Blogs from Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil, South America

This isn’t you. If people are like characters in a play, you’re playing another character right now. Hop onto another side of your brain. You’re at a boat party on a pirate ship. Turntables spin, electronic music blasts, deep bass sends vibrations as far as the eye can see. Aside from a few people tormented by a combination of sea sickness and a lack of self-control at the open bar, people are ecstatic; hands in the air, hugging strangers, screaming song lyrics ecstatic. Your eyes wander. 360 degrees of sun soaked grinning beautiful souls; uniting for the sake of uniting, brought together by music and this generations preferred social lubricant; alcohol; unnecessary but ingested. Beads of sweat form as ice cubes melt within seconds in the scorching sun. Dancing increases body heat, the added moisture makes ... read more

Day 118 Monday 6th February Nothing much planned today and because we once again had a lousy night sleep we slept in till 8.30. After the crap breakfast yesterday neither of us felt like bounding out of bed and facing another but it is free with the room so I guess we shouldn’t complain. Probably sick to death of us bagging breakfast in hotels so we will try and restrain ourselves from this point on. A bit slow getting ready today and didn’t manage to get out the front door till nearly 10. Wandered up to the nearby bank where we got some more cash out and then picked up a taxi to the bus terminal. Needed to get bus tickets for our departure tomorrow and you can’t buy them anywhere in town but ... read more

TT- This will be our final blog from our adventure. Soon we will be home. The photos we have taken here are mostly of our old friends who we have not seen for years. KF- Florianopolis is a beautiful island just off the coast of Southern Brazil. Lush green mountains are surrounded by over 20 beaches of white-gold sand. It's where people from Rio de Janeiro go for summer vacation. Tarjei had a six month sabbatical at the Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina here in 1989 when our kids were little. We still have good friends living and working here. They have been so welcoming -- true Brazilian warmth and hospitality. We stayed a week and had time to visit friends, wander on sandy beaches, swim in the warm South Atlantic, listen to music, eat churrasco ... read more

Curitiba (pronounced Curichiba)... this wont be a long one. We arrived after a long overnight bus but it was much better than the first - I slept pretty much the whole way, waking up now and again to crack my neck back into place ;) We had a little wander through town and Mark gave us the history, it´s a tourist destination because of the fantastic urban planning, it´s quite clean and well cared for. Curitibians all think it is the most wonderful place on earth - although one did admit to me that they do lack a beach.... Haha! We spent the afternoon wandering around the shops and bought some nail polish which feels like a real luxury now. We had a little rest and then got into party mode as it was Saturday night ... read more

Like many travelers, I came to Curitiba for the Serra Verde Express train ride over the Serro do Mar mountains. However, as it was raining, and busloads of tour groups were heading for the train. I decided to explore the city, wait until the weekend crowds had left, and hope for better weather (no such luck). In 1885, a railroad was built to get Curitiba's products from the high plains to the shore for ocean transport. Goods are still transported on trains a hundred cars long, but most days, a tourist train also slowly chugs up over the mountains, crossing bridges and passing through tunnels blasted through the granite. Clearly, the route had once been more important, for all along the way, there were once-beautiful stations, now in ruins, except for the sweet one in Marumbi. ... read more