Visual Highlights from Brasilia (18 Photos)

Unique architecture, good food, great friends, cool cloud formations and beautiful sunset boat rides sums up my five-day trip to Brasilia, the capital city of Brazil.

Brasilia is such an interesting place, from the airplane-like urban layout to the diversity of its people, I really enjoyed my time exploring the city.

Here are some of the visual highlights from Brasilia and a brief explination of each…

The first day I arrived in Brasilia it rained tremendously and I was confined to walking around one of the many shopping malls downtown. By the time the rain stopped I had wandered my up to the service level of the mall where I found the administration office and randomly asked if I could go on the roof.

I told them I was a journalist from the States looking to take some photos and they immediatly had a security guard escort me up two more levels, through a locked gate and onto the roof. Just like that I had the best view of the city and watched a rainbow appear over downtown Brasilia. It was a very cool first impression.

The next day I jumped on a bike and explored the city’s futuristic architecture. Above is the National Museum of the Republic and below is the Praça dos Três Poderes (Three Powers Plaza). The man next to the statues is selling miniature figures of the statues, talk about cornering the market.

Below is the shot of the top of the Cathedral of Brasilia and the futuristic looking bells.

The view from inside the Cathedral of Brasilia is pretty impressive with all the blue and green stained glass windows.

After all the architecture I got hungry and met my boy Rafael here for a pastel (meet or cheese filled fried dough). He loves Pastel.

Back on the road, I watched the sun begin to set behind the JK memorial, which was built for Juscelino Kubitschek, the president who moved the capital of Brazil from Rio de Janeiro to Brasilia in the late 1950s. Even if there are giant metal balls scattered across the lawn in front of his burial site, it’s nothing to JK about.

From there I crossed over the street and went into Brasilia’s central park (Parque da Cidade), known to be one of the biggest municipal parks in the world. So big they even had room for a full-on carnival.

After some churros and ferris wheel spins I headed back across the JK bridge just in time to watch the sunset.

The next morning I woke up early and went to a small market close by my buddy’s place where I was staying and I walked around taking photos while he bought his weekly veggies.

A few shop owners noticed me and asked if I worked for Globo (the CNN of Brazil). I said no but they didn’t believe me and insisted that I come photograph their stands. I ended up having a great conversation with the local meat stick guy about life in Brasilia and his love for cheese.

Happy from the good talk and Portuguese practice, we headed to the President’s house to see if she needed anything.

Isn’t that a funky presidential palace? It backs up right to the lake and their are emus walking around the lawn. After the visit it was off to the lake…

I was fortunate enough to have some great friends who offered to take me out on their friend’s boat to get another viewpoint of the city and see the Presidential palace from the water. The weather and evening was perfect. If you ever plan on visiting Brasilia, I would highly recommend going out with Capitan Zé on one of his many boat charters. Look how happy my friend’s Mike and Marcela are with their son Daniel cruising under the JK bridge.

I wanted a closer look…

Back to downtown Brasilia to see the congress building light up at night.

And then time for some street food. It’s like drive up tailgating but there’s no game.

But they do have these sandwiches… Chicken, bacon, pepperoni, corn, lettuce, tomate and fried potato crisps.

Stay tuned for more Brasilia information coming soon on the Visit Brasil blog and as always, check out the daily photos here.

Gareth

My name is Gareth Leonard, a Marketing Director turned World Traveler with a passion for slow, meaningful travel. I have been traveling the world full-time for the past 9+ years and document it all on Instagram and YouTube. Come join me!