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Curitiba`s name comes from the Tupi language kurí tyba, "many pine seeds" due to the large number of Araucaria pinecones of the Paraná pines
The Portuguese who founded a settlement on the site in 1693 named it Vila da Nossa Senhora da Luz dos Pinhais (Village of Our Lady of the Light of the Pines). The name was changed to Curitiba in 1721. Waves of European immigrants arrived after 1850, mainly Poles, Italians, Germans (mostly from Russia) and Ukrainians.
The city sits on a plateau 932 metres above sea level. It is located 105 kilometres west of the seaport of Paranaguá one of the biggest bulk cereal port in the world.
We fly from São Paulo to Curitiba and from there we drive to Pontal do Sul where my Parents live. The highway from Curitiba to Paranaguá runs through the Serra do Mar (Sea Muntain range) a drop of almost 1000 meters over 30 km. A double lane highway, well designed and maintained but with heavy traffic due to the trucks loaded with soy heading to the Paranaguá port.
My cousin Carla and husband Ale live in Curitiba and we always spend great time with them. Carla works for a travel agency, knows Curitiba very well and always organises fantastic tours of the city. This time we had also our Curitiba born nephew Ricardo, showing us around.
For our surprise we learnt that Mário Pereira, our old friend from Angola which we had't seen for more than 30 was living in Curitiba and we met with him for a day of remembrance.
Rosário dos Pretos de São Benedito
View of Curitiba from the Radio Tower
