While in Argentina, a friend suggested that we look at a Brazilian airline called GOL for flying within (and to) Brazil. Finding that we could fly Curitiba to Brasilia for around $100, we splurged and decided to fly, skipping the 12+ hour bus ride.

The capital of Brazil, Brasilia is known as a undesirable place to visit     it is large, expensive, and generally unwalkable. It is one of the newest national capitals in the world. and is shaped in the form of an airplane. The entire city was designed and planned in sections with separate areas for hotels, commerce, and government with a HUGE emphasis on freeways. There are virtually no stoplights in the city and most roads are freeways (although with more artistic interchanges than we are used to in the US).

This biggest draw for us however, was the modern architecture. Buildings in Brasilia are typically white, open, imposing, and somewhat Meet-George-Jetson-looking. I ususally don’t get too excited about architecture, but upon arriving I realized why this was designated as a UNESCO world heritage site: its impressive.

To tour all of the monuments and buildings which are widely separated   and connected by freeways (or 16 lane arterials). By foot, it would be many kilometers and would take several days. En route to the bus station, I asked our taxista if he had a recommendation for how to get around to all of the sights of the city in a reasonable amount of time. He offered to take us around the entire city via taxi for a reasonable price, and we took him up on it. He gave us a tour complete with descriptions of all the buildings and important sites. It was in Portuguese and I was able to understand and partially translate. We were taken to the major buildings and memorials, across a crazy bridge (Ponte JK), and even lunch at a Churrascaria while we waited out the rain. Moral of the story: when in Brasilia, the best tour is from a knowledgeable taxi driver that is patient and proud of his city, especially when you have one day and its raining.