Curitiba: Going down South in Gay Brazil

[TotallyOz]

If you are traveling in Brazil and get tired of sweating your buns off, Curitiba is a cool southern city where you can beat the heat!

Curitiba is one of the most modern and well organized cities in Brazil – and unlike Brasilia, there are tons of tourist attractions and hot night life.

Even more amazing for South America – Curitiba features an advanced transportation system that is actually efficient and will help you get where you need to go.

For once you won’t have to worry about leaving hours in advance when you want to make your dates on time!

One of the things that strikes many first time visitors to Curitiba is how clean this city is.

Some people, in fact, describe the city as “obsessive compulsive” about keeping the streets, parks and alleys as squeaky clean as possible. This is a good thing, but don’t be surprised if you get a dirty look if you toss a cigarette or trash on the ground.

The best way to visit Curitiba is to come in by train. If you do so, you will see some of the most fantastic green scenery anywhere. We highly recommend the train that comes directly from Paranguana. Don’t even bother bringing a book, the vistas will make the trip go by faster than you want it to.

If you do choose to fly into the Curitiba airport, there are fast busses that can cheaply get you into the city center.

A general rule of thumb is to avoid being a litter bug as much as humanly possible.

Part of the charm of Curitiba is that it is one of the most European influenced metropolises in the region. Nominated as the American Capital of Culture in 2003, you will not ever feel like you are on a vacation in a third world country.

Better still; the temperature is nearly always moderate, rarely dipping below freezing in winter or above 80 degrees in the summer.

You should always bring a coat with you – no matter what time of year you are visiting Curitiba. The city is known for having very unpredictable weather and sometimes the climate can change several times during the course of a single day.

This is because cold fronts often come in from Antarctica and Argentina. The good news is that Curitiba is surrounded by mountains which block off nearly all of the wind. In other words, it may get chilly, but you won’t have to worry about winds chilling you to the bone.

While this is not exactly a beach friendly climate – it can be a great place to let your sunburn heal and remember what real weather is like – without ever being too hot or too cold.

Curitiba is the capital of the southern Brazil province of Parana and has roughly 1.7 million residents.

Despite the large number of residents, Curitiba never seems like a particularly crowded city. That’s because it has been a model of modern urban planning – and has even won a UNESCO award for its artfully designed urban development plans.

The city’s name comes from the Native America word for “much pine” and refers to the large number of indigenous Araucaria in the region. When it was first founded by the Portuguese in 1693 it was named “Our Lady of the Light In The Pine Forrest.”

Over time, this name became unwieldly and it was simply renamed “much pine.”

Incorporated in 1842, Curitiba’s growth depended on the cattle trade because it was halfway between the farms in the deep south and the large northern marketplaces.

Because Curitiba became quickly prosperous, immigrants from Europe quickly arrived in large numbers, hoping to make their fourtunes throughout the 1800s and 1900s.

This is particularly apparent when you go out dining in Curitiba – and discover a wealth of diverse cuisines. You can find eateries reprsenting nearly every type of europeon, asian and North Amercan cooking styles.

Over the years Curitiba has developed a reputation as the friendliest city in Brazil for foreign travellers.

Because it has never been besiged with the rowdy partiers of Rio de Janerio or Sao Paulo, tourists are almost always welcomed with open arms and encouraged to visit the scenic forests outside the city and the beautiful buildings that make up the downtown area.

The downside of not being a tourist mecca is that it will be harder for you to find English speaking natives here than in the larger and more well known cities. You will find yourself using your phrase book more than you would expect – and you will want to learn at least some level of Portuguese - or take a native speaker with you!

One of the most popular things to do in town is to come out and check out the street performers on the weekends.

Nearly every Saturday hundreds and hundreds of dancers, singers and performance artists come out en masse to the downtown streets and entertain passersby in hopes of getting a few coins.

Some of these performers are excellent and nearly all are worth watching for at least a few seconds.

Also popular is the downtown “Flowers Street” which has been turned into a pedestrian only avenue and has quickly become a meeting place for city residents when they want to simply relax and enjoy the sites of their hometown.

To help you get nearly anywhere you want to go the town has created the “Speedy Bus.” This low cost public transportation option runs regularly and on time (no small feat for South America) and can take you to nearly any part of Curitiba that you want to visit.

All of the historic and popular buildings have undergone a complete refurbishing that began in the 1970s, so no matter where you walk you will be able to experience the full potential of the beautiful architecture that Curitiba is known for.

Another unique part of Curitiba is that it has four distinctly defined seasons – unlike the “dry” and “rainy” seasons that plague much of the South American continent.

The Metropolitan Cathedral of Curitiba is something you won’t want to miss. This huge gothic church is based on the architecture of Barcelona’s classic cathedrals and remains one of the most popular tourist destinations in the city.

Curitiba is known as the “Ecological Capital of Brazil” for good reason. Over the past three decades more than 26 parks have been built in the city. Today there is an estimated 55 square meters of green space for every Curitiba resident.

One of the most beautiful sites in Curitiba is the Botanical Gardens. This huge complex features more than 245,000 square meters of flowers, fauna and other botanical delights. Not only can you walk through the enormous (and beautiful) greenhouse, there is also a Botanical Museum that gives you a full history of the plant life and foliage of Brazil.

If you go plan to make a day of it – there are more than enough things to see and you won’t want to have to rush home.

You will also want to take time to visit the nearby Iguacu Waterfalls. Bring your camera because you can get a spectacular view from an overhanging bridge.

Curitiba is also world renowned as one of the best arts and cultural centers of South America. Whether you are looking for beautiful modern art museums, ballet performances or classic theater, Curitiba’s thriving art community will have something to make you happy.

The Wire Opera is fascinating. It is a stunning mixed indoor/outdoor wire and metal structure that serves as one of the largest performing arts spaces in the city. This is where classical music fans stream in to see the best culture Curitiba has to offer.

Don’t miss the Oscar Niemeyer museum. The building itself is a work of art (it looks more like a satire of a building than a proper structure) and the gallery is dedicated to the works of Niemeyer, who designed, from scratch, the entire capital city of Brasilia.

If bike riding or rollerblading is your thing (or you just like to watch bike boys and roller bladders) be sure to head over to the Barigui Park, which is the oldest green area in the city. Particularly on weekends, this is the park to see and be seen in Curitiba.

Not all of us can take off on vacation in the middle of winter, but if you can, try to get to Curitiba in December or January. The city is known as the “Christmas Capital” of Brazil, because the residents and businesses go crazy with their Noelle decorations.

Santa Felicidade is the “Little Italy” of Curitiba. This is where the original Italian immigrants settled and the area has not changed all that much over the years. You can get amazing pasta for lunch or dinner, and at night the taverns are constantly full with an ever thirsty Campari drinking crowd.

If you are interested in learning about the history of Curitiba, you will want to wander over to the Largo da Ordem area – which is an old cobble stone section of town that has been preserved and kept free of the modern architecture that dots the rest of the region.

No matter what you want from your Brazil vacation, Curitiba can provide it for you. From a great transportation system, to cool cultural events and hot nightlife, Curitiba has it all.

[lookin]

Thanks for the great write-up! I'm adding another place to my must-see list.

[axiom2001]

Thanks for the great write-up! I'm adding another place to my must-see list.

In 2006 I visited Curitiba for four days and found it to be a very comfortable city to visit. Its inhabitants are principally of European descent, it's an ecologically-centered place, and was relatively quite clean. I think you'd like this place for its slower pace and initial comfortability. <I stayed at a very nice hotel which began with an "S"--.>

Take the bus tour at your own pace; it covers a lot of territory, and as for as the sauna scene goes, I went to one which was quite pleasant. Because I was not up to par healthwise, I went and sat and watched my friend enjoy himself. Many cute guys approached me, but, much to my chagrin, I had to turn them down-- courteously and politely. A few asked my friend who accompanied me and who saw a few guys that night what was "up with me!" He smiled and feigned innocence.

One of these years, I plan to return to enjoy the culture and definitely Curitiba's men!!!!

[lookin]

Thank you, axiom2001, for your added thoughts. I was speaking with a friend who lived in Brazil, and mentioned that I'd like to visit Curitiba. She asked why, and I mentioned some of the things that appealed to me from TotallyOz's post. She agreed with everything he said, and added the fact that there was a strong European influence, as you have also mentioned.

I didn't ask her specifically if all the men were goodlooking in Curitiba, but she did say that, in general, Brazilian people are very attractive. Even the not-so-attractive ones, if that makes sense.

In general, I've usually found people with mixed ethnic backgrounds to be very attractive. Don't know if you recall Bruno Gaucho with his brown eyes and blond hair, but I thought he was a real doll. I didn't ask where he came from, but I believe 'gaucho' is a term for someone from the south of Brazil. I've often wondered if there were any more like him at home!

Anyway, thanks for strengthening my resolve to one day travel to that area and see for myself!