Ouro Preto

Ouro Preto:


We arrived this morning at 7:30 (by night bus from Rio) to Ouro Preto and walked around town for 8 hours. We had this tour-guide who approached us at 8am after we dropped our bags at a cute little pousada, and offered us a little explanation of the town sights. Little was an understatement. He could talk for days about the city and would even chastise Nina and I if we weren't paying close enough attention. He offered us a tour in Spanish so that we would all understand but actually spoke Portanol (Portuguese + Espanol). But even though this was easy for me to understand my head began to hurt after about hour 3. We went into numerous churches and adjoining museums, climbed up and down the steep cobble stone streets of the town and even got to tour a small gold mine. I learned cute love stories about a Portuguese judge and a Brazilian girl, I know the nuances and characteristics of the sculptor Aleijandinho who had a disease that crippled his hands and feet but could still carve wood and soap stone statues, and I can now compare Baroque gold-plating patterns with Rococo. Even at lunch we got no break, he showed us to a restaurant and sat down and ate with us! (He was shocked to find out that Mom, was related to me, he thought she was Nina and my school teacher).

Needless to say, the town is adorable. The red shingles and brick houses against the hilly lush green landscape remind me of Austria and Bavaria. Gold was found here back in the 1600's and the mines here produced something like the weight of 100,000 cars!

Here we are at the mouth of Jeje Mine