Belo Horizonte is the capital of the state of Minas Gerais located at the southeast of Brazil.
Population: 2.37 million
Person born in Minas Gerais: Mineiro - the Mineiros are in general very welcoming, relatively quiet, reserved and prudent. Oh, they are also famous for telling people that the places are "right there" at walk distance, when actually, for regular people, the place is far away! "Uai" (sounds exactly like "why") is a common expression they use, but impossible to translate.
Distance from other cities:
Rio de Janeiro 444 km
São Paulo 602 km
Brasília 747 km
Airport: Tancredo Neves / Cofins Intenational Airport - 38 km (23mi) from Belo Horizonte
Stadium:
Mineirão - Avenida Abrahão Caram, 970 - São Luis, Belo Horizonte, MG
Matches: World Cup 6 matches:
- June 14th - Colombia x Greece
- June 17th - Belgium x Algeria
- June 21st - Argentina x Iran
- June 24th - Costa Rica x England
- June 28th - 1A x 2B
- July 8th - W57 x W58
The city know as BH (/Bay-Agah/) is a beautiful wooded city to visit, with nice historical architecture, parks, markets and an amazing cuisine. The state of Minas Gerais is the country's largest milk producer, it produces 41% of milk produced in Brazil and the largest coffee producer as well, it produces 50% of the national production. It is 100% arabica beans, being the majority exported. In the past Minas Gerais was one of the biggest gold, diamond, and gems explorers.
To begin exploring the city go to the Praça da Liberdade, there you will find many museums, and historical buildings from the 19th century, it is a nice place to relax and look around.
After visiting Praça da Liberdade you can take a bus or cab and visit the Central Market (Mercado Central). There are over 450 tents selling everything you can imagine, the Market has more than 80 years. Don't forget to buy a mineiro cheese, cachaça (Brazilian Liquor), desserts made of fruits and "dulce de leche" (in Portuguese - doce de leite). You will also fall in love with the crafts.
Save a day to visit the Complexo Arquitetônico da Pampulha, projected by the famous Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer, it has 18 km of beautiful buildings placed around the Pampulha Lake, very close to the Mineirão Stadium. Take a cab to make this tour, there's a lot to see and walking would take too long. Pay attention to the Arts Museum, Casa do Baile and the São Francisco de Assis Church.
If are planning to stay a little longer in BH, visit the Inhotim Institute, it's located in Brumadinho, 63 km from BH. The Institute is the biggest outdoor contemporary museum in the world, the arts are exposed at the Botanic Garden. The collection has around 500 pieces of art; sculptures, paintings, installations, draws, photographies, movies and videos made by 100 artists from 30 different countries. The arts are dated from 1960 to today's date. A driver in an electric car can take you through the whole space, it costs $10 dollars and you can use it as many time as you want, it's worth it. The tickets for the museum vary between $10 and $14 dollars, grab a map at the entrance and it will be easy to find the collections.
Where can I go with the kids?
Zoo: located at the Pampulha Lake, there are over 900 animals.
Toy's Museum (Museu dos Brinquedos): the kids will have a chance to see toys from other countries and from older times.
I will talk more about BH on my next posts.
See You!
