Brazil 2014 - Day 7 (6/19/2014) - São Paulo

Raj was in charge of the itinerary for the day, and he came up with a walking tour of some areas close to our hotel.  Before heading out, though, we had the usual breakfast at the hotel just before it closed at 9:30.  The weather was to be in the 60s (and even a bit lower) that day, so we bundled/layered up a bit more than normal.

Our first stop on the walk was Estação Pinacoteca, an extension of the Pinacoteca museum in a railway station complex.  Though it was not actually what Raj was looking for (he wanted the Pinacoteca), it had some interesting exhibits about Brazilian history, resistance, and the role of football (soccer) in politics.  We kept looking for the Pinacoteca until we found the Parque da Luz, and decided to walk through that.  We happened onto a couple who were out with their two kids and who spoke great English.  They explained that many things were closed that day for a national holiday (Corpus Christi) and advised us on what parts of town to go to instead.  They also revealed to us that the Pinacoteca was in the Parque da Luz (we had actually walked past the back of it), so we headed there next.  We spent the bulk of our time there going through the chronological history of Brazilian art on its second floor.

After leaving the museum, we hopped on the Metro and took Linha (Line) 1 to Paraíso, which is at the south end of Avenida Paulista.  We first tried to stop by a Lebanese restaurant that Raj had read about, but it was closed.  Instead we stopped at Starbucks for a warm drink (white chocolate, in my case) and snack (caramel brownie).  We then walked up Paulista and stopped by MASP (Museu de Arte São de Paulo) and Parque Tenente Siqueira Campos, before walking over to a nearby pub to try to catch the 4:00 England vs Uruguay game, but the place had a line out the door.  So we instead crossed the street and watched it at Frutaria São Paulo, which is apparently a health food restaurant.  Raj had the veggie burger and fries while I had a tostex provolone, which turned out to basically be a provolone grilled cheese sandwich - it was pretty fantastic.  Unfortunately, I also ordered a swiss lemonade, which basically turned out to be the equivalent of lemon juice.  Raj and I also shared a creme brulé.  England lost 2-1.

After leaving the restaurant, we walked over to the FIFA Fan Fest, which was taking place at Parque Anhagabaú, which wasn't too far from our hotel - I wanted to see if they were selling Nigeria scarves there (I had been unable to find one on the street or at the first game).  Unfortunately, they were not selling any merchandise at the fest.  So we just watched the rest of the first half of Japan vs Greece.  At halftime we walked back to the hotel and caught the rest of the game in our room.

Brazil 2014 - Day 6 (6/18/2014) - Itaipu

Before breakfast, Raj went down to the tourism desk at the hotel and bought two tickets for the 1:30 Special Tour at Itaipu Binacional dam.  This tour was recommended over the Panoramic Tour on Trip Advisor, as it takes you inside the dam instead of just outside and on it.  We didn't really have anything to do before the tour, so we took our time with breakfast, checking out, stowing our bags, and then slowly making our way to Itaipu.  We took the bus to the main bus terminal and then switched to the 102, which took us to the visitors center of the complex.  We were an hour early, so after exchanging our voucher for tickets (and stowing my daypack in a locker) we explored the gift shop for a while.  After that, we found that they were showing the 1:00 match between Netherlands and Australia on a big TV outside the auditorium, which we needed to be inside at 1:30.  We caught a couple of fantastic goals before starting the tour.

The tour began with a half hour informational video about the whole Itaipu project (which is apparently more than just the dam), and then we gathered for a security check (which they take pretty seriously) before boarding our small bus.  The tour was facilitated by a couple of helpful bilingual guides who initially took us by a couple of panoramic spots.  The first "stop" (we actually didn't get a chance to disembark) was in front of the dam, and provided a view of the spillway (which sadly was not open).  We next drove on top of the dam, where we were able to get off the bus and take pictures of both the downstream side and the reservoir side.  We then crossed into the Paraguay half of Itaipu and drove down and around to the back side of the power house.  We split into two groups (by language) and went into the dam, where our guide took us on a couple of different levels, including showing us one of the turbine shafts in action.  We also crossed over to the power house and saw the main control room.  It was pretty fascinating, and the sheer size of the project was very impressive.  After the tour was done, they took us back to the visitors center, where Raj and I bought a couple of small souvenirs.  We also stopped for a snack of pao de queijo (cheese bread/loaf, which we had been consuming quite frequently on the trip), while watching some of the next soccer match, in the cafe/bistro.

We were lucky to catch the 104 express bus back to the terminal, though we wasted some of that gained time by trying to take a bus back to the hotel - we could probably have walked the 8 blocks back to the hotel before the bus arrived, as it wound through downtown, and then dropped us off 2 blocks from the hotel.  In any case, we picked up our bags at the hotel and then took the same bus the other (quicker) way back to the terminal, and then the bus to the airport (which is also the same to the falls).  We were a bit on the late side for our 7:42 flight, and the plane was apparently boarding when we got through the slow security line.  We didn't actually realize this, and stopped to buy some more pao de quiejo at a cafe.  By then Raj heard the final boarding call, and hurried over to the gate to check in and let them know I was on my way.  When we eventually got to the plane, after boarding by stairway, Raj realized that he was missing his wallet, and reasoned that he must have left it at the cafe counter.  Fortunately, one of the attendants was able to go back and retrieve it for him.

We made it to São Paulo without any more issues.  After landing and disembarking, we bought tickets on the 10:40 shuttle to Praça Republica.  We had about 30 minutes to kill, so we got some gelato at a shop in the airport before heading to the platform to catch our bus.  From Republica we walked the fairly short distance to Hotel Calstar and checked in.

Brazil 2014 - Day 5 (6/17/2014) - Foz

The breakfast at Bella Italia was an improvement over the already solid buffet from Hotel Aladdin - they additionally had more warm items, and some huge wheels of cheese.  After eating we headed to the front desk to ask about getting to the falls.  We took a bus to the main bus terminal, and then switched to the Parque Nacional bus.  After the 30-ish minute ride to the park, we entered (after getting off a stop too soon - you would think that I would get it right after having been there before 5 years prior) and bought tickets.  We took the park bus to the trail that began at the first view of the falls, and then took the trail to the falls and down the Devil's Throat walkway.  This time, I was prepared with a rain jacket, rain pants, and rain cover for my backpack.  Another difference of note this time was that the water flow was higher than normal - some recent heavy rains had caused huge floods (and reached a peak flow rate 33 times higher than normal) and overflown the Devil's Throat walkway.  The flow had since reduced, but was clearly still pretty high.  One visible symptom was the greatly increased muddiness of the water.  Thankfully, pretty much all paths and walkways had been reopened by our arrival.

We next took the elevator to the panorama platform, before stopping for a snack while watching some of the first half of the 1:00 Belgium vs Algeria game.  When we got going again, Raj wanted to walk back up the trail by the falls, as we didn't really have anything else to do.  This ended up allowing for some better shots of the falls, as the clouds had dissipated a bit and the sun was in a favorable position.  After getting back to the start of the trail, we took the park bus back to the visitors center, and then caught the bus back into town.

Once in town, we got off the bus after passing by a few bars that looked to be gearing up to show the Brazil vs Mexico match.  We walked back to Jardim de Cerveja (literally, Beer Garden) and sat down to watch the match.  Even though it was a 0-0 draw, it was a more entertaining match than the Nigeria match the day before had been.  After the match, we walked back to the hotel to settle in early for the night and watch the late soccer match (Russia vs South Korea).  This turned out to be a decent idea, as it began to rain quite hard at around 8:00.  We also pondered what to do the following day, and decided on a visit to Itaipu dam.  We tried to book it ourselves, but could not complete the process on the website, so we decided to try through the hotel's tourism desk in the morning.

Brazil 2014 - Day 4 (6/16/2014) - Nigeria vs Iran

The main activity on the docket for the day was the World Cup game between Nigeria and Iran.  We got a late start because we didn't have anywhere we needed to be besides downstairs for breakfast by 10:00 and checked out by 11:00.  After checking out and stowing our big bags, we walked down to Arena da Baixada just to check out the stadium area, which turned out to be heavily secured by military police.  We then wandered around trying to find a place to watch the 1:00 game between Germany and Portugal.  The two places that Raj had read about were both closed, so we ended up going to Devassa in Patio Batel.  Along the way, we picked up three Nigerians (friends from secondary school, two being brothers) who were also looking to watch the game.  Our group, with 4 green jerseys, began to get some attention and shows of support (especially by honking/yelling drivers in the street), which was a welcome change from having seen more (though not a ton) Iranian support thus far.

At the bar, Raj and I ordered a couple more rounds of cheese pastries (which we had shared a couple of nights before) and drinks.  Our Nigerian companions invited along even more Nigerians to join our table, one of whom was bringing a ticket for one of them.  Raj and I left the bar a bit before the end of the early game, as Germany clearly had control of the game up 4-0 (which turned out to be the final score) and one man, and walked all the way over to the stadium (having to show our tickets to the military police to get past a couple of street barricades).

The line at our entrance into the stadium was pretty long, and it took us well over a a half hour to get through the line and the security checkpoint - I'm definitely glad we showed up early. Once through, we found our seats, which were literally in the last row of the upper deck.  Despite this, our view of the field was actually pretty good (though both video boards were obstructed).  The game itself was a bit of a snoozer - it ended 0-0, and the quality of play just about fit that scoreline.

After the game, we walked back to our hotel to pick up our big bags.  We then crossed back over to the Estação mall to watch the US a vs Ghana game at a pizzeria there.  We each ordered a personal pizza (they had a lot of vegetarian choices) and drinks while we watched the game.  We left to catch the shuttle to the airport just after Ghana's late equalizer, but were still walking through the mall when Brooks scored what turned out to be the late winner.

Our flight to Fox do Iguaçú was supposed to depart at 10:42, but was delayed by about 30 minutes.  There was a large group of Nigerian fans at the airport who were all apparently traveling next to Sao Paulo.  One struck up a conversation with me - he was a sporting director and football (soccer) writer, though our conversation was mostly about other topics.  After eventually boarding our plane and flying to Foz (which only took somewhere around an hour), we were a bit surprised to find a driver waiting for us at the airport (Raj forgot having arranged this).  He drove us to Bella Italia Hotel in the city, where we checked in and soon called it a late night.

Brazil 2014 - Day 3 (6/15/2014) - Curitiba

Sleeping later felt so good this morning.  We didn't get up until around 8:15, and went down for breakfast after getting ready.  It was raining when we left the hotel around 10:00.  The concierge at the front desk spoke decent English, unlike the ones we had previously seen, and suggested that we take the tourist bus (Linha Turismo) around town due to the weather.  We were already planning on doing this, but he did help out by informing us that there was a stop nearby at the Shopping Estação mall - we we're planning to walk all the way over to Praça Tiradentes to catch it at the first stop.  He also gave suggestions regarding which stops to check out - a R$29 allows you to get off and back on 4 times.

We caught the bus at the Museu Ferroviário at Shopping Estação, and took it to the Jardim Botânico.  The tourist bus gives information in Portuguese, Spanish, and English, which we found helpful.  The rain was clearing up by the time we had walked around the Botanical Garden.  We got back on the bus and took it to the Museu Oscar Niemeyer, where we spent quite a bit of time.  We left the museum around 1:30, and walked down to a nearby vegetarian buffet (Sorella) that had good ratings on Trip Advisor.  Although I didn't really know what was in half of what I ate (they had a large variety, and the labels were in Portuguese), the food was for the most part really good.

The next stop after getting back on the bus was a "free" one - the driver and cashier stopped for a few minutes to use the facilities at Bosque Alemão, and we quickly ran out to take some pictures from the top of the Philosopher's Tower.  Our next real stop was Parque Tanguá.  After checking out the top section (which provided a good view of the city to one side as well as a lush valley to another), Raj convinced me to walk down the huge hill (which turned out to be much bigger than he expected) to see the tunnel at the bottom.  The trek was probably worth it, but between the climb back up and running to catch the bus after, I was starting to sweat a bit.  The ride on the top section of the bus cooled us off pretty quickly (it remained in the 60s, Fahrenheit, during the day) and we even had to put our raincoats back on just to stay warm.  Our last sightseeing stop was the Torre Panorâmica, a telecommunications tower that provides a 360° view of the city and surroundings.

We took the bus back to Setor Histórico, and then walked over to Praça Tiradentes, where Raj thought that we could catch a bus to the FIFA fan fest (which was all the way out by one of the stops the tourist bus had gone by earlier).  We couldn't find the appropriate bus, so we walked over to another square where the fan fest bus was also supposed to stop.  Again, we couldn't find it, so we gave up (though I wasn't too sad about that).  We walked back to our hotel, which wasn't far, and asked the concierge where we might watch the game and get some food nearby.  He hesitantly suggested Estação, so we headed back there.  We found a store where I was able to purchase a prepaid local (Claro) SIM card for my phone, with the invaluable help from a woman who sensed that we were in desperate need of it.  In addition to needing a Brazilian social security (equivalent) number to do this, we were thoroughly unable to communicate with the store staff.  The woman used her SSN for us (apparently it's really only a formality, but one is still required) and communicated all our needs and questions to the store staff.  I was successfully able to activate the SIM card (R$5) and load R$30 on to it.  Calls were a bit expensive (ranging from R$0.25 to R$1.50 per minute), but data supposedly only required an access fee of R$0.60 per day (this, however, turned out to only allow a few MB of high speed data; you could refill your high speed allotment for the same price, but I didn't find this out until many days later).  This fee eventually was charged to my account later that night, and I was briefly able to get a very inconsistent Internet connection.

After getting my phone set up, we headed to a microbrewery restaurant in the mall and watched most of Argentina's victory over Bosnia.  Like the night before, we ordered drinks and split an appetizer and dessert.  When the game had concluded (around 9:00), we walked back to the hotel.

Brazil 2014 - Day 2 (6/14/2014) - Serra Verde

We had an 8:15 reservation on the Serra Verde Express, so we were downstairs for breakfast around 7:15.  Hotel Aladdin provides an included buffet breakfast with a pretty good variety of (mostly cold) options.  After eating Raj and I took off by foot for the bus station that we assumed was also the train station.  Google Maps had the Serra Verde office in the same area, but a couple of blocks down and across the street.  After asking for help a couple of times at the bus station (we were pretty well lost at this point), we found out that the train departed from an adjoining building.  We had just enough time before the train left (I, for some reason, had thought that it departed at 8, but Raj knew better) to buy a return ticket from Morretes on the Viacao Graciosa bus for 2:30 that afternoon.  We then picked up our tickets at the Serra Verde office and then boarded the train.

The train ride itself was long, as the train moves quite slowly.  The trip time was lengthened further by a 30+ minute delay due to a failed positioning/logistical system on the train.  The scenic ride through the mountains and rainforest provided some good views (the left side, where we were, is where most of the action is), though many of them were brief since the train was moving.  It was also quite foggy in the mountains that day, which ruined many of the views.  Our guide in the executive class car was trilingual (English, Portuguese, and German), and was definitely helpful in letting us know when we approached photo spots.  They also provided plenty of snacks and drinks for our consumption.

We arrived in Morretes a little before 1:00, though I think our arrival was scheduled for 11:30.  We explored the town on foot for a bit before stopping for lunch at a restaurant (Madal Ozo) that was recommended on Trip Advisor.  It turned out to be quite the experience.  While I was in the bathroom, Raj ordered the only two things that matched our diets - the vegetarian cheese "pancakes" and what he thought was seafood barreado.  The barreado turned out to be the full barreado meal (i.e., with the beef stew), which just happened to include seafood (and lots of it) in some of the courses.  Like a good sport, Raj tried most of it, and far exceeded his usual monthly seafood protein quota in one sitting.  We ate and paid quickly, but still had to hustle in order to make it to bus station by 2:30 (to which we had to ask directions for a couple of times).

The bus ride back to Curitiba was much quicker than the train.  After returning to the main station, we decided to walk to the city center for some exploration.  We ran into a woman, Betty, who had been on our flight from Miami to Curitiba, and accepted her invitation to join her on the trek around the city center that the concierge at her hotel had mapped out for her.  I let her and Raj do the navigating, and basically just tagged along.  We ended by walking her back to her hotel and exchanging some contact info, then Raj and I headed to the Patio Batel shopping center to pick up our World Cup tickets.

Batel turned out to be a pretty nice area of town, and the mall was probably the swankiest I've ever been in.  We picked up the tickets in a section of the underground parking garage that had been tented off, then headed up to a bar (Devassa) recommended by our ticket attendant to watch the match between England and Italy.  We split an appetizer and a dessert while we watched the game, as we were not too hungry after the huge lunch.  I also had a pretty amazing glass of fresh, and surprisingly frothy, lemonade of some kind.  After Italy's victory, we walked the 30 minutes or so back to our hotel, while donning the raincoats that we had packed, as it had grown chilly, even though it wasn't raining.  We then watched Ivory Coast beat Japan in our hotel room before turning in around midnight.

A couple of notes regarding Curitiba...  It seems like every sidewalk is made with cobblestone.  And there are a lot of stray dogs.

Brazil 2014 - Days 0 & 1 (6/12-13/2014) - Getting to Curitiba

This vacation started after a half (or a little more) day at work, trying to wrap up a few loose ends and hand off some work before leaving.  Claire drove me to work, and then Kevin (Whitworth, a coworker) took me to the airport.  Our flight was at 4:40, but Raj had to work at Barnes until 3.  Of course, we were originally planning on leaving on Saturday (6/14), but two American Airlines schedule changes somehow each caused us to bump up departure by a day.  In any case, I was at the airport by 2:30, and waited for Raj at the only place I could find with TVs outside the security checkpoint - The Pasta House Co.  Despite some initial resistance from a very busy waiter (who seemed to be working the whole place alone) I was eventually able to have the TVs switched to the opening game of the World Cup...about 10 minutes after the 3:00 kick-off.  I missed the shock own goal that put Croatia ahead, but was able to see Neymar's equalizer before heading out to meet Raj.

We checked in for the flight to Miami and then went through security, before camping outside the busy Chili's where we could get a view of the rest of the game on TV.  Raj also had some work to finish up by phone while we watched the game and waited for our late-departing plane.  After a fairly uneventful flight to Miami, we caught the shuttle (after a long wait) to the Days Inn Miami International (which AA had arranged for us, at our cost, when they "forced" us to spend the night in Miami).  Being a Days Inn, my expectations were pretty low for the hotel...and it met those low expectations.  But I can't complain too much, as we just needed a place to sleep.

After a pretty terrible night of sleep (probably partially to blame on not being able to sleep on my left side due to a scrape on my hip sustained during a soccer game a couple of nights prior, and partially on anxiety about waking up in time) we took the shuttle back to the airport around 8:00.  We somehow got into the TSA Pre line at the security checkpoint, which made for an easier experience getting through (e.g., no removing shoes or liquids from bags).  Our 10:30 flight departed just about on time, and the flight to Curitiba took 8 hours.  Unfortunately, our plane was a fairly old 767, so it had only common TV entertainment (on some old-school CRTs) and no WiFi.  Despite this, the flight wasn't bad.  And there were plenty of other soccer fans on board traveling to the World Cup.  Raj sat next to a very friendly guy from Sao Paulo, named Alex, who provided a bunch of helpful advice/information, and even gave us his contact info.

Once through immigration and customs at the Curitiba airport, we wandered around looking for the "executive" bus into the city.  We eventually found it with some help from a World Cup information desk.  We bought tickets (R$12, or about USD$5 per person) for the bus and then caught the 8:47 express.  We got off at the second stop, the Estação shopping mall, which was a short walk from our Hotel Aladdin.  We went inside the mall, which was quite impressive, especially in terms of the food selection.  Raj got some items from a by-the-ounce buffet, while I struggled mightily through ordering a sweet banana and cream crepe.  After eating, we walked to the hotel and checked in.  Up in our cozy room, we caught up on soccer highlights on TV (including Spain's incredible 5-1 drubbing by the Netherlands) and other activities on the complementary WiFi before turning in to prepare for another early morning.