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Igrejinha da Pampulha and the lagoon
OK, this one has a lot of help from mummy
Rainbow over Building
2 ChruchsBelo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte - Sadly the town isn´t as lovely as it could be, it´s rather difficult to appreciate the ``beautiful horizon´´due to all the ugly buildings blocking the view. None-the-less I have always liked this town, Brazil´s third largest city, and have visited it a handful of times.
Be sure to stop by the Tourist Information Center that´s located at the Parque Municipal. There you can get a good map of downtown BH and they also provide a guidebook with very useful info. Depending on what hotel you´re crashing at, you may be able to get the same map & guidebook where you are staying. The planners of this city made the dowtnown area a maze of main avenues criss-crossed with diagnonal streets .... making it very easy to turn the wrong way and get lost. So having a map to reference and to get your bearings is very helpful.
Among the things to do in town .... there are some nice old buildings here and some decent museums there. You´ll almost certainly pass Praça Sete de Setember, with it´s prominent obelisk, on more than a few occasions. The Palacio das Artes in the Parque Municipal makes for a nice diversion as well as the adjacent handicraft market. If you have an afternoon to kill then you may want to visit the Lagoa da Pampulha, where you can walk along the lakeside and visit some of Oscar Niemeyer´s handiwork- including a ball-house, a church, and an art museum. The Pampulha district is quite a distance from downtown but is a very pleasant area. You can get to Pampulha via Bus #2215 A-C (Céu Azul) on Av. Parana in the center; I found it best to get off at the Pampulha Mall and then walked down to the lake from there.
If you actually want to SEE the horizon then it´s best to hop on a bus that will take you up into the surrounding hills. Bus #4103 (Aparecida) on Av. Afonso Pena will take you up to Praça do Papa from where you can get a good view of the city and make your way up even higher if you want to. Bus #2104 (Nova Gameleira) will take you outside the city limits to the Torre Altavila where you can take in great views, plus grab a bite or shop or even more exciting options: www.altavila.com.br
BH has a respectable nightlife to boast of: the area around Praça Savassi has some good clubs and pubs - the area around the bus station is dingy and sleazy at night, but livelier during the day. The town has many Love Motels, so if you find a ¨special friend¨ there are plenty of places where two lovebirds can spend the night. From BH there are good day-trips that you can take to colonial towns such as Ouro Preto or you can visit some caves as well.
