Thursday, May 31

Alright, let me just say that today I got to ride BIKES, so you know it was a good day. We had lecture in the morning, then a break before heading to two parks in the afternoon. David and I went for a short run during break, because obviously biking all afternoon wasn't going to be enough exercise for us. After the run we trotted over two blocks from the hotel, where a big celebration was happening for Corpus Christi. What is Corpus Christi? I don't know, but it gave Curitibans an excuse to take off work and hang out in the streets. We got some street food and then looked at this weird sand art thing that a bunch of people were making in the street. Essentially people were using colored sand and wood chips to make this beautiful religious mural lining the street.

Street food is best served after a nice run

If the name doesn't give away the holiday's religious roots, then the picture of Jesus severed in half and bleeding into a bowl sure does.

After the run, we snagged bikes and headed to our first stop: the botanical gardens. We got these garish green bikes that made us stick out like sore thumbs. 18 of us chose to bike, so we had a massive crowd rolling along the bike paths and across the city. Everybody got the hang of city riding quickly, and we were able to use the city's great infrastructure to our advantage. 

Nothing like a biker dog to brighten your day.

Gang gang.

At the botanical gardens, we parked our bikes and then wandered around for a half an hour. It was pretty much a wide, flat field with lots of trimmed bushes and fountains lining the center path. At the end was this beautiful glass greenhouse, which apparently is an icon of the city. Inside you can walk around and look at lots of tropical plants, with a pretty little stream burbling out of the center. Reminded me of a greenhouse near my house a little bit.

Far.

Near.

Very near (inside)

After we were done wandering around the gardens, we headed back to the bikes to ride to our destination. As I mounted and started to pedal away, I felt the tire sag under my weight. Great, I had a flat. Of all the people biking that day, I was one of the most excited and I had to get a darn flat! With no way to fix it, I hopped on the bus to get to the next park.

This one was even bigger than the botanical gardens, with a big pond in the middle and thousands of people out and about, enjoying the holiday and beautiful day. After walking most of the way around the lake, we ran into the group that had biked there. One girl was tired, so I hijacked her bike and cruised around the lake for an hour. I explored with David and Hailey, and we dodged crowds of people walking, skating, and biking all over the paths. Crossing a road in the middle of the park, we found some trails at the back side of the park. David and I took our cheap little hybrids through these trails in the woods that a bunch of real mountain bikers were on. It was bumpy but fun, and we returned to meet the group satisfied.

The fields are alive 

Seeing double

We all biked back to the hotel then, rolling up and down hills and trying to dodge traffic. I had biked 5 miles less than everyone else, so I was fresh and ready, but everyone else was pretty beat. We got back, showered, and headed to our last dinner before our flight to Iguazu in the morning. 

Over the hills and through the woods... 

Nice