This morning I went to the front desk of my hotel in Belo Horizonte to ask where the nearest laundromat was located. The receptionist drew a map and then explained in mixed Portuguese and English that it was closed today.
“Fechado (closed)? But it’s Thursday.”
He shrugged his shoulders and replied, “Brasil. Futebol.”
To see the rest of Belo Horizonte’s attractions, you need to head about 20 minutes north of the city center to the planned district of Pampulha. There’s public transportation, but we decided on a taxi ride to save time.
As a football fan, I’ve been on a lot of stadium tours, but none have given me chills like I had walking onto the field at Estádio do Maracanã. This historic stadium in football-crazy Rio de Janeiro is the Mecca of football. I’ve been on BETTER stadium tours in more beautiful stadiums, but none in a place as significant as Maracanã.
About a ten minute walk from El Caminito is an icon of La Boca, Estadio Alberto J. Armando, or more commonly known as La Bombonera (The Chocolate Box). This is the home of the Boca Juniors football team whose blue and yellow colors influence a lot of the color schemes in La Boca in Buenos Aires.
The biggest barrio in Buenos Aires without question is Palermo. It’s so big, it’s broken into sub-districts. Most of Palermo is a residential district, but if you like outdoor recreation or a relaxing walk in a park, then this is a good place for you to visit.
Back in December, without any expectations and just for fun, I entered the lottery for FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 tickets. There is less than a 10% chance to get tickets to a game for anyone entering the lottery. I requested tickets for all three of Greece’s group stage games with a friend. Again, the chances of even getting tickets to ONE game was slim to none.
If there’s one thing I love more than travel, it’s hockey, and I take the Chicago Blackhawks with me everywhere I go.
When I had a chance to get cheap tickets to see Kasımpaşa vs Galatasaray at Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadium (Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Stadyumu), I couldn’t refuse.
My favorite football team in the entire world is Olympiakos. I’ve been following them since I was a kid. When I saw online that Olympiakos was playing PAOK during my trip to Athens, my eyes lit up.