life could have been very different but then, something changed.

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i am a girl in love

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When we woke up that morning we had no way of knowing,
that in a matter of hours we'd change the way we were going.

iguazu i love you

depois de 18 horas num autocarro chegámos exaustos a puerto iguazu. recuperámos rapidamente graças à hospitabilidade da sofia e do daniel, proprietários do fantástico hotel los troncos, um espaço feito com tanto amor onde nos sentimos logo em casa. foi a nossa prenda para um sítio tão especial como iguazu.
depois de um café forte fomos para o brasil para ver a "primeira parte" das cataratas. o rio iguaçu divide 3 países: argentina, brasil e o paraguai. uma fenda enorme provoca as cataratas que estão na sua maioria no lado argentino, do lado brasileiro têm-se vistas soberbas.
no dia seguinte caminhámos sempre no lado argentino que é muito maior e onde se pode chegar mesmo perto das quedas de água.









não tenho dúvidas que estas cataratas são um dos fenómenos mais bonitos do mundo. nenhuma destas imagens consegue descrever o que é estar defronte de uma imensidão de água destas, o que é sentir uma força assim. é completamente avassalador. quem lá esteve deve entender o que eu digo, quem não esteve desejo que a vida vos leve até lá.

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after 18 hours of travelling on a bus we arrived in puerto iguazu exausted. we quickly recovered our strenght after being so welcomed at hotel los troncos by sofia and daniel. this hotel was made with so much love you can only feel at home when there. it was our little treat for such a special place, like iguazu.
of course, we quickly headed for brazil to see the "first part" of the falls. the iguazu river actually divides 3 countries, argentina, brazil and paraguay. the actual falls are mostly in argentina but you can have an amazing view from the brazilian side.
the next day we walked on the argentinian side, which is much bigger and you can get *really* close to the falls.





i have no doubt these falls are one of the most beautiful places in the world. none of these picture can describe how it feels to be in front of this massive amount of water. it's truly breathtaking. if you've been there you know what i mean, if you haven't i sure hope life takes you there. 

watch the videos for a more real feel:






aqui sou eu num momento de pura felicidade.
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this is me in a pure happiness moment.

the road to north

depois da frenética buenos aires rumámos para norte. viajámos sempre de autocarro e não tenho senão elogios para os estupendos autocarros argentinos. assentos confortáveis e totalmente reclináveis, refeições quentes e filmes a bordo, pontualidade e profissionalismo e o melhor de tudo: paisagens incríveis pela janela.
sem viagens de avião internas tivémos que deixar muito (muito mesmo) da argentina por ver, mas eu gosto muito deste modo mais vagaroso de viajar, parece que cada quilómetro é integrado para nos preparar para a próxima paragem. as distâncias na argentina são assustadoras, andam-se quilómetros e quilómetros em estradas rectas sem se ver vivalma (tão diferente da europa!). é a atmosfera perfeita para se deixar ir e apaziguar uma mente inquieta como a minha...
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after the frentic buenos aires we headed north. in argentina we always travelled in buses and i can only say the best things of the argentinian buses. confortable and tottaly reclinable seats, hot meals, movies on board, punctuality and professionalism and the best of all: amazing landscapes out the window.
without making any internal flights we had to leave out a lot (really a lot) of argentina to see, but i really enjoy this slower way of travelling, its seems every kilometer is making us ready for the next stop. the distances in argentina are scary, you can drive for miles and miles in straight roads without seeing a soul (so different from europe). it's the perfect atmosphere to let go and pacify a restless mind like mine...

stamp it away

quão adoráveis são estes carimbos da yellow owl workshop? quero todos!
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how adorable are these stamps from yellow owl workshop? i want them all!

via design sponge

mi buenos aires querido

well, what can you say about buenos aires, beyond the obvious?
at first we didn't feel we were in south america because the city feels so... european. the buildings, the shops, the people. nothing really stands out from an european atmosphere. but then you start to feel something different and the most evident is how buenos aires is full of life! you see a stream of people everywhere, people moving in every direction, people getting in and out of shops, of buses, of bars, people enjoying a lazy saturday afternoon in the park, people enjoying the end of day in a bar outside, people enjoying shopping, people enjoying. shops are open late, bars are open early, streets are filled with energy!







we had a wonderful time with our lovely guide, tsuru, who show us around her favourite places and restaurants! oh, the food and how we were spoiled! we indulged ourselves in standard (now closed!), azema exostic bistro (french chef who once cooked for kurt cobain - and he whispered to me "courtney love is a witch"), a very nice parrilla place i forgot the name, we missed out paru, a fusion between peruvian and japanese food, but we did try a *just* peruvian food restaurant called chan chan (yammi yammi) and... well we only stayed 4 nights in buenos aires!


cualquiera verdura
we saw some really nice shops like ateneo bookshop (one of the most beautiful bookshops in the world), papelaria palermo (could live inside!), fabro lab, cualquiera verdura (amazing concept: it's a house and everything is for sale - you go in any room and choose whatever you want, the room has room stuff,m the kitchen has kitchen stuff, the toilet has toilet stuff, you get the point) and many others. in buenos aires it's a true pleasure to walk in the street!


ateneo


papelaria palermo


fabro lab

and then san telmo, a favourite area! we went on a sunday, day of fair, and it was lovely. we saw lots of beautiful antiques, we rested in plaza dorrego café, where jorge luis borges used to seat, we watched some amateur dancing tango and many street performances...


plaza dorrego café









oh mi buenos aires querido! i could live there so easily (if only it would be closer...)

e assim se desenhou uma viagem*

ele - queres ir ao chile comigo?
eu - só se passarmos por buenos aires antes.
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he - do you wanna travel to chile with me?
me - only if we go to buenos aires first.

* and this was how we planned our trip.

sakura sakura!

oh everybody loves sakura!

sakura sakura!

é tempo de sakura no japão... todos os anos me apetece voar para lá, é uma beleza incansável.
ps: estas imagens têm 2 anos, caso pensem que eu ando numa volta ao mundo!
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it's sakura time in japan! every year i wish i could return, you can't get enough of the beauty.
ps: these images are from 2008, in case you're thinking i'm on some kind of around-the-world trip!





vejam os vídeos (péssimamente filmados mas transmitem uma ideia melhor do ambiente da sakura - as pétalas a voar são l-i-n-d-a-s!)
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watch these videos (i'm NOT good at filming but you can get a better idea of sakura mood - and the fleeting petals are a-m-a-z-i-n-g)




(funny giggling)

colors from buenos aires

cores para animar um novo dia! feliz dia para todos!
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colors to bright a brand new day! happy today for you!

don't take life too seriously, you'll never get out of it alive.

elbert hubbard

whatever wil be

há dias em que tudo parece correr mal, não adianta o sol brilhante, não adianta relembrar buenos aires, não adianta o pastel do frutalmeidas para o almoço. um telefonema e uma série de planos a curto prazo em suspenso. senti-me frustrada por depender de burocracias para avançar em certas direcções. mas depois lembrei-me das montanhas. lembrei-me do primeiro dia no deserto de atacama quando o guia disse "...e lá atrás a cordilheira dos andes com 65 milhões de anos". e pensei no que significava aquela imensidão de terra e quantas pessoas terão estado como eu embasbacadas a olhar aquele imenso acidente geológico. e pensei (cliché e tudo!) em que realmente a nossa passagem pela terra é apenas nossa mesmo e que todas as minhoquices do dia-a-dia são apenas isso mesmo e que os andes já ali estavam antes de eu existir e ali estarão muito depois de eu me ir. e lembrei-me como esse pensamento me deu uma enorme sensação de liberdade, de relativização da importância das coisas e do controlo sobre as coisas.

cheguei a casa e abri uma garrafa da casa da d. ermelinda que não desilude e senti-me em paz. whatever will be will be.

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some days just seem wrong, no matter the sunshine, no matter remembering buenos aires, no matter the nice food for lunch. a phone call put a hold on a bunch of short term plans. i felt frustrated for depending on burocracies to move on. but then i remembered the mountains. i remembered the first day in the atacama desert when the guide said "...and in the back the andes with 65 million years". i remember thinking what all that vast land meant and how many people must have been standing, like myself, speechless facing that amazing accident from nature. and i thought (i know, cliché) that our time in earth is really only ours and that all that little daily annoyances are just that and that the andes were there before i existed and will be for long after i'm gone. and i remember how that thought gave me a sense of freedom, of how relative the importance of things can be and the control over things.

i got home and opened a nice bottle of wine, drank one glass and felt in peace.whatever will be will be.

buenos aires

buenos aires

buenos aires

buenos aires