As usual a band will be flown in from Scotland to provide live Celtic music and there will also be a DJ on hand to fill the intervals. Practices start at 7.30pm, there is no need to book or phone, just turn up, and you don't even have to be going to the ball to take part, the more the merrier. The British have played a fundamental role in the development of Brazil over the past five centuries and traces of this influence can still be seen today in everything from sports, to infrastructure to the economy. Two large models show the stretch of railway between Paranapiacaba and Pia aguera, while there is also a brief history of the mining sector and the story of how the British brought football to Brazil through the legendary Charles Miller. Opening hours are from Mon to Fri 10am to 7pm and Sat.
Admission is free.
For hundreds of years, Brazil has symbolized the great escape into a prehistoric, tropical heaven, igniting the Western imagination like no other South American country. From the mad passion of Carnaval to the hugeness of the dark Amazon, Brazil is a country of mythic proportions. The country was discovered in 1500 by the Portuguese navigator Pedro Alvarez Cabral. At the beginning of the 19th century, when Portugal was invaded by Napoleon's armies, Dom Joao VI, King of Portugal, moved his court to Brazil, an act which gave a new sense of importance and impetus to the country. I, first Emperor of Brazil.