Skating through the streets of Curitiba in Brazil
One of Brazil’s most beautiful cities is a skateboarding hot house.
Curitiba is not only one of the biggest cities in southern Brazil, it also has a strong skateboarding tradition, with an alumni including Carlos de Andrade, Rodrigos Lima and Petersen, Danny Cerezini, Felipi Ortiz and Yuri Facchini.
Curitiba is also the cleanest and most organised city in Brazil, and has a modern public transport system. It is an ecological capital and it has a style of ‘naturalist’ architecture, with lots of parks and green areas.
As beautiful as this may be, it makes skateboarding even harder because the surfaces in those areas are usually quite rough. The pavements are made of ‘Portuguese stone’, an inlaid brick which makes it almost impossible for skateboarding.
Recently though the city has been undergoing government-backed renovation and new spots are popping up all the time, like the new spot at Batel Avenue, which has perfect wooden benches along with smooth, flat ground.
It’s also in a very safe area of Curitiba, which is an important consideration in Brazil, especially if you are trying to get something done using photo or filming equipment.
One of the greatest assets of Curitiba is the unified skate scene. The skaters usually get together in big groups of friends to celebrate moments, or to skate around the city in search of new spots and good sessions.
Even as an outsider you can feel this energy when you hang out and skating with them. Their unity and friendship is what makes them stronger – that and all the challenges found at their street spots. It helps them improve their skating capabilities, and allows them to adapt to skating pretty much anywhere else much easier.
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Original post by Marcos de Souza Junior on www.redbull.com