When I was planning the trip and deciding what dates and how long I’d spend in each place, it worked out that I had a spare couple of days. I chose to use them in Curitiba, which happens to be located between Foz do Iguacu and Sao Paulo (where I’d be departing from to go back to England) so it was in an ideal location. I’ve heard mixed reviews about Curitiba so it was a case of see it and judge for myself.

There are pros and cons to arriving early or late when you’re travelling. Arriving early means you have essentially an extra day or half day (depending what time you arrive) to do stuff. But then you end up really tired by the end of it. On the other hand arriving in the evening means you can relax and plan the next day. For Curitiba I chose the former as I wasn’t going to be here for long.

The first thing I did was something I had planned for Curitiba, the Oscar Niemeyer Museum. This was originally called the Novo Museum when it opened in 2002. In 2003 it was renamed the Oscar Niemeyer museum in honour of the man who not only designed it, he completed the project at the age of 95.

Once you go into the museum, you go up a ramp and on the top floor you’ll find many rooms with paintings and works. As stupid as it may sound, I went in expecting to mainly see things related to Niemeyer’s work. Although the bottom floor is dedicated to that, the majority of what you see is art. Many of the paintings and works were donated to the museum.

Once you finish in the museum you can get a lift inside the eye itself and take photos. Much of the area was closed off as there was some work going on to accommodate new paintings that were due to come in. I was allowed to take photos which the security guard kindly did for me.

Later on I arranged to meet Grant, who I’d met in Foz do Iguacu. We met at a pub called the Koda which was located in a 24 hour shopping mall. And over a few beers we had a catch up and did what most people who travel do: discussed our travels. There was some decent live music and although I’m not a fan of beer, the local beer was actually good.

We were joined by Robert and Johanna (who we also met in Foz do Iguassu). Johanna was studying in Curitiba for a few months and Robert was travelling himself. We all ventured to another bar. Even when the bar closed the staff allowed us to carry on drinking which was pretty awesome. We carried on into the night, drinking, reminiscing and sharing stories about our travels.

As I’m about to leave the others and order an Uber, I find out that Grant and Robert are staying at the same hotel as me! Grant and I had been keeping touch through WhatsApp throughout the day and it didn’t occur to either of us to find out where the other was staying. In fact he was staying on the floor above me! I definitely felt like a bit of idiot but at the same time it was pretty funny to think that neither of us had the common sense to find this out.

The weird thing is I took an Uber to the pub on the advice of the receptionist. They said it was really far away. Grant walked in so I assumed he was staying somewhere nearby. Of course if we’d known we were staying at the same hotel it would’ve been more convenient (and logical) to meet in reception.

Of course I walked back with the others. We got food from a Lebanese place on the way back to finish the night off. There’s quite a high Lebanese population in the south of Brazil, especially Foz do Iguacu. You could say I felt right at home.

My original plan for the next morning was to get up early and take the Curitiba-Paranagua train ride to a small city called Morretes. It’s one of the most popular things to do in Curitiba as it’s known to be one of the most exciting and scenic routes in Brazil.

Seeing as it would be the last full day I had in Brazil, like Brasilia with Pirenopolis, as long as I woke up feeling fresh and up for it, I’d go. The train was due to leave Curitiba at 8am and would take 3 hours.

I got up at 6am and hit the snooze button straight away. The last thing I felt like doing was going on a 3 hour train ride. The weather wasn’t too great either so it wasn’t like we’d get the best of the scenic route. You take the train to Morretes and take the coach back to Curitiba which only takes 1 hour. I’ve never known a journey where taking a coach would be quicker than a train. I’ve said many times before and I’ll say it again, there’s always a next time.

I found out you can get from the Iguassu Falls to Rio de Janeiro on the train and a portion of the train ride connects Iguassu Falls to Curitiba so this was a definite bonus and something I’ll do next time I come to Brazil.

Once I finished breakfast I made my way to the bus station to see if there were any other trains going. There wasn’t one until 3pm. Rather than waste time waiting around doing nothing, I found out there was a coach departing for Morretes soon and bought a return ticket.

I spent around an hour and a half in Morretes, walking around the area, including the old town. It’s a secluded old coastal city with a population less than 20,000. I probably would’ve stayed in the area longer if I’d chosen to eat. Apparently the area is famous for its restaurants and traditional food but at the time I wasn’t feeling too great and didn’t have the appetite.

Usually people who come here would travel by train for the scenic route and get the coach back to Curitiba. You can see why you’d get the coach back. The views you get of the mountains, and then from the top of the mountains once you’re up there. The route was different coming here and there wasn’t really anything special to note about the journey to Morretes.

I arrived back in time to go to the Torre Panoramica. This is a scenic tower in Curitiba where you get a panoramic view of the whole city. It’s only R$5 to get in and you can spend as long as you like at the top of the tower.

After having a bite to eat I met up with Johanna, a friend from her course joined us as the evening progressed. Grant and Rob had gone on to Rio de Janeiro earlier in the day, and I usually prefer to do something the evening before I leave instead of being bored. We went back to the bar we were at the night before having liked it a lot. The staff were really good to us, and it saved us looking for another place to drink. I didn’t stay out for too long as I needed to pack and had an early start, but none the less I’d rather do something than nothing.

Curitiba is an ideal location to use as a stop gap. It’s good for a couple of days and I found it to be quite a multi cultural place. The only reason I’d come back is to do the train journey from Curitiba to Morretes.

This also brings my 5 week Brazilian adventure to a close. There no words, no blogs, pictures or anything that can express how good this trip was. The people, the food, the weather, it was everything I wished for. If there’s one piece of advice I can offer to people who travel: savour and cherish every moment.