Dear flist,
I returned from Brasília a month ago and did not post my impressions of the trip. I stayed there five days and really liked it, even though I worked like hell most of the time. It's a very nice city to spend some time in, and I wish I'd had more time to explore it.
For those who don't know,
Brasilia was built in the fifties to be Brazil's new capital city (Rio was the capital before that). It was inaugurated on April 21 1960, and it celebrated its 50th anniversary four days after I returned home. The city is all planned, which special blocks for shops, hotels, and residences. There's a big avenue with all the ministries and the Congress is in the end, it's pretty cool.
Here, take a look. The Ministries are the big buildings on the sides, and the National Congress is on the middle.
So, this is where I stayed, Hotel Nacional.
This hotel is really old school; it was built in 1966, only five years after Brasilia's inauguration. According to my boss, it used to be the bigshot hotel in the city, but it has been surpassed by the more modern hotels. I found my room nice enough, especially because it had a bathtub and I'm a complete sucker for bathtubs. The service was amazing and the breakfast was delicious!
Here, take a look at the room. It was a standard room, nothing fancy, and I stayed there on my own (thank heavens).
Two blocks from my hotel, there was one of the city's main tourist spots, the TV tower, from where you can see the entire city. The view is breathtaking, especially for someone from Rio. Let me explain: Rio is between mountains and sea, so everywhere you look there's a hill. Brasilia is completely plane. The sky is so very blue and so beautiful. Take a look - my hotel is on the right side, behind the first big building:
I loved traveling by plane again, after over two decades. I got the window seat, so I spent almost the entire trip looking outside like a kid. I hope I never become blasé to the point that I don't think that flying is an amazing and fantastic experience.
It was really cool, and I hope I get the chance to travel again soon.