SIZ

Since sustainable and ethical fashion are one of my biggest points of interest, I feel that I should write about it. Despite my predisposition to knuckle down to this, there was a moment and a brand (Siz) that triggered me to really start writing. I apologize for not starting directly to talk about the brand in question, but I found it necessary to write the following paragraph.

Sendo que a moda sustentável e ética são um dos meus maiores pontos de interesse, sinto que devo escrever sobre tal. Apesar da minha predisposição para me dedicar a isso, houve um momento e uma marca (a Siz) que me fez decidir começar realmente a escrever. Peço desculpa não começar diretamente a falar sobre a marca em questão mas achei necessário escrever o parágrafo que se segue.

Last weekend I was roaming around the mall, before watching a movie and we decided to go to Zara (a shop I haven't stepped in for a few months now) to kill some time. I have to say that Luis is my best pupil, as I caught him analysing with great attention the fabrication and care tags of many pieces! Our stroll resulted in a conversation about the countries where the garments were produced and the materials that were used. We saw Morocco, China, Myanmar (countries where there is still a lot of labour exploitation), and A LOT of polyester and acrylic (two of the most polluting and non-biodegradable materials used in the fashion industry). Most of the pieces have that particular plastic shine to them and they were not really cheap. I actually was expecting to see more stuff made in Portugal and Spain, but I haven't seen any. It is so disappointing to notice that that is what everybody from developed countries is buying. It's not good for the workers, the environment and neither it is for the skin of the wearer as most of those fabrics are not breathable. Also, I just checked their website and, at least in Portugal, they only tell you the composition of the garment and omit the country where it was produced. 

No fim de semana passado estava a dar voltas no centro comercial, antes de uma sessão de cinema e para matar o tempo decidimos entrar na Zara (onde eu já não punha os pés há meses). Tenho de frisar que o Luís é o meu melhor aluno e, por isso, apanhei-o a ler atentamente as etiquetas de composição e fabrico de várias peças. O nosso passeio resultou numa conversa sobre os países onde a maioria das peças são fabricadas e os materiais usados nas mesmas. Vimos muito "made in" Marrocos, China, Mianmar (países onde há, ainda, bastante exploração laboral) e MUITO poliéster e acrílico (dois dos materiais mais poluentes utilizados na indústria da moda). Muitas das peças têm aquele brilho característico do plástico e não são assim tão baratas! Na verdade estava à espera de ver muito mais roupa feita em Portugal e Espanha, mas na verdade, nas peças todas que analisámos de forma aleatória, não encontrámos nem uma. É desconcertante saber que são estas as roupas que uma grande parte da população em países desenvolvidos compra. O impacto é negativo para toda uma cadeia de trabalhadores, para o ambiente e também para a pele de quem usa estas peças, pois estes materiais não são respiráveis (não deixam que a transpiração passe para o exterior da roupa). Para além disso, acabei de verificar o site da marca e na descrição das peças, apesar de haver uma identificação dos materiais de composição, é omitido o país de fabrico.

I cannot stress enough how important it is to really know and understand that what you buy has a huge impact on society all around the world and the environment.

Não consigo enfatizar o suficiente a importância de se conhecer realmente e compreender que aquilo que compramos tem um grande impacto sobre a sociedade e meio ambiente.

This is why I want to start talking about brands I really dig and that are game changers in the fashion industry. Siz Brand is one of them! Raquel and Sofia, the twin sisters behind the label know that in order to create amazing clothing, they don't need to harm the planet or the people that live in it. For the sake of doing everything in an ethical and sustainable way, the materials they have been using on their collections range from organic cotton (GOTS) to upcycled fabric wast from Portuguese factories. They produce locally, paying a fair production price, and they produce super low quantities to avoid stock waste. Some pieces are even only made to order (but don't worry, they can be made just for you in less than a week). Their collections are pretty small but very diverse and they always have a strong ecologist inspiration and message. Their last collection is called Glacier, an ode to the endangered melting ice around our planet that serves as a habitat for various species and keeps the planet cool by not absorbing the rays of sun. 

Por haver exemplos assim, decidi começar a falar sobre marcas que adoro e que estão a tentar mudar a forma como vemos e consumimos moda. A Siz é uma delas! As irmãs gémeas Raquel e Sofia, criadoras da marca, sabem que para produzir roupa maravilhosa não é preciso sacrificar o planeta. A decisão de desenhar coleções sustentáveis e éticas, levou-as a usar materiais como o algodão orgânico (GOTS) e materiais que são desperdícios de produção de algumas fábricas Portuguesas, que, de outra forma, seriam jogados no lixo. A produção é feita localmente, e os envolvidos são pagos a preços justos. Para além disso, as quantidades são bastante reduzidas para não criar excesso de stock e algumas peças são feitas apenas por encomenda (mas não te preocupes, o tempo de produção não excede uma semana). As coleções são pequenas mas incluem peças muito variadas e têm sempre uma inspiração e mensagem fortemente ecologista. A última coleção lançada, à qual chamaram Glacier é uma homenagem a todo o gelo (que está a derreter devido à poluição) que protege a terra do aquecimento da luz solar no nosso planeta e que serve de habitat a várias espécies.

Siz's sisters don't agree with sales seasons and I think they're totally right. Do you know why? The truth is that during sales you can actually figure out the true cost of a piece of clothing and understand the profit margin the shop is having. And it turns out that the true cost can be incredibly low because fast fashion brands pay really low prices for their collections to be produced in countries such as Myanmar. Just imagine how much a person is payed to produce a t-shirt that costs 3€ during sales! And we can't forget that those 3€ have to pay for the people/company who produces the fibbers, if natural like cotton or linen, or the factory that produces synthetic yarn. Then it has to be shipped to the factory that produces the fabric and when the fabric is made you have transportation again to the people who actually make your clothes (cut and sew) and once again transportation. I'm putting this in a really simple way, as usually there are even more steps involved. So, and to contradict the example I gave above, the prices at Siz are as fair as it gets. And as they're designing clothing that is meant to last a long time, there are no pieces that go out of fashion! Isn't it perfect?

As irmãs criadoras da Siz não concordam com épocas de saldos e eu apoio-as completamente.  Sabes porquê? A verdade é que durante os saldos, é possível descobrir o verdadeiro custo de uma peça de roupa e a margem de lucro que a loja tem. E a verdade é que o verdadeiro custo pode ser extremamente baixo pois os custos de produção de marcas "fast fashion" tendem a produzir as suas coleções em países subdesenvolvidos como o Mianmar. Imagina só quanto ganha uma pessoa que fabrica uma t-shirt que custa 3€ durante os saldos! E não podemos esquecer que esses 3€ têm de pagar a pessoa/empresa que produz a fibra (no caso de fibras naturais como o algodão ou o linho) ou a fábrica que produz fios sintéticos. Depois é preciso que os fios sejam enviados para fábricas de tecelagem e quando o tecido está feito, este tem de ser enviado para fábricas de confecção, onde é cortado e cosido, resultando em peças de roupa, sendo necessário, nesta fase, novo transporte. Este processo que acabei de exemplificar é bastante básico, sendo que habitualmente há mais passos envolvidos. Por isso, e contrapondo o exemplo acima dado, o preço desses mesmos processos, na Siz, é justo. E como estão a desenvolver roupa que durará muito tempo, não há peças que fiquem fora de moda! Não é perfeito?

For the price of two Zara jackets that will wear off quickly and harm people and nature, you have, for example, Perito Moreno Jacket, which I can tell you, feels and fits amazingly! On their website you can find transparency when you go to a product page. There's info about all the materials, how to care for the garment and where it was made.

Pelo preço de dois casacos da Zara, que ficarão com mau aspeto após poucas utilizações e que estarão a prejudicar pessoas e o ambiente, podes encontrar o casaco Perito Moreno, que posso garantir tem um toque e corte fantásticos! No site da Siz encontramos transparência nas páginas dos produtos. Somos informados sobre os materiais usados assim como o local de produção e cuidados de lavagem.

Even their packaging is biodegradable! You can also follow them on Instagam!

 Até as embalagens são biodegradáveis! E podes seguir a marca também no Instagram!

<3

Thank you India

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This post is slightly different from what I have been used to write around here, but I feel I have to write it because, this is my blog and, after all, it is about my journey through life. I'm not gonna talk about how I found the true meaning of life, or about some spiritual retreat that changed my life forever. I didn't find "myself" in India. But the step I took when I decided to go there, changed the course of my life.

O post em baixo é um bocadinho diferente daquilo a que estou habituada a escrever por aqui. Não obstante, sinto que tenho de escrever sobre isto porque, no fim de contas, este blog é sobre a viagem que é a minha vida. Não vou falar sobre como descobri o verdadeiro sentido da vida, nem sobre algum retiro espiritual. Não me "descobri" na Índia. No entanto, o passo que dei ao viajar até lá, mudou o rumo da minha vida.

Last Summer (2019) I went on a 2 month holiday that led me to India. Before my flight (and having already visited Greece, Turkey and Egypt), in Cairo, I sent all the clothes I had used until then, back home, to Portugal. All on the grounds of what was to happen. A few weeks before my trip, I made a research about sustainable fashion brands in India and got in touch with some of them, asking if they would be interested in sponsoring me. The idea was, as I had been doing on my last trips, to pose for shots Luís would take of me and subsequently post them on Instagram. That was, beyond shadow of a doubt, something that I really enjoyed doing so far. However, this time, I would wear clothes to promote brands that have as their focal point sustainability in fashion. Having managed to convince the brands, I arrived in Mumbai with an empty suitcase.

Este Verão fiz uma viagem de 2 meses que me levou até à Índia. Antes do meu voo (tendo já visitado a Grécia, Turquia, e Egipto), no Cairo, enviei todas as roupas que usara até à altura, de volta para Portugal. Tudo porque umas semanas antes, decidi procurar marcas de roupa sustentável que estivessem interessadas em patrocinar-me. A ideia era, como até ao momento tinha vindo a fazer nas minhas viagens, posar para as fotos que o Luís me tirava, e publicá-las no Instagram e aqui no meu site. Sem dúvida, algo que sempre me encantou e deu prazer. No entanto, desta vez, a roupa que usaria, seria com o intuito de promover marcas, tendo como ponto de destaque o conceito de moda sustentável. Posto isto, de mala vazia, cheguei a Mumbai.

Waiting for me, in my hotel room, were several packages that came from all over India, with magnificent clothes inside. I was astonished by how so many people/brands, who didn’t know me at all, were willing to participate in this project! Also, I was really psyched about doing this in a country that is, unfortunately, known for exploiting workers rights and that contributes greatly to environmental pollution through the garment related industries.

À minha espera, no hotel, estavam vários pacotes, provenientes de toda a Índia, com roupa magnífica, com tecidos orgânicos e/ou reciclados e artesanais, com bordados e técnicas muito interessantes. Fiquei espantada com a quantidade de pessoas que não me conhecia de lado nenhum e que alinharam neste projeto. Fiquei super motivada por poder fazer este trabalho num país infelizmente conhecido pela sua exploração das condições de trabalho e contributo para a poluição do meio ambiente através das indústrias relacionadas com a produção de vestuário. 

I felt like I was standing up to the system, I got people staring at me everywhere I went, in the street, in temples, as if I were a rare bird. They would ask me where did my outfits come from. As we were on the hottest season, there were almost no foreign tourists at the time. Most of the tourists we encountered were Indian, so I was really glad to tell them that my beautiful clothes were actually designed and ethically produced in their own country.

Senti-me quase como se estivesse a desafiar o sistema, os olhares na rua, nos templos, invariavelmente caiam sobre mim, qual ave rara, e as pessoas, impressionadas, perguntavam-me de onde vinha aquela roupa que eu vestia. Na altura em que estávamos a viajar havia poucos turistas estrangeiros, por ser a época mais quente do ano, por isso, quem me abordava eram essencialmente pessoas Indianas. Com prazer, pude dizer inúmeras vezes, que era roupa criada no seu próprio país.

I spent 22 days in the North on India and the resulting photos weren’t at all disappointing. I was happy as can be with the job we’ve done (and with the great feedback I had from the brands that sponsored me). I was eager to repeat the experience, it was as if I got addicted to it, like I found something I didn’t really know I was looking for, for a long time, and now I would never let go of. Since I got back to Portugal, in June, until now, I’ve been photographed in other travels, wearing sustainable fashion and accessories from all over the world, I can only hope that the future will bring me more of it!

Percorri o norte da Índia em 22 dias e as fotos resultantes desta jornada não decepcionaram. Não podia ter ficado mais feliz pelo sucesso do trabalho (e pelo feedback entusiasmado dos meus patrocinadores pelo conteúdo que lhes enviei). Fiquei desejosa por repetir, era quase como se tivesse ficado viciada, como se tivesse encontrado algo que não sabia que procurava. Desde a minha chegada a Portugal, em Junho, até ao presente, já fotografei, em outras viagens, com produtos de inúmeras marcas de moda e acessórios sustentáveis, oriundos de várias partes do mundo, e tudo indica que o caminho se estende aberto à minha frente. 

Having studied fashion design and worked as an interior designer, I’ve never dreamt of making it on social media. And I guess that the thing I was least expecting was the natural shift on the way we (Me and Luis) travel. Now, we travel not only for the pleasure of exploring new places and cultures but also with a purpose of photographing me, wearing cool, sustainable garments in those places, which sometimes feels like a job. I know that there are a lot of people that made travel photography their job and are tremendously successful by posting pics on their instagram accounts. Although I’m extremely lucky to be able to travel a lot and that subject is actually pretty interesting, per se, I felt that there was a lack of depth in my content. It looks like I have found it in sustainable fashion! It is now, actually, a full time job, as I’m always on a quest for brands I can work with and locations that are not overly explored, and also there's editind and all kinds of other things.

Tendo estudado design de moda e trabalhado como designer de interiores, nunca sonhei em trabalhar com redes sociais, e muito menos que as minhas viagens ganhassem um propósito que dá tanto prazer quanto trabalho. Sei que há outros a fotografar as suas viagens e têm muito êxito ao publicarem fotos das mesmas nas suas redes sociais. Apesar de ser uma sortuda por poder viajar tanto e esse tema ser, por si só, interessante, senti, sem dúvida, que faltava alguma profundidade ao meu conteúdo. Parece que a encontrei na moda sustentável! A pesquisa torna-se mais intensa e trabalhosa, sempre em busca de locais menos explorados e de marcas interessantes, é na realidade um trabalho a tempo inteiro. 

I’m so excited to know what the future holds for me. What will be my next big destination, what other wonderful projects will I be able to embrace! Is this a new way of traveling? I only know that, for me, it definitely is!

A sede por conhecer mais deixa-me ansiosa por saber qual será o meu próximo destino e que outros projetos maravilhosos poderei abraçar! Será esta uma nova forma de viajar? Sei apenas que para mim, sim, é a minha.

If you want to know what brand I'm wearing, just click on the images and you'll be directed to the brand's website!

Se clicares nas imagens, serás redirecionado para o site da marca do outfit que tenho vestido.

❤

Portugal - The Forgotten Countryside

One of my deepest passions is diving into the unknown, travel the world. I love to be photographed in the most unusual places and finding new paths, alternative routes, new culteres and people. Between my two month trip (that has taken me to middle east and southeast asia, with a hop on India in between), and a week in the South of Italy, I felt I should pay a bit of attention to my own country, Portugal. I've chosen Guarda region and the north of Castelo Branco, with their villages with almost milenar castles, that go back to the times of kings and bellicose borders, to spend three days.

Uma das minhas maiores paixões é mergulhar no desconhecido, viajar pelo mundo. Adoro tirar fotos em locais invulgares e de encontrar novos caminhos, rotas alternativas, novas culturas e pessoas. Entre uma viagem de dois meses (que me levou do médio oriente ao sudoeste asiático, com uma passagem pela índia), e uma semana no Sul de Itália, senti que devia dar ao meu país um bocadinho de atenção. Por isso escolhi a zona da Guarda e o norte de Castelo Branco, das suas aldeias e vilas com castelos quase milenares, que remontam a tempos de reis e fronteiras belicosas, para passar 3 dias.

What I found was unquestionably charming, well preserved castles, wonderful views, lovely villages, all in perfect harmony. The old facades are extremely well cared for. The attention to detail is incredible, even the house numbers and the signs with the street names are beautifully hand written on stone. These are the elements that create a whole, and they should definitely serve as a role model for other cities and villages throughout Portugal.

O que encontrei foi absolutamente encantador, castelos bem conservados, vistas maravilhosas, aldeias charmosas, com uma harmonia excepcional. As antigas fachadas são extremamente bem cuidadas. A preocupação estética chega mesmo a pequenos detalhes como os números das casas e a sinalética com os nomes das ruas, pintadas à mão sobre pedra. Pormenores, esses, que criam um todo e que deveriam servir de modelo para muitas outras cidades e localidades por Portugal fora. Pequenos reinos encantados. 

During the whole trip, I only encountered a North American family, a small group of Spanish people and an Asian couple. Where were all the other tourists? I was always exploring these places alone. And may I point out that the list of places to visit is quite long.

Durante toda a viagem cruzei-me apenas com uma família Norte Americana, um pequeno grupo de Espanhóis e um casal Asiático. Onde estavam os outros turistas, Portugueses e estrangeiros? Visitando sozinha estes locais, senti-me uma verdadeira exploradora. E note-se que a lista de sítios para visitar é bem extensa.

From Sortelha, with its little stone houses, guarded by the village's strong walls, at the top of a hill, to Sabugal's castle, with steps that lead to dizzying heights, and Almeida, a village inside a star shaped fortress. The list goes on, and in each stop there's a new castle, a new village, a new treasure, deserted, just for me. There's Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Almendra, Castelo Melhor, Trancoso, with it's streets filled with blooming hydrangeas, Belmonte, birthplace of Pedro Álvares Cabral (the explorer that discovered Brasil) and Monsanto, 'the most Portuguese village in Portugal', a bit to the South. So, why were all these bright and perfectly polished gems empty during high season? Maybe it's because there's not a lot of offer when it comes to accommodation, we actually had to stay in a hotel in Spain, right next to the border.

De Sortelha, com as suas casinhas em pedra, protegidas por muralhas, no topo duma colina, ao castelo do Sabugal, com escadarias que levam a alturas vertiginosas, passando pela vila de Almeida, com a sua fortaleza de planta estrelada. A lista continua, e a cada paragem, um novo castelo, uma nova vila, um novo tesouro, deserto, só para mim. Figueira de Castelo Rodrigo, Almendra, Castelo Melhor, Trancoso, com as suas ruas inundadas por hortênsias, Belmonte, terra natal de Pedro Álvares Cabral e Monsanto, "A aldeia mais Portuguesa de Portugal", um pouco a Sul. Então, porque será que todas estas gemas polidas e intensamente reluzentes estavam vazias em época alta? Um dos motivos poderá ser a oferta de alojamento, por ser verdadeiramente escassa e bastante obsoleta, o que fez com que acabasse por pernoitar junto à fronteira, em Espanha. 

I ask myself how long will it take for this beautiful region of Portugal to earn its due attention. Because not only are these places fascinating but they're also a great example of respect for our very old county's history. Though wandering around completely undisturbed was a fabulous experience, I hope that more people want to explore this part of Portugal that lies forgotten, as serene as a sleeping Volcano.

Pergunto-me quanto tempo faltará para que esta zona do país ganhe o seu devido reconhecimento. É que não só estes locais são fascinantes como também são um exemplo perfeito do respeito pela história do nosso antiquíssimo país. Apesar de ter sido uma oportunidade maravilhosa, poder deambular tranquilamente sem avistar vivalma, espero que mais gente queira e possa apreciar esta parte de Portugal, esquecida, tão serena quanto um vulcão que dorme.

The dresses I'm wearing are from the Indian brand Jovi.

Os vestidos que estou a usar são da marca Indiana Jovi.

<3

Bitter Sweet Egypt - part 2

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If you want to check part 1 of this post, please click here.

Se quiseres ver a primeira parte deste post, clica aqui.

From Luxor to Aswan we took the train (which is much better than I could have ever imagined) and we made a quick unexpected stop in Edfu. We stayed in Elephantine Island, a very safe and calm island, with people who are truly respectful!

De Luxor para Aswan, apanhámos o combóio (que tinha condições muito melhores do que alguma vez possa ter imaginado), fazendo uma paragem inesperada para visitar Edfu. Ficámos instalados em Elephantine, uma ilha muito calma e segura, povoada com gente muito simpática e respeitadora.

We never wanted to enrol on any excursion and never payed a guide, but for the first time we felt a bit lost for a second when we arrived at the little dock that has boats going to Philae Island. The starting price everyone was asking to take me and Luis was outrageous. Even if we would have bargained really hard, we'd always be ripped off. So while we were trying to decide what to do, this really friendly Mexican family based in Belgium welcomed us on their boat. Of course nobody was really happy with their decision and we still had to pay something extra to the boat driver. The whole episode reminded me how good it is to accept or give some help! The island is really beautiful and the whole temple complex that stands there was moved from another island that was constantly suffering from floods from the beginning of the 20th century (due to the construction of the Aswan Low Dam) till the construction oh the High Dam in the 70's.

Não faz o nosso feitio juntarmo-nos a excursões e nunca contratamos guias, no entanto sentimo-nos um pouco perdidos, pela primeira vez, quando chegámos à pequena doca onde se concentram os barcos que vão até à ilha de Philae. O preço inicial que nos pediam era absolutamente escandaloso. Mesmo que regateássemos muito, o preço final nunca seria justo para nós. Então, enquanto tentávamos decidir o que fazer, uma família mexicana amorosa ofereceu-nos lugares no seu barco. Claro que ninguém ficou muito feliz com a decisão deles, e mesmo assim tivemos de pagar um valor simbólico ao condutor. Este episódio relembrou-me o quão bom é aceitar ou oferecer ajuda! A ilha é linda e o complexo de templos que ali existe estava situado originalmente numa outra ilha, que estava constantemente a ser inundada desde o início do século XX (devido à construção da primeira barragem de Aswan).

We spent the last days of our stay in Egypt in Cairo, the most polluted city I have ever been to (a lot more than Delhi). The cars are pretty old and sometimes, their pollution, allied to the extremely hot weather, makes it really difficult to breathe. Apart from that, we fell in love with the city. The crazy local markets are absurdly jammed with people and many tourist told us not to go there, as you easily get lost in the innumerable maze like alleys full of shops and stalls. But there wouldn't be any other way to soak up the city's messy culture! Grow some balls, people!

Passámos os últimos dias da nossa estadia, no Egipto, no Cairo, a cidade com o ar mais poluído onde já estive (bem mais do que Deli). Os carros são bastante velhos e a poluição que emitem, aliada a um calor extremo, faz com que seja difícil respirar. Não obstante, apaixonámo-nos pela cidade. Os loucos mercados locais rompem pelas costuras com a quantidade de gente que por ali circula! Muita gente nos aconselhou a não ir, visto ser fácil perdermo-nos no meio das estreitas ruas labirínticas, cheias de lojas. Na minha opinião, não há nenhuma outra forma de mergulhar e absorver de forma tão imediata a cultura caótica da cidade. Coragem, amigos!

We visited the Egyptian Museum, which strike one as being lost in time. All the display stands are made in wood and glass and the plates that identify and explain the artefacts are still the ones that once were written with a typewriter! That's absolutely marvellous. It looks like Professor Indiana Jones will appear at any moment, looking for a clue, in the middle of those ancient objects and parts of buildings! 

Visitámos o Egyptian Museum, que parece estar perdido no tempo! Todos os expositores são feitos em madeira e vidro e as placas que acompanham cada artefacto ainda são as que originalmente foram escritas à máquina! Para mim isso é algo absolutamente maravilhoso. Parece que o Professor Indiana Jones pode aparecer a qualquer momento, em busca de uma pista, no meio de todos aqueles objetos e partes de edifícios antigos.

We walked around a lot and visited many mosques, the Salah El Din Al Ayouby Citadel, the City of the Dead, the minarets of Bab Zuwayla, the Al Azhar Park, Coptic Cairo, among other spots. In these more touristic places we've witnessed some serious sh*t going on, for example, at the Giza Pyramids we saw guards encouraging people to climb some steps of the pyramids in exchange for some money. Many times we saw the men working at ticket offices trying to fool people by being super slow giving them the change or charging for two entrance tickets but only giving them one (that one happened to us)! I guess that in this case they're "only" fooling the government and destroying their own country's cultural heritage.

Andámos imenso e visitámos inúmeras mesquitas, a cidadela de Salah El Din Al Ayouby, a Cidade dos Mortos, os minaretes de Bab Zuwayla, o parque Al Azhar, o Cairo Cóptico, entre outros. Em alguns destes lugares mais turísticos, vimos cenas alarmantes, tal como, por exemplo, nas Pirâmides de Gizé, os guardas estarem a incentivar pessoas a subir alguns patamares em troca de dinheiro. Inúmeras vezes vimos senhores das bilheteiras a tentarem enganar os clientes dando-lhes o troco da forma mais lenta possível (uma pessoa deixa de contar e de ter paciência!). Ainda nos aconteceu pagarmos dois bilhetes mas só nos darem um (isso aconteceu-nos a nós)! No fim de contas, a maior parte das vezes, estas pessoas estão a desviar dinheiro do governo e a destruir a sua própria herança cultural...

FYI, Egypt's president Sisi, won a second four-year-term in 2018 and during our stay there, a snap referendum went on to allow him to remain in power until 2030. There was word on the streets that people were accepting bribes to vote for the constitutional amendment and that apart from having no time to campaign against it, many people from opponent parties were arrested at that time. It's sad to see history like this repeat itself in a country that has so much to give.

Para que conste, Sisi, o presidente do Egipto, iniciou o seu segundo mandato de 4 anos em 2018 e, durante a nossa estadia no país, houve um referendo às pressas, que obteve, como resultado, a extensão da duração do seu poder até 2030. Ouvimos dizer que as pessoas aceitaram subornos para votarem a favor da emenda constitucional, assim como soubemos que os partidos que se opunham foram facilmente silenciados e nem sequer tiveram tempo para fazerem a sua campanha. É triste ver a história repetir-se num país que tem tanto para oferecer.

Visiting the Giza pyramids and the Sphynx was definitely one of the highlights of our stay in Cairo. As usual, we got away from the crowds and were able to enjoy the sight to the max. But - and I'm sad that this post is so bitter sweet, but life's not all rainbows and unicorns - it's really atrocious what tourism can do to such magical places. There are hundreds of tour buses entering the complex and dropping people 100 meters away from the great pyramid, so the landscape is overloaded with this paraphernalia. People get out, take a photo and either venture out on a horse/camel ride (as everybody tells them that it's totally impossible to walk out there) or hop back on their bus, which will take them to a lookout point, which is also full of buses, and the trip is done. WHAT THE F***!!

A visita às Pirâmidas de Gizé e à Esfinge foi um dos momentos altos da nossa estadia no Cairo. Como sempre, afastámo-nos das multidões e conseguimos aproveitar a nossa visita ao máximo. Mas - e tenho pena que este post seja tão agridoce - é atroz o que o turismo pode fazer a sítios tão mágicos quanto este. Há centenas de autocarros a entrar ininterruptamente, cuspindo as pessoas que transporta a uns meros 100 metros da pirâmide de Quéops, manchando as vistas com toda essa parafernália. As pessoas saem, tiram uma foto e, das duas, uma: alugam um camelo/cavalo para as levar de uns sítios para os outros (todos são avisados de que é impossível caminhar por aqueles lados) ou entãovoltam para o seu autocarro que as levará comodamente até ao mirador, que está igualmente repleto de autocarros e está feito! Como é possível!? (obviamente não me estou a referir a pessoas com capacidades motoras reduzidas ou nulas!)

Alright, so, back to the highlights! What I loved the most about Cairo was the vibe of a few neighbourhoods, like the one we stayed in, near the Egyptian Museum which is where all the Colleges are located. It's a vibrant neighbourhood with loads and loads of Ahwas (street shisha cafes). Garden City also has some hype bars and restaurants and it is a wonderful zone to just walk around on the well planned tree-lined streets, among the beautiful mansions and their gardens, that exude a mix of European first class architecture of the 1900's with the sandy toned veil that covers all the buildings in Cairo. Finally, Gezira Island also has many restaurants, bars and hype shops, this is where a lot of the five star hotels are located and you can just take a stroll around after dinner, and maybe you'll find something cool going on!

Bom, voltando a coisas boas! O que eu mais adorei no Cairo foi o ambiente de alguns bairros, tal como o daquele em que ficámos instalados, perto do Egyptian Museum, que é também onde estão localizadas as universidades. É um sítio vibrante, cheio de Ahwas (esplanadas onde se fuma shisha). A zona de Garden City tem também bares e restaurantes modernos e é maravilhoso dar uma caminhada por entre as ruas arborizadas e bem planeadas, com as suas mansões e jardins. A mistura entre o estilo arquitetónico Europeu de primeira classe do início do século XX e o véu em tons de areia que cobre todos os edifícios da cidade é única. Finalmente, a ilha de Gezira tem também uma mão cheia de restaurantes, bares e lojas engraçadas. É aqui que estão situados os muitos dos hotéis de 5 estrelas do Cairo. Lá passámos por alguns sítios mesmo engraçados.

In the end, we stayed a few days more than what we'd expected in Cairo due to an unforeseen event in our trip but I will never regret having stayed there longer.

No fim, acabámos por ficar mais dias no Cairo do que aqueles que tínhamos planeado, devido a um percalço na nossa viagem, no entanto, nunca me arrependerei disso.

❤

Bitter Sweet Egypt - part 1

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Egypt is one of the places in the world that has been in my dreams for the longest time! My friend Carolina from 4th grade had been there on her Easter holidays and I remember, like it was yesterday, the treasures she brought from that trip to share with her friends. She carefully collected water from the Nile river as well as some sand from the desert, which she stored in Kodak film boxes. They were relics from an ancient place, full of stories of mummies and pharaohs. With vast lands spreading from the Nile. The crocodiles, the mythology, the architecture, the amazing stories from those who ruled one of the most illustrious civilizations in the world and all their aesthetics amazed me ever since.

O Egito é um dos sítios deste mundo que sonhava conhecer há mais tempo! Lembro-me perfeitamente da minha amiga Carolina, no 4º ano, trazer e partilhar alguns tesouros recolhidos por si durante a sua visita ao Egipto, nas férias da páscoa. Mostrou-nos a água e a areia que cuidadosamente guardara em caixas de rolos da Kodak. Eram autênticas relíquias de um lugar antiquíssimo, cheio de histórias sobre múmias e faraós. As vastas terras que se estendem a partir do Nilo. Os crocodilos, a mitologia, a arquitetura, as histórias incríveis daqueles que governaram uma das mais notáveis civilizações e toda a sua identidade estética, desde então, me cativaram.

Growing up, every time I went to a museum like the British Museum in London or the Neues Museum in Berlin, I always stayed longer at the Egyptian section, just looking at their amazing jewellery, pottery and other artefacts. So, coming to Egypt was a total dream come true. However, I was also a bit frightened that all the magnificence of such a distant era would have been gone as a consequence of the potential damage that massive tourism can create. 

Durante o meu crescimento, sempre que visitava um museu como o British Museum em Londres ou o Neues Museum em Berlim, a secção que me atraía por mais tempo era a da cultura Egípcia, ficava encantada a observar as suas obras de joalheria, cerâmica e outros artefactos tais. Por consequência, poder viajar até ao Egito foi um sonho tornado realidade. Não obstante, havia em mim uma sombra de medo de que toda a magnificência de uma era tão distante se tivesse extinto, devido aos danos que o turismo em massa pode, potencialmente, criar.

Our first stop was Hurghada. We wanted to recharge our batteries, so we stayed at a resort with a private beach. We were able to relax for a bit, but in our minds we couldn't forget our disappointment, that was startled when we witnessed that all the beauty that Hurghada and the dreamy Red Sea could have had once, is far gone. The over exploration of the coast by hotels left the shore so damaged that I felt my heart breaking into tiny pieces. Maybe more than half of this hotels are abandoned or their construction was never finished. I felt I was in a kind of apocalyptic scene from a movie! It is a real wake up call for me, and I wish nature could have the chance to take back the beauty that mankind once stole from it.

A nossa primeira paragem foi em Hurghada. Queríamos recarregar baterias, por isso ficámos num resort com praia privada. Conseguimos relaxar durante um tempo, no entanto, não conseguíamos varrer da nossa memória o desapontamento que sentimos ao constatar que toda a beleza que Hurghada e o Mar Vermelho um dia possuíram já não existe. A exploração em massa da zona costeira por parte de unidades hoteleiras deixou um extenso rasto de danos e ver isso fez com que o meu coração se partisse em pequenos pedaços. Talvez mais de metade destes hotéis estão abandonados ou são apenas o esqueleto de projetos inacabadas. Senti-me como se estivesse num cena de um filme apocalíptico. O meu desejo é que a natureza tenha a oportunidade, um dia, de restaurar a beleza que lhe foi roubada pela humanidade.

From Hurghada we took a bus to Luxor. We didn’t really check where our B&B was, so we were really surprised to find out that it was on a little village right next to Medinat Habu, Ramses III’s memorial temple, on the west coast of the Nile. So the first thing we did when we got to the city was crossing the amazing river by boat and visit the absolutely amazing and underrated Habu temple. Throughout our trip we crossed the Nile uncountable times but we always felt amazed by its serene beauty.

De autocarro executámos o percurso entre Hurghada e Luxor. Como não tínhamos verificado com atenção a localização do nosso B&B, ficámos surpreendidos ao descobrir que se situava numa numa pequena vila na costa oeste do Nilo, ao lado do Templo Memorial de Ramses III, Medinat Habu. Por isso mesmo, a primeira coisa que fizemos ao chegar à cidade, foi atravessar, de barco, esse maravilhoso rio, e visitar o Templo de Habu, que é bastante subestimado. Durante toda a nossa viagem, foram incontáveis as vezes que atravessámos o Nilo, mas sempre que o fazíamos ficávamos maravilhados com toda a sua serena beleza.

We tried all means of transportation. Sometimes we'd walk, we also rent bikes for one day. We started riding them to come back from the Valley of the Kings, a pretty cool way down with zero effort, then taking the early morning hours to explore the west side crops and shore and at noon we crossed the river, taking them on the ferry to have lunch and visit Karnak. I feel there are no words in the world to describe the magnificence and grandeur of that place! As people from tours would get jammed, starring at a particular detail on a wall, we were able to visit everything without bumping into them, as usually you'll find the most interesting and amazing places far from the crowds. We took time to explore all of the places and details that the guides and their tours don't care about. Apart from observing the whole stunning constructions, the paintings on the walls and the ancient rock carvings, we took some extra time to think, not only about the people who lived there, but also about the people whose names are carved on the rocks, the ones that found those ruins over the centuries, in awe for their discoveries!

Experimentámos todos os tipos de transportes. Por vezes fazíamos longas caminhadas e também alugámos bicicletas por um dia. Começámos a usá-las de manhã, bem cedo, para descer do Vale dos Reis até às terras de cultivo perto da margem Oeste do rio. Perto do meio-dia, levando as bicicletas, atravessámos para o lado Este, de ferry, para fazermos um picnic e visitarmos Karnak. Sinto que não há palavras no mundo que possam descrever a magnificência deste complexo de templos! Enquanto as multidões dos grupos de tours se empurravam e sobrelotavam zonas, onde permaneciam especadas a olhar para um qualquer pormenor numa parede, nós conseguimos visitar tudo sem termos de nos cruzar com elas. Como é já habitual, conseguimos encontrar lugares e coisas interessantíssimas longe das multidões. Explorámos todos os lugares, e são muitos, que as tours não visitam. Para além de observarmos atentamente as fantásticas construções, pinturas e trabalho escultórico nas paredes, pensámos, ainda, não só sobre quem ali viveu mas também sobre aqueles cujos nomes estão gravados na pedra, aqueles que durante os últimos séculos foram descobrindo e explorando estas ruínas.

In Luxor I never felt in danger but I felt verbally harassed everyday by men in the streets, including policemen, with no respect for me or Luis that was always on my side. I would expect them to at least respect the western "husband" figure but I was deeply wrong. We got pretty tired to hear them whistle, make kiss sounds and ultimately tell Luis loudly while looking at me like they would look at a juicy steak "Oooooh! Lucky man!". Apart from that, they pretty much try to sell you everything they can and they always start with "hey! Welcome to Egypt! Wherrr you from? Spain? Italy?...What you looking for? I have it!" at the end, we just pretended we were speaking a weird language so they couldn't guess where we were from and quit on harassing. It gets really tiering and I've never seen a country like this. How come they don't realize that their amazing selling techniques are only driving people away from their businesses? I don't want to generalize as we've met some pretty decent men on our stay in Egypt, but men need to be more respectful ASAP for tourism sake, as tourism is really important for the country's economy! Also, please stop taking sneaky selfies!! Notwithstanding, I've met some pretty fascinating women and girls, always so nice and polite! Young women are full of dreams and hopes. It feels like they belong to a secret kind of sisterhood, which I think is absolutely fascinating and will lead them, hopefully, one day, to come forward to embrace their rights as women from the supremacy of religious rules and the power of sexist traditions.

Em Luxor nunca me senti em perigo, no entanto, sentia-me verbalmente assediada por homens nas ruas, diariamente, incluindo polícias, sem nenhum respeito por mim ou pelo Luis, que estava sempre do meu lado. Esperava, pelo menos, que eles respeitassem a figura do "marido" ocidental, mas estava enganada. Ficámos bastante cansados de os ouvir assobiar, fazer sons de beijos e dizerem ao Luís, olhando para mim como se eu fosse um bife suculento "Ooooooh! Lucky man!". Para além disso, estão constantemente a tentar vender tudo aquilo que consigam, começando as conversas com "hey! Welcome to Egypt! Wherrr you from? Spain? Italy?...What you looking for? I have it!". Nós já falávamos línguas inventadas para que eles não conseguissem detectar a nossa proveniência e desistissem mais rápido da usual perseguição durante 200m. É extremamente cansativo e eu nunca estive num país que se possa comparar. Como é que não se apercebem que as suas maravilhosas técnicas de vendas apenas afastam as pessoas dos seus negócios? De qualquer forma, não quero generalizar esta ideia, pois conhecemos alguns homens bastante decentes na nossa estadia no Egipto. No entanto, para que o turismo mantenha um crescimento saudável, alguns homens precisam de mudar a sua abordagem, já que o turismo é super importante para a economia deste país! Para além disso, por favor, parem de tirar selfies sorrateiras! É sinistro! Não obstante, conheci mulheres e raparigas fascinantes, sempre queridas e com ótimos modos. As jovens são sonhadoras e cheias de esperança. Pareceu-me que elas pertencem a uma irmandade secreta, onde se protegem umas às outras, o que é absolutamente fascinante, e que, oxalá (que palavra apropriada!), um dia, dêem o primeiro passo na defesa dos seus direitos como mulheres contra a supremacia de leis ditadas pela religião e contra o poder de tradições sexistas.

Part 2 is coming ASAP!

Publicarei a Parte 2 sobre o Egipto o mais rapidamente possível!

<3

Ancient Turkey

After Capadoccia we hit the road towards Antalya. We didn't know how big it was and it is actually pretty huge. It has nice areas to hang out but it seems a bit crowded with tourists. Not only with foreigner but also with Turkish tourists as well. It looks like the perfect place for teenagers to party, and for families to spend some time at the beach followed by lazy nights at the restaurants and bars with live music at the city's old town.
From there we visited a pretty nice place called Kursunlu Waterfalls, with beautiful clear water. There was a Turkish wedding photo shoot going on, which we thought was pretty cool, the bride was so differently dressed from western culture brides, with her head and neck all covered in white and with glitters all over her huge gown.

Depois da Capadócia, voltámos à estrada em direção a Antália. Penso que tínhamos uma ideia pré-concebida de que seria uma cidade relativamente pequena, mas estávamos enganados! Sem dúvida há imensas áreas agradáveis para sair mas pareceu-me um pouco abarrotado com turistas. Não apenas estrangeiros, mas também turistas turcos. Não obstante, senti que o centro histórico da cidade é o lugar perfeito para adolescentes se divertirem e para as famílias que, depois de passarem algum tempo na praia, procuram noites preguiçosas em restaurantes e bares com música ao vivo.
Não muito longe de lá, visitámos as cascatas de Kursunlu, com água cristalina muito bonita. Durante o tempo que estivemos a absorver a beleza, esteve a decorrer uma sessão fotográfica de um casamento turco, a noiva estava tão diferente das noivas ocidentais, com a cabeça e o pescoço cobertos de branco e com brilhos por todo o seu imenso vestido.

That day was going well but it could not have ended better, as we drove up the mount Güllük to see what Termessos ancient ruins were all about. So, we were expecting ruins, but having seen so many in my life and a lot of them were top rated world heritage sites by UNESCO, we though that we wouldn't be very surprised. Oh, but we were so utterly wrong. Amidst the pine forests, the steepy hills and a lot of clouds there it was. One of those places you could only expect to see on an Indiana Jones movie. A true sleeping beauty, lying in the silence of the skies, waiting to be found. Some of the ancient Pisidian buildings (built around 23 centuries ago) still have their walls standing. There are fallen rocks and columns with detailed carvings lying everywhere. To access some of the city areas you actually have to climb these fragments of history. There are no restrictions about that and you can walk freely around. The gymnasium still has most of its walls with beautiful niches around it.

Depois das cascatas, podíamos dizer que o dia nos estava a correr bem, mas o que não sabíamos era que ele melhoraria ainda mais, enquanto subíamos o Monte Güllük, para conhecermos as ruínas de Termessos. Então, nós esperávamos ruínas, mas tendo tido a possibilidade de visitar tantas, muitas delas, as melhor qualificadas pela UNESCO durante todas as nossas vidas, pensámos que estas seriam só mais umas. Oh, mas estávamos tão enganados! No meio de pinhais, o monte íngreme e muitas nuvens, aí estava ele. Um daqueles lugares que apenas esperamos ver num filme do Indiana Jones! Uma verdadeira bela adormecida, descansando no silêncio dos céus, à espera de ser encontrada. Alguns dos antigos edifícios Pisídios (construídos há cerca de 23 séculos atrás) ainda têm as suas paredes de pé. Há rochas e colunas caídas com entalhes detalhados espalhados por toda parte. Para aceder a algumas das áreas da cidade tem-se realmente de escalar esses fragmentos de história. Não há restrições em relação a isso e pode andar-se livremente por todo o lado. O ginásio ainda tem a maioria das suas paredes com lindos nichos em redor.

As a wave of dense fog came upon us we reached the amphitheater. As the mist vanished, like a curtain being opened, we stood in awe staring at what was presented in front of us and below our feet. The most amazing Hellenistic amphitheater, so perfect, that one may think that it could be only a house for the gods. The dramatic landscape surrounding it is absolutely breathtaking and we wanted to just seat there for hours, watching the clouds and the sun coming and going at their will and soaking up all that beauty. The site has many other amazing arches, gateways and rock cut tombs (like the ones you'd see in Petra). For me it's bitter sweet to be exposing here a place that lies so authentic. It makes me scared to think about people disrespecting it, and I would wish for it to lie there, still, as it was the day I found it, for the whole eternity. Actually, the silence and absence of people in general made it all much more perfect. I think that this places must be respected and treated with gentleness. I was so glad that there weren't any buses coming and going and guides shouting to their crowds, waving their flags and umbrellas.

Chegámos ao anfiteatro enquanto um denso nevoeiro se instalava à nossa frente. Quando a névoa desapareceu, como uma cortina a ser aberta, ficámos estarrecidos, olhando para o cenário que se desvendava à nossa frente e abaixo dos nosso pés. O mais incrível teatro helenístico, tão perfeito, que se pode pensar que seria um lar perfeito para deuses. A paisagem dramática em torno dele é absolutamente deslumbrante e queríamos apenas ficar sentados lá horas a fio, observando as nuvens e o sol indo e vindo à sua vontade e absorvendo toda aquela beleza. A cidade tem muitos outros arcos surpreendentes, portais e túmulos de rocha (como os que se podem ver em Petra). Para mim é agridoce expor aqui um lugar que é tão autêntico. Isso deixa-me com medo de pensar que as pessoas o podem desrespeitar, sendo que o meu desejo é que a cidade ali permaneça, serena, intocada, como estava no dia em que a encontrei, por toda a eternidade. Na verdade, o silêncio e a ausência de pessoas em geral tornaram tudo muito mais perfeito. Penso que estes lugares devem ser respeitados e tratados com gentileza. Claro que fiquei super feliz por não haver autocarros indo e vindo, e guias gritando para as suas multidões de turistas, agitando as suas bandeiras e guarda-chuvas.

Nothing bet Termessos, in our stay in Turkey, but I can say that Phaselis (700BC) is a much humbler but lovely ruin of a harbor city that belonged to Greeks and Romans. We also visited Olympos Ruins, which has ruins from different historical periods, from Hellenistic to the Middle Ages. It has a river dividing it and the city ends in the sea, like Phaselis. This site is pretty big. Near Olympos there's Mount Chimaera, a rad place where there are constant fires burning, coming from holes in the rocky soil.

Nada bateu Termessos na nossa estadia na Turquia, mas posso dizer que Phaselis (700 aC) é uma ruína, muito mais humilde mas adorável, de uma cidade portuária que pertencia a gregos e romanos. Também visitámos as Ruínas de Olympos, onde se pode andar entre ruínas de diferentes períodos históricos, desde o Helenístico até à Idade Média. Há um rio que divide a cidade e este termina no mar, tal como Phaselis. Esta cidade é bem grande. Perto de Olympos, há ainda o Monte Chimaera, um lugar onde há incêndios constantes, vindos de buracos no solo rochoso.

We got to visit Kas and Fethiye. The beaches are beautiful and so is the whole coastal drive. You can see amazing islands and the water has the most beautiful Mediterranean shades of blue. Sometimes, going down the hills I would see a vast portion of land shining like a huge mirror that at first I though were solar power plants, but instead were hundreds of green houses, producing mostly tomatoes!!

Tivémos a oportunidade de visitar Kas e Fethiye. As praias são lindas e vale a pena fazer a estrada costeira, pois tem vistas absolutamente arrebatadoras. Podem ver-se ilhas incríveis e a água tem o mais belo tom de azul mediterrânico. Às vezes, descendo as colinas, via-se uma vasta porção de terra a cintilar como um imenso espelho, que a princípio eu pensava serem centrais elétricas de energia solar. Mais tarde descobri tratarem-se de milhares de estufas, dedicadas maioritariamente à produção de tomates!!

Pamukkale (Cotton Castle) can be seen a few kilometers away from its location as this bright white mountain rising from apparently nowhere. We arrived at sunset and we were afraid we wouldn't have time enough to see everything, but decided to go in nonetheless. Maybe you think I should be more informed before visiting some places, as I'm easily surprised, but I think that's the magic in visiting them. I read the basic info and wait to find out more while I'm actually on the spot. So, for my surprise, we had to take our shoes off because there's water running all the way down from the top of the hill. Cascading down the pools, these thermal springs' water is super rich in calcium that over time created these beautiful natural pools that are as white as snow! On top of the hill there's an ancient roman city and it is said that Cleopatra visited it to bathe in this whimsical waters herself!

Pamukkale (Castelo de Algodão) pode ser avistado a alguns quilómetros de distância, parecendo surgir do nada uma montanha branca e brilhante. Chegámos ao pôr do sol e ficámos com medo de não termos tempo suficiente para ver tudo, mas decidimos entrar de qualquer forma. Talvez quem me lê pense que eu deveria estar mais informada antes de visitar alguns lugares... Sei que parece que sou facilmente surpreendida, mas acho que o efeito surpresa faz parte daquilo que eu acho mais mágico quando viajo. Eu leio a informação básica e espero para descobrir mais quando estou realmente no local. Então, para minha surpresa, tivemos que nos descalçar, porque havia água imparável a correr desde o topo da colina. Descendo em cascata pelas piscinas que ela mesma formou, a água destas nascentes termais é rica em cálcio que, fator determinante para a formação destas magníficas estruturas, tão brancas quanto a neve! No topo da colina há uma antiga cidade romana e diz-se que Cleópatra a visitou para se poder banhar nestas águas milagrosas!

When we reached Istanbul, I've got to confess that we were very tired from all the driving and running around. It was freaking cold, which we didn't expected (after all, it's Spring), so I definitely have to give it another try in the future, preferably during Summer. Sure, we visited Hagia Sofia, which has mesmerising byzantine details. We went to the huge underground Basilica Cistern nearby, but it was half closed and there were so many disrespectful teenagers, just fooling around and touching and throwing garbage on the water that I wasn't able to concentrate and enjoy the wonderful subterranean construction. The Blue Mosque was also having some ceiling work done, so we only got to see a part of it. The city has a pretty cool vibe and there are nice coffee shops, restaurants and stores in Galata, very much like the ones in hype neighborhoods throughout European cities. I have to confess that the Grand Bazaar, although huge in size, is much more organised than what I expected and it's a super touristic place. So, although the building is pretty, if you get a chance to look at the beautifully painted ceilings, it is all covered up with ugly cables and signs. The shops look so clean and they try so much to make them look high end, selling fake designer bags and shoes (I think that they're so good looking that there are people that may think they're buying the real deal!), that there's no originality to it. For me, the place has lost its soul and for a spot with so much history, I feel that it's a pity and so, after that disappointment, I preferred visiting the hectic markets for locals, where you can really sense their true culture.

Quando chegámos a Istambul, tenho que confessar que estávamos muito cansados ​​de toda a condução e correria. Fazia um frio que nunca esperámos que fizesse (afinal de contas, é Primavera), assim sendo, tenho evidentemente de dar uma segunda oportunidade a esta cidade, de preferência no Verão! Claro que visitámos a Hagia Sofia, que tem detalhes bizantinos absolutamente hipnotizantes. Fomos à enorme Cisterna subterrânea, que fica apenas a alguns metros, mas estava meio fechada e havia tantos adolescentes desrespeitosos, a brincar, gritar e a mandar lixo para a água que eu não consegui concentrar-me e aproveitar a maravilhosa obra de engenharia onde me encontrava. A Mesquita Azul também estava com algumas obras de recuperação nos tetos, por isso também só conseguimos visitar uma parte. A cidade tem um ambiente bom e interessante e há cafés agradáveis, restaurantes e lojas em Galata, muito parecidos com aqueles que se podem encontrar em bairros hype em todas as cidades europeias. Tenho que confessar que o Grande Bazar, apesar de enorme em tamanho, é muito mais organizado do que aquilo que esperava e é um lugar super turístico. Então, embora o prédio seja bonito, se se tiver a chance de ver os tetos lindamente pintados, está tudo coberto por cabos e placas feias. As lojas têm um aspeto muito limpo nota-se que os donos se esforçam para que se pareçam sofisticadas, vendendo malas e sapatos de contrafacção (acho que há pessoas que podem pensar que estão a comprar os produtos de verdade!). Para mim, o lugar perdeu a alma e originalidade que suponho que tenha tido em tempos. E para um lugar com tanta história, sinto que é uma pena. Depois dessa decepção, preferi visitar os mercados para 'locals' mais caóticos, mas onde se pode realmente sentir a verdadeira cultura da cidade.

In Istanbul there are loads of Hammams (Turkish Baths), they look really decaying but there's a very peculiar charm to it. These places are, for me, the ones worth going to. We had the Turkish bath experience, a full body scrub and a foam massage for less than 10 euros!

Turkey was a huge surprise, all and all, and I have to point out how amazing everybody was to us, how humble and friendly! Oh, and I couldn't end this post without saying how their love for dogs made me like them even more. Stray (but tagged) dogs go on about their lives in the streets everywhere. They're so well treated. They always have food and water (you can see so many shops and other businesses that keep tins full of food and water for the street dogs outside (and sometimes inside)! They live in harmony and those dogs are friendly and lazy. I guess that these are the little details that most people don't notice but make traveling such an enriching experience to me. I'm sad to say that we didn't take a lot of good photos in Istanbul due to the cold. That only means that I have to come back soon!!

Em Istambul há montes de Hammams (banhos turcos), a maioria com um ar realmente decadente, mas para mim, isso até tem o seu charme. Esses lugares são, na minha opinião, os que valem a pena visitar. Tivemos a experiência de banho turco, uma esfoliação corporal completa e uma massagem de espuma por menos de 10 euros!

No fim de contas, a Turquia foi uma enorme surpresa, e eu tenho de frisar o quão incrível toda a gente foi para nós, tão humilde e amigável! Ah, e eu não posso terminar este post sem referir o amor dos turcos por cães, o que me fez gostar ainda mais deles. Cães aparentemente vadios (mas marcados) andam por todo o lado tranquilamente. Eles são muito bem tratados por toda a gente. Têm sempre comida e água (há imensas lojas e outros negócios que mantêm taças cheias de comida e água para os cães de rua do lado de fora (e às vezes dentro)! Eles vivem em harmonia e são muito amigáveis e preguiçosos. Acho que esses são os pequenos detalhes que a maioria das pessoas não repara, mas faz com que viajar seja uma experiência tão enriquecedora para mim. Estou triste por dizer que não tiramos muitas boas fotos em Istambul devido ao frio. Mas acho que é a desculpa perfeita para voltarmos em breve!!

<3

Rose Gold Cappadocia

Turkey hasn’t really been on top of my list of countries to visit because I didn’t know a lot about it. Searching for its most beautiful attractions was a surprise: lunar like mountains, turquoise beaches, ancient historical sites and complex history. And then Istanbul, which is frequently compared to Lisbon. I had to check it out!

So I knew all of that but what I didn’t realize was how modern and developed the country was, how the roads and highways are so well maintained and how people in the countryside are amazingly nice!

We started our visit with Cappadocia. As I said in some previous posts on the blog, me and Luis aren’t very fond of tours and very touristic activities. We explored the zone in our own way, as we had a rental SUV, we were able to drive around those ravishing landscapes and stop whenever we wanted to. The weather wasn’t perfect for balloons, so there were none in the sky, which actually didn’t really bother us, as all we wanted was to appreciate nature. I guess that nowadays that is becoming more and more difficult because the area is a bit overly crowded with hotels, balloon ride stalls and shops in general. The little cities have adapted all too well to the digital age so every corner is a set for an Instagram shot. So here you will not find photos of me in a hotel balcony with air balloons at sunrise or inside the famous shop that has a patio full of rugs (though I have to say that they have a beautiful and a bit pricey selection of old dresses full of coins there) or the shops with the Turkish lights as background.

Apart from this, the further you go, the less crowded it gets. We had to wake up really early (like at 5.30am) to avoid the speedy Jeeps full of tourists that start buzzing around at about 9am (I guess that April is a very calm month over there, and still there were a lot of tours). I can imagine how crowded it can get during summer! Nonetheless the landscapes are mesmerizing, otherworldly and well worth visiting. Sometimes the views made me recall Petra and The Grand Canyon, with the canyons and rock formations in terra-cotta and yellow colored sediments. The natural shape of those spiky peaks actually seem supernatural and thinking about the people who decided to carve their own homes inside the huge stones while looking at them is totally astonishing.

Other thing I didn’t know about Turkey is that there are dogs and cats everywhere. All dogs are tagged for control and they’re really lazy all the time. Early in the morning, at Fairy Valley we were gathered by a really photogenic family of dogs! It’s such a pity that I have been struggling with dog and cat allergies for some years now, so I wasn’t able to pet them (so to make up for it Luis spoiled them with cuddles). I guess they understood that I really liked them so they stood by.

All and all, the 8 hour drive from Istambul airport to Capadoccia was well worth it. We stayed only for one day (2 nights) as we still had a lot to see in Turkey. Though I'm always trying to run away from cold weather (and in April we got 4°C at sunrise), I have to say that seeing Capadoccia during winter must also be a pretty amazing experience. 

The day we left we got to see a lot of nature! There are soooo many volcanoes a bit to the south (near Konya)! They looked so still and wonderful. We actually drove up to two of them! It was weird to walk on top of a place that was once so dangerously active! I don’t have a lot of experience with volcanoes so every time I see one I look like a child analyzing the rocks and the soil!!

On our way to Antalya we followed an UNESCO brown sign on the road and found an amazing archaeological site with ongoing excavations that dates back to 9000BC!!! For sure we weren’t expecting that! The site is pretty big and it is a ‘city’ where its people built multi storey buildings. So there were many people living in the same buildings at that time, just like today. The most curious thing is that to access their floor they had to go to the top of the buildings and go down to their own houses using ladders that went through other people’s houses!

Through the whole drive we were accompanied by huge mountains with snow and at the end of our drive we actually had to go up one of them to cross to Antalya.

I loved Cappadocia and the whole trip to the South was lovely but the extense exploitation of the land for touristic purposes (in Cappadocia) as well as the Turkish people's apparent unawareness of pollution related problems (we saw so many garbage around in the streets and rivers) made me think that the world has still so much to learn about preserving nature and natural resources.

Next stop Antalya!!!! <3

Shimmering Athens

Athens has been part of my imaginary since I was pretty young, firstly, because it was the center of a culture that worshiped beautiful and powerful gods whose names and stories always amazed me, and secondly because of their aesthetics. The way they lived and their love for creating beautiful things always impressed and inspired me, and thinking that it all happened about 2500 years ago makes me think about how society forgot that chapter of history and lived in darkness for so long.
So seeing all the treasures that Athens holds was a dream come true.

I was told by some people that visited Athens before that the roads were dirty and that it was way poorer than Portugal. I have to say that I couldn’t disagree more. The roads are full of fragrant orange trees (they’re in bloom at this time of year). The buildings have beautiful faded colors and all balconies have plenty of plants, which gives the streets a very tropical and exuberant vibe! For me, Athens it is a very original mix of Barcelona and Telaviv. We stayed at a cute neighborhood (Negri Fokionos) with lots of cafes and restaurants filled with locals and their dogs.

Monastiraki Square and all the Monastiraki neighbouhood is a lovely place to start exploring the old part of the city, which is bursting with life. From there, you'll be just a few meters away from Melissinos Art - The Poet Sandal Maker, a 3rd generation Greek sandal maker (open since the 1920’s), whose family has been making sandals for celebrities such as Jackie O, The Beatles, Prince Charles and Sarah Jessica Parker to name only a few. The sandals are made there at their workshop and after you select the model you want and the size that fits you best, they give them final adjustings like beveling the edges of all the leather in the sandals or making small adjustments like tightening or making some straps more loose. The natural colored leather comes from tanneries in Crete and is tanned using traditional methods. There are a lot of shops in Athens selling industrially made copies. They’re cheaper but not a lot compared to Melissinos but there you won't have such a genuine experience! I couldn't have left without my own pair - Maria Callas style!

The first sight we visited was Hadrian's Library, apart from the wonderful ruins we met some beings that made it their home: tortoises! Then there is lovely Plaka the most famous zone for chilling in street level or rooftop taverns, some streets that go up the hill have cafes and restaurants that have adapted their terraces to the stairways - perfect postcard scenario. Oh! And there are vases with plants and flowers everywhere, which makes the whole environment more heavenly alive! There we had some lentils with dried tomatoes and mint at Yiasemi while we drank some white wine and cold coffee (everybody was drinking it everywhere!). Near there's a very sweet and charming neighborhood called Anafiotika. Between the houses of the hills inhabitants there are winding and steep alleyways, full of secrets and sights waiting to be found.

Going up to Mount Lycabettus was a perfect choice for the end of the day. The views are totally overwhelming and we stayed there till dusk, absorbing all the beauty around us. Athens is a huge white city that glimmers day and night but the piéce de resistance in the middle of such eye catching shimmer will always be the Parthenon, that golden star, the ancient above modernity.

As it is said, the early bird gets the worm! Waking up early is far from being something I enjoy , but life has rewarded me several times for my efforts and this was one of those days, in Monastiraki you can find amazing views and guess what? We had a rooftop only for ourselves. We were expecting huge crowds up at the Parthenon and down at the Agora, where the Temple of Hephaestus is located (the best well preserved building from those times, made circa 460BC), but instead, the places were quite peaceful early in the morning (most of the sights open at 8am). I can't find the words to describe how wonderful those buildings are. I've already seen them from afar but being so close to them, transmitted me a lot of calmness. They're as ancient as it gets and all the things they've been through, all the people that passed inside or in front of them had their own story. So imagining the 'city' as it was since 5BC is a thought worth having while you're there. I like to think about the people that lived in those times: what they did, how they looked, where they lived.

We were so lucky to have visited all we wanted before a big downpour! On our way we got ourselves totally soaked in rain but we had some time during lunch to dry up our clothes and hair. As the rain wouldn't stop we decided to visit the Acropolis Museum, which has most of the ancient Athenian artifacts and fragments of buildings and temples that need to be preserved.

Next to the huge columns that are left from the Temple of Olympian Zeus there's the beautiful Panathenaic Stadium and the National Gardens with beautiful blooming flowers. After it all and a walk in the gardens we were starving so we had Loukoumades and luxuriously tasty but humbly made Souvlaki (at Lefteris O Politis).

All the food was so amazing! I’ve always disliked feta cheese but now I’m in love with it! Oh, and the yogurt... We had an amazing one with honey and walnuts at a place pretty near the Souvlaki one called Stani.

Athens was actually a city where we were only going to stop a few hours to catch a plane to Turkey, but I’m glad we stayed long enough to get to know it! I’m absolutely coming back to discover Greece further!

California, I need you again and again!

After Death Velley and Yosemite we went to San Francisco. I wasn't prepared for all the wind and for the 17ºC, and because of that we didn't get to explore it as much as we wanted to because we didn't have warm clothes with us. We drove up and down the beautiful hills and I got to do some shopping in the most amazing thrift and vintage shops. I strongly recommend Decades of Fashion for real vintage. In the same street you'll find a bunch of other vintage and second hand shops. Sadly, Mission Thrift was my second favourite but it closed some months ago. There I found the most amazing ethnic and sequinned skirts as well as cool scarves and tops for really cheap prices.

We went to a very cool curiosity shop called Paxton Gate. And in the end of the day we got to see the amazing Golden Gate, we have a copy of it in Lisbon, so for us it was like 'Ooooh! So this is the real deal!!'. We slept somewhere near Point Reyes National Seashore before going South, so unfortunately we only spent 1 day in San Francisco. We only had a few days left till our flight back to Portugal from LAX, so we went down the Pacific coast freely. Next stop and an absolutely amazing one was Point Reyes itself. What a beautiful and calm place, we felt such peace there and we felt like life was moving slower. Apart from the natural wonders we found little villages with cute shops and art galleries.

As we went up the hills in the direction of the cliffs and the ocean, we were welcomed by a dense fog and fast swirling winds, which made all even more whimsical.

Between the golden fields and the friendly cows we found the bluest shores. Down at the beach, a family of elephant seals was resting, raising the curiosity of two deers that were strolling down the rocks. We couldn't stop staring at those fascinating creatures in the wild.

After we went South, stoping only for curiosity sake at Silicon Valley. We drove to Santa Cruz. We visited the funfair and got to see some really sociable sea lions at the wharf. We heard about a place called Mystery Spot, we usually don't go to these kinds of places but I have to say that if you have kids it's a pretty awesome place to visit. It consists in a house that's totally crooked, located on a hill, so all perspective points are distorted, thus when you think that something is going up it actually goes down and vice-versa (they say it's a gravitational anomaly.. hum...). As I said before, we're not very into guided tours or any situations that include a guide, but it was quiet ok.

After Santa Cruz we went to Monterey, a lovely city with hundreds of sea lions swimming around the fisherman's wharf. We also got to see some cute harbour seals catching some sweet hot sun rays in the morning after.

It's a pity that we don't have a lot of photos from this part of the journey, but I guess we were really soaking up all the beauty from places like Carmel-by-the-sea. Which was the place where we really started feeling the Spanish influences when it comes to architecture, since we visited the Carmel Mission Basilica Museum. After it, Point Lobos was absolutely glorious. There we were able to spot, right from the coastal trails, and really near us, a few dolphins, harbour seals and even blue whales! We didn't want to spend our money in those boat trips where you have like 50/50 chance of seeing a whale. We got really lucky, they were far, but totally visible without binoculars. In the afternoon we passed by San Luis Obispo, a place where my dear Luis had already been and that's where Madonna Inn is located, a super kitsch inn/shop/restaurant, very Disney style.

We spent our evening in Santa Barbara, a place I regret not having seen in daylight. The next day we reached Santa Monica, passing through Malibu, but it looked too crowded when compared to the places we've been the days before. It has the tall buildings so typical of seaside resorts and we only went to a Camera Obscura that's near the beach just for fun and we drove away right after it.

LA was amazing but I felt we didn't have enough time to explore it. We were also tired as it was the end of the trip. After all we drove more than 8000 km (about 5000 miles) in 17 days. We walked around Venice Beach and drove around the city. I did a bit more vintage shopping at Melrose Trading Post flea market (which happens every Sunday), located in Melrose Avenue, which is also where you can find a lot of vintage shops. We drove around Beverly Hills, and the mythic Mullholland Drive. I really wanted to see the Sheats Goldstein house and nearby there was a house with loads of things for people to take as they pleased. I got a lovely hat and some cool books that I brought to Atlas Hostel in Leiria. We went to Carroll Avenue in Angelino Heights, a very old neighbourhood with beautiful Victorian-era houses, that was used countless times as set for movies and tv series.

There was still so much to explore. I guess I have to go back and stay longer. I'm sorry the posts about this trip were published so slowly but I've had so much work lately that it was impossible to keep a fast pace. If you have any questions about what to do or places to visit don't be shy. I hope to be able to post as I travel on my next trip (which is in about two days!!!). I'm really excited about it! See you soon!

<3

Death Valley Is Love

After Monument Valley, we wanted to go West, back to Nevada, so as we drove we stopped a few times and we didn't really know where we were going to sleep. Our usual method was to go to a McDonald's to connect our wifi and find a place to spend the night. Because we always use offline Google Maps, I was able to spot a McDonald's in a place that looked like a little village in the middle of a desert. As we drove on the road that led there, we started seeing signs that read "if you're transporting nuclear or toxic waste, please go to the right" and all sorts of other weird warnings. We drove forward until we saw a toll and we decided to turn back.

After a few minutes driving we realised, after spotting some gas stations with alien drawings, that we were on the whereabouts of Area 51! Looking for it on google maps, instead of that yellow little person that you place on the street for street view, it actually appears a spaceship instead! We ended up staying in a town called Beatty, a place near Death Valley.

The next day was one of the most amazing days. We started it by visiting a ghost town named Rhyolite. It was created back in 1905 after some successful prospecting in the area, but short after as the main mining exploration declined so did all that was created to support that industry. Next to it, there's Goldwell Open Air Museum, where the last supper is represented by some ghostlike human size figures, among other art installations. I was so impressed by how easy the land in these deserts is used for artistic purposes. I wish there were more places like this in the world. There's also the mysterious grave of Mona Belle and all the land is dotted with warnings about the presence of rattlesnakes.

After Rhyolite we drove to Death Valley, California, and I guess that it was when my love for deserts had its apotheosis. Our lovely Nissan QASHQAI's thermometer hit 50º Celsius (122º F), but what I felt, stepping out of the vehicle was perfect bliss!

It's hard to describe how the hot air embraced me and how amazing I felt when it did. How the arid vastness filled my eyes and my heart with awe. That was also the second time I saw a coyote and the first time I saw a danger sign warning people about bees!

I couldn't get enough of the beauty of the landscape and had an urge to dance inside its greatness.

I was also fascinated by the different parts of the valley. The land was always changing, from totally dry to rocky, until we found Owen's lake, which is a huge salt flat with the most wonderful colours (due to the diversity of minerals found there), near Lone Pine. In some parts the water and salt had different shades of orange: from tangerine to coral, there were also pink, bright green and turquoise. In Lone Pine we were able to stare at the dramatic mountains, including the famous Alabama Hills, that served as set for hundreds of movies since the silent movies era.

It's wonderful how in the same day we experienced extremely different landscapes, on our way to Yosemite National Park we were able to see mountains with snow and waterfalls.

<3

infinite canyons

I have to start this post by saying that I feel that we weren't able to capture the whole beauty of the Grand Canyon as we wanted to. Using the camera of your phone is sometimes challenging because it doesn't capture the exact colours, depth and sometimes distorts perspective a bit. Still, I wanted to mark this part of my journey as it was one of the most amazing parts of our USA road trip.

There are so many words I can use to describe The Grand Canyon but even if I put them all here, together, they wouldn't be enough to explain what I felt when I looked at it again and again at its amazingly infinite vastness.

The colours that you can see in the carved stone of the canyons are absolutely beyond belief. And the thought that the Colorado River has been eroding the plateau for thousands of years makes it all even more mystical and it made me wander about ancient times.

We wanted to visit Horse Shoe Bend, so on our way we had lunch at Cameron Trading Post, a very complete shop/restaurant/gallery/motel, with loads of beautiful Navajo jewellery, which I absolutely adore. We had a fabulous meal there that consisted of a traditional Navajo fried bread. I had mine with roast beef , gravy and sautéed onions and Luis chose his with chilli beans, lettuce, cheddar cheese, tomato and mild green chilli peppers.

We wanted to visit Antelope Canyon on the same day but we learned that because they're located on private land and explored by the owners, it has strict opening and closing hours and you have to visit it with a guide. We were too late to visit, so we drove from Arizona, to Utah and we arrived at Monument Valley a bit after sunset. There were not crowds of people hanging around anymore so we got the whole sight for ourselves. But because it was dark, we weren't able to take a lot of pictures. The sandstone buttes lay still and lost in time, showing the traces of erosion in beautiful deep orange and red shades.

So the next day we were able to visit Antelope Canyon. The rocks are stunning and the sun light hitting the complex shapes only helps to make the experience more beautiful. Though I have to mention that I hate guided tours and the place was crowded with people that clogged the narrow paths. I was always being left behind to try to absorb the beauty, but it was really difficult to concentrate with all the noise and the cliché speeches being given by the guides.

<3

California Deserts

As we arrived in Palm Springs at night, it wasn't possible to understand how it is organised as a city, so the next morning we were absolutely overwhelmed. As I believe I said before, I love the desert and arid places with hot weather. Coachella Valley is as dry as it comes and is embraced by beautiful and dramatic mountains.

Half of Palm Springs is made out of country clubs, as I expected. Whenever I thought of it before coming there I always imagined retired rich people with a dark tan and pastel coloured golf apparel either hanging out next to a swimming pool or driving golf carts around. Sorry if this sounds prejudiced, but I find it kind of funny, though.

One thing I loved was the Spanish architecture heritage and the super organised and lovely neighbourhoods. As we walked and drove around soaking in the vibe, we decided to go north, towards Joshua Tree National Park.

I have never seen Joshua Trees and now I want to have one but can't find it anywhere in Portugal! They're really cool and funky looking and there are thousands of them. On our way to Yucca Valley we had to stop a few times as the surrounding nature was taking our breath away. Yucca Valley is a little city with loads of hipster/alternative shops and coffee shops. We had lunch there and visited some vintage shops.

We heard somewhere that there was this place called Pioneertown, only a few minutes away from Yucca Valley, which was created in 1940's as a set for western movies. So, not as old as it seems, it's old and interesting enough to take a detour. Some of the buildings have real businesses inside.

This day we had to drive to Las Vegas but we had time. The drive is 3 hours and a half , so we had time to stop whenever we wanted.

One thing about driving from point A to point B that I've learned is to enjoy the ride. Because in between are all the things you didn't predict and you can be surprised if you take a minute to look around. You may find amazing things if you do decide to go check what's around you. This is how we found The Amboy Salt Flats and the Amboy Volcano Crater, this black beauty in the middle of the sandy Mojave Desert. I have to say that I've never seen a volcano before, and Luis was laughing at me because apparently this is a really small one. Nonetheless I was psyched to be there and to think how those black rocks laying still on the ground were once vivid lava (don't mind me, I have become an enthusiast of geology and mineralogy throughout the years but I'm still very naïve in the field).

Ok, so, after all, we were driving for a bit on Route 66 without knowing, I guess it could have happened before but we were too absorbed with everything to notice it! 😅

One thing I knew I wanted to see near Las Vegas was Ugo Rondinone's Seven Magic Mountains. They're beautiful and we got lucky to see them as this public art exhibition ended at the end of 2018!

All over the roads we drive by, there are peculiar things, some made by nature and some by men. I'm not sure if I felt this way because of the harsh contrast between it and the calmness of the deserts we were coming from, but Las Vegas did not win my heart. We were even thinking of getting married there before we arrived, but Vegas is not worthy of the celebration of such a pure thing as the love me and Luis have for each other. I guess it's just not for us, as I couldn't feel anything but the cheesiness and fakeness of everything around me. Therefore I will skip my Vegas experience and my next post will be about Grand Canyon!! <3

Salvation Mountain

After changing a flat tire in Mexico and waiting for a while to cross the border to the United States again, we set our way towards Salvation Mountain, a huge folk art site in Imperial County, California. I've always felt a certain allure for this kind of constructions, and always wondered why would somebody dedicate so much time and effort constructing with their own hands such eccentric places. I guess that's what makes them so mystical and I always feel a swirl of bewilderment as I get closer.

This construction is the second one created by Leonard Knight, who, in the last half of the 60's, experienced a spiritual awakening that led him to worship and dedicate himself to God and Jesus up until his death (in 2014). He made his way from Vermont to California in the next two decades, doing this and that, and having in mind the creation of the biggest hot air balloon in the world which would have written the words "GOD IS LOVE". After many attempts the balloon did not thrive and so he decided to make one last effort to spread his faith.

For four years Knight started creating a mountain made out of sand, cement and junk he found in the dump. He then painted his artwork with his beloved sayings and prayers. This first mountain collapsed, creating a huge cloud of dust, due to the overloading of sand and its heaviness.

Having interpreted this setback as a positive message from God, he started reconstructing his mountain with proper and much lighter materials such as adobe clay and straw. This new construction started in 1989 and has evolved ever since. It is possible to walk under it, and there are some 'museum' rooms and nooks, which are all huge altars that praise God with messages of redemption.

Although I don't identify with any kind of religion, I can say I've felt really peaceful and happy and loved with all this naive beauty and all the blissful, endless desert that surrounds it. I guess Leonard Knight wanted to spread love, as he said 'love is the strongest force on earth and can combat the hate that is so prevalent in today’s world' - and I couldn't agree more.

As the sun set, we left and drove lazily in the direction of Palm Springs. We couldn't help stopping the car next to the road to watch the beautiful lake reflecting the sky and the mountains with the thinest moon crowning that eternal sky.

<3

From White Sands to Saguaro

I'll be honest, whenever the word Roswell comes to my mind, I directly connect it to aliens and UFOs, so I was expecting a whole lot more alien related places and decor all around. The street lights are adorned with cute alien eyes and McDonald's went all the way architecture wise with its spaceship structure. But I guess that I was hopeful that the whole place lived up to perpetuate the buzz around the 1947 'incident'.Sometimes things don't live up to your expectations, and I generally tend to underestimate them so I don't get disappointed. And after my disenchantment with Roswell, White Sands National Monument was wonderful and so much more than I could have ever imagined!Surrounded by mountains that peek from afar rise the fairest dunes. And where the soil is plane, the minerals of which it is composed of, with the casual help of some water pools, reflect all that is possible to see like if it was a flawless mirror.After some hanging around the desert, we went towards Tucson, Arizona. We arrived at sunset and we couldn't have chosen any better time. No wonder most of the car plates have purple mountains and cactuses with a sunset behind them. That purple is really there. We went to Saguaro National Park to watch the sun slowly hide behind those mountains and though there were some clouds in the sky, I can tell you that it was one of the most amazing things I've seen in my life. I was so sad that our photos taken with a phone could't even capture half of the mystic and all the vibrant colours graciously moving towards dusk.The day after we explored Saguaro National Park further more. All those huge cactuses that already made part of my imaginary turned real and there are thousands of them, everywhere, with their arms twirling around their bodies and rising up to the sky.We wanted to end our day in Salvation Mountain, in Southern California, so we decided to cross the border to Mexico. To do that we passed by the Sonoran Desert National Monument and through Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument, which are really worth exploring.

After crossing the border easily to Sonoyta, Mexico, we started our 2 hour drive up to San Luis Rio Colorado. In the middle of the way we got a flat tire, the road was super hot and I was a tiny bit scared. There was desert all around us and we hadn't seen any gas station or business since we left Sonoyta. The weirdest thing was that on the week before I was talking to Luis about how to change a tire. We couldn't have been faster but this huge truck stopped (this is where I thought about all the ways I had to defend myself). Against all the horror movie scenes going through my mind that included an alone couple/woman in the middle of a deserted road, the guy was actually super nice. He took our flat tire to check if it was possible to fix it right there and as we were talking to him, a police car stopped as well. My hyperactive imagination resumed the thoughts I was having before, only this time with nasty cops. Ultimately, they only wanted to check if everything was ok and they were actually really nice.

In some parts of the way it was possible to see a wall dividing both countries which made me think about how difficult it must be for Mexican illegal immigrants to engage in such an adverse path. It took us some time to cross back to the US again, as there were tons of cars doing just the same. As always in this trip, everything went smoothly and after a tiny bit we drove from Arizona to California.<3

Cosmic Texas

In south USA, right above the Mexican border, with only the infamous Rio Grande separating both countries, there's Del Rio. A sounding name for those fond of western movies. My reference was "No Country for Old Men" by Joel and Ethan Cohen. Del Rio has received us in a random motel at night time. As always we spotted countless deers and a badger crossing our path in the arid landscape, which will never get old for me, as I love animals. The first thing we spotted in the morning was the beautiful railroad bridge, surrounded by a desolate landscape, contrasting with Lake Amistad pale blue waters. We drove around the lake, finding lovely and quiet spots to just sit and breath in all the lovely nature that moved all around us.We had to stop at the Marfa Lights Viewing Area. Though they have reportedly been seen mostly at dusk and when the sky gets darker, we just wanted to take a look. After being in the USA for several days at this point we can understand now how so many people report sightings of weird things in the sky and different other phenomenon. In Miami we were in a street where there was heavy rain in one side and the other was perfectly sunny. We saw weird little tornados, heavenly sunbeams and even a waterspout! So, it actually looks like the perfect place for something "otherworldly" to happen.This part of the U.S. Route 90 is filled with adorable communities. One of them is Marathon, with its very peculiar houses, it is known for its super dark night skies, which make it possible to see clearly all the marvellous stars up above.  The views in this area are amazing. You have huge open and endless fields. That is something that I guess I only felt in some parts of Spain. The awareness that you can walk endlessly in any direction, having the broadest sight range ever is absolutely overwhelming.In Marfa, we visited the Chinati Foundation, a beautiful example of how a small city was put on the map by artists and art lovers. And we also went to El Cosmico, a cool shamanic trailer park hotel. Nearby there's a shop just by the main street where you can find bewitching minerals. Some of them coming from mines nearby.As anyone who knows a bit of art and fashion, I've always been intrigued by "Prada Marfa" installation by artists  Elmgreen and Dragset, it is actually located in Valentine. Built in 2005, this structure has been vandalised two times and it is a showstopper for anyone who's been driving around. While we were taking some photographs these three cowboys stopped their pickup on the shoulder and went to contemplate the windows of this fake shop. I wonder if they were trying to find the perfect handbag for their old lady!Though this time we were more driven by nature and we went to visit smaller places, I hope next time we'll get to check out the big Texas cities. I can assure you that crossing Texas from East to West is absolutely worth it. The landscapes are endlessly amazing!Next Stop: New Mexico <3

Heart of Dixie

Having watched Hart of  Dixie tv series (yes, I'm not ashamed!), I've since wanted to feel those hot sub tropical Summer days with the casual thunderstorm and rainfall and that was exactly what I found in old Dixieland. Our first stop in Alabama was Montgomery, home of Rosa Parks (click the link to know more about her) <3 . To our surprise, and having arrived at dusk, the night was weirdly calm and the city rested in silence in the absence of people. We walked by the river for a while and I loved the Riverfront Tunnel with its psychedelic lights! <3The next day we visited Selma. Edmund Pettus Bridge is absolutely overwhelming, for all that it symbolises. I'm usually as tough as it gets, but I felt something that I really can't explain. This bridge staged two sequencial voting rights movements, the first one called 'Bloody Sunday', in which peaceful and unarmed protestants that were marching from Selma to Montgomery were massively attacked by state troopers, back in 1965. To think about how much african-americans had to fight for their basic civil rights and knowing that it wasn't that long ago gave me the chills!In the middle of Alabama River there's an island that was used as set for a Tim Burton movie called Big Fish (2003), which I've always been fond of. 'Town of Spectre" is located in Jackson Lake Island, Millbrook. This set portrayed a once prosperous town which fell into decay, being found by Edward Bloom (the main character) many years after he'd been there for the last time.We arrived at the entrance very late. The gate was closed and the sky was already dark. We decided to snuck in and because it is an island, we figured there would be a bridge to cross. Apart from that figuring we really didn't know what to expect. The darkness was so intense that we couldn't see 2 meters ahead of us. After walking for a while Luis asked me if I wasn't afraid and I said that of course I was! I didn't want to fall down a pit-hole or into the river or have an encounter with a witch! But then he reminded me of all the wild animals that we knew that exist in Alabama and could hungrily from nowhere to attack us, for example: black bears, coyotes, alligators, snakes... As soon as I remembered that we started our way back in a super fast pace, deciding to come back early in the morning, when we would be able to see everything that surrounds us.The next day, while visiting the place we were pleasantly surprised to see that the only animals that could be found during day hours in the island wore friendly goats!We spent the rest of that day driving around and crossing the State of Mississipi in order to arrive in New Orleans, Louisiana, in time to have dinner. As soon as we arrived, one thing that made me super happy was the street name sign tiles on the sidewalks (these kind of little things make my day!). We had some Pho and went to Café du Monde to have our first beignets. I could stay there forever eating those absolutely amazing fried pastries and sipping a cold coffee and orange juice! After that we hung around and decided to have some drinks at The Spotted Cat down at Frenchmen Street. I was told by my friend Paulinha that it was the cutest jazz bar, super fun and upbeat and she was utterly right! We had a blast! The ambience and the band that was playing were what I'd always imagined and the couples and friends dancing swing and picking up people from the crowd was the cherry on top of this delicious cake!NOLA has a pretty heavy party scene and there are people making all sorts of fun things! The group on the pic above was listening to super loud music while dancing and driving their rad bikes! There are loads of bars selling this weird super colourful alcoholic slushies. And there's people singing and playing music all around the French Quarter.I'm so in love with the beauty all around. In the city center it's hard to notice traces from hurricane Katrina's devastation. All the houses, the trees and vegetation that thrive in the beautiful cast iron balconies are absolutely exquisite, most of them scattered with mardi-gras necklaces.While in New Orleans, it is mandatory to try a Po-boy sandwich (they're absolutely amazing). I had mine with fresh catfish (and loads of Tabasco sauce) at Domilise's, a little place that has had its doors open for almost 100 years! You also can't miss Hansen's Sno-Bliz, which is open from spring till fall. A sno-bliz is made out of layers of fluffy shaved ice and home-made syrups poured in between. It is heaven on a cup! I would definitely encourage you to go to their website and check out all the flavours they have because the information laid around the shop is pretty confusing! Due to the whole messy communication I just told the girl to do whatever she wanted leaving out chocolate flavours, which I'm not very into. So the result were these two perfectly delightful and refreshing big cups, one with cream of coconut and spearmint and the other one with ginger and hibiscus (which was a limited time flavour). Waiting in line will definitely be worth it! <3At the end of our stay we went to visit the beautiful Laura Plantation, which is located right next to the Mississippi river. We're not very into guided visits, so we skipped that, driving around instead and seeing the magnificent Oak Alley. While hitting back the road we realised we hadn't seen no alligators yet! As the road we were driving on had a swamp running parallel to it, I focused my attention on it. I'm not sure if it was luck or fate, but I spotted one and we stopped the car ant then there was another one, just swimming calmly at sunset, coming from their hiding places in the shadows to protect themselves from the intense and hot summer sun. 

Floridada

In Portugal we've always consumed a lot of culture coming from USA. So we have various preconceptions of what to expect from the country and its people. I have to say that it was sooo much better than what I expected! I've had the most amazing time in the US and I want to show you how good it was and how welcome I felt!We arrived in Miami, Florida, and it was a great beginning for our journey. Our plan was to drive from Florida to California in 17 days. It actually felt more like a year! Miami is bubbling with art and design and it's so much more than what I expected. Our hotel was near Ocean Drive, with all the beautiful art deco buildings, so we walked along the beach and amidst the beautiful neighbourhoods in South Beach. There we stayed at Freehand Hotel and we loved its vibe, though we had to take a look at The Miami Beach EDITION, which is super cool, so we went there in the morning and we wanted to see its amazing bowling room and ice skate ring. Though they were closed at that time of the day, we met the nicest cleaning ladies to whom we spoke in Spanish and they let us check it all for ourselves!We went to Enriqueta's Sandwish Shop to have the best Cubano Sandwich in Miami and sashayed through the Wynwood District's street art scene, which is overflowing with cool graffitis and art galleries. Nearby you can find really curious shops that sell accessories, like huge necklaces full of rhinestones and clothes with vibrant prints and colours.While coming back, as we hopped on the bus we didn't have any quarters to put on the machine to buy the tickets, and a very nice old man, who actually looked quite poor wearing ragged clothes and holding tight to his rucksack, gave us a spare ticket and some money. He actually looked like he was living on the streets and he did it just to be nice. We felt so blessed by his goodness! <3After Miami we drove towards Tampa, making a pause in the "Shell Factory", near Fort Myers, which is a shop known for being the biggest shell shop in the world (or at least in the US 😛).We stopped in Sarasota, where we visited Marie Selby Botanical Gardens, and we had a delicious Amish potato salad that we bought in a very cute market in the curious Amish community of Pinecraft. Going forward, I would definitely suggest the Sunshine Skyway Bridge (I-275) to cross to St. Petersburg. When crossing it, it is possible to see the cutest little islands dominated by vegetation. We took some time to stroll around Ybor City, which is a historical district that once contained plenty of cigar manufactures with workers coming mostly from Cuba, Spain and Italy.The next day we rambled around the Suwannee River, and the swamps  near Salem. With our rental SUV we drove across those quiet lands,  feeling the blissful peace that lies in places unexplored. The swamps and its flora, so characteristic from this area make it all so whimsical and otherworldly, with the Spanish moss floating in the warm breeze.Our quest for alligators and knowing that they're all around this part of the US made us cautious but also super alert, always trying to find them. This way we learnt to be attentive and on the lookout for all kinds of animals during this trip. This time we saw no alligator but a huge black snake crossed our path and it was fascinating to see it rise from the ground like it was dancing to a charmer's pungi music.  Before Alabama we still got to visit St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, which is so calm and full of birds and has beautiful views over the Apalachee Bay.To conclude this post I have to say that I'm sooooo in love with swamps and the exotic vegetation I found. Next state: Alabama. Stay tuned. <3         

No Vampires in Transylvania

Usually my boyfriend's mom organizes an annual trip to get her three sons and their girlfriends/wives together. Oh, and there's also grandchildren that she can't live without! So this year we decided to go to Romania, more precisely to Transylvania. It's getting really hard to choose a place where none of us had ever been!Half of us arrived in Bucharest really early in the morning so we decided to meet in the center of the city for breakfast. We drove around to get to know the city and it is a real beauty: decadent and charming. After a very complete meal we went to Brașov, where we had a birthday lunch for Paulo, my brother-in-law, at La Ceaun. There we ate the most amazing romanian slowly cooked dishes and if you like polenta, you'll love theirs. It's a place for family and friends and the decor is really sweet!We traveled the whole afternoon and bought some groceries for later. The place we stayed at is very secluded and so incredible. We booked it through Airbnb and it's called Cabana Sapte. It was so incredibly cozy and in touch with nature, the huge window in the living room and the sheepskin all around made it just perfect!It was quiet rainy on the following day, so we drove around the hills and had lunch at this very quirky place, which we found by chance, called Albota Turistic Complex. It is actually a trout farm, so none of the things on the menu are very good besides the fried trout, which is indeed super tasty. The place was really peculiar, with places for foot treatment on the trout tanks and some other activities like fishing, which I figure mustn't be that hard, given the circumstances.At the end of the day the boys prepared a lovely barbecue for the family and we got to enjoy our last evening in our Cabana.On our third day we traveled around and got to visit the beautiful Mănăstirea Brâncoveanu, an orthodox monastery.Later that day we drove towards one of Romania's most turistic spots - the Bran Castle. After reading Bram Stoker's Dracula aloud to Luis last Summer, we still had a very present image of the writer's descriptions in our minds. Sure we thought it would be bigger and way more creepy but it's still worth visiting. It has very cool interiors and is oddly cute. Back in the street we ate some street food: Kürtőskalács, a sweet, crispy and huge roll, perfect for sharing, and Lángos, a fried bread with cheese (which made me think of Pizza Hut, my favourite fast food restaurant).The place where we stayed - The Cottage in the Carpathians -  that night and the following was absolutely amazing! It is located in Râu Alb de Sus and consists of a main house and two other little ones, which were formerly used as stables, and endless gardens with animals. It is decorated with a lot of typical  romanian embroideries and objects that were used many decades ago. The heating system is absolutely amazing, so old but still so efficient, the wood with which the houses were made is preserved as old as it gets, but so full of life! And, last but not least, the dogs that hang around saluting you with their amiable energy make you feel like you belong to this idyllic place.On our last day we went for a walk on the woods, that started on a little village. We walked for about two hours, breathing in the nature that surrounded us. It's all so beautiful and the weather was perfect. We ended up having lunch at Potcoava Mountain Hideaway, where we were so kindly received. We came back, this time not trying to shorten our way, through one of the main roads (I think we saw 3 cars in our 2 or 3 hour walk). We had our last barbecue and enjoyed our last evening together.I can't wait for our next trip together! And, as Joana, my sister-in-law said: "Thanks everyone for working so much (like driving and cooking and taking care of the kids), letting me and Teresa rest"! 😅<3

New Girl in Old Places Extremadura Part 2

Having arrived in Trujillo after sunset we kept the sightseeing for the next morning and had dinner at Los Hermanos Marcelo. There we had migas extremeñas, a dish that consists of crumbled fried and really crunchy bread mixed with chorizo, bacon and blended with a pepper - Pimentón de la Vera - that is typical in this zone of Spain (my mouth is watering already). We got up early to explore all the little streets with the sunbeams cast on the ancient city and castle walls.After Trujillo we hit the road towards Los Barruecos Natural Monument. On our way we stopped a few times: there was an abandoned farm with an aqueduct and a little brook and later on we found the intriguing entrance of something like a nun's monastery. As I said on a few posts before, we mainly drive on secondary roads because you never know what you'll find. It makes our trips more eventful and exciting. At Los Barruecos I felt so mesmerised. I guess I've never been in a place like that. It is full of rounded granite huge rocks that seemingly appeared from nowhere. It's like they fell from the sky.At Los Barruecos you can find serene lakes and places to chill or meditate. The view is endless, no wonder why the producers of Game of Thrones chose the place as a set for their footage. There is also a museum dedicated to the works of Wolf Vostell, a pioneer of video and installation art (follow this link to know more about this striking place).At around 4 pm we arrived at Cáceres. Its historical center was considered a world heritage site as it is one of the most complete examples of middle age and renaissance architecture . I've got to be totally honest: the city is certainly beautiful but it was really crowded with tourists and as you may have noticed that's not really my thing. We've had so many lovely moments alone and with locals during this trip that we felt a bit misplaced with so many people all around. Everything is so clean and polished that it seems a bit fake. Of course I agree that these kinds of historical complexes must be protected and preserved but I don't think that should mean that the places must be stripped out of their own character, which is granted by the passing of time.At the end of the day we drove back to Portugal and hanged around the beautiful Puente de Alcántara, a beautiful roman bridge made in the second century AD. We slept near Fundão and came across with Minas da Panasqueira, a mine that has been open for more than 120 years with workings uninterrupted. It is extremely rich in wolfram and in between there can be found almost all silicates that are known up to this day. I've always needed my glitter dose so I got to buy some mind blowing quartz mixed with pyrite, calcite, fluorite, dolomite and apatite from their really full shop. I can't stop starring at them.<3

Extremadura Blossoms

Spain has always been my favourite destination for small holidays. For us it's easy to get there by car and because the language is different we start feeling we're really on holidays from the moment we cross the border. This time we decided to explore a province called Extremadura, which is located next to the border with Portugal and is on the north of Andalucia.All the secondary roads are filled with amazing views. There's so much nature blooming all around at this time of year! The meadows are bursting with vibrant colours and there are animals wandering around, living their blissful lives. For me, as you may have noticed, it's not enough to enjoy the view from afar, I have to feel it and embrace it as close as I can, I have to explore. I like to get off the main road, jump a few fences, if needed, and absorve all the textures and the colours, all the feelings.We visited Merida, which is a lovely city with a lot of history. It has so many roman buildings. My favourite is the roman theatre, with all the columns, the statues and that warm terracota tone that is ever so ancient and mystical. There's also an aqueduct, which is very impressive too. The city itself is lovely and there are so many little shops with all the typical Spanish products. All villages in Spain (just like in Portugal) have their own fort or castle, so there's always a fairytale vibe all around.Every time I've been in Spain, since I was a little baby (and my family went to Spain at least once a year) I've seen these billboards but never had I ever taken a photograph next to them! These bulls are deeply routed in the Spanish culture since the 1950's. The brand Osborne created them to advertise their 'Brandy de Jerez'. In 1994 the EU decided upon the removal of all alcoholic beverage advertisement on roadsides but the 14m tall bulls already belonged to Spain's landscape and to the aesthetic and culture of the country and hence they were turned into public domain.At the end of this day we headed towards Trujillo. I'm not able to express how much fulfilling  it is to be in Spain during springtime. The weather is so warm and the days are huge in this part of the country because they have Spain's timezone but they are in the western side of the country, so the sun sets super late (like at 9:30pm).Next stop: Trujillo. <3