Blogs from Brasília, Distrito Federal, Brazil, South America - page 4

Terry Gilliam must have been inspired to name his 1985 movie "Brazil" - after seeing this utopian view of the future from 1960. "Fifty years of progress in five" moving the capital from Rio de Janeiro to a plateau in the undeveloped interior. President Juscelino Kubitschek, Architect Oscar Niemeyer, urban planner Lucio Costa and landscape architect Burle Marx - undertook this momentous feat - designing a city with a layout like a aeroplane - the central section containing all the governmental and civic buildings, the two wings the residential and military areas. The city was planned on a vast scale, it's unclear if this was to allow greater future development in between the blocks or if because in the future everyone would have a car. Vast numbers of lawyers, ministers and other civil servants migrated to ... read more

After Carnavale in Salvador we evacuated to nearby Praia Do Forte with Helen and Jay for some rest and relaxation by the beach. Praia Do Forte is 2 hours north of Salvador and reminded us of Port Douglas in Far North Queensland, which to say the least is vastly different from downtown Barra in Salvador. We didn't do too much in Praia Do Forte... other than lie on the beach, visit a wonderful little turtle sanctuatury, stay in an overpriced dump and get a severe case of food poisoning. We then took yet another 26 hour bus to Brasilia, the capital of Brazil (not Rio de Janeiro) where we spent 2 days walking around a truly amazing looking city. Firstly, a history lesson from Wikipedia... Way back in the 19th century an Italian bishop named Dom ... read more

Wed.26th Sept: Domestic morning - laundry etc. 'Had a snack lunch and set off for the National Museum - looks like the planet Jupiter from the outside and very spacious interior. However not set out like a museum as we know it. The walls were lined with modern art - mainly scenes of the city, with a few 3D modern sculptures from the Stations of the Cross - no other historic exhibits! 'Went from there to the Palace Itamaraty (the Palace for Foreign Affairs). Had a guide to myself as I was the only English speaking person - a magnificent building (see photos). Getting a bus is a difficult task in Brasilia - there are plenty of them, but finding the one you want and getting it to stop for you is difficult. Having failed to ... read more

Mon 24th Sept: Brasilia is built on a a plateaux with a hot dry climate, so lots of water (min 3 litres p/d) and moisturiser is the order of the day. Had a half day organised tour of the city - best way to see it . There were only 4 others in the party - 2 Spanish and 2 Brazilians. The guide gave his commentary in all 3 languages and also had a good sense of humour. It´s a truly amazing city - the dream of Don Bosco, built in 3 years by 60,000 people working round the clock; was planned to be in the shape of a cross but more like a plane, with 2.2M people lliving in it after less than 50 years. Fantastic achitecture by Oscar Niemeyer with many futuristic looking buildings ... read more

We arrived into Brasilia late in the night. Our plane had been delayed a bit, but this was the norm considering that there have been issues with control tower strikes creating delays... Either way, nothing is ever cancelled, and all international flights are running on time. (Don't worry mom!) It was not until the next morning that I met Mark's aunt and uncle, our hosts. They were the sweetest, older couple and more accomodating than you can imagine. Truly the type of people that you want to spend time around. She didn't speak English at all, but as time went on, his uncle ventured into a little bit that he remembered. Their home was nice, being that it is a city, it was in an apartment style building. The whole experience of being there really opened ... read more