The capitol city that was built in three years

I didn't intend to be writing about Brasilia because I didn't expect to see the city, but here I am! I decided to take advantage of a long layover in the city, which was built in an amazing three short years, succeeding Rio as Brazil's capitol in 1960.

Fabricio Sr. connected me with Wesley, a driver who could show me around. Wesley was fantastic and took me to the center of the city, a stunning area that included the library, the (Catholic) metropolitan Cathedral, the buildings representing all of Brazil's states, and the buildings of all the branches of government. I also saw the house of the president, and we drove over a beautiful bridge. Rather than try to describe the somewhat unique structures, I'm including photos. What I may not have captured is the spaciousness of the area. 

The Congress

The house of the president

A guard, the symbol of freedom and democracy (yes, he's real)

The cathedral was deceptive--it looked small from the outside, but the majority of the space was underground. 

Wesley showed me how the sound travels perfectly along a curved wall from a distance. I could hear him perfectly, even though you can barely see him in the photo.

There were a number of memorials, a flame to represent liberty, and a 100-meter high flagpole and enormous flag - apparently the combination of size and height wins a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

The JK Bridge

Wesley didn't speak English, and alas, I still don't speak Portuguese, but his decent (and patient) Spanish helped significantly. Of course I've gotten to the point where my word retrieval in English is even more abysmal than usual, since my brain's working so hard to understand Portuguese. But we even managed to talk about how fondue would be appropriate in the abnormally cold weather! 

My view of the sunset while waiting for Wesley - the car ran out of gas on the highway. 

And now on to Manaus!