2014 World Cup - Day 12 - Brasilia

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I slept in today and headed to the shopping centre around 11am. There, I hopped on a tour bus for a 2-hour tour of the area where most government buildings are located. I grabbed the first seat in the upper deck.

Brasilia was built in the mid 50’s and inaugurated in 1960. At that time, the capital of Brazil moved from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia. The bulk of the buildings were designed by one architect, Oscar Neymeir, and are very artsy-looking. The layout of the city is also interesting, in the shape of a plane. Neighborhoods are separated by avenues and organized in quadrants. The apartment I was staying at was in quadrant 309, Block C, on the South wing. That’s it, no street name or anything. There’s a 309 quadrant on the North wing, so it was important for me to tell people I needed to go to the south side. Another thing I noticed is that each quadrant looks very similar, with a small square surrounded by stores. Because of this, it was difficult for me to know when to get off the bus, but as soon as asked 1 person for help, 2 or 3 others would help as well.

The tour bus stopped 3 times for 10 minutes each time to allow us to walk around a bit and take photos. We first stopped at the National Cathedral and made our way into it via a tunnel. It’s very unique-looking, modern and pretty on the inside. Further down the street, we passed the row of Ministry buildings, where most of the “work” is done. Haha We then drove by the Itamaraty Palace (Palacio Itamaraty), which is the building of the Ministry of Foreign Relations. When you look at the photos, you’ll the constant use of mirror ponds (not sure how to describe it, but the buildings are surrounded by shallow water and reflect off the water) and funny-looking curved arches (again, tough to describe).

Our second stop was just ahead in the Praca dos Tres Poderes (“Square of 3 Powers”, situated between the judicial, legislative and executive buildings). It’s at the very end of the long avenue, right behind the National Congress. I took tons of photos of the congressional building, which is the landmark of the city. I had wanted to go inside Congress for a tour, but found out later that it had been closed for visits today. At the square, we basically walked around and took photos of the 3 buildings: Congress, Supreme Court and Planalto Palace, which houses the President’s office.

We then left the main avenue and headed towards the Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge (Ponte JK) and then stopped at Brazil’s White House, Palacio Alvorada (“Alvorada Palace”). It’s nice and peaceful there, situated right by the enormous man-made lake built to help Brasilia deal with its dry climate. It has a long front yard and its look is in line with some of other buildings we visited. In this part of town, there aren’t many homes, and this particular area, just the President’s and the Vice-President’s residences, situated one next to the other pretty much. Before arriving back at the shopping centre, we drove by a memorial to the President that was in power when the capital moved, Juscelino Kubitschek.

Going on this tour meant missing the Argentina vs Switzerland game. But we got back in time to watch the overtime. I grabbed lunch and watched Messi serve Di Maria a ball he buried for the win. Most Brazilians were cheering for the Swiss, but I wanted them advancing a bit more so we have a big semi-final matchup with Holland.

After the game, I walked outside a bit in 34C weather to grab a bus down to the National Congress. This is when I was hoping to go inside but was told it had been closed all day. I then decided to take better photos of the Planalto Palace, where the President’s office is. When I arrived, a free tour was starting that granted us access to the bottom and 4^th floors. The 2^nd and 3^rd floors were closed due to a function the President was attending (her office is on the 3^rd floor if I’m not mistaken). On any other day, we’d be able to have a peek inside her office. If Brazil wins the World Cup, this the place they’ll come to to show the trophy to the President.



By the time the tour was over, it was darkening outside, so I got to see the green and yellow lights shining on all the buildings. I then took a few more photos of course. Kind of neat to see, and this is only happening during the World Cup.

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