Porto Alegre Audio Tours

Porto Alegre sits on the northeastern shore of the Lagoa dos Patos, the largest lagoon in South America, where the Guaiba River broadens into something that looks indistinguishable from a sea. The sunset over the Guaiba from the Parque da Harmonia or the Praia do Guaiba is one of the genuine spectacles of Brazilian urban life: the sky turns colors that seem excessive and the whole city pauses to watch. The city was founded in 1772 by settlers from the Azores, and that Azorean origin plus waves of German and Italian immigration from the 1820s onward shaped a Rio Grande do Sul culture that feels noticeably different from the rest of Brazil, something the gauchesco pride of the region makes no effort to hide.

The gaucho tradition of southern Brazil is not the same as Argentine gaucho culture but is its close cousin, rooted in the cattle-herding history of the Pampas grasslands.

Chimarrao, a bitter unsweetened mate tea drunk from a gourd through a metal straw, is consumed constantly and everywhere, at work, on the street, in meetings, at home. It is offered to guests before coffee is. Churrasco as practiced here means wood-fire grilled meats served on long skewers, carved at the table in a ceremony that differs from the north, and the state claims its version predates any other Brazilian churrasco tradition.