Explore Brasília and the Planalto Central
The Torre de Televisão (TV Tower) on Eixo Monumental is an obvious city landmark and easily reached on foot or by bus (#131 from the rodoviária). The 218-metre-high tower’s viewing platform is a great place from which to put Brasília into perspective, and there is no better spot to watch the sunset – though frustratingly there is no bar to watch it from. At the weekend the tower is also popular for its craft market, held around the base – a good place to pick up cheap clothes.
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Memorial JK (Juscelino Kubitschek)
Memorial JK (Juscelino Kubitschek)
Further up the Eixo is the Memorial JK (Juscelino Kubitschek), best reached by one of the many buses heading up the Eixo, as it’s too far to walk. Here, a rather Soviet-looking statue of Brasília’s founder stands inside an enormous question-mark, pointing down the Eixo towards the heart of government. The museum below reverently reproduces JK’s library and study, while the man himself lies upstairs in state in a black marble sarcophagus, backlit by an extraordinary combination of purple, violet and orange lights – the only thing missing is a sound system piping in “The Age of Aquarius”. All around is a fascinating display of personal mementoes of JK’s career and the founding and construction of the city, including photos and video clips of his funeral and the dedication of the Memorial – in turning out in their hundreds of thousands in his honour, despite the desire of the military dictatorship to keep the event low-key, the population of the Distrito Federal made the first important anti-military demonstration, one of the reasons for the subsequent slow relaxing of the military’s grip on power.
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Parque Sara Kubitschek
Parque Sara Kubitschek
A short walk from Setor Hoteleiro Sul, taking up one entire side of the Eixo, is the enormous Parque Sara Kubitschek, named after JK’s wife (bus #152 from the rodoviária passes by) – a massive mosaic of playgrounds, jogging tracks, bars and restaurants, picnic grounds, artificial lakes, parklands and woods. If you want to walk or jog in Brasília, this is the place to do it. The southern entrance, a block away from the hotel sector, is where many of the attractions are concentrated, including an enjoyably tacky but perfectly safe (despite appearances) funfair that will appeal to young children, and a place to hire pedalôs – adult-sized tricycles that are harder work than they look, but great fun nonetheless. The best time to visit is Sunday morning, when the locals turn out en masse to jog, work out, sunbathe or read the paper, while dozens of kiosks and street-sellers tout everything from iced green coconuts to shiatsu massage.
