In the
early evening of Monday 3 October as Orlando transferred us to the Chiclayo Airport for our onward LAN
flight to Brasilia in Brazil, it was a case of two minds - we were sad to
be departing Peru and at the same time looking forward to the adventures that awaited
us in Brazil!
With a
time difference between Peru and Brazil of about three hours and a subsequently
distorted flight time of about four hours, we landed in Brasilia in an
inevitably jetlagged state at about 6am on Tuesday 4 October. We had an inkling
from the flight that Brazil was less of an English speaking country than Peru
when the very attractive Flight Attendants didn’t speak a word of English and
the immigration forms were available only in Portuguese. Transitioning from the
Latin Spanish to Portuguese language and Peru Nuevos Soles to Brazil Reals currency,
overcoming jetlag, having withdrawal symptoms from the chaotic Peruvian roads
and negotiating a taxi in Portuguese from the Brasilia Airport to our Grand
Mercure hotel however, were nothing compared to seeking an early check in
at the hotel. In doing so, we learnt that one must be very pushy in Brazil to
get what one wants and speaking of pushing, must push to the front of lines
(where they exist) at all times! Our hotel in the finish was well worth the
wait, with a monsoon shower and buffet breakfast to die for.
Once
somewhat acclimatised to Brazil, we embarked on a private tour of Brasilia with
an eccentric Personal Guide by the name of Delphin. Brasilia, the capital city
of Brazil, can be likened to Canberra and is immaculately landscaped courtesy
of the 21st President of Brazil Juscelino Kubitschek de Oliveira, who
in collaboration with renowned Brazilian Architect Oscar Niemeyer during his
five-year term, transformed it from mere bushland to an architectural landmark.
As such, we visited during the tour, the notable: TV Tower, Juscelino Kubitschek Memorial, Juscelino Kubitschek Bridge,
Catedral Metropolitan, City Park, Square of the Three Powers, Monumental Axis,
Capital Place of Federative Republic of Brazil, Alvorada Palace, Itamaraty
Palace, National Congress of Brazil, National Library, Cathedral of Brasilia,
Dom Bosco Church, National Museum of the Republic, University of Brasilia, Mane
Garrincha Stadium, Australian Embassy, Avenue of the Ministries, Brazilian Army
Headquarters and Lake Paranoa to
name a few.
As we’d
literally covered a lot of ground during the tour, we enjoyed a relaxing night
in the hotel watching Bollywood film My
Name is Khan in Portuguese and ordering room service which included for about
AUD$20.000 file a parmigiana com
fetuccine na manteiga or beef
parmigiana with fettucine sautéed in butter and agua de coco or coconut water.
Highlights
of our brief visit to Brasilia include:
- The eye candy on the flight;
- Being laughed at by the staff at McDonalds (who subsequently called their colleagues over to
laugh at us) when attempting to order in Portuguese;
- Our fabulous hotel room and buffet breakfast at Grand Mercure;
- The resultant mobs from the absence of queues and people pushing in
where there are queues;
- Having to be pushy (something that comes quite naturally to me!);
- The eccentricity of our Personal Guide Delphin;
- Its architecture;
- Witnessing a group of Japanese tourists (impedingly taking photos)
being shoved out of the way by the guards during the changing of the flags
at Alvorada Palace; and
- The Bollywood film My Name is
Khan (I’d never seen it before and it’s very good!)
