Today we departed the beautiful Sao Paulo for Curitiba. We woke up way too early, got on the bus at 7, and drove to the airport. Upon getting past security, we found out that our 10 AM flight had been cancelled. Great. We had to wait another two hours for the next flight, and I read as all the shorter people contorted themselves into the seats to take naps. After what seemed like forever, we finally got on board and then off the ground. An hour later, we were descending into the city of Curitiba.
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| Curitiba from above |
We left the airport and headed to our hotel. On the way, there was another protest of the truck drivers, who blocked the road as we crawled by. This gave me a great chance to look at one of the city’s beautiful parks, which it is known for. It looked like a park from home, and I wanted to get out and walk around for a bit. We got to the hotel, unpacked, then grabbed a quick lunch before going out for a tour of the city.
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| Some beautiful separate collection bins located right in the park |
Our tour guide was this kind of kooky lady who told us a little bit about the city before we got out at a park… Behind a shopping mall. And looked at plants in the garden there. Curitiba is pretty much a model of a sustainable city. They have prioritized an efficient public transit system to get people around, from anywhere in the city. As the city has grown, they have added green spaces instead of taking away. There are 64 square meters of green space for every person in the city. This amount of area helps to create healthy, happy citizens. There is a major focus on work-life balance. There are also lots of social and educational programs, and the city has extremely high recycling rates. Sounds like a bit of a utopia, and I was waiting for the catch 22. If there is one, we didn’t get it from our tour guide.
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| My favorite Oscar's last name is grouch |
From the little park, we went the Oscar Niemayer Museum and saw the buildings that he designed there. Personally, I don’t like the style of architecture that much, but I don’t think my taste counts for much so I’ll shut up and roll with it. Behind the museum was another park (of course), and we walked through densely wooded forest before coming out to a little area that had a bunch of historic wooden homes. We learned about the city’s diverse ethnic heritage, and how there are constantly festivals and celebrations because of it. We also learned that there is a massive cultural and theatre scene here, so you can catch a play almost any hour of the day.
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| The tree that Curitiba is named after (I forget but it's some type of pine) |
From there, we stopped briefly to check out a historic opera house. It was constructed in an abandoned quarry that filled with water, and stood eerily in the dusk surrounded on the side by rock walls and thick vegetation. Lastly, we went to the highest park in the city, with a beautiful overlook onto the land below. Unfortunately, we arrived about twenty minutes after the sun set, so we didn’t get to catch the beautiful colors of the sunset. The sky was still tinted with pink and red, however, and we took plenty of pictures of the towers and the horizon at the park. I really want to go back and catch a sunrise/sunset there.
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| A little spooky, no? |
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| Not too shabby |
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