What's the action like in Pelotas today?

[IamI2002]

At the risk of showing I'm just a tad over 31, yet still buff and cute with all my dark brown hair and the sveltenes offered by rigourous Cybex training 6 days a week, I remember Pelotas as being the super-gay town in Brazil (akin to our own San Francisco). Is this still the case? I haven't read a word about Pelotas in these threads.

 

Also, I don't know exactly where Bruno is from, but I spent some time in "rural" Santa Cruz do Sul and there were "beaucoup de Bruni" in the area. It was curious to see all these German types speaking Portuguese and contrasting with the minority darker skinned town folk. Does Villa Hoppe mean anything to anyone?

[+ glutes]

Cannot help you on this one, since I've never been to Brazil. But I've been informed that a great place down there is 'Parati', about a 2-3 hour car ride out of Rio. Very attractive in people and place, and also very safe. Will be watching this thread develope...

[+ Axiom2001]

This is oh so coincidental. Last Sat. night my Paulista friend wrote in my large green wireless notebook this name: Parati. He said that I must visit; I didn't ask him why, nor did he venture to tell me anything except that I will like the place.

 

Now late this evening by Westcoast standards or time-- it appears.

Thanks! I will honor my friend's request as well as what you wrote, glutes...

[trilingual]

Pelotas, for some strange reason, has developed a national reputation in Brazil as being "the gay capital." Lord only knows why, because it's a smallish city in the very southernmost part of Brazil with no distinguishing features. There's a university, but no particular tourist attractions. Perhaps the story got going because "Pelotas" is Portuguese for "balls." How the city got it's name is a bit of a mystery, although there was an an article about the town and its reputation in the New York Times within the last year.

 

Parati is a really beautiful town on the coastline between Rio and São Paulo. Centuries ago it was the port for the gold and diamonds coming from the interior, but when Rio became the capital in the mid-1700's and a new road was built there from Minas Gerais, the gold trade shifted to Rio and Parati died on the vine. Cut off from the rest of the world, except by boat, it remained a perfectly preserved baroque colonial town until the Rio-Santos highway was built twenty or thirty years ago. The historic center is still as it was hundreds of years ago, but the town, with an exquisite setting of bay and mountains, has become an artists colony and a popular weekend getaway for people from Rio and SP. Many nice "pousadas," art galleries, restaurants, festivals, bars, etc., not to mention the essential cruises to visit some of the myriad islands and beaches in the emerald bay. Parati is very gay-friendly, and even has the only openly gay mayor in Brazil. If you go, visit the art gallery "Studio Bananal," owned by a couple of very good friends. I happen to think their work is very good. You can get more information at http://www.paraty.com.br. Information is available in English. My friends' artwork can be viewed (text in Portuguese only) at http://www.paraty.com.br/bananal. However, I notice the address on their page is out-of-date; they've moved to r. da Matriz, 1.

 

There are lots of pousadas, of varying degrees of luxe. I've stayed at Pousada do Príncipe, owned by Dom João de Orléans e Bragança. (Dom Joãozinho, the cute hunky member of the former imperial family.) The imperial family still has a lot of property in the area, and the prince has a home in the old center. This pousada is outside the colonial center (but only three blocks away; Parati is small). However, it's very attractive and comfortable, and is located very close to the bus station, so you can walk the block and a half from the bus station to the pousada, rolling your suitcase with you.

 

If you're visiting Rio and São Paulo, there is bus service to both cities, so you can visit Parati en route between the two cities. Rio is about 4 hours by bus to Parati. São Paulo is about seven hours. Both routes are very scenic. If you have the time, and want to take a short break (two or three days is plenty) it would be hard to go wrong visiting Parati.