Brazil in the news: Tiradentes (MG)
The small town of Tiradentes, in Minas Gerais, used to be a very quiet place until about a decade ago, with its narrow cobblestone streets, colonial houses and baroque churches. It is still relatively peaceful most of the time but things change twice a year, when tourists from all over the country flock to the 18th century mining village for the International Film Festival in January and the International Culinary Festival in August. New York Times' journalist Isabel Vincent visited Tiradentes last year; in this article, she gives us her impressions about the town and suggests what you can do in one of the best preserved and most historic places in South America.
5 comments:
What a beautiful place to visit!... it reminds me of Colonia in Montevideo, Uruguay, where you can see the cobblestone streets and the colonial style of the houses...
Thank you for your comments...I'm one of the BAW participants...
Mirian from Buenos Aires.
Olá, Mônica.
Tiradentes, Minas Gerais sounds absolutely lovely! How I'd love to visit there! As far as I know, there's nothing in the U.S. like it. It makes me intensely aware of how young the U.S. and "European" North America are, compared to México, Central America, and South America, and how much richer the Portuguese- and Spanish-influenced cultures of Latin America are.
In Isabel Vincent's article, she refers to the Eagles' "Hotel California." This best-selling song has been the topic of a great deal of discussion about what its lyrics mean and whether "Hotel California" refers to a real place or whether it's symbolic/allegorical.
Here are links to two "Hotel California" YouTube videos by the Eagles. Even though the singers are the same, they were made at very different times. I the differences in the appearance of the singers AND the style of the music that they play are fascinating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mlxQ16Wcpk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IBJTNx5qrVU
Here's a link to the lyrics of "Hotel California" followed by links to two sites that comment on the lyrics' meaning.
http://www.lyricsfreak.com/e/eagles/hotel+california_20044469.html
http://www.rareexception.com/Garden/Eagles/hotel.php
http://www.snopes.com/music/songs/hotel.asp
Felicitções, Mônica, on yet another outstanding blogpost!
Outro abraço do Arizona!
Dennis in Phoenix
P.S. I think the translation of Tiradentes is really funny!
Oops!
In the third paragraph of my comment, I meant to type "I think the differences . . . instead of *"I the differences . . . ."
Dennis in Phoenix
Hi Mirian,
I've been to Uruguay before, but never to Colonia. I would certainly love to visit it, I'm absolutely fascinated by these little colonial towns!
Thank you for dropping by!
Um abraço.
Dear Dennis,
thank you so much for your comments! Tiradentes is one of my favourite towns and one I never grow tired of visiting. You can find some of the best examples of colonial architecture in the state of Minas Gerais, but I always feel that I'm back to the 18th century whenever I visit Tiradentes. It is particularly beautiful early in the morning, when all is quiet and the mist hasn't lifted yet.
And thank you for the links to Hotel California - it's one of my favourite songs (certainly my favourite Eagles song) and it took me a long time to memorize the lyrics! :-)
Always a great pleasure to read you! Um grande abraço e obrigada!
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