Guadalajara WILL Do, Part 1

Wooden foot on the perimeter of the Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres.
Why? Does there ever need to be a reason for a giant wooden foot cut off mid-shin?

I am on a three-day, four-night mini-vacation to Guadalajara. Why? Because Guadalajara was there for visiting. And this has been an exhausting stretch given everything happening. I couldn't wait to the maxi-vacation in a little more than a month, so mini-vacation south of the border down Mexico way.

I am staying in the Centro Historico of Guadalajara. This is Avenida Ramón Corona in front of my hotel. In most places I've visited in Latin America, the central historical core can be a no-go zone, especially at night. Not so Guadalajara. The Centro Historico is packed with tourist sites, restaurants and nightlife.  This is where to stay.

Today was the day to take a long walking loop to see all the major sights in the Centro Historico. First stop: Los Dos Templos. Even my rudimentary Spanish can translate that without Google translator.

The Two Temples.

This is catty-corner -- yes it is CATTY corner -- not kitty corner -- what type of whatever would use a phrase "kitty corner" -- catty-corner from my hotel (southwest if you are keeping track of your catties and your corners).

This is the first of two:

And this is the second of two:

The second of two might be smaller, but look who's hanging right outside El Segundo:

Juan Pablo Segundo! Or, as we know him, St. John Paul II. I'm finding him everywhere I vacation, it seems. And deservedly so.

Time to continue walking north on Avenida Ramón Corona, where there is the first of many ... many ... hansom cab sightings today.

Historical cores and hansom cabs seem to go together like ... what's the old song say -- like a horse and a carriage.

This is the view of Guadalajara Cathedral from Guadalajara Plaza.

Lots happening in Guadalajara Plaza:

Por ejemplo: a giant rattan head wearing a rattan sombero.

There was something athletic going on on the other side of the rattan man in the rattan sombrero. I did not check it out because how could it be more interesting than a rattan man in a rattan sombrero?

Guadalajara's main cathedral was very nice. Let's have a look-see inside:

That's all the look-seeing we are going to do because a mass was just starting up and it's rude to be shutterbugging when the mass is happening.

But, as promised, more hansom cabs. The Centro Historico is lousy with horse-drawn carriages. 

Here they are parked outside the Cathedral. Technically, this is on the north side of Plaza de la Liberación, which is in between the Cathedral and Teatro Degollado.

But first, a detour north of the cathedral to Rotonda de los Jaliscienses Ilustres, the Rotunda of Illustrious Jaliscans.

This is Ignacio Vallarta. He is so illustrious that Puerto Vallarta was named for him.

Many Illustrious Jaliscans hang here. Jalisciense is the Spanish-language demonym for someone from the State of Jalisco, where Guadalajara serves as the capital. I'm not sure of the proper English-language demonym, so I just made up Jaliscan.

There were two dozen or more Illustrious Jaliscans here. Let's meet just a few:

And the Rotonda de los Jaliscenses Ilustres makes a great place for a school field trip:

Back to the Plaza de la Liberación for more of this walking tour of the Centro Historico:

I believe this is a statue of Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla right here on the Plaza:

He is an important figure in the Liberation of Mexico. Or so I am presuming. Why else would his statue be in a prominent place on Plaza de la Liberación. But this is just a semi-educated guess.

More statuary!

This is on the back side of Teatro Degollado, I believe.

This next photo is foreshadowing the next destination on this walking tour of Centro Historico. But because the walk was long and the number of photos enormous, I am splitting this into three parts.

And we will conclude Part 1 of 3 with the Fuente De Los Niños Traviesos, the Fountain of Naughty Children.

I'm not sure why all the children got labelled as "naughty" when only one is engaging in the act of peeing. And everybody all over the world loves fountains featuring peeing children.

Exploring the Area Surrounding Belo Horizonte: Pampulha

This is the church that put Oscar Niemeyer on the world architectural map. Seriously. I will explain.

It's pouring down rain today in Belo Horizonte. But you can't stop the tourism with a simple rainstorm.

The stop before the first stop was a viewpoint overlooking the city of Belo Horizonte.

This is Praça do Papa or, if you prefer something more secular than "Plaza of the Pope," referring to Saint John Paul II, this also is Praça Governador Israel Pinheiro. This is renowned for its spectacular view of the entirety of Belo Horizonte.

It's raining rather hard (and it's much cooler than you would think late spring weather anywhere in Brazil would be), so there is not much "enjoying of the view" happening. From the pictures I've seen, on a clear evening, just as the sun is going down, it is spectacular. But just about everything looks better on a clear sunny evening when the sun is setting than it does mid-day in the rain. Fact o' life.

But the real actual first stop of the day was Pampulha.

Lagoa de Pampulha is nice, but it's not the star attraction.

Nor is the Mineirão.

This is the huge football stadium serving the city. Let's not dwell on it because it was the site of the darkest moment of Brazilian football history that has happened during my lifetime. (The darkest moment was in 1950 before I was born. I refer to 2014, which is well within the lifespan thus far.)

The reason to come to Pampulha is this simple-appearing chapel.

Capela Curial de São Francisco de Assis. The Chapel of St. Francis of Assisi.

This is the design that first made Oscar Niemeyer famous. This is the design that brought modern/futuristic architecture to Brazil. It was built in 1943, although it was not consecrated as church until 1959. (So many reasons, not the least of which was its scandalously modern, un-church-like, design.)

Let's have a peek inside: 

That is Niemeyer's preliminary sketch.

This is the altar:

Let's step back for a fuller view.

The painting was done by Niemeyer's compatriot Candido Portinari.

This is the baptismal font, which is surrounding by four panels depicting the story of Adam and Eve.

There are the other two panels. On the left is Eve giving Adam the apple to eat all under the watchful eye of that serpent. On the right are the now clothed Adam and Eve being expelled from the Garden.

From the eating of that apple came the gift and curse that is human consciousness. With it, we are fully human. Without it, we were living in paradise.

Here is the view from the alter looking out onto the small chapel.

Yes, it is a very small chapel. But it started an architectural revolution. Space age modernism came to South America.

From the seeds of this simple chapel grew the career of Oscar Niemeyer, which hit its peak with the design of Brazil's new capital Brasilia in 1960. Juscelino Kubitschek was the president of Brazil responsible for moving the Brazilian capital into the interior into the new, planned city of Brasilia in 1960.  The same Juscilino Kubitschek was the mayor of Belo Horizonte who picked Niemeyer to design this chapel in 1943.

The Seven-Hour Tour of Rio Continues: Lapa

Inside the Metropolitan Cathedral: Spectacular interior, controversial exterior.

The grand tour of Rio de Janeiro continued on to Lapa. 

We didn't not take the tram. The tram still runs through this residential neighborhood, Santa Teresa, at the base of Corcovado and Cristo Redentor. This used to be the upscale part of Rio a century ago until the wealthy people of Rio woke up one day and, all the sudden, realized, "Hey. Some of the most beautiful beaches on the whole planet are just down the hill. Why don't we move down there and live in expensive ocean front property?" And so they did. And so this neighborhood went into a long decline and slow decay.

And like the Rio super-rich a century ago, we are working our way to sea level. And speaking of working one's way down to sea level:

This is the old city aqueduct. It brought fresh water from the peaks of Tijuca and the surrounding hills, down to the City of Rio de Janeiro. It's no longer a functioning aqueduct. But it's repurposed. It functions as elevated tram tracks.

This is the exterior of Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro. Remind you of anything?

Think. To a past vacation.

Mayan pyramids! It looks like a Mayan pyramid. Perhaps Tikal, such as pictured above. Perhaps Chichen Itza. But it doesn't look like a Catholic Church. And it is not Brazilian in style.

Another view of the cathedral-pyramid, rising from behind the former-but-not-repurposed aqueduct:

Outside the cathedral is Mother Teresa:

While Catholic Me may not be a fan of the pagan-style exterior, the interior is awesome. Here, with the lights at the top of the pyramid, the long, climbing, "stained glass" lights form a cross. 

This is the alter:

I guess all the alters in the major cathedrals of South American cities cannot be adorned with an excess of gold leaf. At least the crucifixion scene hanging over the alter did not go to complete modern excess and have the crucifixion depicted in such a stylized manner that all connection to the actual crucifixion is lost.

And here is the honoree of this cathedral: São Sebastião, St. Sebastian:

He is the patron saint of Rio de Janeiro (because the city was founded on his feast day) (he never visited here) (he died around A.D. 288 in the Diocletian persecution of the Christians). I am not sure why he is a carriage, especially such a lavish-looking one. I guess it's to parade him around in style on his feast day, January 20.

The Mother Teresa statue is a main Kodak Photo Spot at the cathedral.

Less so Saint John Paul II.

He's out in the front, up on a pedestal, away from the foot traffic. 

Next stop: Niteroi.