Bagé

Bagé is in Rio Grande do Sul, southern Brazil.

Get in
If you want to get to Bage, you will need to catch an international flight to Brazil. When you arrive you will need to catch a national flight to Porto Alegre, and when you arrive there you will need to catch a taxi to the bus station, and then catch a bus to Bage which takes about 5 hours.

Get around
Every thing is pretty much in walking distance. Other wise there are buses and taxis. But most of the people in the city drive; Brazilian friends are always willing to give a friend a carona (ride).

See
Bage has a museum and other historical sites to see. Visit the cities website for more information.



Do
If you are a young person there are a lot of parties in Bage, some popular examples are Cielo and Spirit. The country club in Bage also has really big parties called Gitana. The social event of the year for young people in Bage is the Costume Party (festa da fantasia_ which is held near the start of the year. Bage also have several festivals including Gaucho festivals which you can find about on the city's website. And Bage is surrounded by vast country land, so visiting a farm is a good way to experience Gaucho (Brazilian cowboy) culture.

Buy
Bage has no mall (or shopping as people in Brazil call it), but it has streets full of shops. There are lots specialty stores, but also there are variety stores; for example Bage has several Obinos where they sell every thing from clothes to electronics. There are also markets hidden away near the central part of the city, so if you want to practice your bargaining skills you will need to ask locals where you can find the markets. There are plenty of clothes and shoe shops in Bage, and there are a variety of different shops where the prices range from cheap to expensive. The city also has a lot of gift shops with cute knick knacks. And be sure to visit a Gaucho store in Bage to check out all the cool Gaucho clothes and accessories.

Eat
In Bage eating churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) is very popular. Usually this is cooked at home, so if you have a friend in Bage visit them and have a churrasco at their house. Also if you go to a party at a friends house they might serve salgadinhos (little savory/pastry like snacks) and docinhos (little sweet snacks) which can be served both hot and cold. Bage also has many great places to eat so you can experience the bliss of Brazilian food. For a more informal setting there are lots of local eateries (try Santa Maria) where you can eat snacks such as cachorro quente (hot dogs), batata frita (french fries), and anything else yummy. Then there are plenty of restaurants where you can eat a buffet-style meal where they weigh your plate to charge you (try Kitchen) which is usually cheap. Bage also has several good pizza restaurants which you can ask the locals about. And for those with fancier taste, there are plenty of classy cafes which you can ask around about. Also when you walk around in Centro (the centre of the city) you will see people buying hot dogs or ice cream from street vendors which is fun.

Drink
If you visit Bage you will most definitely taste their green coloured tea called chimarrao (more commonly known as mate). It's probably not like anything that you've seen or tasted before. It is a green bitter tea made from a Brazilian plant called mate (mah-che) and they drink it out of a coia (a funny shaped cup) and bombar (metal straw). Sometimes the coia has patterns on it of something that represents the gaucho culture. Drinking mate is a custom in Rio Grande do Sul that most people drink every day and it is believed to be an accustomed taste (meaning you probably won't like it when you first try it). When someone in Bage offers you a mate say yes to be polite, and when you drink it you need to finish the whole cup because when you finish it will be filled up with more hot water and passed on to the next person and it goes around the circle. In RS friends may invite you to their house to tomar mate (to drink mate) and chat as a social activity. At parties in Bage the most popular drink is cerveja (beer) and occasionally people will drink caipirinha (cocktail: lemon, cachaca/vokda, ice and sugar) and some people drink Smirnoff.

Sleep
Bage has several hotels, including Hotel Obino.

Go next
You can get out the same way you got in, bus and plane.