Curitiba

My host Claudio and I



View from the train




Well, I've had a great time in Curitiba. I don't have a room to myself in this house, but my host Claudio and his mum have been extremely friendly. I arrived here on Tuesday night, Claudio met me at the bus station and we went out for dinner with some other folks.

On the Wednesday I woke up at 5:50am in order to get the train to a small historic town called Morretes. Apparently the Brazilian government made a decision to get rid of passenger trains for some reason, so there's not many rides like this. But views on this 3 hour trip are fantastic. I spend a few hours walking around the town and had lunch there where the waiter - an old Dutch guy who decided to move here - told me about the place. The buildings look great and it's very peaceful here. If I ever retire, I think this place will have to be on my Top 5 places to live.

I got back to the train station 20 minutes before the 3pm (only train) was due to leave back for Curitiba and even had time to fit in a quick hair cut. In the evening Claudio's mum prepared dinner for us and Claudo's girlfriend - she spent a year in NZ and speaks English well. Even though Claudio speaks some English, we usually communicate in Portuguese.

On Thursday I got a tour bus around the city of Curitiba to see what it has to offer. The Couchsurfing community has a weekly dinner/get together on Thursday evenings, so I joined them. Seems like a great way to meet new people when you're travelling.

It's now Friday and I have a 2pm bus booked for São Paulo - a six hour trip.



The town of Morretes