rain tagged posts

In Europe, Islands in the Mediterranean, Itália On  19/10/2004  No comments

I decided to continue with the “escapade trips” to islands. After Mallorca it was Sardinia. This time I went with Maxim, we got the excuse of his birthday to do this first trip “by errante”. Now, besides doing the web pages, he was photographing making videos with me.

As soon as we got there it rained really strong. Alghero’s old town was empty, looking abandoned and there was water everywhere. We had a good dinner in an Italian restaurant and went back to the hotel. Next day it was sunny and like that it was the 4 days in Sardinia, a perfect climate for traveling. We rented a car, essential to see the island. First we drove to the east side of the island. We were surprised by the amount of garbage by the highway near Nuoro. There was fridge, sofa, oven, parts of cars, all thrown away by the shoulder of the road. We stopped in Nuoro to have lunch and walk around the mountains. The region is known by its murals. We saw some interesting one, even by the roads.

Before getting t...

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 Europe, Eastern Europe 2002 On  03/08/2002  No comments

A minha visita a Praga foi um pouco decepcionante. Tinha ouvido muitas histórias de amigos que visitaram a cidade anos atrás. Já na chegada na estação de trem vi que a cidade tinha mudado, as placas estavam todas em checo e inglês: já estavam preparados para o turismo.

Nos três dias que passei na cidade me impressionou o número de turistas, eram ônibus e mais ônibus de turismo. Caminhando pela cidade todo o tempo encontrava com grupos enormes de japoneses, americanos, italianos, espanhóis e brasileiros. Havia horas que se via mais de duzentas pessoas na frente do relógio astronômico.

Quase todos os restaurantes tinha o cardápio em inglês e checo, alguns até em 4 ou 5 idiomas. Os preços também eram diferentes para turistas. Caminhar pelas ruas do castelo também estava claustrofóbico, grupos de turistas por toda a parte. Acho que é um dos lugares mais turísticos que visitei em minha vida, e já viajei por uns 30 países...