Cidalia Moreira

I had no idea who this woman was, when I met her in the street. She was shining and smiling, with her beautiful, long, black hair and her gipsy spirit. I was so sorry I didn't have my camera with me, but at least I have an autograph :), until next time, when maybe I will meet her again in Alfama.

Até a próxima!

The day I left it rained. It was getting colder. I went to feed the ducks in Jardim da Estrela - my favorite garden in the world :) and then took the train to Carcavelos just to get to see the Ocean one more time before leaving.

The beautiful petals of Jacarandá were in the middle of every nice place and so I said goodbye, running again, going to Pingo Doce to buy lulas, polvo, queijo, pasteis de bacalhau and so on :) don't laugh at me, eu tenho alma portuguesa.

The nice thing is that I will be closer to Portugal soon and that I am 100% sure that one day I will move there for good. I am just waiting for that day. Soon I will write more about a lovely place that I haven't got to visit yet. Love you! May your life be always immersed in love and light, may your hearts be open and your thoughts beautiful, may you follow your dreams and find fast, fast, fast your real path. Love!

I said goodbye to Lisbon from above, looking at the city, spotting its nice buildings-I wanted to say the guys next to me, hey "this is Marques de Pombal, this is Basilica da Estrela, this is Terreiro do Paço and so on" but I just said all those to myself. :)

The day before leaving - Lisbon

The day before leaving Lisbon, I didn't want to take my camera with me. Of course, I blamed myself for missing so many great opportunities. One was meeting the fado singer Cidália Moreira in the street. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElJ8KqegFYs I had no idea who she was and was that stupid to say it loud, also. I had a bad day, kept making mistakes after mistakes, only to realize that I am more human than I sometimes think. I didn't take a picture with her but at least I got an autograph - next week I will scan it and post it here.

I ended up the day having lulas grelhadas again, meeting friends, drinking vinho verde and going home clueless and dizzy. I love you Portugal !!!

Cascais - sailing day

Sailing was the only thing that I managed to plan in advance before going to Portugal. Thank you, Walter, for the wonderful day.

This was the second time that I was going sailing in my life. Nice waves, almost fell from the boat :) due to the waves. What a wonderful life. I got used to little presents like this, but of course, I am longing for big ones, also.

I am starting to really behave like a gipsy. I once read an interview with the famous Romanian-gipsy musician Damian Draghici http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damian_Drăghici and he was telling how he got back from the States and tried to get used to gipsy life in a real gipsy family. The only thing that I remember was going something like this - "nothing happens for a loooong period of time, everybody is waiting, everybody is relaxed, nothing happens, then all of a sudden, out of the blue, the grandmother has a panic attack, the baby falls on the floor, the dog runs away, the stove is set on fire and everybody goes crazy". I could imagine what a chaos that could be in a family, but it is normal in a gipsy family, I guess. Never lived in one and only got to know the "romantic" stories. Anyhow, this is how I felt those days in Coimbra and then going back to Cascais just to be in time for sailing. Everything was crazy, crazy, crazy. For months in Romania nothing happened, I was bored to death, I couldn't escape from the awful winter, lack of Sun, and all of a sudden everything happened-exhibition, Lisbon, Coimbra, sailing...everything. And sorry, I have to admit it. I loved it!!

I got completely burned from the hot Sun, that found an ally in the wind and the water. I got drunk with sangria afterwards and on my way back said goodbye to Cascais seeing in the train "31ºC outside" and that was at 9pm.

I went back to Lisbon, only to meet other dear friends and to say goodbye to the city, this time promising a sooner return.

Mosteiro de Santa Clara - Coimbra

Coimbra was a marathon. A cultural marathon. It ended with this beautiful church, that was opened to the public a few years ago after they managed to save it from the water. As it has been accidently immersed in water.

I was not in a good mood. I couldn't take good pictures, I was blaming myself for being negligent with those around me, for putting my ego in front of others or just for pretending to do so. But I am always attentive to what others are saying and also "recording" very well in my heart and mind sequences of events, facts, faces, feelings, moments and for those who know me, they also know this is true.

The next day I said goodbye to Coimbra, after an agitated night due the full Moon. I hate trains, I detest goodbyes and I am the worst on Earth with them. You will not believe that I almost lost one of my memory cards in the train. I started to look at the pictures and forgot that one of the cards was on the chair. When I absolutely accidently looked on the floor, there it was, my memory card, my pictures. :-)

Lousã

Lousã was another gift I received. Muito obrigada :)) The winding road to the place was magnificent, I just wished everything could stop and not be on the run all the time, like I am always. Why? why? why? why do I have to run like crazy from one place to another? Always?? I have to admit I LOVE discovering, there is almost anything that brings me more joy than traveling - of course, apart from love - but I sometimes wished I had a place of my own, a beautiful one, with a sea view, a dog, a cat, an amazing love, music, flowers, pictures, a place that I would call my own and come back to with an open heart. Maybe this is what I am looking for and chasing like crazy.

Anyhow, Lousã was quite an experience. A brief one also. Fast car, lovely castle view, sunset pictures and bycicle trips that were supposed to happen but didn't :) and I wish they will, one day.

You are so blessed, and I was too to see such amazing places. I am sorry I just don't have the ability sometimes to express with words and gestures my gratitude. This is why, afterwards, I use my blog, this is why I take pictures. To somehow compensate for my incapacity of telling what I feel.

I was told that my pictures are different, that the angles are different. That is technique, it is true. I look for that too. But my best pictures are those who have a beautiful story behind, who come along with an open heart and feelings of love of peace. Those are my best ones. Those are the moments that I cherish most. When the Universe talks to me in images and when my heart is open enough to capture those moments. This is for what I am thankful for. For the lucky moments that come to me.

This is why I also love being alone. Because I manage to connect to who I am, to what I want, to what happens around me. I find few people who do not invade my space, who have the wisdom and beauty of not asking for anything from me, who do not expect anything and just love to live the moment. I know life is speed, life is action, life is fast, fast, fast. The funny thing is that I like that too. I love speed, adrenaline, danger, now I am even thinking about going sky dive in a nice place, but when I look at me, my peaceful, loving, lucky me, I always go alone and I always receive beautiful gifts immersed in light and Sun.

Kiss

Quinta das Lagrimas

Last year I received a small present. A friend of mine bought me a book related to Portugal's history, a fiction about Ines de Castro and Dom Pedro's love story. I didn't read it at the time, as in my mind anything related to Portugal was supposed to bring back painful memories. How crazy. It was my unfinished story with a place, with some people. That end of 2009 really broke my heart.

This year, out of the blue, I started reading the book, this book writen by a Romanian writer. I knew the story so it didn't surprise me that much. But I have to admit that this love story, even though I consider it a little bit paranoid and strange, shows in a way the power of love - being it constructive or destructive. Love, one of the most powerful feelings on Earth, that can sometimes take you to extremes.

And life...as she knows well....took me to this place. I was not in a mood to think about the story that much then, I was immersed in my own worries and had one of the most superficial holidays of my life, but I liked the place. I am a romantic and will always be, even though I can hide it perfectly if I want to or even ignore my feelings, as I manage to do it so well so many times.