Costs pp: bus from Ponta Grossa 22rs 2 hours. Storage locker 5.5rs, or storage guardar 4.4rs per pack per day. Bar 1 entry 5rs, Bar 2 entry 8rs female 15rs male. 'Oi' Tower entry 3rs.
Info on Curitiba (cut & paste) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curitiba
We took a morning bus and arrived in Curitiba around 10am, stuffed our packs into a locker at the bus terminal and headed off into town. Kent now using just one stick, his stump is healing well. The day was beautiful and the sun strong. A friend of Jasmines in Ponta Grossa had highlighted a few 'must see' things for us on a map of Curitiba and we headed toward these areas. The first is the Rua das Flores or street of flowers. It is one of the oldest streets in the city and is now pedestrian only. We did our usual looking in the electronics shops etc, everything is very expensive here even compared to NZ we think (considering we haven't been in NZ for nearly 18 months) clothes etc are also very costly. Amongst all this we found in the centre a restaurant that serves 'all you can eat' for only 4.50rs including a drink of cordial.
(Carol = I had just spent an hour writing this blog and when I went to save it had timed out and I lost the lot, I had done such a wonderful job and it is crushing to find it gone. I will write is again but it won't be as good):
Helder picked us up in the evening and after dropping our packs at his apartment he took us out to a couchsurfer meeting in a local bar. Here we got to meet some of the other Curitiba 'couches' and also some of the 'surfers' they are hosting. They are a happy, fun group and we had a great evening with them all, we also got to taste some Brasilian cuisine. The evening was warm and the air soft and clear after the rain, some of the local buildings were lit up with christmas lights as were some trees on the streets.
Next day we caught the bus to the Jardim Botânico de Curitiba (Botanical Garden of Curitiba). It is more like a big park with a lake and houses a building reminiscent of the greenhouses in Kew Gardens in London, it also has a taste and texture garden. We walked back to town and met up with Barbara who we made friends with the night before and she took us on a tour of some of the highlights of Curitiba. The Ópera de Arame (Wire Opera House), the Universidade Livre do Meio Ambiente (Open University Garden) and the Torre Panaramica (Oi Tower) where we got a 360 degree view of the city from 40 stories up.
That evening Helder whisked us out with his business partner and her husband to another local bar called Zapatas. Here they had a live Cuban band playing and the floor was constantly filled with sambaring couples and Carol was in heaven watching it all. During the bands break we were treated to another band this time from Mexico, they played all the old favorites like La Cucuracha, and transported us back to our memories of Mexico. It was a wonderful evening, you have to remember that in South America the evening begins at 10pm and ends around 3 or 4 in the morning, it's around 3am that you remember why you should have had that siesta!
We were up early in the morning and off to town again, this time to organise some new lenses for Kent as his not so old ones were so scratched that he was looking through a fog. While we waited we went to see some museums and then back to Helders and we all headed off to join the couchsurfing clan again for a picnic in the park. There were 20 or so people there and the day was perfect and we talked and laughed and sang and ate. We were in the park beside the Museu Oscar Niemeyer (Oscar Niemeyer Museum) where they were holding a mass wedding for about 30 couples.
Next stop Sao Paulo.
