it, the infrastructure was pretty poor and the whole place was a bit tired. The city had some nice churches (don´t they all) and...

Jan 27, 2008 - Maceio

So, now we are in the North East. This is a very different part of Brasil. For one; the people are blacker, for two it is hotter and for three even the food is different. The picture of the pool at Gregory's apartment is for Kris to see the size and the glass barrier as an idea for his own pad. Gregory has a crop dusting business, mainly sugar cane, and a small aircraft repair business. He has his own runway and employs about 40 people; pilots and mechanics. We went out there today to admire. The 'swimming pool in the ocean' or 'piscina...

Jan 23, 2008 - Tiradentes/Sao Joao del Rei

Pictures 1 to 5 are of Rio and picture #6 is in Sao Joao del Ray/Tiradentes and on from there. These are two Colonial towns which to a certain extent have been preserved and very much lived in. I am sorely tempted to frustrate any one who is still opening this blog to give the story of gold, diamonds, escaped slaves, political shenanigans and my own take on the politics, inequalities, foods, transportation and the strange day to day differences between here and home. The truth is that this is not a lecture series or a personal Dear Diary...

Apr 11, 2007 - Rio, Baby!!

Okay, I have made it into Rio!!!! This city is just so amazing walking into it. I have not even had a chance to explore it yet, and I can just feel the energy, the people, the heat. It all is in such contrast to Peru, it will make for a nice change being here. I am so excited! I have to give my girl Jenna a mad shout out for setting me up with a free place to stay. Her friend Andre has been so nice to me! Rio is going to be a blast, I can just tell! I am going to explore the city today, and going to try my first futbol game tonight. I will...