Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Chilean Syrah was excellent, as was my trout. Up early to a magnificent sunrise over the Serra de Caparaó and a little writing – there is so much information that the lines between the pousadas are starting to blur and my memory is becoming less and less reliable as my notes become more and more important.
The inside truth and details of Lavras Novas
While the breakfast table was being set up for Ricardo to photograph, I began my data collection. Lots of details here. When the owners, Maycon and Ana Paula, finally arrived, we did our interview. This account “bought” (remember no money here. This is what Project Exposure is all about) a standard package, so I had plenty of time to try to work on getting some information about Lavras Novas for my destination article. Lucas and I headed into town to the tourism office, where Itamar talked a little history, a little culture, and a little nature. He’s a local native, pretty new to the business, enthusiastic, and open. I asked for a general overview, but he seemed to want questions. Lavras Novas, claims to be older than Ouro Preto, and some folks believe it was settled as a quilombo, a refuge and hideout for runaway slaves.
The Cross in one of Lavras Nova's village squares
Like so many other colonial cities it was settled during the 18th century gold rush, Lavras Novas grew in proportion to the amount of gold to be prospected, but as the heyday declined, so did Lavras Novas. Vestiges like the lovely “country baroque” Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres church, remind us of that past. The more we talked, the more interested and into it Itamar got, so that by the time we had to get a move on he was just gearing up. I did pick up some advice from a documentary video about Lavras Novas that he shared with us, where Advânio, one of Itamar’s zillions of cousins quotes their grandfather, “Saiba dividir a agua e o fubá. Não de um passo maior de que a perna. E angu de um dia só não engorda cachorro.” Literally: “Know how to proportion the water and the corn meal. Don’t take steps larger than your legs. And one day of gruel doesn’t fatten up the dog.” Or in a very rough American translation: “Moderation. Don’t take giant steps. And remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres in Lavras Novas under restauration
What a real local lunch and afternoon entails
Our really local lunch of chicken gizzards and livers, rice and beans, collards, angu, squash – winter and summer, and about 6 to 8 other selections all in soapstone pots on the wood burning stove is still with me as I write. Anyway, after lunch we continued on to our next stop, Pousada Palavras Novas, an incredible maze of apartments and chalets, each one with a totally different and really creative décor, gardens, social space – living rooms, restaurants, pool and spa, chapel, etc. with marvelous views of the mountains. I almost had a melt-down as I tried to figure out how I could ever codify all of this detail into the project format and simultaneously do the description justice. Elaine, the owner, calmed me right down. We had a great interview and ended up spending most of the rest of the afternoon in an innkeeper to innkeeper mode, sharing, brainstorming.
The chalets at Pousada Vila Mineira
A tour of the upper village by sunset and stops for destination photos on the way back to Vila Mineira to crash completed Day 4. Tomorrow we have some catch up to do and two more pousadas, one here and one back in Mariana, before heading back to Belo Horizonte. Then my real work begins.
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Day 4 – Collecting more details and everything surrounding Lavras Novas
Thursday, August 19, 2010
The Chilean Syrah was excellent, as was my trout. Up early to a magnificent sunrise over the Serra de Caparaó and a little writing – there is so much information that the lines between the pousadas are starting to blur and my memory is becoming less and less reliable as my notes become more and more important.
The inside truth and details of Lavras Novas
While the breakfast table was being set up for Ricardo to photograph, I began my data collection. Lots of details here. When the owners, Maycon and Ana Paula, finally arrived, we did our interview. This account “bought” (remember no money here. This is what Project Exposure is all about) a standard package, so I had plenty of time to try to work on getting some information about Lavras Novas for my destination article. Lucas and I headed into town to the tourism office, where Itamar talked a little history, a little culture, and a little nature. He’s a local native, pretty new to the business, enthusiastic, and open. I asked for a general overview, but he seemed to want questions. Lavras Novas, claims to be older than Ouro Preto, and some folks believe it was settled as a quilombo, a refuge and hideout for runaway slaves.
The Cross in one of Lavras Nova's village squares
Like so many other colonial cities it was settled during the 18th century gold rush, Lavras Novas grew in proportion to the amount of gold to be prospected, but as the heyday declined, so did Lavras Novas. Vestiges like the lovely “country baroque” Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres church, remind us of that past. The more we talked, the more interested and into it Itamar got, so that by the time we had to get a move on he was just gearing up. I did pick up some advice from a documentary video about Lavras Novas that he shared with us, where Advânio, one of Itamar’s zillions of cousins quotes their grandfather, “Saiba dividir a agua e o fubá. Não de um passo maior de que a perna. E angu de um dia só não engorda cachorro.” Literally: “Know how to proportion the water and the corn meal. Don’t take steps larger than your legs. And one day of gruel doesn’t fatten up the dog.” Or in a very rough American translation: “Moderation. Don’t take giant steps. And remember that Rome wasn’t built in a day.”
Nossa Senhora dos Prazeres in Lavras Novas under restauration
What a real local lunch and afternoon entails
Our really local lunch of chicken gizzards and livers, rice and beans, collards, angu, squash – winter and summer, and about 6 to 8 other selections all in soapstone pots on the wood burning stove is still with me as I write. Anyway, after lunch we continued on to our next stop, Pousada Palavras Novas, an incredible maze of apartments and chalets, each one with a totally different and really creative décor, gardens, social space – living rooms, restaurants, pool and spa, chapel, etc. with marvelous views of the mountains. I almost had a melt-down as I tried to figure out how I could ever codify all of this detail into the project format and simultaneously do the description justice. Elaine, the owner, calmed me right down. We had a great interview and ended up spending most of the rest of the afternoon in an innkeeper to innkeeper mode, sharing, brainstorming.
The chalets at Pousada Vila Mineira
A tour of the upper village by sunset and stops for destination photos on the way back to Vila Mineira to crash completed Day 4. Tomorrow we have some catch up to do and two more pousadas, one here and one back in Mariana, before heading back to Belo Horizonte. Then my real work begins.
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