Curitiba in Brazil

Paraná's capital is famous in Brazil for its civic planning and quality of life. It is said to be one of the three cleanest cities in Latin America. In outlying areas 'Ruas da Cidadania' (citizenship streets), have been built so that local people can avoid travelling to the centre. These throng with activity and provide municipal services, child care and leisure activities. The first and most famous of these was built at Boqueirão in 1995, but the one at Rua da Cidadania da Matriz, next to the Praça Rui Barbosa transport terminal, is more central and has 20 computer terminals for free access to the internet.

The commercial centre is the busy Rua 15 de Novembro, part of which is a pedestrian area called Rua das Flores. Since urban planning first began in 1720, the Rua das Flores has been a focus for street life and street entertainment and is now perennially decorated with flowers and trees, and lined with benches, cafés, restaurants, cinemas and shops. At its southern end, the Boca Maldita is particularly lively and a popular meeting place.

On Praça Tiradentes is the cathedral, built in neo-Gothic style and inaugurated in 1893 (restored in 1993). Behind the cathedral, near Largo da Ordem, is a pedestrian area with a flower clock and old buildings. It is very atmospheric in the evening when it is illuminated by old gas lamps. City centre bar and nightlife is concentrated here. There is an art market on Sunday morning in Praça Garibáldi, beside the attractive Rosário church.

Museums worth visiting include the Museu Paranaense, www.pr.gov.br/museupr, which has temporary shows and concerts in the garden on Sunday, alongside a collection of ethnological and historical material, and the Museu de Arte Contemporânea, which showcases Brazilian contemporary works, with an emphasis on artists from Paraná.

Unlike most Brazilian cities, Curitiba has plenty of green spaces. The most popular is the Passeio Públicoiclosed Mon, in the heart of the city, with three lakes, each with an island, and a playground. About 4 km east of the rodoferroviário, the Jardim Botânico Fanchette Rischbieter. This has a fine glass house, again with domes, curves and lots of steel, inspired by the Crystal Palace in London. The gardens are in French style and there is also a Museu Botânico. It can be reached by the orange Expreso buses from Praça Rui Barbosa.

Near the shores of Lagoa Bacacheri, on the northern edge of the city, is one of Brazil's many hidden quirks: an Egyptian templeiR Nicarágua 2453. The temple is devoted to the Rosicrucian cult: a 19th-century offshoot of Theosophical occultism that has taken hold in Brazil alongside many other arcane religions. This is surely the only country on Earth where Rosicrucians advertise themselves with car bumper stickers. Visits can also be arranged to the Brazilian centre of the Rosicrucians; take the Santa Cândida bus to Estação Boa Vista, then walk.