Porto Alegre
Mid-morning brings the route into Porto Alegre for a stop at the Mercado Público, the oldest working public market in Brazil. Built between 1867 and 1869 on landfill reclaimed from the Guaíba, its neoclassical halls have survived four fires, more than one demolition threat, and — most recently — the catastrophic 2024 flood that put the ground floor under a metre and a half of water, its worst inundation on record. Brass plaques at the entrance now mark that high-water line beside the one from the historic 1941 flood it surpassed, a quiet monument to a building that keeps coming back. Fully reopened and renovated since, today it holds over a hundred stalls selling the food culture of Rio Grande do Sul — regional meats and cheeses, spices, sweets, and the erva-mate that fuels the region's chimarrão habit. A couple of hours is enough to wander the market, take in the surrounding historic center, and stop for a coffee or something small; this is a glimpse into everyday Porto Alegre rather than a formal meal.
A short walk away, the Praça da Matriz — officially Praça Marechal Deodoro — gathers the city's grandest buildings around a single square: the Palácio Piratini, seat of the state government since the early twentieth century; the neo-Romanesque towers of the Catedral Metropolitana; and the Theatro São Pedro, a 700-seat house from the 1850s that's stayed in continuous use for over 150 years. It's a compact, walkable cluster — the political, religious, and cultural heart of the city in a few square blocks — before the route leaves and heads south.