Exploring Curitiba and Having Fun

After spending a week here in Iguassu Falls I was ready to search for some adventure within Brazil. I decided to take a one hour flight to Curitiba . Why Curitiba ? Curitiba is the capital city of state of Parana . It is known for its rich and rather unique different cultures of South American, Asian, and European. As one of the largest cities in Brazil , it attracts visitors from all over the globe. In fact, it is becoming a model-city in terms of urban planning and award winning mass transit. Curitiba was even given the Globe Award for a Sustainable City in 2010 and was named the cleanest city in Brazil by Rede Globo Journalism With the help of Ezio Pasouinelli of the Tulip Inn (where I stayed), I decided to take a double-decker bus tour of Curitiba for $20.00 Reais (about $15 US). As I sat on the top deck, with the wind blowing through my hair and on my face, I enjoyed the all the beautiful views and sights of the city. The bus circles the city in two and half hours if you just stay on the bus. But, the ticket allows you to get off at any or all of four tourist attractions. This works our very nicely as the bus comes around every 30 minutes so you can enjoy the attractions at your own pace. To see all four attractions you should really allot all day to this tour, but because I needed to return to my hotel and catch my flight to Salvador, Bahia, I only had time to visit the Jardim Botanico Botanical Garden and the Oscar Niermeyer Museum .

The Jardim Botanico Botanic Garden is a must see sight if you're in Curitiba! Inaugurated in 1991, the unique metal and glass architecture houses a greenhouse with nationally referenced botanical specimens and French-based gardens, all surrounded by absolutely beautiful gardens. It also offers spaces for exhibitions and has a library and an auditorium. I spent over two hours wandering around and taking beautiful pictures, not to mention exploring the boutiques and enjoying local artists’ handicrafts and paintings. This is a must see sight if you're in Curitiba. Museu Oscar Niemeyer ( Oscar Niemeyer Museum ) is also known as the Eyes Museum. It is the biggest and most modern museum in Brazil. It covers 40,000 square meters, and emphasizes science, history and culture.In addition there are 16,000 square meters of available space for special art, design and urban planning exhibitions. Part of the museum itself is unique with an anti-gravity appearing constructional design which was created by Oscar Niermeye and many local artists. I would have loved to here stay all day.Unfortunately, I did not have time to see the famous Portal de Santa Felicidade (Santa Felicidade Gateway) or Teatro Paiol (Paiol Theather). Portal de Santa Felicidade is an area of the city known for it’s many fine restaurants and wineries, with roots dating back to the ancient Italian immigrants and colonists from Veneto and Trentino. Teatro Paiol (Paiol Theater)- Originally built in 1906 as a gun powder barn, it was revitalized in 1970 to become an arena theater, and became a symbol for Curitiba 's cultural change in the last few decades. Poet Vinicus de Moraes composed the song "Paiol de Polvora" for the inauguration of this building. Another reason I came to the City of Curitiba was to take the Serra Verde train tour to Paranagua. This train with its 125 year history is considered one of the most beautiful train rides in the world. Indeed it was! It travels 110 km through the largest preserved area of Brazil ’s Atlantic forest. The Mountain Range Train of Paraná departs from the city of Curitiba to Morretes everyday and on Sundays it also goes at Paranaguá. The trip takes approximately 3 hours with a mini bus return to the city. The train stopped at two small towns: Merretes (where I had seafood lunch) and Antonina. This train tour had a bi-lingual staff, I was able to get a personal view of the history in English from my own personal guide, Vivian! Here is the link if you would like to learn more: http://serraverdeexpress.com.br/en/serra/destinos. With the many friendly and helpful local Brazilians, I never had any difficulty finding my way back to the Tulip Inn from the bus station. Their friendliness and the beautiful and unique sights truly made my visit to Curitiba an awesome experience. Yes, I am honored that I have such privilege of visiting Curitiba . Lin can be contacted at lin_travels@sbcglobal.net