The winding Ouro Preto streets are flanked by buildings that date back to colonial times.

We arrived in Ouro Preto — the city of “black gold” — on the evening of July 18.  Ouro Preto, in the state of Minas Gerais, was famous in the 1700s for gold.  It was also the birthplace of Joaquim José da Silva Xavier, a dentist known as the “tooth puller” (Tiradentes), who started the movement of independence from Portugal (the Inconfidência).  He was drawn and quartered in Rio in 1789.  Ouro Preto architecture reminds people of colonial rule.

A statue of Tiradentes (on the left) dominates the Plaza Mayor of Ouro Preto.

We had flown from Brasilia to Belo Horizonte, then taken a 3-hour bus trip to Ouro Preto.  The bus pulled in about 9:00 PM, and our taxi drove to the Pousada Ouro Preto.  Paul had spent a night there before.  We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant with a guitarist-singer who played numerous sambas.  It was cold in Ouro Preto, and no heat in the Pousada, so we moved the next day to the Solar de Rosario.

Souvenir sellers didn’t put their wares away at night, but simply posted a watchman.

Ouro Preto had a great handicrafts market (of which Bridget took full advantage).  The baroque architecture was beautifully preserved, especially the Church of Saint Francis of Assisi.  The cobblestone streets were narrow and steep.  After two nights in Ouro Preto, we returned to Belo Horizonte.  Bad weather delayed us, forcing us to spend a night in Curitiba.  But eventually we arrived at Iguazú Falls.