Winter fair at Osorio Square

Since early June the Winter Fair at Osório Square is open. Handicrafts and delicacies typical of winter can be found, particularly cooked pinion and quentão, a hot beverage made of wine ideal to warm a frosty end of a day Curitiba. The winter fair will be open daily from 10 A.M. to 10 P.M. and should run until at least the end of july.

Osório Square and the Asa Building

This photo was taken from the rooftop on the Voluntários da Pátria street at Curitiba Downtown. From that point we can observe the Osório Square and Asa Building, where I lived with my parents for over 12 years. Talking about my parents, they are coming to our home today for a Sunday barbecue lunch.

Boca do Brilho

Since I moved to Curitiba with my family, next to the playground of Osório Square, high and comfortable armchairs lined up, where you could quietly read a newspaper and get a shoe shine. From up there you could watch the people pass by, chat with the shoe shiner and have a moment of pure relaxation.

Today the site was organized and regulated by the Prefecture of Curitiba, creating the "Boca do Brilho", which employs 19 shoeshiners of the Professional Association of Shoeshiners of Curitiba, an entity that exists in more than three decades.

The view from the top of the chairs is not the same anymore, but you can still have a nice chat, a good reading and a very nice glow on your shoe.

An outdoor living room

Besides the Boca do Brilho and close to the point where the Osório Square and Rua XV meet, we can find a few wooden benches where pedestrians can relax and where the elderly (like my parents usually do) can take a break on their walks to recover. This same configuration of seats can be found all along the Rua das Flores. Curitiba takes good care of its pedestrians.

The Thinker

From inside of my car, stopped at the lights of Osório Square and Alameda Cabral, this man sitting in the Bar Stuart, almost on the sidewalk, caught my attention.

Observe that he is not in the bar (so he didn't want to interact with people who are in there) and nor outside the bar, also isolating himself from the people on the streets. The eyes seem to gaze at the endless and we can only imagine all the thoughts and images that went through his head at that moment.

Night view of the Boca Maldita Clock

The photo shows the night vew of the place where Luiz Xavier Avenue meets Osório Square.

This place has always been an important open air stage for major events in Curitiba, both artistic and political, as the historical protest of 50 thousand people on 12 January 1984, launching the “Diretas Já”, a popular movement demanding direct democratic elections, culminating in 1985 with the end of 21 years of military dictatorship in Brazil.

Boca Maldita

The Boca Maldita (it is hard to translate, but I would say that it is close to "Accursed Mouth") is a spot at Luiz Xavier avenue, close to Osorio square, established in 1957 and institutionalized on December 13, 1966.

At this place, politicians, intelectuals and people in general (mainly old fellows), stop by for a coffee and talking with friends. It is said to be "accursed" because everything is subject to be severely criticised over there.

Powerful and sexist, The Boca Maldita is famous since the forfeiture of the State Governor Harold Leon Peres in the 70's. This event was due to its members (as it is told in the streets).
Its motto is "I see nothing, I hear nothing, I speak nothing."

Osório Square

The square was defined in 1874 and received in 1878 the name of Largo Oceano Pacifico. It was renamed General Osorio Square since 1879. Situated at Curitiba downtown, it marks the beginning of Comendador Araújo St., Vicente Machado Av. and Luiz Xavier Av.

Its clock, restored in 1993, shows the official hour of the city, recalling the first one installed there. It is one of the most arborized square of the city.