Crew, prepare the cabin for takeoff
"We all live in giant airplane, giant airplane..." That should be a theme song of residents of Brasilia, Brazil's ultramodern, planned, built-from-scratch capital. The whole city is shaped like an airplane with government offices, public buildings, and monuments situated along the body, while 7km each wings are divided into hotel, commercial, and residential sectors. We stayed in a small hotel where the southern wing is attached to the fuselage.
Our Portuguese let us down again. We popped our heads into a few fancy hotels that the guidebook said might be affordable during the week, and they all offered us a US$100 room for US$50. We were about to walk a bit further to look at more economical pousadas, when we decided to check in the smaller less fancier hotel we noticed. When asked how much the room costs, the guy at the desk replied "venti-sinco" (25 reais). Shocked by the low price (we were expecting to pay at least that per person), we repeated the price showing it on our fingers, but the guy nodded and confirmed "venti-sinco". "Great deal!" we thought. Only in the evening, when we talked to another person at the desk, we realized that the price is "noventi-sinco" (95 reais, or US$45). Damn! For that much we could have stayed in a much much nicer place. So we decided to get the hell out of Brasilia as soon as possible, but not before going on an obligatory city tour.
The city left strange impression on us. It has beautiful modern building and cathedrals many of which designed by Brazil's most famous architect Oscar Niemyer. But next to them you could see plain concrete boxes of different ministries with no decorations other then the name of ministry in big letters, which made it all look like a storage room filled with giant filing cabinets.
Our Portuguese let us down again. We popped our heads into a few fancy hotels that the guidebook said might be affordable during the week, and they all offered us a US$100 room for US$50. We were about to walk a bit further to look at more economical pousadas, when we decided to check in the smaller less fancier hotel we noticed. When asked how much the room costs, the guy at the desk replied "venti-sinco" (25 reais). Shocked by the low price (we were expecting to pay at least that per person), we repeated the price showing it on our fingers, but the guy nodded and confirmed "venti-sinco". "Great deal!" we thought. Only in the evening, when we talked to another person at the desk, we realized that the price is "noventi-sinco" (95 reais, or US$45). Damn! For that much we could have stayed in a much much nicer place. So we decided to get the hell out of Brasilia as soon as possible, but not before going on an obligatory city tour.
The city left strange impression on us. It has beautiful modern building and cathedrals many of which designed by Brazil's most famous architect Oscar Niemyer. But next to them you could see plain concrete boxes of different ministries with no decorations other then the name of ministry in big letters, which made it all look like a storage room filled with giant filing cabinets.