A view of the sunset from Pope’s Plaza, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Photo by: kaarlows , Creative Commons
Belo Horizonte is a city in Brazil in the state of Minas Gerais. It means Beautiful Horizon in Portugese. It is the third largest city of Brazil and has gotten its name for the beautiful view of mountains seen within its borders. It is generally surrounded by mountains and is built on numerous hills. It is a century old city built in the early 1980s and was one of the first planned cities of Brazil. Although it is not a famous destination for its lack of beaches and exotic parties, Belo Horizonte has its own city charm.
It is a busy place with all the cosmopolitan streets, fine restaurants, bustling market stalls, couple of soccer fields, variety of bars, culturally packed museums, and city concerts. Architecturally, it boasts of contrasting sights of the classical and contemporary buildings. Despite being a city of establishments it has several parks. One of it is “Parque das Mangabeiras” which provides a good view of the cityscape. The Tancredo Neves or Confins International Airport is also located on this city. This airport is said to be the largest and busiest airport of Minas Gerais. And is comparatively the best equipped airport in Latin America.
This city is becoming famous for its bars. And is already called the Bar capital of Brazil. The city has a busy nightlife with a variety of nightclubs and bars to choose from. To date they have 12,000 bars within the city. These bars are actually botecos. Botecos are a kind of neighborhood bars where different generations sit down and socialize. Often informal meals are done in botecos. There is a highlight of activity not to be missed out; including the Annual Comida di Buteco competition in April. This is where the top botecos compete for categories such as best service, hygiene, appetizer, and many more. In ordinary days, visiting these bars is already a treat. Their variety, styles, and quirky designs are worth seeing and experiencing. Some bars are also available in day time. In Belo Horizonte there’s a famous saying “Não tem mares, tem bares” which translates to “There are no seas, thus there are bars.”
Travelling around Belo Horizonte is better on foot because of its complicated one-way route system. The main reference point of Belo Horizonte is its inner ring road called the Avenida do Contorno which is within a grid pattern or roads. And the best place to see chic finds; is to visit Savassi where there are boutiques, restaurants, and nightlife.