Weekend trip to Belo Horizonte

Friday morning at 4:30 a.m. Meet at the hostel. A few clothes and food were thrown into Oli's Beetle and we set off towards Belo Horizonte, the capital of the state of Minas Gerais in the north of Rio de Janeiro. The navigation system showed 425 km and we chugged comfortably out of the city in an antique automobile. The advantage of such an early morning start is the lack of city traffic, so we only shared the streets with a few other early risers and the garbage collection vehicles. The day before, Oli confessed to us that there was a defect in the windshield wiper gear and also that the component necessary for the repair had been ordered but would only be in Rio in a few days and so the trip started without a working windshield wiper but was prepared with a rope just in case Makeshift and the hope that we would be spared any showers during the journey. After a short nap in the back seat, I was supposed to occupy the pilot's seat from the first rest. A short introduction to the technology, which was already very old but fully functional (except for the windshield wipers), and then the car started moving again.

It's pretty exciting to drive such a vehicle on Brazilian roads. This has very little to do with driving as I know it from modern vehicles. Almost two-thirds of the constant steering movements are wasted completely into nothing, but after a short time you get used to the enormous play in the steering and the non-existent power steering. Braking is much more strenuous. Extremely foresighted driving is necessary here, as the braking force only develops more or less well after the pedal has been fully pressed in. At some point you only notice the madmen pushing aggressively and overtaking on both sides if the person is in a huge truck that is pushing past you at far too high a speed. Maximum concentration to counteract the constant collision course.

To make matters worse, after about an hour: it began to rain. So I quickly attached both ends of the rope to the windshield wipers and pulled it through the passenger compartment behind the windshield. By alternating opposing pulling movements by the driver and front passenger, you can create a viewing window free of rainwater for a short time and get a generous view ahead. Here, driving becomes real work and after the next break and another driver change, I sink into the back seat of the Volkswagen, exhausted but satisfied. After almost 9 hours we reach Belo Horizonte without any major incidents.

The fifth largest city in Brazil awaited us with a panoramic view of the high-rise buildings in the city center and since we wanted to visit the Classico between two of the three local football clubs the next day, we first went to the fan shop of the smaller America Mineiro to buy the tickets.

When we got there, we were told that tickets were only sold to members, which was intended to prevent the much larger city rivals Atlético Mineiro from filling the home stadium and from being behind in terms of atmosphere despite the home advantage. First of all, a logical explanation, although not very helpful for us. The seller still had a plan B in reserve for us: Although he wasn't allowed to sell us tickets, he could give us each a ticket if we each bought a jersey in the fan shop in return. Since the special price for a jersey was only marginally higher than the price for a ticket, this was a fair, if not entirely logical, deal and we agreed.

We ended the rest of the day in the Mercado Novo, an old market hall, which is located right in the center of Belo Horizonte and in which there is no longer a market, but there are all sorts of bars, restaurants and iconic shops. We quickly realized that this place had a very sociable and pleasant atmosphere - but we had no idea that a large part of our stay would take place in and around this place.

The next day we slept in, walked a bit through the city center and then ate something before going to the game between the two city rivals. A small group of local active fans gathered in front of the stadium and we listened to the sounds of drums, timpani and chants before we went into the stadium.

A quite unique stadium, friendly club and very familiar atmosphere. Unfortunately, they conceded the equalizer in stoppage time and so they were able to fully enjoy the wonderful view over the outskirts of Belo Horizonte.

After the game, we drank a few more beers, went to bed and had a similar ceremony the next day: slept in, took a long walk through the city and then went to the market hall.

You really have to say that this was a special place and we felt very comfortable here. 2 floors of industrial charm, plenty of street art and small but fine restaurants. There's also a bar on every corner with a wide selection of local craft beers on tap. If you like that kind of thing, it's paradise and obviously we all have similar ideas about paradise. ;)

We could certainly have seen more in Belo Horizonte, but it's not a bad thing that sometimes people prefer quality over quantity and so we had a very nice time full of interesting and good conversations in this exciting atmosphere and among very pleasant people In the end, this is worth so much more than looking at every corner of a city.

We left Belo Horizonte the next day happy, satisfied and with lots of personal inspiration.

The return trip was quite relaxed due to the lack of rain this time and we reached Rio de Janeiro again in the evening.