🇬🇧 Things you should know before to move to Curitiba

I am from the state of Minas Gerais and before living in Curitiba I also lived in Porto Alegre. I’m brazilian. And I went practically without knowing anything, although I had already been to the city a few times for a show and other things. I will share with you some useful things to know before living in Curitiba.

Curitiba is the largest city in southern Brazil. It is less than an hour's flight from the city of São Paulo. It has an international airport and easy access to the main capitals of Brazil.

They say that people from Curitiba are closed. At first, I agreed with it. After a while, people I never saw started to talk to me in the supermarket, at the mall, at the museum... But I know the home of very few people in the city (hmm... there are few who know mine too... 😊). I'm complaining on a full stomach, because I even spent Christmas with family of friends once.

A nice thing: several people when they visit someone's home for the first time bring a little gift to the person visited. I think it's cute!

It's cold. For brazilian standards. It is colder than Porto Alegre. Even in summer. It is rare to go over 30 degrees in summer and when it passes you can know that it will rain and cool. In the winter, I already got negative temperatures and it even snowed, but I didn't see the snow. I saw only one video that a friend who wakes up early made. 😁 When I woke up there was no sign of snow anymore. Regarding the climate, the thing I most appreciate is the fog… it is too beautiful to see, whether indoors or in a high place. It must be amazing to see from the mirante (this place: https://images.app.goo.gl/C2jpYp543Wtg7izX9), my favorite tourist spot in the city.

The view from up there is worth it. And on the floor of the entire floor up there is a map of the city. It's beautiful!

Ah… and it rains. Many days in the year. If you are a person who doesn't go out in the street if it rains, you will have to change your habit in Curitiba. But they are usually fine rains (drizzle). Heavy rains pass quickly. Thin ones can last all day.

If you have a tendency to seasonal depression (that inexplicable sadness on cloudy days)... you will also have to learn to change that around here. I had. Nowadays I think I could handle the Finnish winter (which has practically no sunlight… it stays overnight for months).

Fortunately it doesn't usually rain much in the winter.

As it is very cold (for Brazilian standards), if you come from warm places I suggest watching the shower from where you live. Those cheap electric showers that are sold at the supermarket do not handle the cold here. The most powerful electric showers solve well, at least if they are 220v like the one in my apartment (a lorenzetti advanced, which is easy to change the resistance. Blessed electrician who changed it for me… haha. The one I had when I moved was no good). Gas shower goes well too.

Also because of the cold, ceramic flooring is a bad idea.  Carpet or wooden flooring is best.

In the center and neighboring neighborhoods the people have many dogs. If you’re easily bothered by dogs... go live in a farm.

And if you have a dog, learn to pick up your dog’s shit when you take him for a walk. I say this because I have had dogs my whole life and I never saw anyone doing it before I moved to Curitiba. But there, the normal thing is to clean the shards. And I think it's right.

Curitiba has a multitude of parks and shopping malls. Shopping is the perfect fun for rainy days. Parks are the choice of many on dry days, cold or hot.

And there are loads of free cultural activities like the opera festival at the Guaíra theater, films at the Cinemateca, classical music at the Santa Maria Chapel, films at the Guido Viaro museum, a multilingual conversation club, etc. And so many paid cultural activities that are also worth the investment.

And one of the things I found most strange in the city: At shows, the people are very quiet. I don't see people getting disheveled and screaming like in other places. Well, I didn't go to pop shows here, just metal. But in some metal shows the audience seems more like a lot of poles, just listening. I think it's great because it makes it easier for me to take photos or videos, but it's very different from the behavior of people from other places where I've been to a show.

The transportation system in the city is very good (the integrated system of Uberlândia is better, but the one in Curitiba is better than the common system of most cities that I have been to in the country). And the public healthcare system, at least in the center and before the pandemic, worked well.

Unfortunately, in the central region of the city there are many homeless people. I don't know if the same thing happens on the periphery.

If you have or think about having a car, the traffic in the city is horrible on rainy days. It is better to live in a place close to where you are going to study or work, go by bike or take an uber, ride with friends and neighbours or taxi if it rains. Contribute to reduce traffic.

As for neighborhoods, I like the region of batel, agua verde (the part closest to Batel), Bigorrilho (which is also called Champagnat) and Mercês. Alto da XV and Alto da Glória are very close to the center, but have a crazy urban fabric, with several intersections between three different streets.

The city has a good general structure, with many options for restaurants, bars, pubs, coffee shops, large companies, bike paths, fashion and beauty brands, good supermarkets, a very wide service network, universities, and, at least for me,  there are few things that are hard to find in the city these days. It wasn't like that twelve years ago, but the city has evolved a lot. The options are analysed compared to other brazilian cities.

There are a lot of bad restaurants, and I haven't met a good one that is fabulous. Perhaps this is one of the biggest weaknesses in the city, in my opinion. The taste of the people of Curitiba does not seem to appreciate spicy food. It's all kind of bland, compared to the Minas Gerais and Bahian cuisines, my favorites in Brazil.

For those coming from abroad, there are many descendants of immigrants in the city, mainly from Italy, Germany, Ukraine, Poland and Japan.

The city is not very original, it is a huge city with the look of a small town in many things, a considerable conservatism, and without the welcoming way of people from the interior of Brazil. But it is a pleasant place to live and as a bonus we get stronger, we become better people, as in the cases of overcoming seasonal depression, creating courage to go out in the rain, and so many other opportunities that the city offers for cultural enrichment and  for self-knowledge and the breaking of limitations. I won't say that the natives do the same, but they should.

The city is in bloom all year round and always has beautiful places to photograph.

If you have more questions about the city, ask in the comments that if I can I’ll answer. If you have tips I didn't mention, comment too. If you like the tips, buy me a coffee: https://ko-fi.com/nycka

Nycka, the nomad