Curitiba is the city that other cities come to copy. Sitting on a cool plateau about nine hundred metres above the sea in southern Brazil, the capital of Paraná state became known in the 1970s for a handful of radical ideas: dedicated bus lanes with tube-shaped boarding stations, pedestrian streets, and a network of parks that took care of flood problems along the rivers. The result is a tidy, green and surprisingly calm city of nearly two million people, with a more European feel than most Brazilian places.
That European feel comes from the immigrants who settled the region in the nineteenth century: Poles, Ukrainians, Germans and Italians, who brought their churches, wooden houses and food. You can taste it in the cafes and markets, and see it at the Ukrainian memorial and the Polish forest on the edge of the city. The Botanical Garden, with its iron-and-glass greenhouse modelled on a Victorian conservatory, is a landmark, and the Oscar Niemeyer Museum, nicknamed the Eye because of its eye-shaped building, is a striking example of modern Brazilian architecture. Local food includes barreado, a slow-cooked meat stew, and chimarrão, the bitter maté tea sipped from a gourd.
For a motorcyclist, Curitiba is the gateway to one of the best rides in southern Brazil, the descent of the Serra do Mar to the coast. The old Graciosa road, a cobbled route built in the nineteenth century, drops through thick Atlantic rainforest, shrouded in cloud, with tight bends and dizzying views, though the cobbles are slippery when wet and a light, steady pace is wise. The newer BR-277 highway is faster and smoother, descending to the port of Paranaguá, and a mountain railway nearby, one of the most spectacular in the country, runs down to Morretes. Rain, mist and sudden changes in temperature are normal here, so pack waterproofs. The summer months are warm and wet, and winter can be cold, even with frost on the high ground.
There is no problem with fuel in the city, where stations are everywhere and many sell both petrol and ethanol. Keep documents handy, because police checkpoints are not unusual, and take care with bikes in city centres, where theft can be a problem. Park in guarded areas. The cafes of the old centre, around Largo da Ordem, make a fine place to rest.