Porto Alegre Day 2 to Pelotas Day 1

Today we spent the day sightseeing in Porto Alegre before finishing the drive to Pelotas, our final stop on the road trip.

The sites in Porto Alegre were pretty spread out and in random locations. Our first stop was back to the main plaza to see the cathedral. We also had a look at the statue dedicated to a former president with all of the symbolism and imagery he believed represented him. When we walked up to the cathedral, it was sadly closed until the afternoon so we had to make some amendments to our plans.

We decided to go for a short walk to the local basilica about 15 minutes away. While we were walking we stumbled upon the cultural center. It was hard to miss because of it's size and the pink color. We took the elevator up to the top to get a slight view over the city towards the water. The circular towers were nice and the building itself was probably better to look at than the slight view the terrace offered.

We continued down the street to the church. When we got there, we were glad the other one was closed or we never would have come to this one. There was a long outdoor staircase that led up to the church. It didn't scream Church when you looked at the outside (minus the crosses). When we walked in we were surprised by how bright it was. The interior was a combination of yellows, gold, and light blue. It was one large room with pews that stretched from wall to wall. The altar was interesting because it looked like stairs that led further into the back of the building. It was beautifully and tastefully decorated.

When we left the church, we decided to get a quick Uber to the opposite side of Porto Alegre to see "the most beautiful street in the world". We were a bit skeptical, but with a name like that we thought we had to go and check it out for ourselves. When we got there, we saw a sign that said social media helped propel the street into stardom, and while it was a nice street "most beautiful in the world" we had to disagree. The buildings on either side were somewhat run down and some had pretty hefty security gates. The trees that lined the road on either side creating a canopy were very nice and the cobbled road was picturesque. We completed our walk down the street and continued on towards the port.

We went under a few underpasses that eventually led to the port. Surprisingly there wasn't much here besides some horrible metal gates, a few crappy industrial buildings, and the boat office for the boat that we were taking on the river. We got our tickets and boarded. It was a three level tourist boat with the top being open and the middle had a bar for refreshments. Once the boat started moving, we popped up to the top deck for a better view of the coast and the small islets in the middle of the river. In the distance we could see some serious storm clouds, and I hoped they weren't headed our way. Alas, they were and about halfway through the hour long boat cruise big droplets of rain started. Everyone rushed back downstairs to the sheltered area and continued watching the scenery. The rain did lighten up, but quickly turned torrential. Neither of us has brought our rain jackets and we still wanted to walk back up to see the cathedral we missed this morning.

When we docked back at port, it was still raining. We quickly walked about 5 minutes to an açai place, where they also oddly sold lots of Scottish whisky. We had açai while we waited for the rain to stop. It did lighten up a tiny bit, so we half ran up the street about 10 minutes to the cathedral. We weren't too wet in the end thankfully. It wasn't ornate inside. The cream and brown tones were very neutral, but also helped keep the space light. There were lots of archways and a large dome in the center before the altar. There was also some nice stained glass near the dome. This church is not old and was started less than a hundred years ago, hence its modern facade outside and stripped back interior.

It was torrential downpour again when we walked out of the church, so unfortunately we paid the inflated price for a short Uber back to the hotel to avoid being soaked before our 3 hour drive to Sergio's. Once back at the hotel, we had a coffee while we waited for the rain to ease. Once we had a dry window, we got our backpacks on and walked to the parking garage. After we were all loaded up, we got on the road.

The rain was off and on during the drive and once we were out of Porto Alegre, the roads were fairly chill and quiet. We stopped once for gas and to switch over drivers, but stayed on the road until Pelotas for dinner. We got to Sergio's house just after 9pm. We had to go through a gate with an attendant, it was all very fancy and slightly intimidating. A guard drove with us to the house where we were warmly greeted by Sergio. It was just him when we first got there because his wife, Sylvia, was taking their daughter and son to Porto Alegre (unfortunately Sergio's car was hit by a driver running a red light so they needed someone else to drive their kids). We got acquainted and after chatting for about an hour, Sergio ordered pizza. When Sylvia came back, we said hello and soon the pizza arrived so we all sat down for dinner. The pizza had four different sections of toppings, it was nice to have so many flavors on one pizza!

It was late by the time we had finished dinner, so we got our bags from the car, had a quick shower, and went to bed.Read more