Belo Horizonte, City of Bars
The New York Times gets it right about Belo’s bar scene!
A Town Where All the World Is a Bar
Lalo de Almeida for The New York Times
BELO HORIZONTE, in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais, has managed to become the country’s third-largest city while remaining almost completely unknown to the outside world. If tourists more drawn to the sybaritic pleasures of Rio de Janeiro or the urban clamor of São Paulo know it at all, it is because they may pass through it on their way to Ouro Preto and Diamantina, treating it as a little more than a refueling stop as they head toward those picturesque colonial-era mining towns.
Its international anonymity was born of no coastline and thus no beaches, no famous Carnival and thus no February madness, and no big attractions save a few buildings designed by Oscar Niemeyer that pale next to his famous works in Brasília.
But Beagá, the city’s nickname (from the pronunciation of its initials in Portuguese), does have a claim to fame: as the bar capital of Brazil. Not bars as in slick hotel lounges or boozy meat markets, but bars as in botecos, informal sit-down spots where multiple generations socialize, drink beer and often have an informal meal. If you believe the local bluster, there are 12,000 bars in the city, more per capita than anywhere else in the country. Why, no one is completely sure, but one theory has turned into a popular saying: “Não tem mares, tem bares.” Loosely: “There are no seas, thus there are bars.”
Search through all articles:
Search this site with Google:All posts:
Best Time to Visit Rio de JaneiroFlights to Brazil for Carnaval
Rio de Janeiro Safety Tips
Best Day Trips from Rio de Janeiro
Grumari Beach Day Trip from Rio
Buzios Day Trip from Rio
Best Hotels in Rio de Janeiro
Best Beaches in Rio de Janeiro
Best Restaurants in Rio de Janeiro
Top 10 Things to Do in Rio de Janeiro
Belo Horizonte, City of Bars
Christ Statue in Rio Video
ATM machines in Brazil and Banking
Transiting and Customs at Sao Paulo Airport (GRU)
Airport Transfers in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Maps of Brazil – Interactive on Google Maps
Google Maps Mania: Big News: Google Maps notes Brazil mashups are going to explode
Google Maps Launches in Brazil
Brazil Photos for Free
Best Brazil Guidebooks
Low Cost Airlines in Brazil
Porto Seguro – Brazil Beach Vacation Spot
Flying TAM
Gol Airlines in Brazil
Getting between Airports in Sao Paulo
Tips for Carnaval in Brazil
Other Visit Brazil Sites
Where to Stay in Sao Paulo
Welcome