Brazilian metropolis? Bring it on, I love wandering around São Paulo! Hilly neighbourhoods? Come on, I survived Olinda, Rio Branco in Floripa, and countless other steep streets. New city? Eh, I did quite well in Petrópolis!
Except Belo Horizonte turned out to be a different beast to tame.
It started off fine. My Airbnb was a lovely apartment just a couple of blocks from Praça da Liberdade, a neighbourhood everybody seemed to praise. The bus from Petrópolis was on time and it had stopped raining by the time the Uber dropped me off.
I spent the first evening wandering around the neighbourhood, mostly looking for essentials, groceries and to get a feel of the city.
The first impression was good. Sure, I kept on getting lost and I was glued to my phone for Google Maps tips—the blue dot kept on jumping from one street to the next, apparently Google was as lost as I was—but I did manage to find the supermarket, the shopping mall and my way back. The streets felt safe, however, the people were… how should I put… not exactly friendly and happy. In fact, for the first time ever in Brazil, I wasn’t greeted with the usual friendly “boa tarde,” “boa noite”—cashiers and various employees were just sullen and silent. Carnival hangover, I assumed.
That first time, I spent some time studying the map and various travel websites for Belo Horizonte travel tips. I discovered that all the must-sees were far, scattered around the city and outside—the planned city was apparently designed to help Uber drivers make a living. Okay, let’s forget about the Inhotim Museum, one largest outdoor art centres in Latin America, located 55 kilometres from Belo Horizonte. Even Pampulha, home to many Oscar Niemeyer creations, was six kilometres west of downtown. Argh.
I decided to start with the Mercado Central, conveniently not located in the middle of nowhere. This is where I headed the next morning. I explored the market, then I spent half an hour trying to find the right avenue around the massive Praça Raul Soares—Amazonas, Augusto de Lima, Bias Fortes and Olegário Maciel… where the fuck was the right avenue leading to Praça da Libertade?
Belo Horizonte was getting tiring and a bit frustrating.
Then it started to rain.
Not like a big thunderstorm, São Paulo-style, but multiple thunderstorms and then constant rain.
I bought an umbrella.
I postponed a potential day trip to Ouro Preto, the colonial city a 2.5-hour bus ride from Belo Horizonte.
I also postponed exploring faraway outdoor attractions.
One afternoon, I eventually took an Uber to Praça do Papa, a supposedly lovely viewpoint to admire the entire city.
I got out of the car and it drove away. Seconds later, it started pouring like hell. Two Brazilian women were also taking pictures, I owed them the lovely shots of me soaked and views of absolutely nothing because of the rain. They gave me a ride back to the city centre.
The same night, I realized I had been washing my clothes with fabric softener instead of liquid detergent. Eh, the bottle wasn’t clearly labelled, don’t judge… but still the week of fails.
I took a deep breath.
There was nothing wrong with Belo Horizonte—I just wasn’t doing it right.
Time to reconsider my plans and once again, do things the Brazilian way to tame Bea-gá.
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C’est impressionnant, cette ville ! Il y a une atmosphère tout à fait différente ! Plus humide 🙂 la basilique Notre Dame de Lourdes est superbe. Lourdes… Lourdes ? 🙂
[…] Belo Horizonte is this year’s Vitoria moment—an unlikely detour to a city few gringos bother to explore, a deep dive into a corner of Brazil that left me slightly puzzled. […]
C’est impressionnant, cette ville ! Il y a une atmosphère tout à fait différente ! Plus humide 🙂 la basilique Notre Dame de Lourdes est superbe. Lourdes… Lourdes ? 🙂
Tu verras la version ensoleillée à laquelle j’ai finalement eu le droit. Deux salles, deux ambiances! Et oui, Lourdes.
[…] Belo Horizonte is this year’s Vitoria moment—an unlikely detour to a city few gringos bother to explore, a deep dive into a corner of Brazil that left me slightly puzzled. […]
I love the scenery. J’adore l’ambiance tropicale <3
It wasn’t my favourite place, though. No regrets but not my city.