Carnival Warm-up

Belo Horizonte doesn’t have a tradition of big Carnival parades or trio elétrico processions. In fact, back in 2004, a CNT/Sensus poll showed that only 41% of Brazilians liked Carnival. Even more surprising, only a small bunch – consisting of 15% of the country’s population – said they will always go out onto the streets and dance to ‘Carnaval’ tunes. So, it’s easy to understand why the map of big carnival parties is so sparsely dotted. But, don’t be fooled. Everywhere in Brazil, from the smallest village to the Sao Paulo megalopolis, you will always find many venues – private and public – where the ‘folião’ bunch will get together and shake their skeletons to the percussionists’ rhythms, be it samba, axé or old carnival marches.

So, a week before Carnival – a holiday when most of the frolicking flock will flap their wings away to places like Rio, Salvador or neighboring towns like Ouro Preto and Diamantina – Belo Horizontinos gather in “Blocos” and go dancing around the city. Famous 'blocos' include Santo Bando (Holy Band) and Banda Mole (Soft Band), the latter with a tendency to lure parodical “once-a-year” crossdressed men.

Holy speaker...


and punks at Santo Bando's.

Banda Mole, downtown.

Last Saturday I myself – who love the folia – joined the 7th edition of Santo Bando in the Santo Antonio neighborhood, where a group of friends once formed a bloc and started inviting other people to play and dance along. In a country where people are always starving for jolly public celebrations, the bunch soon became a crowd - over 1,000 people. This year, the main guests were mineiro band “Mestre Samba” (Master Samba) who usually plays songs by Brazil’s great samba musicians. Between their opening and closing gigs, the Santo Bando's Battery (drum orchestra) paraded through the neighborhood streets followed along by enthusiastic ‘foliões’ (roughly ‘folly-ans’).

On the streets of Belo...

Tatiana Fiche wandering around the Lourdes neighborhood...

...spots a cow parade piece,


...and the joke...


"Get thin ASAP. Ask me how-moooo"
(Well, got lost in translation here).

What the heck?! How about delicious ice-cream at Alessa?

...then strolling a little more...

...and resting under the tree.

Blowing my non-fashion mind!

Belo Horizonte’s inventive fashion designer Ronaldo Fraga does Sao Paulo Fashion Week once again and then goes around the world.

www.nypost.com
www.ameliasmagazine.com
www.trendhunter.com

Read a little more about fashion in Minas. Here.

If the sun is shining, how about climbing?

If you enjoy climbing mountains or hiking to a high peak you will really like Serra do Curral (Corral Mountain), near the Mangabeira’s neighborhood. There, you can also try rock climbing for which you’ll need to be both physically prepared and accompanied by a professional guide. But, hiking up to the top of the mountain will provide enough pleasure. I did that with my friends. It was a sunny and hot day and the walk was very hard, so needed a lot of water. The ground was slippery and covered with irregular rocks, so I fell down a few times and got all smudged by the red dirt. My peers didn’t fall like me, well, because they usually go up this beautiful mountain.

When you finally reach the top, you have a great view. At one side you overlook the vast city of Belo Horizonte and at the other side you can see a “lake”, formed in a crater which was left by a deactivated mining company. The lake water has an interesting beautiful blue hue and no smell. It’s a placid artificial “lake” hiding what once consisted of serious depletion of Belo’s beautiful nature.

The descent was hard too. But as we say in Brazil, “pra descer todo santo ajuda” (roughly “if are you descending, every saint will easily help”), we came down faster than we climbed up. In the end, we arrived at Parque das Mangabeiras, a lovely park, where we cleaned our hands, drank cool water and rested under the shady trees for some time.

So, that’s what I recommend doing in Belo on a sunny day if you are looking for some adventure and a sublime view.

Text and images by Marina Fonseca Medeiros

Medicine Undergraduate

Psychedelic Tower

They have recently added colorful lights to the Alta Vila Tower.

Nostalgic for a sandwich?

One of the best things about living in Brazil is that it is still possible and quite easy and cheap to have a balanced meal at lunch or dinner time in a big city like Belo. “Self-service” restaurants or “comida a quilo” (food-by-kilo) - as they are usually referred to - can be found anywhere close to your workplace or home. However, if you feel like eating a nice hamburger or another scrumptious sandwich, then you’ll be in trouble in most of the neighborhoods, mainly if you are not willing to sidetrack from your “healthy’ diet and dread those street trailer-shop ‘can-I-trust-this-mayo?’ ‘greasewiches’. That’s why I felt exhilarated when I came across Burgueria Original.

Here, a Japanese touch to an American classic.

In spite of not being the first of its kind in Belo, Burgueria is still quite Original. With art-deco style decoration based on an authentic American diner, complete with an old-time fridge and a rockabilly-boosted 169-tune jukebox, this recently-opened restaurant serves up to 180 customers with a variety of sandwiches, wraps and desserts made from exclusive recipes and ingredients. Burgers are home-made rather than industrialized, the bread is custom-made out of a household recipe and the special barbecue and garlic dressings are prepared at the restaurant.

Owners Ricardo Ferreira and César Brescia dived deep into 1950’s memorabilia, including movies and songs. Ferreira had special grooming in São Paulo both on restaurant management and hamburger restaurantery. In Belo, they commissioned Haus München chef Adriano Santos to develop an exclusive recipe for their 150-gram hamburger which includes beef, Calabria sausage (for the smoked touch) and pork ham (for the binding). They wanted something surprisingly beautiful and tasty. But you can also have the burger replaced with “picanha”, roast beef, baby beef, filet mignon, baked sausage, raw ham, or grilled salmon. From the extensive menu you can pick wraps, hot dogs, salads and mini-sandwiches as well. The choice of drinks will range from Itubaína, a tutti-frutti flavored soda, to draft beer, to Devassa and Eisenbahn beer. And there are the proper to-go-with desserts such as brownies, Petit Gâteau and an assortmentof ice-cream.

Go for the burgers or the atmosphere...

...or the beer, if you prefer.

Recognized from the façade.

Burgueria Original is located at the Ouro Preto neighborhood in the northern Pampulha Region, at 212 on stylish Avenida Fleming, which I will be talking about here later. Open Mon thru Thu from 16:00 to midnight; Fri thru Sun, from 13:00 to midnight. 55 31 3498 1188.

Also via EM.

A family is a family!

Families and animals mingling together at Parque das Mangabeiras last Sunday. But, being the cute things so irresistible, who will draw the line?

Watch the nosy mammals in action. Where is the sign "Do not feed the coatis! Or touch them!"?

Tiradentes Cinema Festival at Full Throttle

Tiradentes' Maria Fumaça (roughly "Smoky Maria", a Brazilian pop term for a steam locomotive)

The 13th edition of the Mostra de Cinema de Tiradentes runs thru this January 30. More info here.

Photos of the cinema-lover crowd there last weekend, here.

Inland Belo’s after-doomsday beach?

Not really. Young protesters demonstrating against the mayor’s decision to prohibit public events, such as concerts and fairs, at Praça da Estação’s boulevard.

Photos by Paula Meireles

Via Ragga Drops, where you can see more photos.

Stupakoffian Lenses

By contributor Natália Boaventura

Stupakoff’s photos are an invitation to beauty. In every click, a new emotion. Each gesture, each detail, each moment is unique. São Paulo-born photographer Otto Stupakoff, the first Brazilian fashion photographer, portrayed quite simple scenes in out-of-the-ordinary ways.

In addition to fashion editorials, Otto gained prominence by photographing celebrities, whose images were published in international magazines such as Cosmopolitan, Life and Marie Claire. After passing away on April 23, 2009, Otto has been greatly missed, but his work will keep him alive in the memory of people from around the world.

Anne, Rio de Janeiro RJ, 1979

Some of the artist's works are currently in exhibition at Belo Horizonte's Center for Contemporary Art and Photography and marks its inauguration, which occurred last January 13. The Center results from a partnership between Minas Gerais State Department of Culture and the Moreira Salles Institute to celebrate the Clovis Salgado Foundation's 40th anniversary. Focusing especially on fashion, women and celebrities’ portraits, the exhibition comprises 70 images laid out on two floors and brings places like Paris and Germany closer to us, with very good taste and a dash of glamour. Moreover, it shows another side of Brazil, equally beautiful and intriguing.

Manaus, Manaus AM, 1978

The exhibition runs through March 21 and admission is free. For those of you who want to check it out, the Center is located at 737 Avenida Afonso Pena, downtown Belo. Open Tuesday thru Sunday, from 12:00 to 19:00; except on Thursdays, when it is open between 12:00 and 21:00.

For further information, call 55 31 3226 7400.

Boulogne Gardens, Paris, n.d.


Medusa, NY, 1987


Gipsy girl, 1970


Writer Jorge Amado's granddaughter, Salvador BA, 1979


Ouro Preto, Ouro Preto MG, 1958

Heitor dos Prazeres, Rio de Janeiro RJ, 1956

See more on www.lilianpacce.com.br

What is the best way to go?

Governor Aecio Neves has commissioned Spanish consulting firm Iberinsa-Spim to develop a feasibility study on the implementation of a public transportation system between the Vilarinho subway station in Northern Belo and Confins International Airport, be it a subway line extension, a light rail vehicle (LRV) or something else. (What would that be?). A trend has been noticed towards the LRVs, which are cheaper to implement and quite efficient. (Via Agencia Minas)

Salvador's LRV design for the 2014 World Cup.

Who’s coming to town?

By contributor Ayala Melgaço

"Take on me, take me on. I'll be gone." Without a doubt, this is one of the most appropriate moments to sing this farewell chorus because the Norwegian band a-ha has announced their break-up by the end of this year.

Belo’s fans still have a chance to say goodbye to the band in their Farewell Tour 2010 concert at Chevrolet Hall on March 14th. Tickets are already available with prices ranging from R$ 70.00 to R$ 250.00.

Beware Ethanol… and Petrobras Gas

Alcohol fuel prices have shot up meaning that flex-fuel car drivers have gone scrambling for gasoline. So, the already expensive U$ 1.40-a-liter (1 liter = 0.26 gallon) rate is searching for new sky heights. As a matter of fact, in some of Belo Horizonte’s gas stations you can’t find a single drop of gasoline! Will you do something about it, 'Saint Lula'?

Fuel Price Variation in Belo, by region.

Via O Tempo.

Countdown

The new Administrative Center is about to be open.

A Taste of Not-So-Local Pop-Rock

They released their first (independent) album in 2008 at a crowded Hard Rock Café, here in Belo. Building up their style on top of influences ranging from Michael Jackson to Queen, to Faith no More to Nirvana to Brazilian bands Nenhum de Nós and Biquini Cavadão, they have recently gotten to the top of the chart both as a band and with some of their songs: Porque eu and Vou te levar.

Johnny Klein, vocals; Ike Galhardo, guitar; Kiko Braga, bass & Vinícius Cabelo, drums.

More on www.dezoo.com.br or www.dezoo.palcomp3.com.br.