In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On  25/08/2004  No comments

Oslo was our last one stop. We arrive on the afternoon and went to a house that rents rooms for tourist. The place scared a little, it was very far from downtown, it seemed countryside, there was only green around. It was not the idea of urban tourism we had planned. It looked like a place for weekend houses. But in the end of the day we saw that it was not, many people lived there the year around. When we got off on the train station, many people got off with us. We imagined how it would be to live in this place in the winter, everything very quiet, without life and, in addition, snow all around. The second day we moved to a hotel downtown.

We visit the port, a pretty place for, in the end of the afternoon, seeing the sunset and boats. We also went for a walk on the Vigeland Park: wonderful. A park with approximately 200 sculptures by the famous Norwegian artist, Gustav Vigeland...

In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On  23/08/2004  No comments

We arrived in Stockholm on a Sunday, a calm day. Sundays are the same everywhere… In our way to the hotel we waked downtown where there were many cafes with outside table. Everybody were by the sun.

Later we went to visit the old town “Gamla Stan.” We passed by the port where it leaves many tour boats. It was a beautiful sunny day. We walked a lot around the island. It is crowed with bars, restaurants and tourists on the streets. We would sometimes seat down to see the people passing by. It caught our attention the number of mothers with baby stroller. We even joked that it must be fashionable to have babies nowadays. Next day we walked around downtown and later got the ISEA cruise to Tallinn.

We came back to Stockholm a week later, it was already cold. It was the end of August but on evenings the temperatures went down. The rainy day added some “coldness” to the atmosphere. We went for dinner in a restaurant in Gamla Stan: good food and wine...

In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On  22/08/2004  One comment

We arrive in Helsinki in a rainy gray day. We walked a little by the center of the city, stop in a cafe to eat something and I went to the lectures of ISEA2004. My mother stayed waking around the center and photographing. By the end of the afternoon there was the inauguration of a art exhibition in the Kiasma (Museum of Contemporary Art). There we met my friends Spanish who were showing artwork. I showed to my mother some of the electronic art. The following days had been a mixture of going to lectures and walking to see the city. Always when there was sunlight I skipped the conferences to photograph and to walk by the tourist attractions of the city.

The city is organized and at the same time cold. It always gives the impression that is lacking something. According to my mother it is because it lacks an old town as in other European cities. In Helsinki everything was spacious that did not give the feeling of a cozy place.

What caught our attention in town is the huge number of haird...

In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On  19/08/2004  One comment

When we arrived in Tallinn it was raining and cold. We went for a coffee and walk a little in the old town. I was impressed by the amount of tourists despite of the rain. We walked on the narrow streets with groups of English, German and Spanish people. They were all with their rain jackets and photo camera. Places with many tourists, specially groups, make me claustrophobic. It was as if we were in Disneyland visiting organized old towns, there was even a trolley to take visitors for a drive around downtown.

I spent a great part of my days on lectures. My mother was walking around town and going to souvenir shops. We found out that the city was not so touristy as we thought, there were only times that groups would invade downtown. In my understanding, it could be the time when cruise ships stopped there for a few hours. The old town could be very beautiful and pleasant, specially on the evenings and hours with little tourism.

In one of the days in town we went to a party on a square ...

In Scandinavia - Baltic 2004, Europe On  17/08/2004  One comment

We got the ISEA cruise in Stockholm that departure at noon. I spend the day in lectures and my mother in the pool and Jacuzzi. I took advantage of the coffee break to teach my mother how to photograph with the digital camera. After all, she would also photograph during the trip. Her first photos were from me seated in the ferry café.

By the end of the day we stopped to do a tour on the small island, Mariehamn. The island had been under the domain of Sweden and Finland, nowadays it seems to be an independent region, part of Finland. It is a place of summer houses, it looked very calm and serene. It was the end of the season, there was not many tourists. We try to imagine how it would be to live there in the winter (cold, snow and very few people); but for a Brazilian mind it was difficult to imagine that. We came back to the ferry for dinner, performances and parties of the night. We arrive in Tallinn next morning.

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In Learning German 2003, Highlight, Europe On  31/12/2003  No comments

See the posts of  Learning German travel (2003)

• Berlin: first week
• Potsdam
• Dresden
• Berlin – 3 more weeks of classes
• Leipzig
• Weimar
• Karlsruhe
• Munich
• Linz

In America, Brazil, Nordeste 2003 On  17/11/2003  No comments

The first thing I did when I got to Fortaleza was walk around the handcraft fair in Meireles. It starts in the end of the afternoon and, with the movement in its tends and tourists, goes until late night. I went to see hammocks, t-shirts, dolls, cashew nuts, cachaças, sweets and handcraft. From there I walked to the Centro Dragão do Mar, a cultural building complex with cinemas, theater, concert house, bars and restaurants located in the center of the city. The place was crowed, it seems to be the best option for Saturday evening.

Sunday early morning I went for a walk to get to know the beaches. I started in Meireles, since it was early, there were not so much people. I talked to some street sellers who were putting up their tends. One of them came to me because he wanted me to photograph him, what I did. From Meireles I went, by the shore, to Iracema and downtown, where I was supposed to meet Marcelo (I had met him in Jericoacoara)...

In America, Brazil, Nordeste 2003 On  15/11/2003  No comments

I arrived in Canoa Quebrada really tired because I had spent the night in a bus coming from Jericoacoara and early morning I got another bus to Canoa. I had some food and went to the hotel to change clothes, put on a bikini. Getting there I looked at the bed and couldn’t resist, I slept a few hours.

In the afternoon I went to the beach. I walked a little and sat down under the shade in a bar. I had fish, fruit juices and some sea baths. There everybody looked relaxed, some talking, others reading, sleeping or sun bathing. To me it was wonderful, I was tired, given that the last days I had walked a lot and my knee was hurting. It was great to relax a bit and be surrounded by relaxed people…

At night I walked around town looking for a place to have dinner. They all looked good, what made my choice hard. I end up having Italian food as here there is a lot of Italians (tourists and residents), that means, a great possibility of having good Italian food. Seafood pasta, it was delicious...

In America, Brazil, Nordeste 2003 On  13/11/2003  No comments

The arrival in Jericoacoara is fun, from Jijoca or Preá one has to get a truck to cross the dunes. We arrived by the end of the afternoon, and as many have recommended me, I went to see the sunset.

On my first day I woke up early to walk on the beach, there was almost nobody. I met, by chance, Marcelo (a guy from São Paulo that came in the same bus I did). Together we hired a guide, Nilson, to do walk us to a place called “pedra furada” (rock with a hole). On the way there we stopped to see a natural pool with a fish form, we bathed in another pool in the middle of the rocks and visited caves. Then we got to “pedra furada”, the post card from Jericoacoara. The way back was by the top of the dunes so we could have a general view of the city and its area. After that we spent the afternoon eating fish, drinking juices and beer and sea bathing.

On the second day I did a tour in a 4×4 wheel drive to the lakes of the region...

In America, Nordeste 2003, Hiking/Trekking On  09/11/2003  No comments

On my arrival in Pipa I was welcome by the people from the hotel. They advised me to go for a walk to Praia do Amor and showed me the path. I walked to the beach and sat down in a bar on the shore. The day was beautiful, sun, sea, beach, fruit juices… Since my knee was hurting and swollen, I stayed there for a while. After, I walked on Praia dos Afogados to the Chapadão, and, from there, to the city where I had lunch looking at the ocean.

On my second day, I left early morning for a walk to Tibau do Sul (about 7km). In the hotel I had seen the tide table of that day and I would have plenty of time to get there before it was high tide and I could not go through the rocks. I started my walk on Praia Principal. Since it was early, there was not many people around, they were all waking up. There were many fishermen and parents with small kids. Further on I saw a group playing soccer on the beach. They were organized in teams with uniforms...