The last grocery store in downtown

In Curitiba, the big supermarket chains (national and international) have suffocated the small groceries, forcing them to shut their doors forever. Rare are those who resist and persist in their small business. Those brave ones are special because their grocery stores are humanized, personal, where you and the owner of the establishment are know each other by name.

The fruit stand of the photo is probably the only one I know in downtown. It is located at Alameda Dr. Carlos de Carvalho, between the Voluntários da Pátria and Ermelino de Leão Streets. I was passing by car at Carlos de Carvalho and I saw the girl shooting the grocery store and I believe, its owner. So, I photographed the photographer and the object of her interest. The colorful fruit stall always made it a little nicer this stretch of street.

Open-air Market Day

Saturday is the open-air market day close to the district I live in. It is cool to get there early in the morning and get the very best among fruits e veggies, not to mention an easy place to park your car.

The greatest advantage of the open-air market (besides the exercise of walking) is the fact that products are always very fresh, which guarantees higher quality and longer life time. Also essential is to eat a fine "pastel" (*) with a nice cup of coffee (nowhere else you can find a better pastel). As the fruits and veggies tents are always the same, over time you just get to know everybody, which gives a feeling of being at home.

(*) Sorry if I can not translate the word "pastel". It is made of a thin crispy crust, stuffed with spicy ground beef.