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Iron Ore for the World

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Vitoria, Espirito Santo combines typical Brazilian beach life with good food and the amazing industrial installations of Tubarao. North, south and in the city you'll find long stretches of golden sand that invite for relaxation.




	Passenger train from Vitoria to Belo Horizonte

Brazilians consider Vitoria a small city and in a way it is. Its setting is beautiful and with the rocks and the separated quarters with its beaches not unlike Rio, even though not that spectacular. Vitoria is visited by brazilian tourists from the land locked states, like Minas Gerais. Therefore you'll find a wide range of accomodation. Gringos are travelling here mainly on business purpose visiting either Petrobras - the national oil and gas company or CVRD - Brazil's iron ore giant.

A little south of Vitoria Vila Velha is situated connected via a gigantic bridge, wich is overseen by the romantic set Convento da Penha.

If one is interested in industrial sights he could try CVRD's public relation department and ask for a tour through the impressive and gigantic installations of Tubarao - the world's biggest iron ore port. Appr. 15% of the worlds iron ore pass through this harbour and you can see the ships on the horizon waiting to haul their load. The port has more then 40 km of railroad tracks to process the arriving trains from Minas Gerais each with a length of 1.6 km. After unloaded the iron ore is transported via a system of conveyor belts of a length up to 800m to the ship terminals that load the giants with 75.000 or 150.000 tons of the ore.

Another opportunity to see some of the mines and the huge iron ore trains is to take the passenger train that connects Vitoria daily with Belo Horizonte.

Favourite spots:




	City Beach - Curva de Jurema

A small beach-town just north from Vitoria - Manguinhos with relaxed beach life and good food. Reachable by Taxi - appr. 35 R$ (14 €).

What's really great:




	An alligator enjoys the sun - inside Tubarao!

Sitting on one of the beaches on sunday afternoon and enjoying jointly with the Brazlians a soccer game on TV or playing beach soccer or volleybal.

Sights:




	Convento da Penha

Nothing spectacular but worth visiting are:
the Railway Museum in Vitoria and the Convento da Penha, which overlooks Vila Velha.

Accommodations:




	Sunset from the Novotel

Since I've been on a business trip there we stayed in typical business hotels.
My favourite is the Novotel on Praia do Canto with large clean rooms, a nice view over the bay, pool and high speed internet connection. It also is close to Triangulo Bermudas a quarter full of restaurants, bars and chopperias. Prices range from 119-149 R$ (44-55 €) per night.
A cheaper alternative is the Hotel Ibis 79-99 R$ (29€-36€) per night, in the same area. Who wants to stay longer can also rent a small apartment, like in the Partheon appr. 170 R$ (62€).
Accomodation in pousadas and Hotels can also be found in Vila Velha or Beach Towns. like Manginhos.

Nightlife:




	Monster Truck in a CVRD Mine

A lot of clubs, pubs restaurants almost every day night life, who would except that in the town of Vitoria.
Go to the Triangulo de Bermudas in area of Praia do Canto and pick your favourity place by your self.

Restaurants:




	Typical Churrasco

Ahh food!!
In Vitoria you must try the famous Moqueca - a delicious fish dish with a unique Fish Sauce called Pirao - which is also the name of the best Fish Restaurant to be found in Vitoria. President Lula has also visited the place when he still was a union boss.
The other alternative is beef - you can't really make a mistake with Churrasco in Brazil. My favourite place is the Cia Do Boi.
Both restaurant are conviently situated in the Triangulo de Bermudas.

Published on Tuesday November 15th, 2005 by moehre

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