“It’s a road trip! It’s about adventure! . . . It’s not like we have somewhere to go.” ― John Green

While in Brazil, juggling work, and personal issues, Michael and I managed to take one week off to take a road trip through some towns in the state of Minas Gerais.

One town I want to make sure to visit was Ouro Preto (Black Gold). I was there with my mom and sister when I was14 years old. I wanted to return and show Michael that area.

Ouro Preto is a charming colonial mining town, full of history, beautiful baroque churches, cobblestone streets, and so much more. It was funded in the 17th century, and it was the center of the gold rush at that time.

Besides staying a couple of nights in Ouro Preto, we stayed 1 night in Tiradentes, spent a day in Mariana and Congonhas.  We also stayed at a remote bed and breakfast in Brumadinho for a couple of nights.

We wanted to be near Instituto Inhotim, and also spend time quiet time in nature.  Inhotim is a gorgeous open air museum with beautiful gardens, galleries and installations.

On the way home we spent 1 night in Varginha. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see all the UFO related tourism. Varginha supposedly had an UFO sighting in 1996.

And lastly, we spent a day in Pocos de Caldas, a town that is just is just 35 minutes away from my parent’s home. We took the cable car to Christ at the top of a mountain and enjoyed the view.

We had an amazing time and cannot wait to embark in more road trips in Brazil. I will post some photos of this trip here and in the next few posts.