The commercial galleries of Curitiba: Suissa Gallery

I will start today a series about the commercial galleries of Curitiba downtown. For nearly 20 years I lived in downtown and it is virtually impossible to move through the city center without passing through, stop and get some product or service offered by these galleries, which may be considered without a shadow of doubt, the forerunners of the malls in Curitiba. The diversity of products and services is larger than in a mall, the space is democratic, the prices are competitive and compared to other street stores, it is safer.

There are dozens of galleries in Curitiba, but here I will address only those which is or were part of my life and my history, spaces where I have circulated on the way home from college, from my English school or from anywhere else.

These galleries were considered by the main newspaper of Curitiba (Gazeta do Povo), another among the “50 reasons to love Curitiba”.

Suissa Gallery.
The Suissa Gallery (Marechal Deodoro Street, 262), has electric supply store, restaurant, money exchange, tourism agency, computer shop, health and beauty products, clothes (men and women), electronics, jewelry, home and garden shop, office and school supplies, food, games.

Been a reference point for any resident in Curitiba, the Suissa Gallery was opened in October 12th, 1962, at that time known as Alberto Bolliger Gallery, serving only one store: The Casa Suissa, selling appliances, furniture, toys and electrical equipment. The store still remains in the gallery, selling electrical equipment under the administration of another family. The Bolliger family administrate gallery as a whole. Since 1977 the gallery was open to other stores.

Curitiba, a clean city.

The clean streets is noticeable for those who comes to Curitiba. The habit of not throwing garbage on the floor gets to be contagious.

It is quite common to see people walking with something to be thrown in the trash until finding a public trash can. I remember a TV campaign in which Oscar Schmidt (former basketball player) was sitting on a park bench in Curitiba and beside him, a man reading a newspaper. From the banch, Oscar began to observe people doing amazing shots of their waste, as in basketball, in the dumps. After much notice, he throws his empty glass of soda toward a trash can. The pitch gives the rim and falls out of trash can. At this point, the man stops reading the newspaper, looks at him and says, "You are not from here, are you?".

One explanation for the success of cleaning the streets of Curitiba is that the cleaner the city is, the more people care. Curitiba recently received the title of The Cleanest City among other major cities in Brazil surveyed by Globo Network. The test consists of not to do the cleaning in the busiest part of town for 24 hours and then collected all the garbage to be cumbersome. Curitiba has collected only 33 kg against 203 kg of Goiania, 540 kg of São Paulo, 680 kg of Rio de Janeiro, 710 kg of Belém, a ton of Fortaleza and 1.2 tons of Salvador.

And this civility to keep the city clean is one of the 50 Reasons to Love Curitiba listed by Gazeta do Povo.

A Au-Au with two Vinas, please!

If we were to elect the most traditional sandwich of Curitiba, I believe the hot dog of the Au-Au would be the winner. It started with a cart at Al Dr. Carlos de Carvalho, where the main store is located (see photo) and now it has 11 stores in Curitiba, two on the coast of Paraná and one in Sao Jose dos Pinhais.

The Au-Au could not be simpler: bread, Vina, mayonnaise, salad (someone explained me that there is a strict ratio of tomato, onion and chili), more mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard. The secret? There is no softer bread in Curitiba. You can order your Au-Au accommodated inside the store, at the stands in the street or from your car.

Forget all the other options, ask for the simple or double Au-Au to understand why this hot dog was elected for 10 consecutive years the best of Curitiba.

And quoting another of the 50 Reasons to Love Curitiba, some words are characteristic of Curitiba, such as PENAL (small pouch to hold pencils and pens), PIA (boy), MIMOSA (Tangerine) and since we are tlaking about the Au-Au, VINA (sausage).

And if you want to know the origin of the term VINA, legend says that the most consumed sausage among the German immigrants was the Viennese or in German "Wiener Würstchen". The pronunciation of the first word (Wiener) in "portuguese" is VINA! That's it! If it is not true, at least it is very convincing!

Autumn, Cold, Rain and Gloom!

I have noticed the girl inside a bus of the metropolitan region of Curitiba on a cold and rainy evening, with a look so introspective, and I could not resist taking her picture.

Another reason to be cast as one of the 50 Reasons to Love Curitiba is the fame of that unwelcome and cold attitude that the Curitibanos (born here or not) have. Some argue that it is not a matter of an unwelcome attitude, but a matter of seriousness and education.

Who lives in Curitiba know that when someone say "come to visit me at home!" actually means "I like you, but if you want to meet me, please call me first" and if the answer is "You bet I will show up," means "I will call you whenever I get a break". What would be the reason for this alleged unwelcomeness? Is it due to the cold weather? Due to the European colonization? Whatever may be the reason, this respect for self individuality and the individuality of the others, in my opinion is fantastic. Moreover, once a link is established, this friendship is for life and this person will always be there for you.

The trees of Curitiba and its flowery carpets

The main daily newspaper of Parana, The "Gazeta do Povo" (Gazette of the People), founded in 03.02.1919, brought together 50 persons born or settled in Curitiba on the occasion of 317 years of Curitiba to define in group the 50 reasons to love, appreciate and to be proud of the city.

The second item concerns the Ipê Trees (Tabebuia) that line the streets with a carpet of flowers.

Last weekend, I was going down the Itupava street, when I noticed on the corner of Rua Mayor Angelo Lopes, a tall tree of intense pink flowers, which base and surrounding areas were covered with these flowers. I thought it was an Ipe (since there are yellow and purple Ipês, I thought there would be a Rose Ipê). Doing a quick research at the internet, I noticed that there are plenty of trees planted by the Prefecture of Curitiba, which produce flowers. Due to the appearance of the flower, this tree belongs to the family of the Jacarandas.

So one reason to love, enjoy and to be proud of Curitiba is not the only the Ipês, but all trees in Curitiba, which provide us a fantastic scenery like the one in this photo.