Local Information

Florianópolis is the capital of the State of Santa Catarina. About half of the city sits on the continent, and the other half is in the Island of Santa Catarina. The two parts are joined by a bridge. Both the Mathematics Department of UFSC and The Casa de Retiros are located on the Island of Santa Catarina.

The airport is also located on the island, and it is pretty small for a city of this size, but it works well and it's served by all Brazilian airlines. The city is served by buses that are quite safe and leave on time from the main terminals.

The Department of Mathematics of UFSC is located in a part of town called Trindade, which is about 20 minutes by bus from downtown. The campus is well served by buses.

The Casa de Retriros is located in the south of the Island of Santa Catarina in a part of town called Morro das Pedras. It is a rocky formation surrounded by beautiful trees, and from there one has a great view of the ocean. The beach faces the open ocean part of the island which is quite deep. Do not swim there unless you are a great swimmer and we do mean great. There are other places for swimming nearby, and you should consult the employees at the Casa de Retiros. If you are a very good surfer, this is the place to be.

Just to give you an idea of how deep the beach is, the right whales (Baleias Francas) give birth right in front of the Casa de Retiros in late July. So, if we get lucky, we might see one of them.

Casa de Retiros sits in a frorest preserve established by the city which is very rich in native plants and animals. In the same park, and within walking distance, is the Lagoa do Peri which is a small (5.2 square kilometers) sweet water lake which is very clean and very safe, and good for swimming.

The minimum temperature in Florianópolis in July on the average is about 60F (it can get as low as 50F) while the maximum is 70F (it can get as high as 80F). However Casa de Retiros is surrounded by trees, and gets a breeze from the sea. The conference room is in its shaded part and it can get pretty chilly. At night it can get pretty chilly as well because of the sea breeze. One should bring some warm clothes.

The Casa de Retiros will serve three meals a day and coffee breaks. If you would like to go to dinner elsewhere, there are no restaurants in the immediate neighborhood of the Casa de Retiros, but there several options in downtown Florianópolis, which is about 50 to 60 minutes by bus, and about 30 minutes by car. There are good restaurants in Ribeirão da Ilha, which is a little town (which truly is part of Florianópolis) that has some typical architecture of the Azorian immigrants and is not very far from the Casa de Retiros (15 to 20 minutes by car) and is itself worth visiting.