Curitiba, Churrascarias, and Capybaras

Thida here, up early to tell you all about our wonderful time in Curitiba. Our stay there was particularly special as we stayed with my Uncle Bruce and Aunt Raeann, both working at the international school of Curitiba. Another comfortable 8 hour bus ride, we arrived at the Curtiba bus station at about 6 in the morning. As we didnt want to be knocking on our hosts door too early, we decided to walk to their appartment to kill some time. This ended up taking us 3 hours over many hills (we had assumed curitiba to be flat for some reason), good practice atleast for when we do our trekking in Patagonia.

We had arrived at the appartment, nick named the 20th floor nest, greeted by Raeann, Bruce, and an incredible view over the city. Bruce and Raeann took us to a wonderful Japanese buffet that night (like Soa Paulo, Curitiba is home for a signficant number of Japanese Brazilians). It was a nice change from our new staple diet of rice beans and chips. The next morning we walked through Barigui park not far from the appartment and encountered our first group of Capybaras. Giant hamsters, 140 pound rat, furry sheep, however you want to imagine it, Capybaras are the largest rodents in the world, with its closest relative being the guinea pig. They swim too!

Curitiba is recognised for its sustainable urban planning. What we had heard most about was the city's innovative and highly organised transport system (consisting entirely of buses). We were fortunate enough to be very close to a "tubo station" on one of the BRT lines that have lanes dedicated to buses. For some reason however, we managed to get ourselves very lost in central Curitiba the first couple of days. Fortunately for us, Curitiba has an excellent tourist bus line (and were are double deckard with an open roof, we were warned to to get hit by traffic lights!) Having no shame in looking very touristy, we had visited the wonderful Oscar Neiymer Art Museum (also known as the Eye Musuem due to its shape, designed by the famous Brazilian architect himself).

We later visited and passed by spots dedicated to the cultures of various immigrants of Curitiba such as German Wood Park, The Polish memorial in Pope´s Woods, The Ukranian memorial in Tingui park (also dedicated to the native indians that used to live there) , the Italian neighborhood of Santa Felicidade, and the Arab memorial in central Curitiba. We had also visited the city´s beautiful botanical gardens, wire opera house, and its historical center. We were also treated to an amazing churrascaria by Raeann (A Brazilian steakhouse where various meats from sirlion steaks to chicken hearts are brought to your table every minute until you say stop!)

Due to unfortunate and unpredictable weather in southern Brazil, we had spent a few days longer in Curitiba until it was clear enough for Iguazu falls (who could complain with clean sheets and free internet on the 20th floor!) During our wait, we did a day trip to the river town of Morrettes taking a wonderful panorama train with fantastic views of the mountains of Serra do Mar. Such a wonderful time in Curitiba seeing the sights with the opportunity to catch up with family and see their life in Brazil, it was sad to say goodbye! Thank you Bruce and Raeann for a wonderful time!