The following are more photographs taken from my recent visit to Brasil. I had a wonderful two weeks. The trip was good for the soul if not my waist. This was the first prolonged vacation I had taken in nearly a year and now that I’m back home I am already looking forward to my trip to Puerto Rico in late January / early February.
Earlier this week I returned from my annual trip to Brasil and I am sorry to be talking about the vacation in the past tense. Following my week stay in Belo Horizonte, I went to the beachside town of Buzios for five nights. Here I spent most of my time relaxing and enjoying the beautiful surroundings. I stayed at Casas Brancas and would definitely recommend it to others considering a trip to Buzios. It is quite close to the Rua das Pedras and is very comfortable.
The following are a couple of photos of where I stayed, Casas Brancas, which was excellently situated near the Bridgette Bardot statue and steps from Rua das Pedras.
Buzios is a quaint but wealthy town filled with many small independently owned resorts that support the many shops, restaurants and galleries. As a result this is a place many well-to-do Brasilians, North Americans and Europeans find appealing to visit. I have added a few more photographs from my trip.
Tomorrow (Sunday) I pack my bags and head for the beach – the beaches of Buzios and Cabo Frio to be exact. It has been about 5 years since my last stay, and I am curious to see what changes have happened.
Buzios is town of approximately 25,000 residents that stretches out along the tip of a hilly peninsula. The beautiful town is approximately 2.5 hours drive from Rio de Janeiro and a popular destination for many Brasilians during their summer. I´ll be staying at the Casas Brancas – hopefully I´ll concur with the many strong endorsements found on TripAdvisor.
It is approximately 10am, the sun is shining bright and the temperature is already 27C (or 80F if you prefer). The weather has been fairly steady with the days warm and sunny and the nights cooler making it more comfortable to sleep.
We have spent the time relaxing with family and visiting friends. We have also had several delicious dinners culminating in the best meal last night at Splendido. The reckless abandon I have shown since arriving in Brasil with regards to the amount of food I have eaten has already resulted in some of my shorts feeling tighter around my waist than when I first tried them on, while packing for this trip. I hope when I return home I will be able to show more discipline with going to the gym. I would hate to prematurely become a fat old man, although there can be no doubt that this will eventually happen, when I consider how much I enjoy dining.
In addition to eating virtually everything placed in front of me, I also met a young designer from Belo Horizonte who has started a company called Amazonia, but is spelled AM420NIA. I have included the company´s logo above and will share additional photos from the time spent here in Belo Horizonte, Buzios, and Sao Paolo once I return home and can download them to my PC to share.
Yesterday, Thanksgiving day, I visited the tiny town of Brumadinho to see the beautiful gardens of Inhotim and the quirky modern art exhibits housed there. This year we brought my partner´s parents. The grounds were every bit as beautiful this year and like us, his parents loved spending time there. By far, my favorite art installation remains the exhibit from the Canadian artist Janet Cardiff, 40 Part Motet. The installation is set in a sterile white room with chairs in the center. Surrounding the chairs are 40 speakers aligned in a large circle clustered in 8 separate groupings of 5 speakers set side-by-side. Each speaker represents a single voice in a church choir.
I leave Belo in two days on Sunday. The next stop on the holiday is to Buzios, a beautiful beachside town that is a two hour drive east of Rio de Janeiro. Time there will be spent visiting friends in the neighboring town of Cabo Frio where my other half once had a massive beach house and enjoying all that Buzios has to offer. The last part of this two-week tour will take place in Sao Paolo where we spend a quick two days. We will visit family that live an hour outside of downtown S.P. and spend time with our good friend Onelio “Junior” who lives in town. The days are passing quickly and before I realize it, I will be speaking of this trip in the past tense.
After a very long but uneventful trip I have arrived at my first destination, my partner´s family home in Belo Horizonte. Belo or B.H. as it is often referred is a very modern city of nearly 5 million inhabitants. I tend to think of it as the `Chicago´of Brasil. Last year when we visited B.H. I shared a bit of interesting history and my thoughts in my entry Beautiful in Belo.
As with my trip last year, my access to the internet will be intermittent at best but I wanted to start the trip with an acknowledgement that I have arrived. At last!
Oh yeah, and the weather is beautiful – a steady 22C at 8pm.
This past March I changed jobs and although I knew work would be more challenging I did not expect it to become consuming. However, a project I’ve been working on which I’ve referenced in the past most recently in, work, work, work, has really consumed almost every waking moment for the past two months. I’m really proud of the job I’ve done, but I’m also very much looking forward to putting this project behind me and taking a well deserved vacation.
One week from this Saturday, I will leave on my annual trip to Brasil, and I can hardly wait. The distance and travel will help me relax and forget about work. I have always been someone who takes pride in my job and in my new role working in the healthcare sector that has never been more true. However, my greatest passions include spending time with friends and family, travelling and meeting new people, and spending time around a table enjoying food and conversation. You could say this is my holy trinity of happiness.
So with one week to go before November 20th when my firm hosts our nation-wide 12-city broadcast from Washington, D.C. and 9 days before I leave for my annual trip to Brazil I wanted to take a moment to write my thoughts, share them with the tens of readers who visit this blog 🙂 and count my blessings that I’m lucky enough to have a great job and the means to get away from it to relax and really enjoy what life is all about.
I can see Brazil is fast approaching and I’m excited by what I see.
9 days and counting…
After leaving Salvador we flew to the beautiful island of Morro de Sao Paulo where we stayed at Pousada Villa dos Corais which is nestled between beaches three and four.
About Morro de Sao Paulo
For those unfamiliar with the island, the beaches are numbered and while most of the activity on the island is centered around beaches one and two, you can easily walk to these locations (10-minutes by beach) from Pousada Villa dos Corais. The island does not allow cars and most of the foot traffic can be found on the beach as people explore the pristine island. Our pousada and many of those out on beach four provide transportation into the town, but we opted to walk along the beaches each evening. The island is extremely safe and clean so walking even late at night was common. I would highly recommend anyone considering a trip to Morro de Sao Paulo to stay at Pousada Villa dos Corais (pre-season rates were $150 / night and includes breakfast). The grounds are meticulously maintained, accomodations are spacious and secluded, service is impeccable and the food delicious. For those who like to treat their stomach when they travel, we found that most of the restaurants on the island were somewhat lacking, but our Pousada did not disapoint. Next door to the hotel is a delicious restaurant (only open for lunch) that has beautiful views of beach four called Pimenta Rosa and next door (about 100yards away) is a large two story bar that looks like a Brazilian version of a log cabin. I’ve included both in the picture gallery above for visitors to see. The bar is open until about 11pm each night and is a great place to go grab a drink. We actually split our time fairly evenly between the beach and the inifinity pool with the swim-up bar at Villa dos Corais.
Transportation
Cars are not allowed on the island which is probably a good thing because the roads (what few there are) are in horrible condition. However, it is very easy to get to the island and it is equally easy getting around once you arrive. Most people who arrive opt to take the boat which leaves from Barra in Salvador. The boat ride is relatively cheap (approximately $25 each way) but takes 2.5 hours. We opted to fly which is more money (approximately $100 each way) but it takes only 15 minutes. Flying is not for the faint of heart. Although one can hire a pilot to fly them to the island (there are two tiny landing strips) most who fly use the services of Addey Taxi Aereo or AeroStar (we used AeroStar). Personally, I loved the flight and had a good time but on both legs the weather was beautiful – I’m not sure I would feel the same if we were flying in bad weather.
We spent two days in Salvador Brasil, which according to Wikipedia “is a city on the northeast coast of Brazil and the capital of the northeastern Brazilian state of Bahia. The city is one of the oldest in Brazil and the New world.” The city, founded in 1502, is large by American standards with a metro population of approximately 3.5M. Pelourinho, which translates as pillory (a horrible device used to shame and punish slaves), is high above sea level and the oldest part of the city. The neighborhood offers visitors an excellent example of Portuguese colonial architecture and is very well preserved. Pictures of the churches and architecture above show how beautiful this neighborhood remain despite its shameful name.
Salvador claims to have 365 Catholic churches (one for every day of the year), but easily the most impressive must be the Church and Convent of St. Francis which was built in the early 1700s and includes 37 beautifully tiled mosaics and a profusion of carvings covered in more gold leaf than I have ever seen in my life. The affect is awesome (to use a truly Bostonian adjective).
Truthfully, Salvador was not one of my favorite cities to visit, but it was one of my favorite places to eat. While in Salvador we ate at two restaurants that anyone visiting should try. The first and more famous restaurant is Sorriso da Dada (loosely translated as Dada’s Smile). Located in the Pelourinho district, the restaurant is not fancy but provides a very warm and welcoming atmosphere. The woman for whom the restaurant is named leaves a lasting impression and represents the best of traditional Bahian cuisine I have ever had. We also ate at a newer restaurant in Barra (pronounced ba-ha) called Pereira. The restaurant is across from the beach and provides a more modern take on Brasilian cuisine in a very cool setting. Here you will see tourists mingling with young, wealthy Bahians enjoying an evening out. It is next to a Japanese Sushi restaurant (same owners) called Sato which we did not eat at but also looked fun. Sato was busier at night but Pereira always had people out on their beautiful patio / deck.
While in Salvador we stayed at Grande Hotel de Barra. The hotel was conveniently located across from a small beach, and while the accomodations were clean I found the rooms lacking in almost every creature comfort. The rooms were spartan and old (despite being assured we were in a newly renovated room). However, for two days – it was easy to deal with and the location was both safe and seemingly fairly central. Moreover, the hotel was quite affordable costing approximately $90/ day (keep in mind when I was in Brasil the US dollar was quite weak – the rates in Brasilian currency was 190 / night). If one were to book a room at the Grande Hotel de Barra, I would strongly recommend requesting a room facing the beach. We stayed in room 511 which was a corner room, closest to the beach and five stories above the street noise and smells. While walking through Barra, we stumbled across Pousada Manga Rosa which looked beautiful from the outside. According to the B&B website, rooms range from $70 – $100/ night.
The past two days have really shown me more of Belo Horizonte than I have seen on previous trips to the city. Yesterday I was in Pampulha, a wealthy neighborhood of Belo that has more of a suburban vibe. We went to look at several buildings of note that encircle a man-made lake, of particular note are: Igreja Sao Fancisco de Assis (Church of Saint Francis of Assisi), Museu De Arte Da Pampulha (Pampulha Museum of Art), Iate Clube (Yacht Club) and Caso Do Baile (Ballroom House). When I return home I will add photographs to show the buildings, artwork and landscaping all of which were meticulously thought out in advance and showcase Oscar Niemeyer (architect/designer) and Roberto Burle-Marx (landscape architect/designer) genius. Oscar Niemeyer is Brasil~s most celebrated architect and is still alive and working. He celebrates his 100th birthday this year. To acknowledge his contributions, the Brasilian government has placed a statue of a man (presumably of Sr. Niemeyer) with a large red balloon in front of buildings he designed. Belo Horizonte is awash with Niemeyer buildings and any fan of his should certainly consider making a stop here if only to see Igreja Sao Fancisco de Assis.
Today, Thanksgiving, I ventured about 30km south of Belo Horizonte, to the small town of Brumadinho. Brumadinho happens to have a rather extraordinary contemporary art museum & gardens. The more than 85 acres of Inhotim contain approximatly a half dozen 1-story buildings to showcase their semi-permanent collection of modern artwork (the collection changes every 2 years); many eye-catching outdoor sculptures; and a delicious restaurant. By far, my favorite art installation is from the Canadian artist Janet Cardiff. 40 Part Motet, originally housed in the Tate Museum in London, the exhibit is now at Inhotim. The installation is set in a sterile white room with chairs in the center. Surrounding the chairs are 40 speakers aligned in a large circle clustered in 8 separate groupings of 5 speakers set side-by-side. Each speaker represents a single voice in a church choir.
Although the drive is a bit remote; it was worth the trip.
I wanted to acknowledge the Thanksgiving holiday which has always been a personal favorite of mine. In recent years I have used the time off to travel abroad and visit new places. This year is no exception. My partner and I find ourselves back in Brasil celebrating the day with his family. Later this week we will leave to travel to Salvador, Brasil.
Happy Thanksgiving
Well we arrived in Belo Horizonte yesterday afternoon. Our flights in the U.S. all took off without a hitch and we were able to stretch out a bit more comfortably in the EconomyPlus section of our United Airlines flight. Sadly, these seats can not compare to the comforts available in First or Business Class and after becoming accustomed to such travel for the past several years, it is difficult to be thankful but after travelling to Brazil in economy for the first time last year – the extra leg room and the empty seat between my partner and I was heaven. We had to wait for a few hours in S.P.s busy city airport while heavy rains fell. After the tragedy at the airport a few months ago, everyone who works at Congonhas aeroporto is rightly cautious when the weather is bad. The landing strips at Congonhas are much shorter (or so it seems) than the ever so short runways at NYC LaGuardia airport so we did not complain much when rain caused the airport to close briefly.
The picture above shows how urban Belo Horizonte is. The city which has a downtown population of approximately 2.5M is very modern with architecture to match, and has some of the steepest hills I~ve ever seen in a city. For those who have travelled to San Francisco, you will appreciate my description when I explain that parts of Belo are far steeper. Combine the fact that many of these cobbled streets can have rain come gushing down these massive inclines and you will understand why driving in bad weather in this city is not for the faint of heart. Hopefully I will be able to log on again and have something more interesting to write about then our flight down to Brazil or our two-hour delay in S.P. airport.
Incidentally, it is warm and sunny here today…31 degrees Celsius or approximately 85-90 degrees Farenheight with a gentle breeze and plenty of sun.
This weekend I leave for Brasil, and I can hardly wait. The two week trip will take me to my partner’s hometown, Belo Horizonte, as well as to Salvador, Morro de Sao Paolo, and Sao Paolo.
I think travelling to Brasil this time of year is perfect. The weather is already warm and inviting but there are far fewer crowds and it is easier to make hotel and airline reservations.
While on vacation my access to a computer will be limited so I don’t think I’ll be adding many posts while travelling. However, I will make it a point to post some pictures after I return.
BosGuy 