Inhotim - getting there

Inhotim - getting there

Artwork at one of Inhotim´s Galleries

Inhotim is located at Brumadinho, a city in the southern outskirts of Belo Horizonte, or simply BH, Minas Gerais´State capital. It is about 30km south of BH, an half-hour drive. 

Though the artcenter provides shuttles departing from the fancy Savassi neighbourhood in BH (see the official site info: http://www.inhotim.org.br/en/visit/getting-here/), to calmly know and enjoy Inhotim, the best is to stay one or two nights at Brumadinho, or at a hotel, B&B, hostel, or pousada in the surrounding cities, such as Mario Campos. 

Lined palmtrees at Inhotim

The main buildings of the world are melting by candle light - Inhotim´s artwork

Brumadinho lacks enough hotels, but for sure the attraction caused by Inhotim will change this reality in the future. It is really unbelievable major hotel chains didn´t get buildings here, since the tourism to Inhotim is increasing at quite high rates. 

From BH´s International Airport, the ride is a bit longer, about one hour drive. But cars can be easily rented at the Airport. Car-rental companies have desks at the airport´s main concourse, at the old terminal. 


Renting a car with a good GPS (or using the cellphone´s GPS) is totally advisable. Roads are ok, but heavy traffic can be annoying at rush hours (early hours and 5pm to 9pm weekdays), and the driver must be careful with the trucks, since the trip from the airport to Brumadinho takes highways mostly at BH´s nearby cities. 

The main buildings of the world are melting by candle light - Inhotim´s artwork

If taking a car, it is advisable the best time to go is during the day, since it is a rural area, and some parts of the track are poorly enlighted at night.

BH´s airport has been recently renovated, so it is verty convenient. The sole problem is the lack of public transportation to BH, but there´s an executive bus which takes to downtown. But to Brumadinho, starting from the airport, only taxis and rental cars will be avilable. 

The airport has some international flights from and to the US and to Europe. 

Praia do Porto da Barra

Praia do Porto da Barra The best beaches of Bahia State are not in Salvador, but it doesn´t mean you can´t have a deserved sea bath after some hours strolling through the city. In this case, take the chance if you are in Barra neighbourhood, or if you are visiting the three fortress, to stop by Porto da Barra beach.  Boys diving at Porto da Barra beach, in Salvador. It seems one of the favorite sports practised by young people at this coastal city of Brazil As it lays inside the All Saint´s Bay, its waters are calm enough for stand up paddle practitioners, kayaking, diving into the sea from the remnants of a stone pier of the stronghold, and other sports.....or simply laying at the beach drinking a beer or a caipirinha.  Some tents rent chairs and beach umbrellas, and sell the drinks you need, so you don´t have to carry anything with you, unless beachwear, to enjoy the sunset by the Porto da Barra beach.

Cannons at the Santa Maria Fortress, with the Porto da Barra beach, to the left, and Forte São Diogo, atop. The Porto da Barra beach is the most visited by the LGBT community, where, by night, some bars welcomes gay-friendly visitors.

Salvador - Forte Santa Maria

Salvador - Forte Santa Maria

Salvador - Forte Santa Maria

Getting inside the Bahia de Todos os Santos, west to the Farol da Barra, is the Forte Santa Maria, the second stronghold protecting All Saint´s Bay. 

Cannons and a small museum welcome visitors. Nice pics can be taken of the Farol da Barra and the Forte São Diogo, the third fortress in line. 

Farol da Barra, view from Santa Maria Fortress

Just 650m separate Farol da Barra from Santa Maria Fortress. 

Forte São Diogo

Forte São Diogo

Forte São Diogo, at Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

The Forte São Diogo, is the third fortress on the entrance of All Saint´s Bay, just some meters from Forte Santa Maria. 

The two strongholds are separated by the Porto da Barra beach (see next post). 

The fortress is still kept by the Brazillian Army, and has a nice view from atop, for those willing to climb it. 

Built between 1626 and 1635, after the dutch invasion of Salvador (1624-1625), it granted the defense of Salvador in 1638, when a new atempt of foreign invasion was expelled. 

Also, a permanent art exposition of the argentinian artist Hector Julio Paride Bernabó, also known as Carybé, is held inside the fortification and can be visited under payment of 20 reais (about 6 US dollars). 

Carybé fell in love with Salvador, and made good friendship with Jorge Amado, Bahia´s most famos writer. Both are dead, but the Jorge Amado´s house in Pelourinho works as a museum which tells the history of the writer (see future post). Carybé died in Salvador, where some of its artwork can be found, as in this small museum inside Forte São Diogo.

Mercado Modelo de Salvador

Mercado Modelo de Salvador

(Salvador´s Central Market)

The Mercado Modelo in located at Cidade Baixa (Down City), accesible from Cidade Alta (High City) through Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda´s lift, see previous post). 

The lift works as a regular public transportation, and its tariff is less than 50 cents of real, really cheap. Unfortunatelly, at Cidade Baixa there´s no much to see besides the Mercado Modelo, as basically the Cidade Baixa helds the seaport, the customs and trade companies. 

The Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda´s lift, to the left) and the Mercado Modelo, at the Cidade Baixa (center)
 Salvador, Bahia, Brazil

The Mercado, however, is pretty much focused on tourists, where you can buy local stuff, food, and craftsmenship. 

It closes by 7 pm, but one hour before there´s a nice sunset view on the 2nd floor, at the bar facing the sea. A good place to take your favorite brazillian juice, soft dringk, beer or caipirinha, as the sun goes down.

Between the Mercado and the sea, there is the touristic harbour, from where boats departing to Morro de São Paulo (see previous post) and other touristic attractions can be taken. 

Farol da Barra - Salvador´s most remarkable landmark

Farol da Barra - Salvador´s most remarkable landmark

Farol da Barra (Barra´s Lighthouse) has now a very beautiful night lighting. During the day, inside its fortress, it is possible to visit a navy museum. In fact, the other next two fortress, going west towards the Bahia de Todos os Santos ("All Saints Bay"), have received night lighting and a urban refurbishment of its sidewalks, rendering a very good spot for a stroll, day or night.

As capital of Brazil during colonial times, all the fortress served as the city´s protection against pirates and foreing forces. 

At night, the sidewalk is full with restaurants and bars, ranging from simple options to sophisticated ones. 

See next posts about the other fortress at Barra. 

Salvador - getting ready for more tourists

A recent trip to Salvador made me notice the city is getting great improvements on its urban infraestructure, espeacially compared to a decade ago.

Metro is being built to reach the ariport (SSA), scheduled to the end of 2017, so hopefully it will be posible for tourists to use it to new year´s eve and 2018 carnival. Few cities in Brazil have the metro or subway reaching the airport, so it will be a great advantage for tourists in Salvador, though regular taxis, uber and 99taxis are also available at the airport. 

Plus, many touristic places at Barra and Rio Vermelho, and espeacially the streets, squares and gardens by the sea were improved by the Municipality, making of it a great place for strolling while feeling the seabreeze. 

The city is becoming far more welcoming to tourists, though the downside is theft/pickpocketing, so I recommend to be very carefull with smartphones, cameras and wallets. Also, there´s still plenty of people trying to insistently sell local stuff; if you´re not interested, just say no (also insistently) and get away. Leave your valuable things at your hotel´s room safe box, and enjoy this formidable historic city, a result of mixed cultures of Brazil. 

Florianópolis (1 - the city)

FLORIANÓPOLIS (1 - the city)

Downtown Florianópolis

One of my favorite places in Brazil is undoubtedly Forianópolis, or simply, Floripa.

History and location

The Hercílio Luz Bridge, linking the city of São José, in the continent, with the Island of Santa Catarina, where Florianópolis is. 

The city got the name from Marshall Floriano, a military President of Brazil in the beggining of the XXth century, who massacred a revolt against his government there. As if winning was not enough, he put his name to the city. 

History is history and now kindly known in Brazil by "Floripa", the city is very peaceful and calm, even more considering it is the capital of Santa Catarina state, the second southernmost of Brazil. 

In fact, Joinville and Blumenau are the major cities of Santa Catarina State, a rare situation compared to other Brazillian States, where generally the capital is also the most important and/or populated city.

The two bridges, seen from a boat trip

Floripa is located in one big island, the Island of Santa Catarina, spreading for about 31km north-south, linked to the continent by two bridges, the historic one, called Hercilio Luz, nowadays deactivated but maintained as the city´s postal card and a new one which links the island to the continent by a highway. 

The Hercílio Luz Bridge, linking the city of São José, in the continent, with the Island of Santa Catarina, where Florianópolis is. 

Originally the island was known as Ilha do Desterro (Island of Exile), as it was occupied by the azorians, inhabitants from the Açores archipelago (a portughese possession in the North Atlantic Ocean). 

Even nowadays locals preserve a very strong accent from Portugal, a result of a smallar immigration from other parts of the world. Immigration from Europe, Africa and Middle-East, a common fact in most parts of Brazil, isn´t very much verified here. Santa Catarina´s countryside received lots of germans, italians, poolish and other europeans, but it seems none or few, other than the azorians, have come to Floripa. 

Magic Island

As the Island of Santa Catarina, also known as the "Ilha da Magia" (Magic Island) is big enough for the city, it hosts a strongly urbanized citycentre, in the middle of the island, as well many villages and neighbourhoods spreading alongside its numerous beaches. 

Each beach can host a town or a village, varying from small fishermen´s towns to the high-end Jurerê Internacional beach, separated from each other by mountains, dunes and mangrooves environmentally protected. 

Amongst humble fihsermen and the nouveau riche trying to show-off their wealth, there is place (and beaches) for all tribes, all musics and pockets. So, just choose your beach well - according to your tastes - or just stay downtown to visit the most known of them each day of your stay. 

In the next posts, we´ll travel through the most known and some hidden jewells of Floripa.  

Morro de São Paulo

Morro de São Paulo

In Bahia State shores, a hill located at an island south from Salvador (the capital city of Bahia State), became one of the most famous destinations of domestic tourism in Brazil: Morro de São Paulo (hill of Saint Paul).

The fortress at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

The easiest way to get there is to take one of the catamarans, big speedy boats departing from Salvador harbor, at Cidade Baixa, directly to Morro de São Paulo. 

The boats at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

The catamarans dock at the historic fortress harbor in Morro, where guys can take tourists´bags to their hotels or inns.

The docking place at Morro de São Paulo

The docking place at Morro de São Paulo

The church at the historic village at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

A big tree welcomes visitors at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

Other options of transportation would take very long time. It is possible to go by car from Salvador to Valença, the nearest city from Morro. In this case, it is required to do the turn around the Bahía de Todos os Santos (All Saints Bay), a task that will demand lots of time. From Valença, small boats can eventually take tourists to Morro, but it won´t be a professional tourism company, so I would recommend this option only for adventurers careless about comfort or spending more time. 

Atop the hill, the historic city hosts restaurants, snack bars, small stores, banks and souvenir shops, as well as some hotels. 

The church at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

The village at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

Beyond the historical village and the fortress, the place consists of five beautiful beaches, one after the other, reachable either by boat or by walking.  The further beach you stay, the calmer it will  be, as you can get more isolated from the crowds at the village center; however, the most distant beach you stay, the harder it gets to arrive at your hotel. 

As a compensation, you can feel more integrated with nature.  

The first beach and its village at Morro de São Paulo, view from the sea. This is the most urbanized among the beaches.

A guy taking some tourist stuff somewhere in Morro de São Paulo

It is common people gets seasick during this trip, speacially if the sea is rough. But the journey takes about one hour, and it is recommended to look out the horizon in order to avoid getting seasick.

Nevertheless, the photos can prove the place is worth visiting while in Bahia, the land of all saints. 

The view of the Atlantic from Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

A hotel at the historic village at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

A hotel at the historic village at Morro de São Paulo, Bahia, northeast Brazil

Lollapalooza Brazil 2016 will be held in São Paulo

Lollapalooza Brazil 2016 will be held in São Paulo 

In March 12 and 13, 2016, Lollapalooza Brazil will be held at São Paulo´s racetrack José Carlos Pace, or simply the Interlagos Racetrack, famous for the Formule 1 championship and some historical victories of Ayrton Senna, Brazil´s most famous F1 driver. 

The site is only in portuguese: http://www.lollapaloozabr.com/ lollapalloza Brazil, as well the site for buying tickets: http://premier.ticketsforfun.com.br/shows/show.aspx?sh=ESIN0000012LP.

They inform tickets will be sold daily at Citibank Hall, located at Nações Unidas Avenue, 17955, Santo Amaro, São Paulo - SP.

This is the only way of not paying a delivery fee.

Be cautions if you buy half entrance: meia-entrada", or simply "meia".

Only if you can proove you´re a student or have other legal allowances (proof of poverty, be over the age of 60 etc), you can enter the festival with a half entrance.

To get to the racetrack, it´s better to take the CPTM train at the line 9 Emerald (linha 9 Esmeralda) in the direction of Grajaú, and get down at Autódromo station, the antepenult station. It is required a certain walk, but a taxi from the central neighbourhoods is expensive and parking there would be too messy and also expensive, if it happens you have a car. 

This train line connects twice with metro (subway) lines: at Santo Amaro station, with the 5 lilac line (linha 5 lilás) and at Pinheiros with line 4 yellow (linha 4  amarela). This yellow line can take you to the Jardins and Paulista areas, as well to downtown.
 

Salvador (6): Farol da Barra (Barra´s Lighthouse)

Salvador (6): Farol da Barra (Barra´s Lighthouse) and the Carnival

One of the most remarkable constructions of Salvador is the Farol da Barra (Barra´s Lighthouse), in the extreme point of the city embracing the bay. 

Farol da Barra - Barra´s Lighthouse - Salvador - BA- Brazil

The point gives name to the neighbourhood, which during carnival hosts one of the circuits to the trios elétricos (electric trios), i.e., the big trucks with giant speakers carrying famous singers or music groups and their bands of bahianan music.  

Carnival here is quite different from Rio, as the music here is mainly the axé, a kind of pop, rapid sound, different from samba. There´s not an organised parade, but people following the trucks with their most loved singers. To get close to the trucks, one must buy an abadá, a kind of big T-shirt with the name of the band. With the abadá, you can stay inside the cordon. Most famous ones are quite expensive. They aren´t costumes as in Rio, it is just an allowance if you want to parade alongside the truck of a certain band or group.  

Carnival in Salvador gets very crowded, and I would recommend more for young people. You can also stay in camarotes, private areas specially built for the carnival period, with much more comfort than joining the crowds in the streets. The options depends on the kind of fun and confort you want to have, and how much you´re willing to pay. 

Salvador (5): the church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim and the afro-brazillian religions. 

A panoramic view of the city of Salvador da Bahia, from the harbor, with both the high and low cities (Cidade Alta e cidade Baixa).

The most famous church of Salvador is the Igreja do Nosso Senhor do Bomfim, located in the Cidade Alta. Actually, it is one of the most famous churches of Brazil.

Salvador is home to a unique mix of the african culture, brought by the africans, and the european, catholic rituals. The Candomblé is the main religion of african inspiration, but their orixás have a sort of equivalence to Catholic saints in brazillian culture. Along the centuries both european catholicism and african religions lived together at Bahia, providing a very curious cultural miscelanny, marked by the religious syncretism. 

The baianas of candomblé use large white dresses with blue colars, while they sell to tourists the multi-coloured ribbons of Nosso Senhor do Bomfim. According to the local tale, you must put the ribbon around your wrist, tie it with a strong knot and ask for a wish. You can never untie the ribbon, you must use it untill it falls unnoticed: by them, your wish will come true. That´s one of Bahia´s mysteries.       

Salvador (4): Cidade Baixa and the Mercado Modelo, the harbor and the Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda´s Lift)

In the bay, the old, round, made of stone, fortress welcomes the visitors. 

The Cidade Baixa, or "low" city is the city under the cliff, by the sea, hosting Salvador´s harbor and the Mercado Modelo - "standard market". It is a big spice and seafood market, with restaurants and some textiles and souvenirs stores too. 

To get there from the Cidade Alta (see yesterday´s post), one must take the Elevador Lacerda - Lacerda´s Lift - down. It is a huge lift built to carry peasants from both parts of the city. From its top, a beautiful view of the bay and the Cidade Baixa.  

In the bay, the old, round, made of stone, fortress welcomes the visitors. In the nearby harbor, they can take boats to Itaparica, Morro de São Paulo and other spots both in the Bay or in Bahia´s coastline.

Salvador (3): Churches, the Pelourinho, and the Cidade Alta

The two cities in the city of Salvador: Cidade Alta (high city) and Cidade Baixa (low city). View from Salvador´s harbor: in the middle, the Elevador Lacerda (Lacerda´s Lift, connecting the low and the high city)

Historic Salvador has two cities in one: the high and the under city (Cidade Alta e Cidade Baixa). Close to the sea, the Cidade Baixa is some meters under the Cidade Alta, separeted by a cliff. 

As old capital, Salvador hosts many of the oldest churches and public buildings in Brazil, and remarkable historic sites, as the Pelourinho. The Pelourinho was the central square in portuguese colonial cities, and eventually where slaves accused of wrongdoing were mercilessly punished by their masters. Today, the Pelourinho at Salvador hosts many coloured houses, with souvenir boutiques.

Pelourinho got world famous as a location for Michael Jackson´s clip All I wanna say is that they don´t take any care about us, along with Dona Marta favela in Rio. The drums were played by Olodum, a famous percussion group from Bahia, which has an important social project for young poor people. 

See the video clip at youtube:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNJL6nfu__Q

Salvador (2) - a brief history

Salvador da Bahia - Skyline

Salvador was the first brazillian capital, in the times of the colony. In the entrance of a very big bay, called the Bahia de Todos os Santos, the portuguese founded the city and harbor of São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos - or simply Salvador -, in order to export the Pau-Brasil wood, from a tree with a very strong red pigment, used for colouring textiles. 

This red seemed the burning coal, which in portuguese is said brasil; so the colour of this wood gave name to the country. 

Also, sugar cane plantations have remained for very long time as the main economic activity in Brazil, speacially in the northeast region, before the gold rush started in southernmost states. 

The gold rush in Minas Gerais was responsible for the growing importance of the seaport of Rio de Janeiro, what lead the prime-minister Marquês de Pombal (the Marquee of Pombal), in 1763, to move the capital of the portuguese colony from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro (which stayed as capital of Brazil until 1960, when Brasilia was founded).

Nowadays Salvador is most known for the tourism, carnival and for being the capital of the big state of Bahia.

Salvador da Bahia - Skyline

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Salvador (1) - Location

Salvador´s skyline, view from the Bahia de Todos os Santos (All Saints´Bay)

Salvador is in the middle of Bahia State coastline, at the northeast region of Brazil. 

The airport of Salvador (SSA) is one of the most busy in Brazil, and receives lots of international flights too, from Europe, the US and South America. 

Salvador da Bahia airport - SSA

Salvador da Bahia airport - SSA

But one must pay attention: don´t mix Salvador da Bahia with San Salvador, the capital of El Salvador, in Central America. Be mindful of IATA´s code SSA before buying your airticket! It became famous in Brazil the history of an australian couple who was mistakenly sent by their tour operator to El Salvador instead of Salvador da Bahia during 2014 World Cup. 

As Salvador is located in one of the entrances of the Bahia de Todos os Santos (All Saint´s Bay), reaching Bahia´s south coast is harder by car, because cars must turn all the bay around, which is quite big; this turn-around can take very long time. 

Another option for cars is to take the ferry boat from another point of Salvador´s harbor to Itaparica, the island at the opposite entrance of the Bay. This ferry can also be taken by pedestrians, but you´ll need a car or a shuttle at Itaparica. 

The problem is that this ferry gets very, very crowded during carnival, end of the year and other brazillian holidays, making this option unadvisable at these times of the year. 

Aerial view of Salvador

Bahia´s south coast can be easily reached, as an option, through Ilhéus airport, a city 311km to the south. But Ilhéus is a smaller, domestic airport, so to foreigners it can be a bit difficult to get there unless you´re coming from another Brazillian capital. 

Bahia, land of wonderful beaches, sun and brazillian-afro culture

Bahia, land of wonderful beaches, sun and brazillian-afro culture

Bahia State and its capital city, Salvador, fascinates many tourists for its afro-brazillian culture, its strong and spicy food, marvellous beaches, all-year-round heat and sun, and its historic buildings.

The acarajé, a kind of fried and spicy pastel, is the most famous dish of Bahian culinary, but Brazillian classics as the feijoada and the caipirinha can be allways found in Bahia. Seafood is in every coast city. 

Though Bahia is most famous for Salvador´s carnival and historic sites, as well for the incredible beaches alognside Bahia´s coastline, the State countryside hosts the Chapada Diamantina, a rocky formation with rivers, caves, cosy villages and lots of nature in the region of Lençóis, a countryside city located 426 km (about 300 miles) west from Salvador. 

In the days to come, we´ll see some parts of this magic Brazillian State.