Day 4 - Train in Vain - March 2, 2013

Today we woke up early, 6:30 in the morning, well rested after a comfortable night.  After a nice breakfast Mauro took us over to the train station for the Serra Verde Express.  We arrived at 8:45 for our 9:15 scheduled departure, and the office was full of people with a line to the ticket window snaking out of the door.  The larger, earlier train should have left at 8:15, so it was strange that so many people were at the ticket lines.  Mauro came inside with us, and he recognized and was recognized by an old friend.  We were introduced and he took us inside the office to find our tickets and give us the story.  Apparently during the night a freight train had several cars derail on the tracks, and all trains today were canceled.  The plan was to re-book us on the identical tour on tomorrow (Sunday).  Since we have no schedule, it was not a problem for us, and 15 minutes later we were on our way with new tickets for Sunday.  Mauro has lived here all his life and has worked many places and knows many people.  He is a very good guy to have helping you!  For today, it was a Train in Vain.

So now we have an open day with no plans.  Mauro drove us to downtown Curitba and found parking.  From there we walked the city center, exploring the historical buildings and the old main street, checking out some shops and department stores, watching some of the people, and generally enjoying the nice weather.

Original Mayor's Home

Original University

Parana Candelabra Trees

Yes, it's an original Chevy Opala!

Around noon we found a nice restaurant, Casa Lilas, with an interior open-air courtyard.  There we had a very excellent lunch with a large salad to share and some small quiches and sandwiches.  They also had free wi-fi, with password provided, as do most restaurants here in Curitiba.  Unfortunately the router signal did not reach out into the courtyard where we sat.  

After lunch we made our way across town into the very nice areas.  Here we found the Mestre-Cervejerio Juveve business.  Mauro's good friend Hegon and his brother have recently started a boutique beer importing store.  This day only, they were offering four different kinds of beer-flavored ice cream in a stand outside on the walk.  We tasted all four and I selected the Eisenbahn Hefeweizen flavor while K went with the Baden Baden Doppelbock.  Both surprisingly delicious!  They had a great selection of beers around the world, including some from the USA.  Of course, one bottle of those costs about the same as a 6-pack back home.  Seeing that this was the only day we could have tasted the ice creams, missing the train worked out for the best after all!