Rockin' Hike

Living abroad without a car makes finding and exploring off-the-beaten-path locales difficult.  Fortunately, that's what friends with vehicles are for!

Just across the boarder into the state of Minas Gerais from São Paulo is a region of small towns scattered amongst the rolling hills and farms.  Situated around the town of Gonçalves, there are a number of great hikes to various mountain tops, rock outcroppings, and waterfalls.  After navigating the winding, dusty roads of this region, one also finds a surprising numbers of pousadas and restaurants essentially in the middle of nowhere to accommodate visitors once in the area.

As it was a short - read "regular" - weekend, we had basically one day to explore.  Hikes of choice: Pedra Chanfrada (Chanfrada Rock) and Cachoeira do Cruzeiro (Cruzeiro Waterfall).  Both were easy with proper attire and afforded great views and refreshing breezes or water, respectively.

Starting the ascent to the top of the Pedra Chanfrada in the background.

Paul and Raquel catch their breath at the top of the Pedra Chanfrada.

Taking it all in!

The water temperature at the Cachoeira do Cruzeiro was so cold it hurt,
but well-worth the dip.

Relaxing after a long day of hiking at our pousada, Serra Vista.

As has been said many times in varying forms, "the greater the challenge/struggle/risk, the greater the reward." Getting to Gonçalves isn't necessarily convenient, however, it is worth every bit of effort.  I hope to be back to climb more rocks and find more waterfalls...

We Are One (Part IV)

FIFA Fan Fests

Every host city of the 2014 FIFA World Cup is destined to be flooded with thousands of fans from around the world, sometimes waiting a few days before the match they came to see.  Not to mention all the locals looking to experience some World Cup action.  And with three to four games being played a day during the group stages, it raises the all-important question of where to watch all these games?!?

To help solve this problem, FIFA set up admission-free Fan Fest areas for spectators to gather and cheer on their favorite teams with hundreds of other fans.  However, not all Fan Fests were created equally.  We never made it to the Brasília venue as it was held far outside the city due to feared protests, or so we were told.

The Recife Fan Fest was held along the water in the narrow streets of Recife Antigo, the old colonial section of the city.  We went there to watch the Brazil vs Chile match and only stayed until half time as the combination of density of people and lack of shade made for a sweaty and claustrophobic viewing experience. Not only that, but there was only one large screen, paled by the intense sun.  (We actually ended up watching from the Sony sponsored booth's flatscreen which was akin to being sardined into a friend's living room with no furniture.)

Hot, sunny, and cramped Recife for the Brazil vs Chile match.

Rio's version was situated on the spacious expanse that is Copacabana Beach.  This venue was popular and organizers actually added a second screen visible to people just outside the Fan Fest in an attempt to include more people and probably lower the body density.  We came here for the USA vs Belgium knock-out stage match.

Ready to cheer on Team USA from the Rio Fan Fest!

Sun going down on Copacabana and the USA - Belgium battle well underway.

Argentina had won the match prior to the USA/Belgium game and many
excited fans had stuck around to continue celebrating.
It appears Neymar Jr. now plays for La Albiceleste.

Verdict is in and, of the three cities we visited, Rio's Fan Fest is the clear winner.  Hard to complete with Copacabana, though!

Third Time's The Charm

Actually, with Rio de Janeiro, it's always a charm. I love this city.

I'm a glutton for punishment: I always seem to hit Rio when it's at its busiest.  I've celebrated New Years on the beach with a million of my closest friends and danced samba until dawn during Carnaval. Why not come back during the World Cup?!?

Playing tour guide a bit, we visited some of my favorite places - the Botanical Gardens, Posto 9, and Cinelândia - plus some new ones, such as the Urca neighborhood and the Selarón Steps.  I now feel well-versed in navigating the subway as well and the city buses.  Some day I'll return at a non-peak time and wonder where everyone is!

The Botanical Gardens are a place I doubt I will grow tired of visiting.

I came across the globe-trotting Buddy Bears on my run from Copacabana
to Leme Beach one morning.

Soccer on Copacabana Beach

Pão de Açúcar under a cloud.

Watching the sun set from the Urca neighborhood.

The Escardaria Selarón (Selarón Steps) are a completely tiled pedestrian
way in the Santa Teresa neighborhood created by Chilean artist and
Rio transplant Jorge Selarón.

Since his suspicious death in January of 2013, the steps have only gained
tourist attention and have become a recognizable Rio landmark.

The first tiles Selarón scavenged in abandoned construction sites, but as the
project gained publicity, tiles were donated from around the world.

In 2003, Snoop Dogg and Pharrell used the steps as a scene in the video
for their hit "Beautiful".  The steps have been added to significantly since.
I'm attempting the channel my inner Pharrell.

Rio Scenarium is a cool bar/restaurant in Centro with three floors and live
music nearly every night of the week.  

First Botanical Graden photo taken by Alissa Monfre.

Pão de Açúcar photo taken by Dan Monfre.

We Are One (Part III)

USA vs Germany
Our second and final FIFA World Cup match took us to wet and humid Recife in the northeastern state of Pernambuco to see if Team USA could advance out of their "Group of Death," otherwise known as Group G.  After winning against Ghana and drawing with Portugal, odds were in the United States' favor to advance, however, it wasn't a guarantee.

The morning of the match Recife awoke to torrential rain and flooded streets.  To make matters more complicated, the Itaipava Arena Pernamuco stadium is located some 17 kilometers outside the city, in the municipality of São Lourenço da Mata.  After trudging through shin-deep puddles to a bus stop were were already soaked.  A bus ride to the metro station, train to the end of the line, bus to the middle of nowhere, and a half-mile walk to the stadium in the unrelenting rain and were there!  I've never been so happy to have seats in the upper-decks; under cover and out of the rain we actually began to dry off a bit.

Wet and happy: #ibelievethatwewillwin

Itaipava Arena Pernambuco: Good luck filling this thing after the World Cup.

Germany won the match 1-0, but due to the results of the Portugal/Ghana game running concurrently, both teams in front of us advanced to the next round of play.  A little strange leaving the venue for the long trek back to Recife with both sets of fans happy with the results.

Our entire crew reunited after the match: USA! USA! USA!

Pretty Olinda

Olinda is a small picturesque town located just north of Recife.  Literally translated, "o linda" means "the pretty one."  Early Portuguese settlers built the city in the 1530's on a hill as a means of defense against neighboring Dutch settlements, who at one point burned it to the ground.

The central area is currently a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the best way to visit is simply to wander up and down the labyrinth of narrow cobblestone streets.  The day we went was a bit wet and rainy but that didn't dampen (pun intended) the beauty and charm several hundred years of history has made.

Igreja do Carmo, built in 1580, is the first church in the Americas of the
Roman Catholic order of Carmelites.

Walking out front of the Convento de São Francisco, the oldest Franciscan
convent in Brazil.

Alissa posing with a "costume" used in a past Carnaval.
In Olinda the parade is free and takes place in the street
with no bleachers or set spectator areas. 

Oh, what these streets have seen over the years...

City of Reefs

The city of Recife (pronounced "heh-see-fee") is located in the most eastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco, and gets its name from the plentitude of reefs off the coast.  This both makes the sea here more calm, but also attracts a lot of sharks.  Originally a Portuguese settlement in the 1530's, it was captured by the Dutch and grew under their control during the mid-1600's, at one point serving as the capital of Dutch Brazil. Today, Recife is the 5th largest Brazilian city with just under 4 million inhabitants.

While the majority of the city in not a tourist destination, it is a good jumping off point to visit nearby Olinda, hang out on the beach of the Boa Viagem neighborhood, and take a stroll through Recife Antigo (Old Recife) to admire the architecture and imagine traveling back in time.

A colorfully decorated street in Old Recife.

Brazilian fans on their way to the FIFA Fan Fest area, located (poorly) on one
of the narrow streets along the water in Old Recife.

Many buildings in Recife Antigo date back to the 1600's.

Fans watching the Brazil vs Chile match overflow from a bar into the street.

Monument by artist Francisco Brennand in Recife's
Parque das Esculturas. 

Praia Boa Viagem on a nearly cloudless afternoon.

What could make a beach day better?  Grilled cheese on a stick, of course!

Photo of the Francisco Brennand monument taken by Dan Monfre.

The Capital Treatment

Imagine you had the opportunity to design a city.  Not just any city, but a capital city.  A city that would become a metropolis of national and international importance. What would you have it look like?  How would it be laid out?  

This was basically the question facing Brazil roughly 50 years ago when it decided to end the debate over where the new capital of the republic should be located and simply build a new city out of nothing in the dead center of the country.  Thus, in 1960, Brasilia was born.

From above, the main plan of the city looks like an airplane.  The body of the plane is mostly an open grassy mall, with the various governmental buildings, ministries, courthouses, palaces, etc. lining the sides.  The wings of the plane, situated in a north-south orientation, contain the living and commercial areas of the city.  

A floor-sized model of the city shows the "airplane" plan from above,
looking essentially east to west.

Designed by Lucio Costa with architecture by Oscar Niemeyer, who both aligned themselves with communist ideologies, the city was aimed to created a "Utopian" feel.  I went for a run down down the southern axis of the city and can equate it to an old Bugs Bunny or Roadrunner cartoon where the aforementioned protagonist is fleeing his foil - Elmer Fudd or the Coyote, respectively - and the background animation keeps looping over and over again. Strip of store fronts, parking lot, small park, residential strip, large park with bus shelter, residential strip, small par, parking lot, commercial area, larger street/intersection, and repeat. Tucked behind all of this is the same neighborhood layout again and again. If you lived here you would easily be able to find your exact counterpart house in the next neighborhood.

The wings of the plane are organized into "sectors" - commercial, hotel, recreational, etc.  Within the sectors are "quadrants."  It makes finding an address pretty easy, but at the same time there's not a ton of variety in urban design.  Every neighborhood is theoretically the same, making the communist subtext all the more apparent.  Being a UNESCO World Heritage site for design, few infrastructural changes are allowed to be made. 

A part of the National Museum, showing a lot of Niemeyer flair.

Standing outside the (top) of the Metropolitan Cathedral.
The entrance is below ground level.

The inside is spacious and full of light. 

The National Congress Building.
The Senate is under dome and the Congress is under the bowl. The towers are
offices and are purposely situated asymmetrically to the left for visual balance,
but I must be architecturally ignorant because it looks uneven to me still.

The newly remodeled Mane Garrincha Stadium, ready for World Cup action.
(More on that later...)

With all due respect to President Dilma, while Brasilia is an interesting and easily navigable city, unless i were coming here for a specific reason - oh hey, World Cup! - it probably could be done in one solid day.

We Are One (Part II)

Colombia vs Côte d'Ivoire
Our first of two FIFA World Cup matches was between Group C teams, Colombia and Côte d'Ivoire, ranked one and three, respectively.  Held at the Estadio Mané Garrinhca in Brasília, this was the second match for both teams, coming into it with one win apiece.

Having lived in Colombia for five years before coming to Colombia, who to root for was a no-brainer.  Plus, Colombia qualified for the tournament for the first time in 16 years and emotions were electric for the soccer-loving nation as Los Cafeteros fielded one of the best teams in the country's history.

The teams line up for the playing of their national anthems.

Making Colombian hinchas out of Dan and Alissa.

In a stadium of over 68,000 fans, I ran into ex-collegues and a former student.

¡Vamos el tricolor! A lot of yellow, blue, and red in the house!

All smiles after the victory!  Mané Garrincha is a beautiful stadium.

"In Colombia, soccer is a dance."
"Soccer in Colombia is peace." 

In the end, Colombia triumphed 2-1 against their opponents, making for a jubilant crowd.  To say Colombians had taken over Brazil's capital city was an understatement!

First and last photos taken by Dan Monfre.