Lagoa do Taquaral

Lagoa do Taquaral, officially named Parque Portugal, is an urban public park in the city of Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil. It has been set around a beautiful lagoon and adjacent wooded park, and is a large municipal entertainment and sports park, with a planetarium, a science museum, an indoor sports stadium and swimming pool, kart racing and model airplane areas, an open concert auditorium, floating caravel replica, a working historical tramway, pedal boats, facilities for several types of sports, including a long track for running, cycling and walking, restaurants, etc.

"Taquaral" means "bamboo grove" in Portuguese, probably because the lagoon was originally rimmed with this kind of plant (it no longer is, instead eucalyptus trees have been planted around it). The name "Portugal" was given as a homage to the discoverers and immigrants of Brazil, the Portuguese people.

In July 2007, Campinas readers of the Correio Popular newspaper and the Cosmo site have voted Lagoa do Taquaral as one of the "Seven Wonders of Campinas" [http://www.cosmo.com.br/campinas/resultadofinal.php] .

External links

* [http://www.tramz.com/br/cp/pp.html The Tramways of Campinas, Brazil]