For a city all of 240 years old, Porto Alegre's got some sights!
Over the last couple of days we've taken in some of the attractions of the city and just looking at the photos (which sadly can never fully encompass the marvel-though I tried) you can see what I'm on about.
This is the sight from one of the wide angle windows of the Ibere Camargo Museum, looking out over the coastal area of Porto Alegre. Just Google the building and see why this modern experience of art is so popular a tourist destination.
The city is to host a few games during the 2014 World Cup and is trying (at Brasilian speed) to create a more attractive and accessible city. They're supposed to be re-installing the Trams (the tracks through the centre of the city merely need excavation), adding English signs for the language challenged (that would include me and most of my country-folk) and generally tarting up the city as a whole.
There is however, character everywhere you look. Classical Portuguese architecture dots the centre and is often either sandwiched between modern behemoths or gutted (sadly) from the inside and used as car parks.
The trick is finding a happy medium. Brasil is growing really rather fast, but at least this cultural entity, this life-form of a city is holding fast to it's past. It's easy to forget to look up in your town or city, but when you remember, it's certainly worth it.
When I first visited PA in 2000, Clarissa and I went to a pink/peach building that to my 12 year addled memory was an archway of history and fauna...I'm happy to say it's no less than it was before and really quite a lot more.
Now a library, gallery, artist mecca and roof-top cafe/garden, the Majestic Hotel is now named Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana, after the writer that lived in the hotel as was, until the end of his life.
This building stuck in my memory as a bit of a haze, a memory that had faded and is now enlivened again. It's actually the first time, that I can recall, a memory from so long ago not losing it's appeal so long after it's creation.
Over the last couple of days we've taken in some of the attractions of the city and just looking at the photos (which sadly can never fully encompass the marvel-though I tried) you can see what I'm on about.
This is the sight from one of the wide angle windows of the Ibere Camargo Museum, looking out over the coastal area of Porto Alegre. Just Google the building and see why this modern experience of art is so popular a tourist destination.
The city is to host a few games during the 2014 World Cup and is trying (at Brasilian speed) to create a more attractive and accessible city. They're supposed to be re-installing the Trams (the tracks through the centre of the city merely need excavation), adding English signs for the language challenged (that would include me and most of my country-folk) and generally tarting up the city as a whole.
There is however, character everywhere you look. Classical Portuguese architecture dots the centre and is often either sandwiched between modern behemoths or gutted (sadly) from the inside and used as car parks.
The trick is finding a happy medium. Brasil is growing really rather fast, but at least this cultural entity, this life-form of a city is holding fast to it's past. It's easy to forget to look up in your town or city, but when you remember, it's certainly worth it.
When I first visited PA in 2000, Clarissa and I went to a pink/peach building that to my 12 year addled memory was an archway of history and fauna...I'm happy to say it's no less than it was before and really quite a lot more.
Now a library, gallery, artist mecca and roof-top cafe/garden, the Majestic Hotel is now named Casa de Cultura Mario Quintana, after the writer that lived in the hotel as was, until the end of his life.
This building stuck in my memory as a bit of a haze, a memory that had faded and is now enlivened again. It's actually the first time, that I can recall, a memory from so long ago not losing it's appeal so long after it's creation.
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