The Iguassu Falls Area Guru

Saying that somethings is West of Curitiba serous business. To the West lies for example the Campos Gerais – a good sounding term that means general fields and the origin of which I have no idea right now. I am not to offer a geographical description of the “campos” but I can offer links to material signed by people much better than myself the field of “fields”. The city of Ponta Grossa – called Queen of the Fields is home to one of the great sights: Vila Velha. Also around the Campos Gerais area are atractions like the Guartelá Canyon – said to be the longest in the world ( I don’t care how long things are) and cities like Castro, Tibagi all influenced by the Guartelá canyon, open spaces, araucaria forests, waterfalls and the Iapó River. Historically the Campos Gerais cities and farms have played an important role in Brazilian colonization since they were the route used by tropeiros (mule herders) as they brought beef, jerk, cattle and cargo animals from Rio Grande do Sul to the marke...

Click on map to enlarge / Map from URBS One word that you frequently find when trying to understand the Curitiba bus system is “AXIS”. The bus system is made up of five axis: South Axis, North Axis, East Axis, West Axis and the Boqueirão Axis. As of lately a sixth axis has been added even though it is not counted as a separated axis but rather as an addition to the South Axis and it is called the South Circular Axis. The true sixth Axis is to be added at anytime soon and construction work has already begun. This latest axis will be along the Highway BR 277, a federal road that has crossed the city as it connect the Seaport of Paranaguá to the Brazil Paraguay Border at the International Friendship Bridge in Foz do Iguaçu. With the riches transported on the trucks the federal road also brings a lot of problems in the form of high speed, noise, pollutions, accidents and a divided city, divided boroughs and divided road sides.

This is the name of a district, a section of Piraquara. The name probably comes from the German Fuchs or even Fuks but it has progressed to this form down the timeline. Anyway I was trying to buy a house here not long ago but unfortaubately my Vila Fuck home will have to wait. For me the Fuck Vila or Vila Fuck means grand views of the mountains. Photos coming soon for all postings!

Food creations! I really enjoy this “food creation” thing. The cooker as a food designer and creator. This is the proposal of a small but very interesting restaurant in Piraquara. The restaurant’s name is Obra Prima (Masterpiece) and this adds to what I just said about the designing and creator aspects of cooking. I myself come from a tradition that says the if you are sad, angry, bad-humored, stay away from the kitchen. Besides the food creation what I like about the Obra Prima Restaurant is its setting – an old house by the old Piraquara Railway Station. There are several ways you can get to the restaurant, your car, by van if you are in a group but the most interesting to me is by “Litorina” – that is by train from Curitiba. I will try to learn about how you can get on the litorina train for a special dinner at the Obra Prima. Phone contact 55 (41) 3673 2196

I am not talking about the man-made parks like Tingüi, Tanguá, Barigüi, Passaúna or any other in the likelihood of them that have been created to solve some shameful nature-related-man-made disaster in the form of what I call “potamicide” ( assassination or murder of rivers) thanks to uncontrolled, unplanned or unchekered development (which I call “swelling”). Most rivers lending their names to Curitiba’s parks will be dead or nearly dead right after the first bend downstream from the lake or will be highly polluted or offensively stinking before they leave the city limits – and most of them are what you can call tributaries of the Iguassu River. Although a plateau city, Curitiba lies very close to the foothills of the Atlantic Subtropical Forest on the Atlantic Mountain Range called “Serra do Mar”. Less than 20 kilometers separate the Praça Santos Andrade by the UFPR’s (Federal University) Law School building, from the foothills in the cities of Piraquara, Quatro Barras and Campina...

The nationally-famous and acclaimed Rua 24 Horas (24-Hour-Street) today, is not the shadow of what it used to be. The place that I saw years ago is gone. It is time for the Urbanização de Curitiba SA (URBS) and city planners to do something to show the world how Curitiba can, again and again, make things happen and re-revitalize the city area where the 24-Hour-Street is located. Curitiba, before global warming, used to be an early-to-bed kind of place and the 24-Hour-Street was one of the first urban pieces of equipment to be thought to take Curitibanos out of bed and into nightlife. It seems that with success of Curitiba nughtlife many other eating and night-out places started to spring up everywhere and compete for clients. Curitiba now has lots of, hundreds of good restaurants, clubs, discoes, theaters. It is hard to choose. Then, something else happened. The 24-Hour-Street slowly became the center for a mixed clientele of some natives, tourists and travestites, prostitutes and – i...

The Official Tourism Line Bus List of Curitiba’s Attractions visited by the Tourism Line Jardiniera Bus (leaving from Tiradentes Square): Rua das Flores (Street of the Flowers), Rua 24 Horas (24-Hour Street), Convention Center, Museu Ferroviário (Railway Museum), Teatro Paiol (Gun Powder Depot turned theater), Botanical Garden, Rail-Bus Station and City Market, Teatro Guaíra (Theater) and Paraná Federal University Law School Building, Arab Memorial and the Passeio Público (Public Park), Civic Center, Oscar Niemeyer Museum ( Worth visiting inside and out, project by the architect that designed Brasilia’s buildings), Polish Memorial and Pope’s Woods, German Woods, UNILIVRE – The Environmental Free University, São Lourenço Park (former Glue Factory turned Creativity Center), Wire Opera House, Tangá and Tingüi Parks, Ukrainian Memorial, Italian Portal (Access to the Italian Santa Felicità Area), Barigüi Park and the Telecom Observatation Tower. That is it. The Tourism Bus Line is not a tr...

I don’t know what in the world has brought you to Curitiba. There are some foreign-owned companies, transnational companies, globalized companies operating in and out of Curitiba. The French Renault, the Swedish Volvo, Audi and many other enterprises have established themselves in Curitba. There must surely be US, British, Canadian interests too. In the old days I would possibibly be writing that Curitiba was chosen because the local weather reminded investors of the weather they left back in their home countries. Now with Gobal Warming and globalization of money I don’t think it is wise to say stupid things like that anymore. Well, you may be a tourist. Or a businessman / businesswoman lost in Curitiba for the weekend. Then I might be writing for you. Let me begin like this, what people think of “attractions” in Curitiba are mostly man-made. City parks, Churches, Monuments and so on. There is a list of 17 or so such tourist attractions and most tourists do not go beyond that. To...

This my personal, four-year-old tourist map to downtown Curitiba. I share it with all of you now because I spent a long time never leaving home without it. Ihave had this map since I came to Curitiba to start chasing the history of Jesus Val , a Spaniard who owned land in Paraguay and who also owned the Brazilian side of the Iguassu Falls banks. Map source: former Curitiba Tourism Authority now Curitiba Institute of Tourism. Be back soon!

Map source: URBS (Urbanização Curitiba SA / Curitiba Urbanization Inc) Hold on, back soon!

Photo by Maurilio Cheli / CSSC The mayor of Curitiba, Beto Richa received the visit of the mayor of Chicago, Richard Daley and wife Maggie Daley. The mayor of the the US city aame to add to the list of international authorities who come to see how the Curitiba Rapid Transit System works. In the photo above, courtesy of the City Sceretary of Social Communication and clicked by photographer Maurílio Cheli, Daley and Richa get off the red double articulated Express Bus. The mayor, wives and URBS president Paulo Scimidt rode the bus from the Santa Candida Terminal to the Holanda Square in the Boa vista area. Later on the mayors visited city parks and the Botanical Gardens. Mr. Daley said that Curitiba's real great contribution is its transport system.