Belo Horizonte

BELO HORIZONTE

I spent one week in this fantastic city and it is safe to say that I am a big fan!

Yet again I was overwhelmed by the incredible Brazilian hospitality after spending one week with my good friend Saulo, Andrea (his wife) and Isadora (their toddler daughter). As I write their family has now been increased to 4 with the arrival of their newborn son Rafael!

FACTS AND FIGURES
Belo Horizonte is a city most tourists now little about so to start I will add a few facts and figures (go on the Shane Daly aka chief terminology!)

1 - Located c 350kms inland of Rio de Janeiro.

2 - It is a city of c 2.5 million people (c 5.5 million in the metopolitan area) and ranks as the 6th largest city in Brazil but the metropoitian area is 3rd in population to only Rio and Sao Paulo.

3 - It is the capital of Minas Gerais State

4 - As like the majority of Brazil, it can get quite warm and during their summer (our winter) temperatures often rise above 30 degrees.

5 - The city and the state is famous for good soil and farming and a lot of the top quality Brazilian beef comes from this area.

6 - The city, again like the majority of Brazil, is very integrated race-wise but not as integrated as some other cities like Rio or Sao Paulo. It does have a strong Italian influence where c 30% of the population have Italian origins.

7 - It has a more European feel to it than the North-East of Brazil or Rio as this is very evident in how people dress more formal than the average shorts and t-shirt you see commonly in Rio and the North-East.

8 - It is a strong business sector within Brazil attracting large multinationals like Google and also many successful indigenious Brazilian firms.

9 - Music wise it is probably the home of Brazilian rock/indie music. The locals do listen to a variety of Brazilian genres but there is a slightly more international influence to the music tastes as there appears to be in the North East of the country. The eccentric Ozzy Osbourne was actually playing in BH when I was there.

10 - Probably the most interesting statistic about BH, from an Irish viewpoint, is the high propensity of bars to people in the city. It is supposedly by far the largest in the country and I am told one of the highest percentages in the world. People from BH like a beer so would have reckon they would love our little country as well.!!!

11 - To most Brazilians, BH is most famous for the best Cachaca`s, which is the most famous liquor in Brazil and the one used in the authentic Caipirinhas, and also the best food in Brazil. One Brazilian friend from another state told me, after I left BH, that when you hear somebody from BH is cooking you food you are in for a treat. I cannot disagree on this point!!!!!!!!

12 - Naturally as BH has no beach it makes up for it with parks. There are numerous parks throughout the city and I was lucky to visit one where the view of the city was class.

13 - It has two famous football teams as in Athletico Minero (Galo) and the smaller team Cruzeiro!!! The main football ground the Mineirao is currently closed for renovations in preparation for the 2014 World Cup. Famous current players from the state or those who played there include Tastao (probably in top 10 best Brazilian players ever), Rivaldo (ex Barca), Tafferel (famous keeper), Jairzinho (world cup winner),  Ramires (Chelsea), Gilberto Silva (ex-Arsenal), Heurelho Gomes (eccentric Spurs goalie). Ronaldo also started his career with Cruzerio even though he is from Rio.

14 - The snacks on offer at the BH bars have to be up there with the best in the world. It is common to be guzzaling a few beers accompanied by a sliced asssortment of carne (steak or meat), linguica (sausage), frango (chicken) and many others....! I got addicted to all of this and would be happy enough to go to a bar just to experience the incredible snacks on offer!!!! It defo beats chicken nuggets and chips in the Dropping Well......!

15 - Last but not least there are beautiful mulheres (ladies) in BH. Arguably the best looking girls in Brazil and at times you felt you needed eyes in the back of your head to absorb it all!

A picture of Belo Horizonte from Saulo`s house

                                    A picture of the Belo Horizonte mountains and countryside

CLASS PEOPLE

Despite all of the above, I think the best thing I can say about Belo Horizonte are the incredible people I met and all the friends I made. I spent my entire week visiting the many bars of Belo Horizonte with the bauld Saulo meeting all his friends and family and can honestly say I did not meet one person I did not like. Everybody I met made me the centre of attention and regardless of my limited Portuguese and some guys limited English there were no issues on the communication front.

I had incredible fun and craic with all the peope I met. Everybody always had a smile, a joke and plenty of banter, which meant there was never any shortage of laughing! Saulo is very lucky as he has a great bunch of buddies who you would be welcome in any company!

Special mention to some of those class people I meet in BH including Bruno, Saulo´s wife Andrea, Saulo`s brother Luiz, Luiz`s girl-friend Lara, Saulo`s brother-in-law Maurcio, Saulo´s sister Rachel, Saulo`s cousin Andre, Junior, Marcelo, Gustavo, Gustavo Paiva, Loo and so many others I could be here all day! Thank you to them all!




A very smiley Gustavo Paiva. This smile was permanent on this man`s face. A great character!




 The 3 boys (Saulo, me and Gustavo Paiva) after a good few afternoon beers and a few snacks!




Bruno, Saulo and mise. Bruno was very grumpy in this picture so we forced him to smile for another pìcture!

                                    
                           Galo`s Number 1 fan Bruno. A great guy and smiling for a change!!!!!!!!!!

Me, Saulo to the right and Mauricio to the left. Mauricio cooked us a great meal that day and he & his wife Rachel (Saulo`s sister) are now also proud parents to their second child in the last two weeks!

The Guerra men. Saulo, his Dad and his brother Luiz. You can see Luiz`s arm is bandaged from his bottle accident the day before (read below). Always with a happy head on him and a great character!

             Saulo, his wife Andrea, Luiz and his girlfriend Lara with little Isadora in her father`s arms!

Marcelo, a Cruzeiro fan, getting a bit of stuck about the 4-3 defeat to Galo (read later). Another good character who was well able to put a few beers away!

Saulo and Loo again celebrating their 4-3 win later that day. Loo may have had a few too many at this stage though!!!

Just adding this in as we have a Steven Webster lookalike in the middle. Go on the Webby!

BARS - MERCADO CENTRAL

As said before myself and the mighty Saulo spent a lot of time in the bars of Belo Horizonte. It was common for us to spend c 10/12 hours a day drinking beers and having the craic. I think he introduced me to at least 15 to 20 different bars over the week and one or two we visited more than once!

The bars that really stood out for me were those in The Mercado Central. The Mercado Central is an indoor market situated in an old building that looked like an old factory but located right in the heart of the city centre. Most people go there to shop at the small stalls or just buy food for dinner. There are also numerous tiny minature bars where people just stand in the middle of the market and knock back the beers. It was so basic but class at the same time. It was common to see one or two stop by for a beer with their shooping trolley! And of course in this environment you meet many great characters and all walks of life. Saulo got cornered by one individual who had a few too many and decided Saulo was his long lost best friend and he had lots to update him on. Poor Saulo had to endure an ear savaging from a particular gentleman or in another words fruit for c 20 minutes, while I on the otherhand was giggling away while encouraging your man to talk more rubbish!

The secret to the place was that the bars are so small and with eveyone drinking in the aisles beside the bars that you had no option to chat to those beside ye and meet tons of gas headers. The fact it was so basic took everybody down to the same level so there was no airs or graces or snobbery, just downright craic and people enjoying each-other`s company. It is safe to say you could meet a different character there everyday if you ventured into it. I loved it!

A pic from above of Mercado Central in the past (above) and today (below) . I had some great pics of the characters and the bars but unfortunately there were deleted by mistake.

FOOTIE FANATICS

Like all of Brazil, Belo Horizonte is a football mad city. As mentioned before, they have two big teams in the city, Athletico Mineiro (aka Galo) and Cruzeiro. Saulo and most of his buddies (not all) are Galo fans but he did have a few Cruzeiro fans. My flatmate at home, a certain Lucas from Salvador, is also unfortunately (for him) a Cruzeiro fan!!!

I arrived in the middle of the State Championship and the weekend I was there both teams played each-other in a big derby. Unfortunately as like a lot of the Brazilian stadiums at the moment the main stadium in the city was closed for renovations for World Cup 2014 so the match was played outside of the city and way too far away to go to.

The atmosphere around the city on the day was electric and the bars were all mobbed with people watching the game and the streets were empty reminding me of what it was like in Ireland when we were in the World Cup. Everybody (guys and girls) were tooged out in the team colours and it was ironic that on numerous occasions you woud see a guy with a Cruzeiro top holding hands with a girl in a Galo top. It is true that ladies have better taste!!!!!!

As luck would have the game was a classic and Galo of course won out 4-3 on the day. Saulo and me had some fun over the next few days slagging all the Cruzerio fans we met but all was taken in good humour.

Saulo also brought me with him to pay footie with a group of his mates. He plays once a week with these guys on a Saturday morning. I didn`t exactly do myself any justice but it was good craic all the same. We finished at 11am and as customary in Brazil it was straight on the beers with pieces of steak thrown in for good measure. I think I could handle those Saturday mornings from now on!!!!!!

Meeting the boys a good few hours before the game starts and the bar was already full of people in the both sets of jerseys!

We were at a kid`s party when match was on but that didn`t stop Bruno from listening to the game on radio. Here he is celebrating the final whistle! Go Galo!!!!!!!!!

Saulo looks a bit happy and this picture was taken for Lucas (my flatmate). Poor Cruzerio fans!!!!!!

                                                              Another pic for Lucas!

A little pisstake for Marcelo, another Cruzeiro fan, as when he dissapears to the jacks (toilets) we do some improvisation with tooth-picks, for when he returns!

Ronaldo, crying on tv, as he announces his retirement from the game. He was a class player and probably best player of his generation but he gets a lot of stick now in Brazil for being caught with 3 transvestites in a Love Motel!

                                            A footie school in Brazil. Very common sight.


STORIES

I have no real mad stories to tell though I did manage to see the inside of a Brazilian hospital. A group of us were out one night and having serious fun until Saluo´s brother Luiz decided to try and open a caschunut with a bottle of beer and the bottle exploding in his hand/arm and causing him serious cuts on his right arm. The blood was flowing at an incredible rate and all of a sudden the scene around us resembled a Rambo set. Mad stuff and Luiz, being the gas man he is, took it all in his stride and couldn`t hide the smile from his face for the rest of the evening.

Another night out I also had the misfortune of having all my photos from Fortaleza and Salvador deleted from my camera. I also lost some great pics of the Mercado Central. I joined two girls at a table next to us and one decided to take control of my camera while accidently deleting all my photos. To be fair none of us realised what had happened at the time but unfortunatley I am missing some photos in the last couple of blogs.

The young lady who deleted my photos. Muito Obrigado!

Another pic of herself and her friend Arianna agus mise in ze middle.

BRAZILAN HOSPITALITY

I can`t finish this blog without a special mention for my good buddy Saulo. Saulo collected me from the airport at circa 11pm the day I arrived and immeadiatly brought me to a late bar. He pretty much took the week off work and spent the entire week chauffering me around his city or bars to be more exact!!! We had a great time on the sauce, reliving old stories from Oz, me telling him lots of phrases we use at home (he used to love a lot of them including the guy in Mercado Bar "chewing" the ear of him!!!), meeting his many good friends or just talking rubbish about life!

His wife Andrea who was a few weeks from expecting their second child was in constant good humour and had no issues with me being the main influence in her husband being coerced into going from one bar to another to another!!!!! I also got the liberty to get to know better their gas character of a young daughter Isadora. This young lady is full of fun and life and will definitely break a few male hearts in the coming years including her Dad´s!!

I owe a lot of the great time I had in Belo Horizonte to Saulo and the people he introduced to me and there is no doubt he showed me the city and its people in the best possible light. Thanks horse!!!!

 
                                    Mother and Daughter (Andrea and Isadora). A lovely pic!

                                            Father and Daughter...........another great pic!

                                           Saulo celebrating Galo`s win! Happy days!!!

                                                      The family Guerra and mise!


TO FINISH
Belo Horizonte is a class city with great food, tons of great bars, nice parks, beautiful ladies, great footie culture and above all class people! It is not engulfed by tourists mind but by my reckoning this is because it is not located on the coast or beach, as there are many things to attract tourists here if only they were aware of it. I will defintiely be back!!!!!!!!

Tchau for now!

James.