I love this town!!!

Oscar Niemeyer Museum. It is shaped like an eye. The art was fascinating.
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Wow, Jema and I are in a new town, and it is a vast improvement over the stressful city of São Paulo.  At 11:30 pm on the night of the 18th we boarded a bus bound for a town called Curitiba.  After a 5 hour ride we arrived at our destination, groggy but ready for the day.  I expected that we would encounter muito (much) stress as this is a new and different place.  However, to my surprise we have been fairing wonderfully, and the stress level has been kept to a minimum.  Curitiba is much smaller than São Paulo (1.6 million compared to 18 million.  It is friendlier, cleaner, and more beautiful, too.  We are loving this place and will be sad when we have to leave (which will be either tommorow or the next day).  The downside to a smaller city is less facilities.  For instance, we have been here for two days and this is the first internet cafe we have found.  Also, we have yet to run across a lavandaria (laundry place).  However, I would much rather be here than back in São Paulo.  We are safer, and the pace of this city is slower and more relaxing.  Curitiba has numerous city parks, all of which are beautiful.  We are having an awesome time.

This is Curitiba, an awesome city.
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So, we didn´t do much yesterday.  We took a nap in the morning because the sleep that we got on the bus was not adequate.  Then we walked all the way across the city to the Oscar Niemeyer Museum (he´s a famous architect), but for some reason it was closed on Mondays.  It´s open on Sunday, but closed on Monday, weird.  So we walked back through the city stopping at the parks and just sitting and taking in the new environment.  Then we went back to our hotel and went to bed early.  This morning we were up with the sun.  After quick showers and even quicker breakfast we headed for the train station.  We bought tickets for a train headed for Morretes.  Morretes is a little town in the mountains, not far from the coast.  The train ride was gorgeous, the tracks were literally cut into the mountain.  We passed through a dozen tunnels, over several bridges, and the views of the mountains and valleys were breathtaking.  The whole way Jema and I were smiling from ear to ear because we were finally in the outdoors.  Once in Morretes we ate the local dish, which is called  barreado.  Barreado is a meat stew cooked over coals in a clay pot in a hole in the ground.  The dish was originally invented so that the women could prepare an easy meal during Carnival so they could all party with the men.  The dish has since become a popular attraction of the town.  We mixed our barreado with rice, manoic flour, fresh-picked banana sliced into the stew, and a super hot sauce made locally.  We ate this meal at an awesome restaurant that sat right on a river running through the valley.  The food, atmosphere, and company (Jema´s, of course) made this meal the best I´ve had in a long time.  After the barreado we walked through town, saw some awesome banana trees, stopped at a few little shops, and then boarded a buss back to Curitiba.

The train ride was gorgeous, the tracks were literally cut into the mountain!

The train to Morretes from Curitiba. The views are breathtaking, but also a little scary.
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When we arrived we realized the Oscar Niemeyer Museum was probalby open, so we started walking in that direction.  We got there in time to spend two hours looking at all sorts of art:  some was fascinating, some was bizarre, but it was all interesting.  The Museum is shaped like an eye, it looks awesome.  After the museum we walked back through town (it was dark at this point).  The parks here are so nice, and the street lighting is vintage.  And with the old buildings and cathedrals it gives you a feel of peace and relaxation.  After enjoying the sublime feel of it all, we bought an ice-cream cone and started back to the hotel.  On the way we spotted this internet cafe.  So here I am.

This is the local dish. Mix it with rice, manoic flour, and fresh-picked banana slices, and it is soooooooo delicious.
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On a side note.  All of this walking is wearing us out.  Seriously, we walk everywhere because we are too cheap to take a taxi or ride the bus.  Only for really long distances ( 3 km or more, do we take a bus).  By the end of the day (like right now) we are both complaining about how exhausted we are and how much our feet hurt.  It is sort of a catch 22 because we complain about it all the time but the excercise is good.  Maybe by the end of this trip I will actually be in shape.

The building on the right with the windows is where we ate the barreado.
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Tommorow we are taking a bus to a place called Vilha Vela.  It is a park of some sore that has awesome natural sandstone formations.  After Vilha Vela we will come back here to Curitiba, maybe see some botanical gardens, and plan for our next destination, which will probably be a town called Blumenau, which is farther south.  Anyway, the next time you all here from me I might be in a different town, as interent is so hard to come by here.  I hope you all are having a superb summer!!!  It is great to get comments and feedback!!!  Talk to ya later!!!

Patrick  -:-)