Days 13,14, and 15. Curitiba, Brazil
This is going to be a long one! I’m sorry that I didn’t get to update last night with just two days, but our internet went down. This was problematic mostly in that it totally cut me off from Joe since I’m out of phone cards. I tried calling through my cell phone, direct, and collect but all the directions were in Portugese and I didn’t know how to do it :-( As soon as the net came back up this morning I was able to contact a very worried Joe.
Day 13
Pretty boring day. We mostly sat around the hotel visiting with other patients who had undergone the same surgery. Not much to report.
Day 14
This was a fun day! We went to see the opera house. It is a lovely lovely all glass building. We went inside and it was stunning! The only way to get to the opera house is over a long bridge made of open grate material. I was about half way accross when I noticed that if I looked down, I was looking about 30 feet down into a small lake! The opera house is parially built over water! If you are on the top floor (it’s three stories) you can look all the way down to the bottom floor. Wow! We took some fabulous photos which I will be posting on the site once we get them developed.
After the opera house Louis (Ana’s brother is ALSO a bilingual taxi driver) took us to a nearbye park. The park had several fountains. When you reach the end of the park you can look over a railing and down down down several hundred feet to a lake below where people were riding in paddle boats. Completely stunning!
We were all a bit tired after these two excursions, so Louis drove around Curitiba pointing out interresting places. We went to two other parks, which we were content just to drive through, and then saw some of the nicer houses in Curitiba. I was amazed to note that all of the upscale houseing is gated here. Big electronic fences with driveway gates around every house! In total we were out for about 5 hours.
We came back to the hotel and I talked very briefly with Joe before heading to dinner. When I returned from dinner alas, the internet was down. I waited up until about 2 am Curitiba time hoping that it would come back up. Every half hour or so I tried my cell phone and calling collect, but was never able to figure it out.
Day 15
Today we went to a large open air “flea market”. It was not what I consider a flea market to be. It stretched over about 6 blocks and was packed with booths. People were selling many beautifull things. Everything from pottery to Jewelry, to clothing. If you were looking for it, it was likely at the flea market. The only thing I havn’t been able to find yet is postcards! How vexing. Those of you who are waiting for postcards, bear with me, I’m trying to find some!
We left at 10 this morning and returned around 5. We shopped at the flea market until roughtly 2 and then headed out to get a late lunch. I bought A LOT of stuff. Gifts for people and a few for myself ;-) Ana came with us today and translated for us as necessary. It was like being at a fair there was so much to see! We ended our shopping at a lovely jewelry store where they had many loose stones suitable for mounting in a ring or a necklace. In addition to gems and jewelry, they had a wide variety of items carved from stone. Lots of beautifull things!
We went to lunch at a Mexican restaraunt. For 19 reals (roughly $10.00) each we were able to enjoy a “buffet”. I put buffet in quotes because it was unlike any buffet I’ve ever been to. They brought the food to our table, once course at a time and allowed us to select off of platters the things we wanted. If we wanted more of something that had come earlier, they prepared and brought it out to the table. Quite a way to buffet! None of that pesky standing in line for food that’s been sitting around for a couple of hours here! Since two of our party were here for surgery, they allowed them to eat for the price of one person. They kept saying we hadn’t eaten enough! We were all so full when we left, it’s amazing any of us could walk.
Ana returned us to the hotel where I am now sorting through my loot while waiting for Joe to log back in :-)
4 days until we return to the states. 6 until I can see my Joe again!!
Ciao,
Cheryl
Day 13
Pretty boring day. We mostly sat around the hotel visiting with other patients who had undergone the same surgery. Not much to report.
Day 14
This was a fun day! We went to see the opera house. It is a lovely lovely all glass building. We went inside and it was stunning! The only way to get to the opera house is over a long bridge made of open grate material. I was about half way accross when I noticed that if I looked down, I was looking about 30 feet down into a small lake! The opera house is parially built over water! If you are on the top floor (it’s three stories) you can look all the way down to the bottom floor. Wow! We took some fabulous photos which I will be posting on the site once we get them developed.
After the opera house Louis (Ana’s brother is ALSO a bilingual taxi driver) took us to a nearbye park. The park had several fountains. When you reach the end of the park you can look over a railing and down down down several hundred feet to a lake below where people were riding in paddle boats. Completely stunning!
We were all a bit tired after these two excursions, so Louis drove around Curitiba pointing out interresting places. We went to two other parks, which we were content just to drive through, and then saw some of the nicer houses in Curitiba. I was amazed to note that all of the upscale houseing is gated here. Big electronic fences with driveway gates around every house! In total we were out for about 5 hours.
We came back to the hotel and I talked very briefly with Joe before heading to dinner. When I returned from dinner alas, the internet was down. I waited up until about 2 am Curitiba time hoping that it would come back up. Every half hour or so I tried my cell phone and calling collect, but was never able to figure it out.
Day 15
Today we went to a large open air “flea market”. It was not what I consider a flea market to be. It stretched over about 6 blocks and was packed with booths. People were selling many beautifull things. Everything from pottery to Jewelry, to clothing. If you were looking for it, it was likely at the flea market. The only thing I havn’t been able to find yet is postcards! How vexing. Those of you who are waiting for postcards, bear with me, I’m trying to find some!
We left at 10 this morning and returned around 5. We shopped at the flea market until roughtly 2 and then headed out to get a late lunch. I bought A LOT of stuff. Gifts for people and a few for myself ;-) Ana came with us today and translated for us as necessary. It was like being at a fair there was so much to see! We ended our shopping at a lovely jewelry store where they had many loose stones suitable for mounting in a ring or a necklace. In addition to gems and jewelry, they had a wide variety of items carved from stone. Lots of beautifull things!
We went to lunch at a Mexican restaraunt. For 19 reals (roughly $10.00) each we were able to enjoy a “buffet”. I put buffet in quotes because it was unlike any buffet I’ve ever been to. They brought the food to our table, once course at a time and allowed us to select off of platters the things we wanted. If we wanted more of something that had come earlier, they prepared and brought it out to the table. Quite a way to buffet! None of that pesky standing in line for food that’s been sitting around for a couple of hours here! Since two of our party were here for surgery, they allowed them to eat for the price of one person. They kept saying we hadn’t eaten enough! We were all so full when we left, it’s amazing any of us could walk.
Ana returned us to the hotel where I am now sorting through my loot while waiting for Joe to log back in :-)
4 days until we return to the states. 6 until I can see my Joe again!!
Ciao,
Cheryl