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Ouro Preto and Belo Horizonte
Ouro Preto
The journey to get to
Ouro Preto was particularly articulated: it took the usual three hours for the journey Buzios-Rio de Janeiro and by that we have to turn another bus that starting in the late evening we arrive at the destination at the first light the next day. In addition to the double change of vehicle perhaps the heaviest was the tortuous route of bends and with the continuous brake which made the trip particularly suffered.
Ouro Preto is a village in the mountains in the state of Minas Gerais to chronicle known for its mines of gold and precious minerals in the past that have attracted the interest of many people and especially of the conquistadores. Today, the mines now closed,
Ouro Preto is a characteristic only colonial city climbing in the mountains from which you can take excursions to some disused mines. Reached the unfailing Rodoviaria (bus station), we found the classic rite of information on where to stay by opting for a posada economicissima located right near the main square. On board a taxi since we came to the entrance door where the owner stationed in hand with his inseparable cigarette. Given the hour of our arrival we were initially accommodated in two rooms until they release a bigger, and then sit at the tables of a bar to fight the cold morning warms the stomach with a sweet hot chocolate. A belly full we returned, the room was ready and made the moving we have seen lying on the bed that night spent in the bus had proved tormented and sleepless. In the early afternoon, when the sun had warmed the air, we fell for a first taste of our new destination immediately taking advantage of the tourist information service available to tourists in the country. We immediately understood that in addition to the abandoned mines and to the museum, this place could not offer us much more and that was a fleeting visit to the center because it was too late to go to the infamous mines. As already said the country had climbed in the mountains and thus able to visit was indispensable arm of patience and determination given the numerous and steep downs salts which had developed. In about two hours we managed to do the full tour of the center and take the usual photos of ritual we have returned to the posada since the fall of darkness was falling and the temperature. As often happens in the mountain resort of all the shops and even the restaurants close down very soon:
Ouro Preto also does not depart from this rule and fell for dinner just before the ten we had great difficulty finding a place open, and the restaurants were all closed and had to settle for a mixture quente (a sort of toast) to be consumed in a kiosk in front of the house. Although Saturday night was also the night life was hesitant to take off and probably would never have taken off: except for two bars and an ice cream parlor around which we gathered a small crowd of young people the rest of the country was entirely desert and there was no alternative but to of rincasare.
The next morning rested and fresh as a rose was there proposed the aim of achieving the largest mine in the area, now in disuse and used for tourist attraction. Requested information on where we could turn the bus, climbed in the vehicle, after forty minutes we arrived at "Minas de passeio, our destination. Salatissimo paid a ticket we queued for a class to rise in the most classic of the carts from the mine which, through a system of wires and rails, and descended into the bowels of the earth from where the tour began at the mine. Our guide, a little more than a boy, led us across passages in which developed the mine by telling her story and making sure that it was no longer active. The visit lasted just over quarter of an hour and was anything but exciting: we recovered on the same journey by cart to be dragged back to the surface. A little disappointed and angry for spending figure we proceed directly to the bus stop to get back
Ouro Preto and the Rodoviaria precisely where we could buy tickets and visit the nearby church of San Francesco, the most important of
Ouro Preto. In a moment it was already evening, and for this we re-direct toward the center to munch something to return soon to make posada in backpacks because the next morning it was time to leave at a time of
Belo Horizonte.
Belo Horizonte
Ouro Preto to
Belo Horizonte is located only a hundred miles so the trip has not lasted more than two hours. In early afternoon we were already arrived onto Rodoviaria (bus station) to
Belo Horizonte, fortunately, has a tourist information office to which we immediately rushed to get the name of some hotel. Mission accomplished and a men who do not say we had already identified our future abode that we have reached with the inevitable taxi. The Commodore Hotel was a building of the old building with old-fashioned furnishings and a lift out of time (a crank), but located in a fairly central and the most reasonable price in the market. Once in the room we were caught by a sudden chronic fatigue that accompanied the pleasant and unusual presence of cable TV has paralyzed in bed for the whole afternoon until the evening, we only found the strength to get up because the hungry began to the torments our stomach. We took a taxi driver who asked us to bring in the most lively of the city to dine, arrived in a place and paid the taxi driver we realized that the area was anything but a living but rather a funeral where it was even difficult to find open a restaurant. Disappointed by the evening we returned from the spire of our soft bed to continue the interrupted shortly before.
The next morning we were woken up in what seemed another city, invaded by a river of people that crowd the sidewalks and many stores that compared to the previous night seemed sprung from nowhere. In fact,
Belo Horizonte is the third largest city of Brazil, capital of the state of Minas Gerais. Pleasantly surprised by this frenetic thump of life we have not hesitated to dive into the crowd and start the usual exploration city.
Belo Horizonte is rather a commercial town not very rich in historical monuments and therefore not very suitable for tourism "classic." We, map in hand, we were directed first of all to the immense market town, a fully covered also teeming with people on the move and where you can find anything you were looking for. The tour continued to Praça da Libertad and then Praça Tiradentes focusing on some historical buildings like the Palace of Arts and the Church of Nossa Segnora from Boa Viagem to push up the margins of the large city park that was closed, however. We then decided to take a bus and go to the district of Pampulha in order to visit the church of Sao Francisco de Assis built by renowned Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer. The journey to get there was quite long, passing through some favelas with the continuing uncertainty of where to stop. In fact we are down a little too ahead of the due and take a taxi to reach the designated target. It was a church a little "sui generis" that escapes the usual construction to which we are accustomed. To tell the truth despite its alternative structure we were not particularly impressed, and indeed, after some photos and a resume, we ripigliato the bus to
Belo Horizonte. Back in town we stopped at Rodoviaria to buy tickets in the direction of Salvador de Bahia after that back to our hotel. After a good shower our attention was once again catalyzed by the "magic box" that sent an unmissable Classicissima: Rain Man! We do not even have dinner but the conditions do not permit.