Capital city

Our tour operator was bemused when we said we wanted to stop over in Brasília as it's not somewhere tourists generally visit. Established on April 2, 1960 it is the largest capital city to be built in the 20th century. Moving the capital from Rio to the centre of the country was first mentioned in the 18th century and was included in the constitution in 1892. When Juscelino Kubitschek became President in 1956 he carried out his election promise of creating Brasília. It became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987.

Our guide was one of the first babies born in the city and he was passionate about the place. I'm not convinced it's quite the Utopia he made it out to be but it was certainly interesting. We learned all about the design of the city (aircraft shape) and the architects Lúcio Costa and Oscar Niemeyer. In the short time we've had here we managed to visit the TV tower, Three Powers Plaza, Don Bosco Sanctuary, the Cathedral, Memorial JK, the lake, and JK bridge.

It was a good decision to stay over and we could easily have spent more time here but tonight it's onwards to the next stop.