Cruzeiro vs. Pameiras

Wednesday
Today was meant to be a rest day. We have not been doing much lately and that’s worn us out. Actually, our plans were to go to Minas early, get some sun and a massage and lunch. But we seem to have caught the Atlanta disease, rain! Well, not rain but heavy overcast. So, we did not go to Minas at all.
We stayed around the hotel until lunch when we walked down to the Restaurant Contemporanea. It is a neat little boutique restaurant with nice a menu. We were surprised to see fruit growing in a courtyard tree. Upon close inspection we discovered that it was a pomegranate tree. The fruit looked like Christmas ornaments hanging on the branches. Our food was some of the best we’ve had for lunch. Jackie had grilled chicken and salad and I had sausage and eggs and a salad. I just realized that blogging your menu is very boring. But on slow days, what else can you do?
Anyway, after lunch we decided to walk to a store that we spotted earlier that sold sports merchandise with the Cruzeiro logo. Cruzeiro is a large sport club here in BH that has a soccer team in the top league in Brazil. Gilberto and I were going to the soccer match tonight with Cruzeiro playing against the league leading team from Sao Paulo, Palmeiras. The game was scheduled to begin at 10:00pm!
So, when we found the store and checked the prices for a Cruzeiro hat, I changed my mind. They were priced at $80BRL or about $45US! On the way back to the hotel we spotted an independent store that sold all types of souvenirs. They had a similar hat for only $10US. Now that’s more like it.
When I worked for CEMIG, I developed a friendship with the head of their investor relations department, Luis Rolla. It was through Luis that I was invited to join him on many international ‘road shows’ while I worked here. We did two trips to Europe and one to North America, including Canada and all the leading financial centers in the US. These trips were to meet with current and potential large investors in CEMIG stock. CEMIG shares are one of the most widely held international stocks.
Jackie and I met with Luis at the hotel at 6:30 pm. This gave us a good chance to catch up on what has been happening at the company since I left. One big change was his appointment to the position of Chief Financial Officer of the company. This is a position of high importance and is made only by the state Governor. So it was a very nice surprise to see his success. As we talked we discovered that we had yet another thing in common. He has had to have angioplasty surgery to implant four stints in his arteries. He has lost weight and appears very healthy now.
At 8:00pm, Gilberto arrived to drive us out to the Minerao Stadium for the soccer match. I remembered to take my light raincoat just as a precaution. Attending a Brazilian “football” match is something that all American sportsmen should put in their bucket list. It is a real treat. We arrived about 40 minutes before the start of the game and the atmosphere got more exciting by the minute. I have captured some of this on video which I hope I can upload for your viewing. The game started great with Cruzeiro scoring first in the first ten minutes. Unfortunately, Palmeiras scored on a penalty kick only about two minutes later. The score at half time was 1-1.
In the second half Palmeiras scored on a fast break-a-way and got the lead at about 15 minutes into the half. The remainder of the game was Cruzeiro on attack. They had 18 shots on goal to only 8 for Palmeiras. But to no avail. About half way into the second half the bottom fell out of the sky. It rained for the remainder of the game and all the way back to the hotel. I arrived there about 1:00am, wet and sleepy. Tchau.

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Part of trip: Brazil 2009

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