16 April 2010
We spend a few days in the capital of the Minas Gerais state and decide to go to the theatre: we see "Avenida Q" - the brazilian version of the broadway Musical "Avenue Q". The cast is made up of puppets moved by actors - a bit like Sesame Street for adults. The songs were good, and some of the jokes must have been quite funny too, to judge by the laughter of the audience - the play was in Portuguese and we could hardly understand any of the dialogues.
Pampulha: a lake around which famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer was given the project to build a few landmark buildings by the then governor Kubitschek (in the 1940s). The buildings around the lake are several kilometers apart. We see the old casino, and the ballroom - so many beautiful curves in the building, you feel like you're dancing already. But the highlight is the Igreja Sao Franscisco de Assis: modern forms and a facade completely covered with blue painted tiles. Indeed one of a kind in the world.The governor must have been impressed with Niemeyers work: two decades later, Kubitschek became president and recruited Niemeyer once again. This time to build an entire city: the new Brazilian capital Brasilia.
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