It was about a three mile walk through the city centre to the Estadio Beira-Rio (River Giant) stadium. Staying true to the name, the stadium lies on the bank of the Guaiba River. Walking throughout the streets was fascinating. Fans from both Honduras and France proudly wore their national team attires. Musicians were also present throughout the walk to the stadium, and the French contingent loved dancing with their flags and berets.
Before the game started, we headed to the FIFA Fan Fest. Every host site is required to have a spot for locals/people without tickets to watch every game. It's an outdoor venue with a gigantic big screen. Little restaurants and bars outline the perimeter of the spot. After we had a tasty chicken/steak skewer, we headed over to the stadium for the game.
We lucked out…sitting in the first row of the stadium on the field, right between the corner kick flag and the goal. Looking out at the stadium was a sight to behold. It wasn't overly big (40,000), but it was beautiful. France thoroughly dominated the game, in a somewhat lethargic performance. The atmosphere wasn't great, and ironically enough, fans of the local side Internacional were louder than French and Honduran fans!
The next day, we headed to the trendy Cidade Baixa neighborhood to watch more of the games. We ran into a group of Australians (also looking for a bar) and we joined them for lunch at this vegetarian restaurant. It wasn't the type of place to host for games. It was a quieter place with an older crowd. In order to accommodate us, they placed us in our own separate portion of the restaurant and even set up a television for us to watch.
Later that day, we went to the historic city centre and went shopping for our loved ones. It was raining at this time. The area was very reminiscent of Venice Beach, with tons of kiosks set up in rows surrounding the town square.
At night, we met up with the Americans living in Porto Alegre and watched the USA beat Ghana at a bar called Thomas Pub in the Moinhos De Vento neighborhood. It was awesome to watch the game with fellow Yanks, especially in the manner in which we won.
The following afternoon, we took a double decker bus tour of Porto Alegre. We saw all of the neighborhoods, and were allowed to get out and explore. We saw the famed Moinhos De Vento Parque (Windmill Park) and also Rua Goncalo Carvahlo (The Most Beautiful Street in the World). Trees curled up into each other at the top of the street, forming an impressive canopy over the street. It was truly beautiful.
At one point, I was interviewed by Government officials working in the tourist department. They took down my name and asked me questions about my time in PA. They were both very nice.
At night, we went to a famous Thai restaurant called Koh Pee Pee. When trying to flag down a cab on the way, our driver attempted to take us to a sex brothel. We politely declined, and he proceeded to act like a Samurai for ten minutes, attempting to speak Japanese. It was bizarre. At least the food was great.
The highlight of PA was the Australia/Holland game. We were seated ten rows from the field behind the goal, and in the Australian cheering section. The Aussies were absolutely fantastic, and it was so fun sitting with them. I'll never forget the Australians going crazy over Tim Cahill's insane volley goal with his left foot.
Later that day, a tremendously nice couple helped call us a cab for the following morning (when we had to get to the airport for an early flight). They went out of their way to help us, after hearing us talk about our dilemma in a supermarket. They even invited us back to their flat for coffee. IThese people could not have been nicer.
At night, we ate at a traditional churrascaria. At this place, servers walk around in waves with every single type of meat imaginable. Huge hunks of sausage, beef, chicken and other things (like chicken heart) were on gigantic skewers, and a simple nod of the head would determine whether or not you wanted a piece. We were absolutely stuffed at the end of the night.
We then walked through a Gaucho festival (think outdoor swap meet) at the end of the night. It was mostly little kiosks with traditional Gaucho garb and little trinkets. They also had tons of BBQ shacks and bars. It was a cool atmosphere, considering it was made up of mostly locals. We were virtually the only tourists there.
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