In America, Brazil, Nordeste 2003 On  06/11/2003  No comments

I got in Natal late evening and booked a buggy tour for next day. The tour, to the north coast, was arranged with a young couple from Pernambuco (another state in the northeast of Brazil). They, Juliana and Leonardo, had been in honeymoon in Natal for a week.

The guide, Jean, took us to the white sand dunes of Genipabu. It was like a roller coaster; we drove up and down really fast on the walls of sand. It seems that any time we would overturn. Here they always ask if people want the tour with emotion or without. The difference is that, with emotion, they drive faster and higher, activating your adrenaline. The other one is a bit more behaved, but also a little scary.

We stopped on the top of some dunes in Genipabu to enjoy the view of the lagoon and the beach. Leonardo decided to hide a dromedary for some minutes. From there we went north, always driving on the sand. We stopped for a sea bath and continued to Pitangui Lake...

In America, Diving & Snorkeling, Nordeste 2003, Hiking/Trekking On  05/11/2003  2 comments

This was the second time I visited the island. In order to remember everything, I did a buggy tour with Cinara, Carlos Alberto and José Carlos, who I met in the flight from Recife. Our guide, Bruno, showed us the most important tourist attractions of the island. We started on a tip called AirFrance, which, according to Bruno, was the place where an aircraft from that company landed. Nearby we visited “Buraco da Raquel”and “Enseada da Caieira”. Then we went to Baia do Sueste, where we did snorkeling. The place is known for having sea turtles, besides, of course, many small fishes. We saw three turtles. When we were already swimming back to the shore, the guide pinched me to show a small shark beside us. When I turn to look, he was swimming away from us.

After the snorkeling, we walked on the trails of Baia dos Golfinhos, Baia do Sancho and Baia dos Porcos. From up there we can have a great view from the Dois Irmãos islands, a postcard picture from Fernando de Noronha...

In + More..., Karla and animals On  05/11/2003  No comments

Crab shell, Fernando de Noronha, Brazil 2003

In Learning German 2003, Europe On  15/09/2003  No comments

After the exhausting week in Linz, I got in Munich and slept for almost a whole day. I needed… The days here were not so beautiful. It was raining and it started to be cold. I realized the summer was over.

I waked around downtown, went to shops, cafes, and, as usual, I end up in museums. First, I visited the city museum (Stadtmuseum). There were paintings, drawings and maquettes that told the region history. There was a part dedicated to music and theater. Here it could be found all kinds of marionettes and toys. I liked to see that, as in Brazil I do not know any museum that show such things. The music part, for being small, impressed me the great amount of instruments from other parts of the world as from Asia, America and Africa. Every time I see this, it bothers me that the third world is being left without history, and that the rich countries are the ones to tell our history.

On the same day I visited the Deutsches Museum, a huge museum on technology...

In Europe On  12/09/2003  One comment

I decided to go to Linz because of the Ars Electronica Festival. It was six days attending to lectures, performances, artists and seeing electronic art exhibitions. Yet on my first day, I visited the O.K. Centrum für Gegenwartskunst where it was the exhibition of the Golden Nica prize and honorary mentions. This years winners showed a commercial side of the electronic art. Maybe compared to years before when it was selected more critical works on activism and artificial life, this edition showed that electronic art it is already being incorporated to the big artistic market.

There were five days of symposium with lectures on mornings and afternoons. This year the theme was “Code: the language of our time”. There were lectures and presentations on code as language and art. Important names on art and technology such as Roy Ascott, Casey Reas, Roman Verostko, Florian Cramer, Howard Rheingold, Andreas Broeckmann and Christa Sommerer, participated on the conference...

In Learning German 2003, Europe On  05/09/2003  One comment

Right after my arrival in Karlsruhe I went to see the ZKM Zentrum für Kunst und Medientechnologie and visit the Medienmuseum. It was impressive for me because I had the opportunity to see works of electronic art that I only knew  from books. Works as the ones by Christa Sommerer, Laurent Mignonneau, Bruno Cohen, Jeffrey Shaw, Hermen Maat, really are nothing in a book when compared to the experience of touching and interacting.

I walked around the city downtown area. Crowded with shops, cafes, and lots of people walking around, it reminded me Brazil. Maybe due to the modern architecture, the noise and movement of people coming and going. One of the most important tourist places in the city is the Schloss Karlsruhe. The palace was constructed in the eighteenth century by Karl Wilhelm. Today it houses the museum Badisches Landesmuseum im Schloss. Here I could get a sense of how it was the life in the palace and appreciate the art. I climbed up the tower to have a view of the city...

In Learning German 2003, Europe On  02/09/2003  One comment

Weimar reminded me Leipzig. It seems that the two towns have lots in common, besides Goethe, of course. I waked around the historical center, it also rained. I, then, spent a time in a café to read a little about the city.

In order to know more about the city history I visited the Weimar Haus – das Geschichtserlebnis. It is a museum with an automatic guided visit. Doors open to different rooms and sceneries with wax personalities, videos and lighting effects. As audio explains the history of the place.

Other two important museums in town are Goethes Wohnhaus and Bauhaus Museum. The Goethe house was crowded, it should be a day for school visit. The museum is a walk through the different rooms of the place where the writer used to live. The Bauhaus Museum was not big, I expected more. It was a sort of repetition of what I saw in the Bauhaus museum in Berlin.

Concluding my quick visit to Weimar I had dinner in a Thai restaurant...

In Learning German 2003, Europe On  01/09/2003  No comments

I arrived in Leipzig on a Sunday morning. Since it was raining, I spent a lot of time in a Frühstücksbuffet (a brunch). I had lots of food and went back to the hostel for a nap. It was a perfect day to relax.

After the nap I walked around downtown, sometimes the sun tried to show up a little bit. The historical center is beautiful, with its old building, cafes and shops. Leipzig is a town with an artistic and intellectual background, here lived personalities such as Goethe and Bach. Today it seems to be an student town. This was one of the few European cities where I saw people kissing each other on the streets. That caught my attention because, in my idea of “cold German people” wouldn’t be youngsters kissing in public. Maybe they were tourists… I don’t believe so…

I visited the Bach Museum. It is not big, it has some images from his time, partitures sheet music and a handset with explanations on his life and work. I like it...

In Learning German 2003, Europe On  17/08/2003  No comments

The following weeks in Berlin I had German classes every morning. Long walks around town in the afternoons, plus museums, parks, zoo, aquarium, cafes, beach, flee market… And the evenings: pubs, movies, orchestra, live music, dance festival… It was a very cultural summer vacation, and in company of good friends.

Second week

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Third week

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In Learning German 2003, Europe On  16/08/2003  No comments

Together with 3 other classmate from Germana classes we got a train to Dresden. We used the Schönes Wochenende Ticket (Happy Weekend Ticket), a very cheap ticket that can be used unlimited times (only on regional trains) to up to 5 people. The trip was fun, we laughed a lot the whole journey. The city reminded me Prague or Budapest, we walked all over downtown. I love cities with rivers or sea.

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