From Modern Art back to Colonial Times and on to the Metropolis

After the refreshing time spent in Praia de Pipa, it was now time to begin exploring again. We started by a quick trip to Brazil’s third city, Belo Horizonte, but the main reason was not to visit this planned city, but to see the remarkable site forty miles away at Inhotim.

A Brazilian philanthropist has converted a disused mine into a 200 acre site full of architecture, statues, lakes and gardens. It is quite remarkable, walking around some stunning buildings which appear suddenly out of the foliage and which include all sorts of art from the twentieth And twenty-first centuries. The artwork ranges from light installations to photographs, painting, videos and sounds, and comes from all over the world, each with their unique home in Inhotim.

The grounds look mature with over two thousand types of palms and millions of plants, but in fact they are only ten years old. The army of gardeners are constantly watering, pruning and repairing the walkways to keep the site pristine, and it was a fantastic place to spend the day.

We then moved from the twentieth and twenty-first centuries back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when we visited Ouro Preto. As Potosí was for silver and for Spain, Ouro Preto was for gold and for Portugal. At one point this gold mining town was the biggest city in the whole of the Americas with 50,000 people, and it sent back 800 tons of gold to the colonial masters in Lisbon.

Today Ouro Preto is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and contains some beautifully restored buildings from the Portuguese colonial era. Built on a series of hills, and with cobbled streets, it has a different view every time you turn a corner. It was also famous for the most exquisitely designed and painted church in Brazil, and being the centre of the rebellion which eventually led to Brazil being a republic.

It was quite a move from the beaches and towns we have seen so far; and this theme was carried on when we saw another colonial town, Tiradentes. This was much smaller and very elegant. It still looks as it did in the seventeenth century, but the merchant houses are now full of smart shops and even smarter restaurants. It is a real draw for the middle classes of Brazil, both for its history and its modern feel.

Set against mountains in the distance, there is a lovely yellow-painted church at the top of the hill. From here, a series of roads stretch out to the main square. The roads are cobbled and horse and carts carry people through the streets as they would have done originally.

The trio of Portuguese colonial towns were completed by Paraty. This small town is on the coast and was the port for the gold being sent back to Portugal. The beautiful colonial buildings are all painted in pastel colours with lovely geometric patterns on the corners. It was just a pleasure to walk around, although this is difficult as the cobbles are full blown, rounded stones rather than the small ones which were used in Europe.

The town is situated on the Costa Verde and set in a bay with lovely forested islands, which can be visited on day trips from the pretty harbour. The area also includes some great beaches, which attracts a different set of tourists, including the great and the good from neighbouring cities. The place had great restaurants and was such a nice place to visit.

We then carried on down the coast to São Paulo, the biggest city on South America. We stayed in an area called Vila Madalena, which was a mixture of Camden, Shoreditch and Chelsea. It was a bit edgy at night so we travelled around by Uber, but we did manage to sample the delights of nightlife in the city centre.

It is hard to sum up São Paulo, but it is generally smarter than Rio de Janeiro, which seems quite run down in comparison. There aren’t the great landmarks of Rio, but there are some great neighbourhoods to live in, which have quite a lively vibe. We were shown around the centre by a guy who managed to show us everything from the wonderful Central Market to the main cathedrals and churches and all the streets in between.

It was quite an interesting few days, and quite a contrast to everything we had done before. It precludes our next leg of the journey, which means going into the deep countryside and another side of Brazil again.