Ouro Preto: Early to bed, early to rise!

After an exciting night in Gouveia and an equally exciting, coffee-less breakfast, with the taste of last nights' pizza still in my mouth, I set off for Ouro Preto at around 07.30. It is amazing how such a coffee producing country manages to not have decent coffee almost anywhere. In a letter that travelled many times around the globe in YouTube, one that excited even more spirits and was shown even in the Belgian news report, a Brazilian resident of Belo Horizonte (the town where the riots started barely 2 weeks after my return) complained that "we in Brazil do not drink decent coffee, we export it". How true this is…

The road to Ouro Preto, the jewel of Minas Gerais that "looks unreal" ("Parece mentira") seemed endless. Somewhere after Belo Horizonte, heading south, with my eyes turning like a Jackpot from some very dense traffic around the city and heavy pollution I bumped upon a mall called Alphaville. "Forever young"!, I thought (remember the music group?) and made a screechy turn with the Casserole, making myself heard, among much better cars.
And it was exactly as I expected it to be. Guarded by security and catering to rich locals, it had a German bakery, Italian espresso (they keep some for this kind of clientele surely), Tex-Mex and cold beer. The rest was interior design-, over-expensive. shops. Alphaville was exactly what I needed before negotiating the rest of my way among angry lorry drivers to Ouro Preto.

Getting to Ouro Preto was easy. But trying to find my way in the city turned to be a bit more tricky. After turning around for some time, I asked two well preserved sixty-something, totally decontractées  ladies sipping lattes on the threshold of an old mansion if they knew the way to the Pousada Chico Rei. With a killing German accent they answered that this is it. "You have arrived!"
" I have arrived", I thought. Sunset lattes and colonial towns!
And indeed, this turned out to be the best hotel of my trip. A magnificent room, in an empty pousada. Friendly personnel, a kind but blind dog and a rich breakfast, tea and cookies 24/7, solid WiFi and the somewhat rainy weather made it hard to leave the hotel.
The town really looked unreal, more so in the evening. Old buildings of colonial architecture with dim lights, narrow, very steep cobbled streets and old fashioned shops, it all quickly became a bit eerie (i.e. Funeral parlour "The ultimate goodbye", "open all night").
Btw, in Ouro Preto I broke my photo lens. It happened while taking the picture of a young couple kissing. My hand must have been shaking…

Highlights of the day: The room, the service, the city, the restaurant. The only place of the trip where I could easily understand what people were saying to me, and vice versa.
Downsides: Rainy weather, and not wanting to leave.

The Pics, and the Postcards

The films: Streetdance in Ouro Preto, Evening outing,

Next: Mina da passagem: just passing through