Colonial Brazil

Flew back to São Paulo for a few days. Marcio had been the wedding planner for a couple who were holding it at one of the fanciest buildings in the city and Vanessa was also working at it, so Emma and I tagged along to the reception (with the bride’s permission of course). Had a wonderful 3 course dinner and watched some traditional Portuguese dancers that were there as entertainment.
The 5 of us spent the next night at Marcos’s place. He is a friend of Marcio’s and has lived in England and the US, so he speaks English very well. He had us laughing so much, especially when he did impersonations of Marcio, who is said to have a ‘stain’ on his brain, due to his scatterbrained thinking. I drank more Caipirinha (a drink somewhat similar to a mohjito and made with cachaça) which is my favourite drink now, along with Guaraná - a soft drink here.

Emma and I took a bus a few days later to Oura Preto, which is a colonial town in the state just north of São Paulo. It is also in mountains and is very hilly. The buildings were gorgeous and we wandered around enjoying the town and shopping in the markets. The town was at the centre of the gold rush that happened earlier in the countries history, and is still where you find 90% of Brazil’s minerals.

The next day we took a 4 hr bus ride to São Joāo del Rei and from there we were taking another to Tirendentes. We met Marcelo (a brazilian/American from New York) and an Aussie woman on the bus and chatted to them most of the way. The woman had been mugged in Argentina and we were discussing how the police here are so corrupt they are often in on similar scams. Scary stuff.
In all the places we have visited, especially Minas, it is quite hard to meet people who speak English and there are very few international travelers here, which is quite refreshing. The people we do meet are very interesting and it makes you feel like you are getting off the beaten path a bit.

Tirendentes was so LOVELY! It is another colonial town with about 10,000 people. It is named after the Inconfidência hero Joaquim José da Silva Xavier. The blue and rocky Serra de São José mountains backdrop the town. Stayed in the first pousada we could find and ventured out to eat and window shop. I had a nap while Emma went to find internet (which doesn’t seem to have been invented yet in this town) and met 3 guys downstairs (1 Dutch, 2 Brazilian) who had seen us check in and knew we spoke English. Met them again later that evening when I was awake and we played a card game with them over a few drinks before heading out to a free concert around the corner that was happening as part of the film festival currently in town. The musicians played great bluesy Brazilian music. Two of the boys and I finished the night on top of the ‘teletubbie hill’ with a bottle of red. Said goodbye to the boys over brekky the next day and we spent the day sightseeing - the Chafariz de São José fountain and a church called the Igreja Matriz de Santo Anõnio. It is meant to be the most beautiful in Brazil and is gilded inside with so much gold I couldn’t believe it was real. There was a Carnaval practice parade in the style of Odadum in town which meant there was a great atmosphere around.

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