Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SMOKING MARY
If you're in São João between Friday and Sunday, don't miss the half-hour
train ride
(see
opposite)
to the colonial village of
Tiradentes
, 12km away. There are frequent buses too,
but they don't compare to the trip on a nineteenth-century steam train, with immaculately
maintained rolling stock from the 1930s. You may think yourself immune to the romance of
steam and be bored by the collection of old steam engines and rail equipment in São João's
railway museum (see opposite), but by the time you've bought your ticket you'll be hooked:
the booking hall is right out of a 1930s movie, the train hisses and spits out cinders, and as
you sit down in carriages filled with excited children, it's all you can do not to run up and
down the aisle with them.
Completed in 1881, as the textile industry took off in São João, this was one of the earliest rail
lines in Brazil, and the trains were immediately christened
Maria Fumaça
(
“Smoking Mary”
).
The half-hour ride is very scenic, following a winding valley of the Serra de São José, which by
the time it gets to Tiradentes has reared up into a series of rocky bluffs. The train travels
through one of the oldest areas of gold mining in Minas Gerais, and from it you'll see clear
traces of the eighteenth-century mine workings in the hills. In the foreground, the rafts on the
river have pumps that suck up alluvium from the river bed, from which gold is extracted by
modern
garimpeiros
, heirs to over two centuries of mining tradition. Sit on the left leaving São
João for the best views, and as far from the engine as you can: steam trains bring tears to your
eyes in more ways than one.
2
Pousada Villa Magnólia
Rua Ribeiro Bastos 2
T
32 3373 5065,
W
pousadavillamagnolia.com.br.
Just
outside of the historic centre, this romantic candle-lit inn is
top of the range, excellent value and has a very good pool.
The rooms are
decked
out in period style, and come with TV
and free wi-fi.
R$165
EATING AND DRINKING
Biscoiteria Tradição Mineira
Travessa Lopes Bahia 18
T
32 3371 7297.
Close to the train station, seek out this
small store to load up on traditional
mineira
sweets and
biscuits.
Mon-Sat 9am-5pm.
Churrascaria Ramon
Praça Severiano de Rezende 52
T
32 3371 3540.
Long-standing, excellent and good-
value
churrasco
and
mineiro
food, with all the usual
barbecued meats (and zesty home-made mayonnaise)
in a lively, family-friendly atmosphere. Steaks from R$40.
Daily 10am-10pm.
Del Rei Café
Av Tiradentes 553
T
32 3371 1368.
Open
until the early hours, this restaurant-cum-
chopperia
serves
reasonable pizza, lunchtime
pratos feitos
and tasty filled
crêpes. There is some outdoor seating too.
Daily
9am-late.
Restaurante Rex
Rua Marechal Deodoro 124
T
32
3371 1449.
Perfectly adequate and cheap
por quilo
restaurant, with a huge selection of traditional items in a
spacious, clean dining room. Try and get a table on the
balcony.
Daily 11am-4pm.
Villeiros
Rua Padré Maria Xavier 132
T
32 3372 1034,
W
villeiros.com.br.
Justly popular traditional restaurant in
a nineteenth-century mansion, with superb
comida
mineira
- the
por quilo
buffet at lunch is always busy
(figure on R$30-40), so try and arrive early.
Daily
11.30am-4pm (buffet served till 3pm).
Tiradentes
With its quaint historic houses, cobblestone streets and horse-drawn carriages,
TIRADENTES
could be mistaken for a film set. Surrounded by mountains, the
charming town is better appreciated during the week, as Brazilian tourists swarm
in at weekends for a romantic break or to shop at the many little boutiques around
town. Costs here are the most expensive in Minas, but despite this it's worth staying
a night or two to fully appreciate the rich atmosphere and explore the town's cobbled
alleyways. Although it
was founded as early as 1702, by the 1730s Tiradentes had
already been overshadowed by São João and is now little more than a sleepy village
with a population of only 6000. The core is much as it was in the eighteenth century,
straggling down the side of a hill crowned by the twin towers of the
Igreja Matriz de
Santo Antônio
.
