Curitiba Brazil and the Great Train Ride

After landing in Sao Paulo, there was a mad dash across town to make my connection in a smaller airport to fly to Curitiba, Brazil. Because the flight from Dulles was 3 hours late I missed that connection, but thanks to the great staff of Gol Airlines at Congonhaus Airport in Sao Paulo I was able to make a later plane - and -after 24 hours of travelling - I made it to my Hotel in Curitiba; Hotel Slavierra Full Jazz. With its unusual name and description as a "concept hotel" focused on classic jazz, I couldn't pass it up. The small hotel (pictured bottom left in the middle of the pic) was a treasure and I would highly recommend it to anyone travelling to Curitiba. See my earlier blog on Curitiba for more details.
After a catch-up night of sleep, I made the voyage to the train station for the primary reason for the Curitiba trip - a train ride through Amazonian greenery. From Lonely Planet's South America on a Shoestring; "The railway from Curitiba (altitude 900 m) to the port of Paranagua is the most exciting in Brazil, with sublime panoramas."
The train trip consisted of one railway car carrying about 40 people. 3 of us were with an English speaking guide, who admitted that the usual English speaking guide was sick and she was filling in. She aplogized that English wasn't her stong suite and the last time she had to fill in for the English speaking guide, she told her tour group that she would be along shortly to hand out "snakes" to each of them. It would have been an unforgettable and very appropriate momento of the tour through the Amazonian rain forrest. Unfortunately (or fortunately) she handed out "snacks" to everyone.
More later. Happy Trails for now.

(Picture to left is of different types of architecture, all within a 2 block radius of my hotel in Curitiba, Brazil. The city is a hodge podge of small modern tall buildings, fading and also revived Victorian mansions, amid a lot of modern indutrial buildings. It's a relatively new city with great pride in its commitment to ecology and conservation)