Belo Horizonte is a beautiful city in between the mountains of the state of Minas Gerais. It is also the capital of the state, located in the southeastern region of the Brazil and it is the third largest metropolitan area in the country. According to IBGE ( Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia Estatistica) Belo Horizonte has a population of 2,395,785 inhabitants (2012) in the city and a total of 5,504,635 inhabitants in the official Metropolitan Area. Click for full research http://bit.ly/PFnOB4.
Belo Horizonte is well known for its great and unique food, beautiful women and very receptive and warm people. You may remember Miss Universe 2007, where Natália Guimarães (from Minas Gerais- see her picture below) was the 1st runner-up, but lost for the Japanese Riyo Mori – so unfair!
Natália Guimarães- http://bit.ly/QcdKq2
Minas Gerais’ cuisine is famous for its traditional dishes, like pão de queijo ( cheese bread), feijão tropeiro ( side dish made with pinto beans, sausage, bacon, eggs, onions and colar greens), tutu de feijão (made with mashed beans and thickened with toasted manioc flour), pork ribs, chicken-and-okra (served with a rich, brown gravy and rice) and other usually heavy, comfort-like food. The city also abounds with pizza places, barbecue houses, fine restaurants of various nationalities and other options. Belo Horizonte is also well-known for its Cachaça(Brazilian rum), when you are there, make sure to bring some back home! Speaking of Cachaça, Belo Horizonte is considered the bar capital of Brazil. Yes, you can find more bars in Belo Horizonte than anywhere else in Brazil! Please see this interesting article written by NY times “A Town Where All the World Is a Bar” and find out more about it. http://nyti.ms/SYeFZm
Pao de queijo picture http://bit.ly/ZGgDj7
There are direct flights from Miami to Confins (CNF- main airport in Minas Gerais) with American Airlines. But, usually the cheapest options fly to Sao Paulo (GRU) first. The flight from Sao Paulo to Confins (CNF) is usually about $100. If you are flying from Los Angeles (LAX), Korean Airlines now offers direct flights to Sao Paulo (average $1100 – it varies), and you can go to Belo Horizonte from there.
As a good Mineira (that means I am from Minas Gerais – born and raised in Belo Horizonte), I will definitely be writing more about my great city!
Thanks for reading it!
Traveling To Brazil 