Brasilia

Trip Start Apr 05, 2008
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Trip End Mar 20, 2009

Flag of Brazil  , Federal District,
Sunday, January 4, 2009

Like me you could be forgiven for thinking Rio de Janeiro is Brazil's capital city but in fact it's Brasilia, a city only 48 years old and the achievement of the late president Kubitschek. Kubitschek wanted a capital city in a secure location free from easy invasion and as such it feels like it's in the middle of nowhere. It was built in the 60s which explains a lot when you look round at the interesting array of architecture and was constructed in an amazingly quick three years. The city is a dream for those of logical mind (it's harder for randoms like me) as everything is in zones - there's a hotel zone, commercial and residential plus it's laid out in the shape of an airplane so you can also refer to areas in terms of the wings, tail and cockpit. Buildings on the east side/wing are even numbered, odd numbered on the west. The residential apartments all look the same and all conform to the same building design so are completely void of personality; an ongoing theme throughout the city. It's basically a concrete mass of ugly buildings and some truly whacky ones too. One whacky example is the president's home which looks like something out of Thunderbirds. What you can't say about Brasilia's architecture is that it's churches are just another church. The Santuario Dom Bosco with it's walls of blue and red stained glass is just incredible, it's a spectacular sight and I especially loved the glass confessional booth - if the priest goes red it's a bad sign for all to see. The other unique church, Catedral Metropolitana, which when it rains it's stained glass roof leaks, is most impressive due to it's curved walls which carry sound around the church so clearly you only need to whisper to be heard by all. We covered most of the city on a city tour which worked out perfectly as halfway through the tour it poured. Thunder, lightening and torrential rain where even the van couldn't cope and leaked in places. The roads were awash with red running rivers as the red clay like soil was washed away. After Rio it all just seemed so dull and lackluster. The one thing Brasilia has to sparkle about is apparently it's restaurants. It's reputed to be a foodie heaven with some of Brazil's best restaurants here. We had planned on trying one but after a trip re-evaluation on our expenditure we no longer felt like going out for a pricey night (burning through cash faster than grass in an Aussie bushfire is an apt description for our bank manager). So instead we used the rest of our time to plan Cuba having a low key and cheap night in.
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