Sunrise in Curitiba

Curitiba may not have the craziest or most beautiful skyline, but she still has a gorgeous sunrise in the morning.

Jambu

Jambu is a special kind of Cachaça (cachaça is an alcohol made of sugarcane) made in Northern Brazil. It comes from a plant that is originally poisonous to humans. In processing the plant they ensure that it is no longer harmful to humans, but it still retains its signature numbing quality. Jambu is often served in shot form and is best sipped slowly. With each sip, you swirl the drink around your mouth and it makes your mouth go numb. Jambu is quite an interesting drink and every traveler to Brazil should try it at least once!

Brechós

Brechós are thrift stores! Up in the Mercês neighborhood of Curitiba there are several streets with thrift stores; many of them are so packed that there are bags of clothing on the floor. Most everything is very cheap but, as with any thrift store, nearly everything is also out of date or a little tattered. Since it is beginning to get cold here in Curitba, we bought coats and other winter weather clothes. We also went to a flea market or a mercado das pulgas where we purchased a small space heater. As Curitiba (and the majority of Brazil) never gets cold enough to snow, they do not have any central heating. Therefore, the few nights that it gets down to freezing might be rough. Space heaters and jackets are important! At the end of the street with many of the Brechós, there is this beautiful monument.

Oscar Niemeyer Museum

The same day we visited other touristy sites in Curitiba, Anne, Edson, and I went to the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. Nearly everything written in the museum is in Portuguese and English which is nice for travelers who do not know Portuguese.

There are some truly beautiful works of art within the museum. When you first enter, there are some large wooden cones to take photos with. We obviously had to get in on that, and we took a few through the sculptures. My favorite of the untitled pieces we saw was this one made up of three interconnected staircases. I think it should have been called Insteption (which has to be my best pun of all time).

In the tower of the museum, there is a huge exhibit for an artist named Weiwei. He works primarily with sculptures that tend to be very large. Anne jumped in the photos for reference! The also had quotes by the artist around his exhibit and they really resonated with me.

Oscar Niermeyer is a Curitiba must see. It has art that would resonate with nearly everyone in its many galleries and the museum itself is a beautiful piece architecture.

Sightseeing in Curitiba

Saturday I spent the day with one of my students and her boyfriend, Anne and Edson. We went sightseeing around town beginning with the Panoramic Tower which has a fantastic view of the city. As you can see, even this black vulture thought it was the best perch in town!

Bosque Papa as this park is called is named after a Pope. It has a wooded area and also an old Dutch settlement which is set up like a cute little museum. Each cottage has a different theme.

We ended the afternoon at a cute little German Bakery. I got strudel because it seemed appropriate being a German Bakery and all. They had adorable little Mother’s Day table decorations!

Brazilian Movie Theaters

Brazil has most of the same amenities Americans are used to having in the U.S.. Brazilian Theaters have all of the concessions you could want (although it is different candy) and even have the option to watch films in 4D, which is like 3D but there can be fog and the chairs move. Tati and I went to see Avengers Endgame on opening night and the only difference we noticed was that there were Portuguese subtitles.