belo horizonte

i got there from ouro preto, that wasn't too far, just 2 hours ride! the countryside really is diffrent than driving along the cost, lot's of red earth hills and mountain everywhere! the rodoviaria in belo horizonte is big and a bit confusing, but i found out the way to the metro quite fast! i didn't really what metro i had to take, there weren't any directions anyway so i went in the wrong one first! (well i had a 50 to 50 chance!) so it took a while till i made it to my metro station, from there i walked at least half an hour to the hostel (where of course i didn't have a reservation!) but the had plenty of beds left and it was really cheap as well, the hostel is an old living house, and i liked my bathroom a lot cause the door was hidden in the wardrobe! from the hostel people i got a good map and lot's of bus lines for all the different direction of the city. belo horizonte is a planned city, you can see that easy on the map! first a took a bus to get the to the "savassi" part of the town, cause it was written in my guide that this is a very cosmopolitan part of the town. well there are a lot of nice coffees and boutiques but my budget didn't afford any more shopping, so i had lunch in the shopping center (in brazil you have always a great choice of different types of food in shopping centers, and it's not that expensive!) i went to a churrascaria, but there was misunderstanding about the way the charge so thought it was more expensive than i thought, i had a big argument with the cashier, but the didn't let me get what i wanted, so i was a bit down at the end, i went to an internet coffee that was close, a nice coffee but not too cheap! i checked the cinemas in town and saw that there was one just around my corner that plays older films, so i thought great i finally get the chance to see "volver" i was looking for that film for ages! so i went to the cinema again (yes, i love cinema!) and i saw a spanish movie with portuguese subtitles, and i understood it, i was a bit proud of myself! and i really liked the movie!
next day i went to pampulha, a city right next to belo horizonte, there is a famous park that was created by Niemeyer and some of his friends (the same group that created a bit later Brasilia, the new capitol of brazil), but of course i took the wrong bus again, well i got to pampulha but not to one of the points of the park, so i ended up in the middle of nowhere, without any clou where i was! i walked to the next bigger street and just followed it, it was very hot and i wasn't sure what i was doing! but i sort of ended up in the entrance of the park (after about 2 hours of walking!) than i just followed the lake, and eventually i made it to the church (the first time the world got to know niemeyer!) i didn't stay for long and continued to walk along the lake until the museum of modern art, that was free and i liked it a lot, so it wasn't all for nothing! to get back i had to wait about 1 hour until one of my buses came, my bus was in very bad shape, and i was a bit scared that it might fall apart! but it did not! i got myself something to eat and cooked at the hostel!
what i liked about belo horizonte was  the fact that there aren't any tourist so you don't get treated as one all the time, so it is a bit of normality around! and i liked the breakfast, there wasn't any one in the hostel but just next door there was this bakery where they made fresh juice and i had a big choice about what you wanted to eat for very little amount of money!