As South America prepares for kick-off in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Carmen Michael takes a look at what some of the host cities have to offer outside the stadiums. Sunset soccer on Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro All eyes on the ball JUNE 2014 QANTAS 63 T HEY SAY YOU HAVEN’T seen Rio until you have seen a game at the Maracanã Stadium and heard the sound of a thousand drums, the ground beneath your feet vibrating as the crowd roars with passion. The Maracanã is less of a stadium than a sacred terreno, a place of worship where all stand equal before the ball. It’s no coincidence that recent political protests have chosen to focus on Brazil’s football stadiums or that Brazil’s presidents are fond of football metaphors. Everyone is a footballer in Brazil, it is a space where anyone can play and have their say, not to mention an excuse for one big party. The Brazilians have always had the moves. Now they’ve got the stadiums, ready as they’ll ever be for the millions of people expected to pour into Brazil for the World Cup this month (June 12-July 13). There are 12 stadiums in 12 extraordinarily diverse cities, from the grandiose cityscapes of Rio, São Paulo and Brasilia, to historic Salvador and Recife, to the rich rural settlements of Cuiabá and Porto Alegre. And you can be sure that every beach, town square, riverside or colonial town will attract a crowd of locals, gathered around a television, drinking beer and yelling “goooal Braaazil!” RIO DE JANEIRO They’re renting out rooms in the favelas (shantytowns), the new train tracks are nearly down and the Maracanã Stadium has been rebuilt in preparation for a party in a city that’s known a few in its time. More than 300,000 visitors are expected to invade Rio de Janeiro for the World Cup. The allure of beaches such as Ipanema and Copacabana in the south means that most visitors to Rio rarely venture north beyond the nightlife district of Lapa, but the World Cup presents a unique chance to see the city’s more authentic Zona Norte (North Rio). At the centre of the action will be the Maracanã Stadium, a powerful cultural symbol with smooth modernist lines, which was recently refurbished with new bars, improved access, new seating and a roof that collects rainwater for recycling. Tradition has it that football fans congregate on the Alzirão (Rua Conde de Bonfim and Alzira Brandão, Tijuca), the next best thing to being there, with tens of thousands of crazy Brazilian fans resplendent in yellow, green and blue dancing in the streets beneath enormous TV screens. In the vicinity is the traditional botequim (tavern) Bar Varnhagen (14 Praça Varnhagen, Tijuca), a classic neighbourhood bar serving chilled beer and meat pastries. The best hotels closest to the football action are located in the bohemian hilltop district of Santa Teresa, where travellers can find atmospheric boutique hotels in converted historic buildings such as Relais & Chateaux’s Hotel Santa Teresa (66 Rua Almirante Alexandrino) and Mama Ruisa (132 Rua Santa Cristina). Chopperia Brazooka in nearby Lapa (72 Avenida Mem de Sá), in the heart of
Transcript
As South America prepares for kick-off in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, Carmen Michael
takes a look at what some of the host cities have to offer outside the stadiums.
Sunset soccer on Ipanema Beach,
Rio de Janeiro
All eyes on the ball
J U N E 2014 Q A N TA S 6 3
THEY SAY YOU HAVEN’T seen Rio until you have seen a game at the Maracanã Stadium and heard the sound of a thousand drums, the ground beneath your feet vibrating as the crowd roars with passion. The Maracanã is less of a stadium than a sacred terreno, a place of worship
where all stand equal before the ball. It’s no coin cidence that recent political protests have chosen to focus on Brazil’s football stadiums or that Brazil’s presidents are fond of football metaphors. Everyone is a footballer in Brazil, it is a space where anyone can play and have their say, not to mention an excuse for one big party.
The Brazilians have always had the moves. Now they’ve got the stadiums, ready as they’ll ever be for the millions of people expected to pour into Brazil for the World Cup this month (June 12-July 13). There are 12 stadiums in 12 extraordinarily diverse cities, from the grandiose cityscapes of Rio, São Paulo and Brasilia, to historic Salvador and Recife, to the rich rural settlements of Cuiabá and Porto Alegre. And you can be sure that every beach, town square, riverside or colonial town will attract a crowd of locals, gathered around a television, drinking beer and yelling “goooal Braaazil!”
RIO DE JANEIRO
They’re renting out rooms in the favelas (shantytowns), the new train tracks are nearly down and the Maracanã Stadium has been rebuilt in preparation for a party in a city that’s known a few in its time. More than 300,000 visitors are expected to invade Rio de Janeiro for the World Cup.
The allure of beaches such as Ipanema and Copacabana in the south means that most visitors to Rio rarely venture north beyond the nightlife district of Lapa, but the World Cup presents a unique chance to see the city’s more authentic Zona Norte (North Rio). At the centre of the action will be the Maracanã Stadium, a powerful cultural symbol with smooth modernist lines, which was recently refurbished with new bars, improved access, new seating and a roof that collects rainwater for recycling.
Tradition has it that football fans congregate on the Alzirão (Rua Conde de Bonfim and Alzira Brandão, Tijuca), the next best thing to being there, with tens of thousands of crazy Brazilian fans resplendent in yellow, green and blue dancing in the streets beneath enormous TV screens. In the vicinity is the traditional botequim (tavern) Bar Varnhagen (14 Praça Varnhagen, Tijuca), a classic neighbourhood bar serving chilled beer and meat pastries.
The best hotels closest to the football action are located in the bohemian hilltop district of Santa Teresa, where travellers can find atmospheric boutique hotels in converted historic buildings such as Relais & Chateaux’s Hotel Santa Teresa (66 Rua Almirante Alexandrino) and Mama Ruisa (132 Rua Santa Cristina). Chopperia Brazooka in nearby Lapa (72 Avenida Mem de Sá), in the heart of
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Soccer action on Rio’s Ipanema Beach; Copan Building by Oscar Niemeyer, São Paulo (left)
SÃO PAULO
The Arena de São Paulo might be more familiar as the focus of anti-government protests, but travellers shouldn’t be dissuaded. São Paulo is a city in a state of permanent protest; the residents are constantly redefining its social and cultural boundaries. Simply observe the complex graffiti movements and brutalist architecture that define this sprawling, untamed city.
Festivities kick off with the opening ceremony at the stadium on June 12, featuring Jennifer Lopez and Pitbull. Most visitors are staying in the excellent range of international hotels in Jardins, Pinheiros and Vila Madelena so they can feast on the city’s excellent Japanese, Italian and Brazilian cuisine while accessing the stadium by an easy train ride. Take your pick of world-class hotels in the Jardins neighbourhood – from the sleek city hotel Fasano (88 Rua Vittorio Fasano) to the super-luxe Emiliano (384 Rua Oscar Freire) and the contemporary Hotel Unique (4700 Avenida Brigadeiro Luís Antônio), all of which are hosting World Cup glitterati.
São Paulo has no shortage of football bars to visit after or during matches, some international in flavour such as the quintessentially Irish All Black Bar (163 Rua Oscar Freire, Jardins) and others with a more local tone, such as botequim Posto 6 (646 Rua Aspicuelta, Vila Madalena); part-football-museum, part-bar São Cristóvão (533 Rua Aspicuelta, Vila Madalena); and samba bar Artilheiros (1194 Rua Mourato Coelho, Pinheiros). Serious fans won’t want to miss São Paulo’s homage to the rich culture of football at the Museu do Futebol (Praça Charles Miller, Estádio do Pacaembu).
Rio’s nightlife district, with televisions on every floor, always draws an enthusiastic football contingent..
Never ones to stay on the sidelines, Brazilians also love a game of their own, often accompanied by elaborate churrascos (barbecues) and social gatherings. Games are played around the clock on the pitches at Parque do Flamengo, a modernist waterfront park designed by famous Brazilian landscape designer Roberto Burle Marx, in which is located the brutalist concrete facade of the Museu de Arte Moderna (85 Avenida Infante Dom Henrique, Flamengo). Anyone can front up to the casual beach football games played around Posto 10 on Ipanema Beach, but underestimate the shirtless children at your peril – this is where the finesse of futebol arte (the free-flowing, attacking game synonymous with Brazil) is born.
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MANAUS
The football teams might have been hoping they didn’t draw Manaus in the middle of the humid Brazilian Amazon, but that shouldn’t deter the visitors from what is guaranteed to be a strange and wonderful travel experience in the world’s biggest rainforest. Plenty of cultural events have been scheduled around the four World Cup matches to be played at Manaus’ Arena da Amazônia. A visit in late June will coincide with the colourful street festival Bumba Meu Boi (June 27-29), celebrated throughout the Amazon on a scale that rivals Carnival.
World Cup celebrations are taking place in the historical centre, about 6km south of the stadium, the focal point of which is the rose-coloured Teatro Amazonas (Avenida Eduardo Ribeiro), a Renaissance-style opera house built at the height of the rubber boom, which had a cameo role in Werner Herzog’s film Fitzcarraldo (1982).
The mysterious frescos on the walls of the theatre’s Noble Salon are worth checking out. The most popular spot will be Bar do Armando, a lively bohemian bar beside the theatre. Also in the old town, travellers can shop for high-quality indigenous art works at the Galeria Amazônica (272 Rua Costa Azevedo) and sample the tasty tacacá fish stew sold from street stalls.
No doubt, there will be plenty of post-match celebrating at Tropical Manaus Ecoresort (1320 Avenida Coronel Teixeira, Ponta Negra), the city’s only real five-star hotel, which contains a mini zoo featuring a jaguar, and a swim-up pool bar within its sprawling jungle grounds. The nearby riverfront park of Ponta Negra is the spot for concerts during the Cup. Most travellers, however, are probably staying in well-heeled Adrianópolis, several kilometres south-east of the stadium, where rum house Cachaçaria do Dedé (1300 Avenida Mário Ypiranga), which specialises in cachaça (a distilled sugarcane spirit), is a popular haunt for local fans. RI
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BRASILIA
Possibly the only place in Brazil that was actually ready for the World Cup ahead of time, Brazil’s futuristic capital offers fans a vision of a Brazil less recognisable to outsiders: contemporary design and pitch-perfect organisation amid some of the world’s most visionary architectural masterpieces.
The impressive Estádio Nacional de Brasília hosts seven games from its location on the western end of Brasilia’s Monumental Axis – along which can be found some of architect Oscar Niemeyer’s most famous buildings, including the National Congress, Planalto Palace and the Catedral Metropolitana. Hotels are typically located within the designated Setor Hoteleiro, a purpose-built area containing most of the big hotel names, including the recently refurbished Royal Tulip Brasilia Alvorada (Trecho 1) designed by celebrated Brazilian architect Ruy Ohtake.
There will be plenty of post-match celebrations at the Arena Futebol Clube (Trecho 3, Setor de Clubes Esportivos) within another purpose-built area designated for sporting clubs, which doubles as a forro (Brazillian dance) and samba club on weekends. And with an army of politicians and lobbyists to feed, there are plenty of top-shelf restaurants, including Fasano’s Gero (Shopping Iguatemi, Lago Norte) and Mangai (Trecho 2, Setor de Clubes Esportivos), which offers cuisine typical of Brazil’s north-east such as baião de dois, a delicious rice dish of black-eyed peas and salted beef.
SALVADOR
The celebrations have already started – or maybe they just never ended – in coastal Salvador, famous for its rich Afro-Brazilian culture and Brazil’s biggest Carnival. Idyllic tropical beaches, a stadium in walking distance of the city’s heritage-listed old town, and easy access to holiday hot spots such as Trancoso, guarantee this host city will be one of the most popular places to see the World Cup.
Six games and a calendar of cultural events are being hosted in the city during the World Cup, including a concert by Gilberto Gil (June 24) and the cheerful street festival Festa Junina, also known as São João da Bahia, which runs throughout June. Built in the Baroque style of Lisbon, with steep layered streets and long stone staircases, Salvador offers plenty of colonial oddities and cultural relics from its dark past as a slave-trading post. Candomblé (Afro-Brazilian religion) and capoeira are common in the region once described by author Jorge Amado as “black and religious, almost as mysterious as the green sea”. It is also home to renowned drum group Olodum, performing at the World Cup opening ceremony.
The brand-new Arena Fonte Nova is a convenient 20-minute walk from the heritage-listed town of Pelourinho, where a street party is expected to take place each night of the World Cup. There aren’t
Maracanã Stadium, Rio
Teatro Amazonas,
Manaus; toucan in the Amazon
(below left)
Catedral Metropolitana, Brasilia (above); Pelourinho historic centre, Salvador (right)
FORTALEZA
If your idea of a great footballing holiday involves plenty of beach time, you would be hard-pressed to go past Forteleza, the “Gold Coast” of Brazil. Dunes, endless beaches and water theme parks have made the north-eastern Brazilian city one of the country’s favourite holiday playgrounds.
Four matches are being played at the upgraded Estadio Castelão, some 10km from the beach, where most of the attractions and hotels are located. High-rise hotels abound in the city, so travellers in search of hip boutique hotels might have to travel along the coast to the more remote beaches and hotels such as Orixas Art Hotel (Praia de Flecheiras, Trairi), about 140km north; or Hotel Vila Selvagem (Praia de Pontal do Maceió, Fortim), 130km south.
Nightlife in Fortaleza during the World Cup is all about beaches such as Praia do Futuro, where beachside huts serve fresh seafood, or Praia de Iracema, where the bars and clubs are mostly located. Sports-themed bars are all the rage during the World Cup, notably Buoni Amici’s Sport Bar (80 Rua Dragão do Mar, Praia Iracema). Popular places for shopping include the luxury artisan Centro de Artesanato do Ceará (1589 Avenida Santos Dumont, Praça Luiza Távora) and the Mercado Central (Central Market, 199 Avenida Alberto Nepomuceno), which is great for finding souvenirs.
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many trendy bars in laid-back Salvador – shorts and thongs tend to do quite nicely. Catch some of the city’s excellent music at Galpão Cheio de Assunto (40 Rua Djalma Dutra, Sete Portas) or Jam at the MAM, a Saturday night music program at the Museu de Arte Moderna da Bahia (Solar do Unhao, Avenida Contorno, Comercio).
Refuel after a big day on Salvador’s distinctive local cuisine, including delicious moqueca (coconut fish stew) on the garden terrace of the popular Maria Mata Mouro (8 Rua da Órdem Terceira, Pelourinho) or acarajé (fried prawn snack) from a street vendor. On match-free afternoons, travellers can cool off – and maybe even play a little beach football of their own – on arguably the best city beach in the world, Porto da Barra.
The central city location also means travellers can take their pick of the best hotels, such as the converted convent of Pestana Convento do Carmo (1 Rua do Carmo, Santo Antônio Além do Carmo); the colonial terrace of La Villa Bahia (16/18 Largo do Cruzeiro de São Francisco, Pelourinho); or the Aram Yami boutique hotel (132 Rua Direita de Santo Antonio, Santo Antônio Além do Carmo), where the rooftop pool is a great place to beat the heat. C
It seems fitting that Australia plays one of its games on June 18 in Porto Alegre, capital of the gaúchos (cowboys) of Brazil and the birthplace of football superstar Ronaldinho Gaúcho. Known for their fiercely independent Spanish-influenced rancho culture – which led to a bloody revolution in 1835 as the state of Rio Grande do Sul attempted to gain its independence – the surrounding rural and winemaking regions will be familiar to most Australians.
The Estadio Beira-Rio hosts five matches at its sunset-glorious location on the banks of the River Guaiba. Post-match celebrations focus on the Centro Historico, most likely around the public market area where the 124-year-old Restaurante Gambrinus (85 Mercado Publico, Centro) serves Brazilian classics from a grand colonial building. Nearby, in the Cidade Baixa neighbourhood, streets such as Rua da República have plenty of small bars to provide refreshment for thirsty World Cup pilgrims.
Surrounded by bountiful agricultural produce, Porto Alegre is also one of the best places to sample a classic Brazilian churrascaria. Na Brasa Steak (Praia de Belas Shopping, 1181 Avenida Praia de Belas) is a crowd favourite for meat, while the Outback Steakhouse chain is bound to attract a few Australians to its Porto Alegre outlet (1800 Avenida João Wallig, Passo D’Areia).
For airfares and holiday packages to Brazil call Qantas Holidays on 1300 735 542 or visit qantas.com/holidaysaustralianway
Spend One Perfect Day in Rio de Janeiro, discover Brazil’s top beach destinations and learn about Brazilian design at qantas.com/travelinsider
Estadio Beira-Rio, Porto Alegre (above); Rio Grande do Sul Museum of Art, Porto Alegre (left)
To the beat of the drums: Olodum at Carnival in Pelourinho, Salvador (left); Ground Zero sculpture by Rio Ceara, Fortaleza (below)
