THIS IS THE BRAZIL YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT! (Brasilia)

[Music] what's the capital of Brazil the largest country in South America no it's not Rio de Janeiro and no it's not Sal Pao either it's this place chances are you haven't heard of it founded in 1960 Brazilia is the third most populous city in Brazil home to 5 million people who came from all over the country on the promise of making a better life for themselves it's far from the most beautiful city in the world the Earth is red the architecture otherworldly everything is man-made even the lake and you can't get anywhere without a car

but it's a deceptively wonderful place you just have to know where to [Music] look we are in Brazilia it's the capital and Central of government in Brazil and it's not as inyour face beautiful as other well-known Brazilian destination the city is really vast and sprawling it's very car Centric and there's no real Central area of Commerce or tourism where you can just go wander and get lost it really helps to know someone here who can point you in the right direction and show you what to eat where to go what to see there are a

lot of hidden gems here and lenza is a Brazilia local so he's going to take it upon himself to show us around this [Music] [Applause] city Brazilia has been the capital of Brazil since 1960 and it has a really interesting backstory so prior to that the capital was Rio de Janeiro but the government wanted to move the capital to the interior of the country and there used to be absolutely nothing here just Red Dirt the city was designed to be fully car Centric which was incredibly Innovative at the time and it was designed to be

in the shape of an airplane so if you look at an aerial view that's what you'll see the body of the airplane is where all the government buildings are it's where we are now and the wings of the airplane are residential so the three powers Plaza symbolizes the three major powers of the Brazilian government so you have the Supreme Court over there you have the president's house over there and behind me is Congress the representatives and the Senate nobody outside of Brazil seems to know much about Brazilia with one notable exception architecture students and that's

because Brazilia was planned and built all within a 3-year period which is a really amazing feat if you think about it so workers were brought from all over Brazil specifically the very poor Northeast region and they were put to work this city is one of the best examples all over the world of postwar modernism Oscar near Meer designed a lot of the buildings here so it's just a big point of interest for architecture students as you can imagine there's really an otherworldly feel here with all the stark white modernist architecture you can only imagine how

futuristic all of this felt in 1960 when it was first constructed this is the most iconic structure in Brazil and the city's biggest tourist attraction I've been to Brazilia probably four times now to visit lens's family and have never been inside and it's interesting because you enter by Going Underground rather than there being a door in the [Music] building it's very interesting with the stained glass and the Three Angels floating on the ceiling and and there you actually have a few confessional [Music] boxes Oscar near Meer designed over two dozen buildings here in Brazilia so

he more than anyone else has really shaped the identity of this city and it's just really crazy to think about because most Architects don't get to realize their Vision at such a grand scale like an entire city but also other parts of Brazil as well so you can really see his influence in sou Paulo Rio other major Brazilian [Music] cities Brazilia is built for cars a legacy of the modernist planning ideals of the mid 20th century vast highways and wide roads are the veins connecting the city and the needs of pedestrians are more of an

afterthought having a car here to get around is a non-negotiable these days the world prefers something a bit more walkable but back then a car Centric city was the peak of modernity and progressiveness and the whole philosophy of Brazilia as a city why and how it was built was the future [Music] this is one of my favorite BOS in the world it's called Pi I used to come here when I was 18 to 25 somewhere around that age and this is the real real [Music] deal we're at a bco it's a very classic style of

Brazilian bar it's really casual you have these plastic tables and seats people come here to drink cold beer watch some football and hang out with their friends one thing about Brazil the beer is always going to be really really cold you see this that's that Frost right there it's really the only way to drink beer if you think about it another great thing about both teos it's not hard to make new friends even if you don't speak the same language what Isco culture in Brazil B cure for the workers it's everything it's the plas table

cold beer and a lot of food with fat and salt we got a classic bar snack some chicharon or tesmo in Portuguese fried pork belly and apparently if you don't have tesmo you're not a real bco according to lenza I don't make the rules this is what I'm told this is so good so crunchy the perfect bar snack so do you two come to Theos a lot together yes very nice I need to learn so BOS are really nice very relaxed easy to make friends have some drinks Sur Vibes now we're going to go dance

some ful with our new friends and it's a Monday night [Music] faha is both a musical genre and dance originating in the northeast of Brazil it is wholesome and folky and Incredibly popular all across the [Music] country every Brazilian is a better dancer than you even if they aren't more technically skilled they just have rhythm here you know they're not thinking too hard about it they're just having fun so here I am just trying to keep [Music] up this botco has live music multiple times a week but because it's cesa junina or June Festival the

celebrations are inspired by that so you have the traditional folk music that is played at fesa junina and the dances that we were just doing and there's a bonfire here so throughout the month of June you'll see them all over the city and it's in honor of this specific festiv it has a religious element but here at Theo it's just like a nice reason to party [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] Festa junina is Brazil's most important celebration after Carnival with Origins and European Midsummer festivals it is an homage to Rural Life and the country's Catholic beliefs

throughout June and July Brazilians across the country come together to Revel in the Harvest honor their their Saints and do choreographed folk dances in colorful Patchwork costumes it is a celebration as colorful and deeply rooted in Tradition as Brazil [Music] itself it's always a good idea to visit the local market in any new destination and today Sunday which means it's more bustling than usual with Brazilian doing their weekly grocery shopping and eating and drinking with friends we love visiting markets like these because they're a really good window into a local Cuisine and how people cook

the vendors at fedas are local farmers Artisans and small businesses Goods here are often cheaper than in supermarkets and much better quality this is a really nice Market they have everything produce nuts cheeses Meats it's way better than any grocery store we've been to in Brazilia and we've been to a [Music] lot try a little [Music] grape M oh those are delicious this very nice vender just insisted that we take the entire bag of grapes or else he would be very offended oh oh my God [Music] I can never resist getting a fresh coconut when

I'm in tropical countries it's like a one a day type of habit they're really like the perfect fruit it's one of those things where you're like how is this naturally occurring it's almost like too perfect so I've been sick for pretty much three weeks straight first I got food poisoning when I first arrived and that took me out for about 2 weeks cuz I was really dehydrated and not feeling very well and then I got better for a single day and then I got the flu and then I was sick for a full week after

that so these are really my lifeline they're really good for me right now Sundays are the day to come to the market in Brazil it's like a tradition after church family and friends come here and chill they have a few beers have some conversation have some good food it's just a proper Sunday Funday going to the F on Sundays is something you look forward throughout the week CU it's a time for you to relax to meet your friends to eat some amazing good food cilia is a mix of people from all over Brazil who moved

here who brought their culture food so this food specifically is from the northeast of the country this dish is couscous with a fried egg and costella which is beef rib and then the broth that the costell was cooked in it's really hearty there's also cheese in the couscous [Music] love my [Music] food and sometimes you find yourself on a boat with a bunch of friends on the weekend W [Music] wo in the 1950s there was nothing here and the natural climate is really dry so a lake was built and it's incredibly beautiful you wouldn't even

know that it's [Music] manmade very nice very cheap very cheap the richly charm lives everywhere but the contrast between them and everyone else feels especially Stark in places like like Brazilia to the point where it feels like they exist within a completely different city the lake is one such example from afar it's pretty on a boat though you get a completely different point of [Music] view [Music] Yi and what's a boat ride without snacks you can expect barbecue at pretty much every Brazilian social occasion the meat is cut into bite-sized Pieces by the assigned Grill

Master and delivered right to you eat it with your hands of course my favorite thing about bra Brazilia um is are the sunsets that we have during the winter those are beautiful and also how the climate's always pretty Pleasant [Music] [Music] Mar only 10% % of Brazilia population actually live in the original planned city the rest are in Satellite cities residential sectors that sprouted up around the newly built Brazilia to accommodate population overflow and the working class one such Satellite City is riao fundoo and we're here tonight for delicious affordable barbecued meat best enjoyed on

plastic chairs with family and friends barbecue smoke the official perfume of Brazil there's nothing Brazilians love more than grilled meat and one of their favorite iterations are bite-sized pieces on a skewer otherwise known as esos and right now it's a Friday night we're in one of the many satellite cities in Brazilia and you have lots of families here just hanging out drinking some beer eating some meat it's just a casual Friday night just a simple thing grilled meat on a stick seasoned with thick salt that's the Brazilian way and that's really all you [Music] [Music]

need Brazilian zit is Pino every single day it's delicious cheap you don't have to cook at home so our favorite food is barbecue as everybody know at this point this is yet another example of how you can't do Brazilia without a local You' never find a place like this in a guide book or even on Google Maps you just need someone to show [Music] you it's worth doing some serious research before coming to Brazilia without friends and proper information it can be an intimidating and spread out City not so pretty at the first glance but

if you look a little further if you spend a little more time you'll find a lot of Hidden Gem great people and cool stuff to [Music] do for