After following the religious procession through Ouro Preto, we returned to the church of "Nossa Sra. do Rosario", which we stumbled upon (still June 7, 2007).

This was the cross on the roof of the first "Then and Now".
From the 1939 book, "Travel in Brazil".
Pretty much the same, except fresh paint and new steps! Still, no homes on the hill to the right of the church!
In color.

This is the same church as above, but taken from 3 blocks away. It was also from the same book.
The first building on the left is the same as it was 68 years ago, although hanging lamps were added above the windows If you follow the street up the hill, the first house on the right side of the street has been expanded.
It is fun to stand in a "Then and Now" spot and figure out which ones were new, which were old and which have been modified. Hey, I am retired and there is no rush to get anywhere!

The next "Then and Now" ended up being the church of "São Francisco de Assis", built in 1772. Ouro Preto is a "UNESCO World Heritage Landmark", therefore changes are minimal. (Book: "Travel in Brazil")
New paint, but the same front doors! The fence is now different.
If you ever have the chance to visit Brazil, do not miss Ouro Preto.
And a "Tourist" picture of Sandy, the motorcycle and "São Francisco de Assis".

The next "Then and Now" was very easy to find, as it was located only 214 feet down the hill from our hotel room (verified with a measurement from Google Earth)!  It was the "Casa dos Contos".  It was built in the 1700's.  It was once a home, money mint and city hall.  The building has been through a recent restoration to save it from turning to rubble!  Notice all the new trees that are now located on the hill to the left of the Mint!

The following are a few of the hundreds of pictures we took, as we rode around Ouro Preto.

Just outside the center core of the city.

Everywhere you look, it is a picture!

I took this picture inside the "Mint", looking out.

This is my attempt to be artistic.  (the roof of the "Mint", taken from a window in the "Mint")

Not a great photo, but I liked it for some reason.
The Pan American Games start on July 13th, in Rio de Janeiro. The torch is being run around Brazil, like they do with the Olympic Torch, prior to the games.
Our hotel (in the center of the picture). The "Mint" in the lower right hand corner.

On the 8th of June we took a steam train from Ouro Preto to another mining town called Mariana.

We had coffee while we waited for our 11:00 am departure to Mariana.
The locomotive was relatively new (it was built in 1949 by Skoda, a company of the Czech Republic, which now builds cars).
Proof that it was a steam locomotive.

One of many tunnels.  Picture taken looking towards the front of the train.

And looking backwards.

The train station in Mariana, Brazil. In case you still do not recognize Sandy, she is the one in the green shirt.

The church on the left was Saint Francis of Assisi (1763).

The church on the right is the Nossa Senhora do Carmo (1784).

Both churches are examples of Brazilian Baroque.

You have to wonder why "two large churches were built so close to one another"?

Zoning Laws?

And only 4 blocks away was the Basilica of "São Pedro dos Clérigos", built in 1748
In this part of Brazil, many restaurants have buffets like this. You fill your plate with whatever you want, then weight the plate and pay so much per Kilo. You can eat very well for less than $5.00.
Less than 600 feet from the first two churches was another Basilica called "Basilica da Sé (built in 1709).

We  only had 2 hours in Mariana, and we had 2 "Then and Now's" to locate.  I did not like the time constraint.  It was like being on a tour, and having to catch a bus.  I guess we could always ride the motorcycle back to Mariana on another day.

The first "Then and Now" was easy to find, as it was one of the 2 churches located right next to one another (Nossa Senhora do Carmo).
The building to the left of the church is now missing. The roof line of the building to the right of the church has been changed.
Roads are still cobblestone!
This was a tough one to find.  There are 1,000's of balconies in Mariana. Most are made of wood. This one was made of soap stone. Sandy and I ran up and down Mariana's streets for one hour, then "There it was". We would make the train!
I did not have the right camera lens to replicate this photo very accurately. Hey... We found the balcony!

We made it back to the train station just in time to see the locomotive moved from one end of the train to the other. Very enjoyable day!

That is it through the 8th of June.

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