Minas Gerais holds a special place in my heart (and stomach, I confess). I love the state which not only houses many of Brazil’s historical beauties but also has many of my favorite foods and sweets. So when I received the invitation to participate in the Winter Blogger Meeting in São João del Rei and Tiradentes, I didn’t think twice before packing my bags for a weekend there.

In this post, I’ll give you an overview of the itinerary we had there over the weekend, which you can follow as well. The idea was to bring together bloggers from the RBBV (Brazilian Travel Bloggers Network) from all over Brazil – we had 25 people present, and the organization was led by Antônio Romulo from the blog Retrip, who lives in the city.

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I used this post by Rafael from the blog Esse Mundo é Nosso to decide how to go, and in the end, I chose to take the bus from Rio to São João del Rei with the company Paraibuna.

We arrived in the early afternoon on Friday and went to the Garden Hill Small Resort where we stayed for the weekend. The hotel in São João del Rei is beautiful, with a lovely natural area that includes a highly awarded golf course.

We took the afternoon to have lunch at the Albatroz restaurant in the hotel (in the company of none other than Gilberto Gil at the table next to us) and start indulging in the local Minas Gerais cuisine – I had the tutu de feijão.

We spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the resort, which features an outdoor heated pool, jacuzzi, and more.

In the evening, we met the bloggers and took a tour of the Tiradentes Brewery, where we learned about the craft production process, learned a bit of history, and took a photo with the immense sculpture of Tiradentes’ face.

We also visited the adjacent Pátio Libertas, which has several bars and restaurants, along with unique decoration. We ended the night at the Boteco da Fábrica restaurant, where we enjoyed a delicious steak with cheese in bread, accompanied by a delightful wine.

Saturday dawned rainy, but it didn’t dampen the spirits of the bloggers, who headed to the Business space at Garden Hill for two lectures early in the morning. Antônio Santos, from the blog Trip e Aventuras, spoke about intellectual property, a topic that often comes up in the blogosphere due to plagiarism, and I talked about how to turn a blog from a hobby into a professional blog. I showed many examples from Aprendiz de Viajante’s journey to demonstrate practically how we did it.

For those spending the weekend in the city, it’s a great opportunity to explore the city at a leisurely pace or enjoy a more relaxed morning at the hotel, wake up later, have a lovely breakfast at the hotel, and then take golf lessons.

After the lectures, we had a typical Minas Gerais lunch at the Albatroz restaurant, with a mouthwatering menu. The restaurant is open to the public; you don’t need to be staying at the hotel to enjoy its delights.

In the late afternoon, we boarded the Maria Fumaça train from São João del Rei to Tiradentes. We occupied an entire train car, and the fun was great until we arrived in Tiradentes, passing through the beautiful mountain landscapes.

Dylan really enjoyed this trip!

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