I had visions of a city hacked out of the rain forest, Tikal-like, when I first heard about Brasila back in the 60s. Brazil's capital is towards the middle of the country, but on the high plains, the serro, not in the jungle. It is a planned capital, more like Canberra than Washington, DC and the finger-prints of architect Oscar Niemeyer are all over it. His buildings, from the National Theater to Congress to the Presidential Palace, stand removed from all else on acres of concrete, lest something should distract the viewer from his creations. He probably didn't realize what a haven it would be for skateboards. Despite all of the open space, Brasilia was designed for cars and buses, not pedestrians. Even so, we managed to walk to all of the sites. But the bus station, another modern and efficient structure, is miles from anywhere.
Our hotels (plural because we have returned again) are in the "hotel district." The addresses read like code; SQS 704 C29, which actually means something to cab drivers. For others on foot, a trail of breadcrumbs is a good idea. We are only a few hundred meters from Shopping Brasilia, an upscale mall with every sort of shop and restaurant you could want. And banks. Which is good because our Visa debit card was put on "hold" after a suspected misuse in Belo Horizonte. There was no problem but it took us several worrisome hours to correct the problem and withdraw money from the ATM. I'm glad the bank is keeping track of us but it would be nice if they notified us before they acted.
