A fine sleep was disturbed by two alarms bleeping at the same time at 8.30am, but the swish breakfast spread offered more than made up for it. Excellent coffee, cake, and chunks of watermelon. Spend the morning and a great deal of the afternoon talking with Paulo the Brazilian Anthropologist, who lived in Dublin for a while and is full of interesting questions and answers. A R$15 buffet lunch follows, then we wander round the town and see a few of the sights we came here for.
Praca de Tiradentes, the square at the end of two fairly epic hills.
The Sunday antique fair.
View of Vila Rica do Ouro Preto
Exactly what South America looks like in the mind of all Westerners.
Eastern view of the city.
Cloud-draped hills of Ouro Preto.
That was at 6pm today. It is now 2am and we are being physically forced to bed. We, Sarah and I, Paulo, Benedict the German, and a new chap, a Paulisto, whose name escapes me, have spent a thoroughly wonderful evening talking and drinking beer, large bottles of Brahma, eating cheese and popcorn, and explaining differences in languages and what exactly 'the craic' is. Sarah played them the Gnomes (see 'youtube') and Learning Northern Irish (also youtube). Rarely have people been so entertained by a man sounding like a parody of himself. Rarely have they believed that people actually speak like that.
The rain is emptying down outside, and Big Bang Theory is on TV. Sheldon is surrounded by cats. Sarah is covered in bites. We are still in Brazil.
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