Curitiba Recon - Part 2

On Saturday morning, Doug and I went for a run in Curitiba's biggest park - Parque Barigui.  Curitiba is known for having a lot of parks.  This is the biggest with a lot of trails to run.  It was pretty and nice to be out of the high rises for a bit in some beautiful greenery and water - two things I love.  Unfortunately, it was really cold and raining off and on, but it was still nice to get some exercise.  We are both out of shape and the 3000 sq ft. altitude probably didn't help either :).
A panoramic view from the park into the city.

Lots of people run there and there were a lot of running clubs

pretty landscaping throughout

even grazing sheep

and capybaras (the largest rodent!)


'Auto row' was within walking distance from the park, so we talked to a few dealers gathering info on vehicles.  We were shocked at how expensive cars are there!  Even the teeny little cars most people drive there.  Most Brazilians, if not all, don't have more than 2 children - mainly because it's too expensive.  Therefore, there aren't many bigger cars that will hold our 'large' family.  We are considered a large family there :).  It was funny, when looking at schools, we'd get asked 'do you have a girl and a boy or two girls....'.  They automatically assume two.  The look on their faces was a little funny when we'd say 'girl, boy, girl'.  Apparently, not long ago, people used to have big families.  And, most had live in nanny/housekeepers.  All the houses and apartments we saw had 'maid chambers'.  But, now they just hire a housekeeper or nanny during the day or a few times a week.  This and family size are both due to being too expensive now, as the city has grown so fast and most everyone living in cities now.  Farmers, for example, don't live on the farms, they have help to do that and they live in the cities.  

After hot showers, we went to lunch with one of Doug's business partners - Pedro and his wife Rafaela (pronounced Hofayela) - we're still getting used to pronouncing 'r' like 'h'.  They took us to a great seafood place, which even had delicious and very fresh sushi and sashimi.  Also, another great buffet.  The fish above was part of the buffet.

Rafaela and me
The buildings are not heated there, so you basically never take off your coat!  If it's this cold in the spring, I'm a little nervous about how cold it is in the winter.  Some expats we met from Toronto and Alberta said it's colder in Curitiba!  And, without heat in buildings, the buildings are often colder than outside. I guess this Illinois transition phase will be even more helpful than I thought.

Learning more about the area from Pedro and Rafaela at their apartment.  
We really enjoy spending time with them.

Pedro and his adorable daughter Isadora.  They also have an adorable 2 month old son.


Part 3 coming next :)