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Thursday, February 18, 2010

My town Friday Shoot-out / A Town Plaza

The Praça Presidente Getúilo Vargas – as you can tell right away a plaza is Praça in Portuguese – is in the central part of Nova Friburgo. I found the name of the Praça by enlarging my Google Map on the left side-panel of ‘Flowers’, then out of curiosity did a web search to see just who Getúilo Vargas was that he was honored to have the plaza named after him. (does that sentence sound right?) –

Wait until you hear this. “... Vargas was the governor of Rio Grande do Sul in 1928…. he ran for president in 1930 and lost…. then started a revolution to get into office. …. upon becoming ‘president’ he eliminated constitutional checks on the executive power, deprived the once-dominant state parties of public function, and gained control over political …. Vargas had made himself a dictator over Brazil….” and now get this, “in 1932 another revolution took him out of office but in 1934 he was elected by a ‘Constituent assembly’ for a four year term…. in 1937 he proclaimed the ESTADO Novo (new state) which was like a European fascist dictatorship. ‘It imposed censorship and relied on a powerful secret police apparatus….” (http://www.thenagain.info)

I am not sure why but I have this credulous feeling in the back of my mind that he is still honored in Brazil. What is this that Brazilians are thinking…. or don’t they know who this man was?

Boy I got way off track…. the Praça is on the location of the old railroad station (1873-1960) and if you look at the photos you can see how the two tracks ran on either side of what is now the ‘north’ bus station that services only local Friburgo busses. The plaza is well maintained by the city. There are benches for sitting under the old trees, paths for strolling, play area for the younger children, on Saturday and some holidays there is a street market with locally made crafts, there is a water fountain, a cabana, statues of famous people (yep Vargas) an area for concerts, the tourist information center and, most important, an ice cream store right across the street. Enjoy the photos.

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13 comments:

  1. Great photos and very interesting history. It is amazing how these power-hungry people can seize control like that!

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  2. Markets are fun places. I do hope they will get more customers. Otherwsie the poor women in pink is just standing around looking pretty.

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  3. This looks like a lovely place to spend the day! All the greenery and trees, a nice stroll, and shops to boot!

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  4. I really liked your side-story. Sounds like a repeat and a preview of some other heads of state we could mention...

    I like what they've done with the space after the trains no longer went there.

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  5. I love the trees and watching people strolling.

    There is no accounting for how people vote politically. I've banged my head against the wall pondering this question for years.

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  6. Something that really caught my eye in all of your shots is how spacious the area is. It doesn't appear to be cramped in size, comfortable. I like this.

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  7. I wonder if Vargas built this and named it after himself? I like it that you wondered about the name, looked it up, and found out this stuff. If you could re-name it, what would it be?

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  8. Oh that is beautiful!! I love the paving stones and lovely places to stroll!! Wow!!

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  9. I love photos with a little history behind them. Excellent work!

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  10. Colourful history for a colourful space. Lovely trees and statues and I love the paving. I enjoyed hearing about the history of the place, too.

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  11. I love it that your open spaces have lots of trees! so beautiful.

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  12. You have a complete set of photos about the plaza Ginger V. It's look like in the Philippines. There is playground. and the footwalk or flooring.

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  13. Very nice, Ginger. You always excell!
    Your email was not real clear to me. I tried to respond, but could not get through. I think you are looking for early shots for the history.
    The most poignant (my opinion) photo I ever posted was on my very first effort after being invited to join by RG. Tou probably won't remember it but I will post it on my blog. If you wish to copy and paste it, that is fine. I don't know of any other eay to get it to you. Thanks. Gordon

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