Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Brasília



Dos semanas passada eu fui Brasília com Luciana. I woke up early on Friday, caught a flight to Brasília and met her that afternoon. It has gotten to the point where I am perfectly fine traveling on my own, a nice feeling. I can communicate enough for people to understand me and I am finding myself more and more eager to learn more words, though I still need lots of practice speaking. I understand better than I speak!



I spent a long 5 days in Brasília, the capital of Brasil. Most people assume immediately Rio is the capital but in fact it is the strange city, Brasília. My first impressions of Brasília were...this is a city? ha ha. Unfortunately I came in having lots of negative impressions of the city. I attended a meeting prior to my trip and had told some friends I was going there. The comments I recieved were as followed:

"How long will you be there?"

Me: "Three days"

"Plenty of time, you can see everything in less time than that. There isn't anything to do there."

"There is nothing to do unless you have a car."

"Ï don't like Brasília. It was a planned city yah know, so it doesn't work."

"The transportation system is horrible."

So...needless to say, I was preparing myself. Overall, my trip was nice but I think for other reasons that don't involve the city. I was able to spend time with my cousin Beto and Marina and Luciana.



What I did like about Brasilia was how rich the colors were in terms of the vegetation. The dirt was this intense terra cotta red and the grass was so green. I was told there are many nice places close to Brasilia for nature walks and hiking. Luciana and I had the chance to go to one park called Parque da Cidade. It was a very large park with many trails and we spent on afternoon strolling around. Here are a couple of pics I took there, of these bird nests.




One thing I learned prior to my visit to Brasilia, was that it is the birth place of Brazilian Rock. Lu had told me there was a festival going on that weekend and it was to feature some of Brazil's most popular rock bands. We decided to check it out on Saturday night. The festival was called Porao do Rock. Here is a picture of Lu and I on our way to the main area. The festival took place in the center of the city where all the main government buildings can be found. We stayed for a few bands and I loved see all the different people. I didn't feel like I was in Brazil at all. Everyone was dressed in black. ha ha. I caught a few kids in metal jackets and attempted to search for more to possibly take some photos but didn't have much luck. Got shy with the language barrier...



Of the bands that I did see, I enjoyed the Black Drawing Hawks.
I danced around a bit. Here is a photo of them playing.



My last day spent in Brasilia, Lu and I went and visited a lot of the tourist sites, which consist mainly of the government buildings and churches in the main center of the city. Several were under construction because of renovations that were underway.
Nevertheless, we made the most of it.



This is me standing in front of the National Congress building. It was designed by the famous Oscar Niemeyer. The postcard image of Brasilia. Is said to be his favorite piece. The seat of the legislative power is an ensemble of buildings were two domes stand out, representing the two plenary halls. The convex and large one is the Chamber of Deputies and the concave and smaller one houses the Senate's. It is said that the domes representing knowledge and information being brought in and out of Brasilia as well as the creation and sharing of ideas for the country.


This building is the Ministry of Justice and was also designed by Niemeyer.



Here I am standing in front of the ever so odd and space like National Musuem. Fortunately you caught me before I ran up the ramp and discovered the building wasn't open!



The lovely Luciana in our many touristic poses with buildings in Brasilia!



Posing with some flowers..



On Sunday morning, Marina, Beto, Luciana and I went to a service at this church called Our Lady of Fatima. It was also designed by Niemeyer and was built in 1958. It was the first church in Brasilia. It was an interesting experience. I attempted to sing hymns in portuguese.

That day was also the one year aniversary of Beto and Marina's wedding day!! and to think I was there one year ago....

The night life in Brasilia was a littl lacking, in my opinion but through some research Lu and I found out about a hot spot called Calafa. We read it was the best place to go dancing and flirt in Brasilia, according to the Veja Magazine's issue of the Best of Brasilia...

It said that Segunda, Monday night, was the best to go. We we caught a cab, stopped for a quick bite on the road..cachorro quente consisting of linguesa, corn, cheese, photo straws, ketchup, and mustard..and headed to the club.

It ended up being a lot of fun. The dj just happened to be from Rio and plays at one of my favorite clubs in Rio called Casa de Matriz, right down the street from my place! Here is a photo of the girls!



we arrived home shortly after 3:30. Tired and sweatly from a full night of dancing. I headed back to Rio the next afternoon. Nothing has yet compared to Rio..but still more to see!!

3 comments:

sneph said...

i do find the buildings (national congress building and the ministry of justice one) really interesting...when you asked me about it i wasn't even sure how to describe it..Sort of stately but in a way that's not full of life? Static?

ANYHOW my favorite picture is you with your arms outspread in front of that building and you're walking. it's like you're walking in for a hug

sneph said...

so......you'll be back for the olympics???

Jaime Bennati said...

ha ha! we shall see! I am hoping before then! Maybe by then I will be living there.....ha ha