Ana Raspini is a traveler, besides being an English teacher, and a writer.

Minha foto
Brasileira, professora de Inglês, escritora, mas acima de tudo, viajante.
Lyrical Travel Journal

A personal, slightly lyrical, point of view on the places I have been to.

quinta-feira, 27 de agosto de 2015

FLORIANÓPOLIS (Brazil)

An infinity of beings in one island. Prevented from growing to the sides, it grows upwards, over the mountains and over the sea... and inside each person.

The beach is their refuge, it's where evil goes to redeem itself, it's where the capital melts away in foam. Even though it can take hours to get to it, the beach is the biggest dream of those who chose the "Magic Island" to live in.

They love the beach so much that wearing bathing suits for work or school is acceptable. It's like they don't want the summer to end... The road to happiness is the same road to the beach, if the traffic allows.

People from the whole state of Santa Catarina love the island. They come from the mountains, from the far west, from wherever they are to dream in that island. Geographically incoherent, having to go to the capital, which is so far away, ends up being a desired getaway, a happy inconvenience.

The Azorean heritage is not only in the oldest buildings, it is in the present tense. The food, the narrow streets, the hills remind us of Portugal. The accent, however, is unique to that piece of land. And it's contagious!

Hercílio Luz bridge is a landmark, the most photographed spot, the certainty made of concrete that you are, indeed, in Floripa. Yet, it's also a headache. The pointlessness and the price of the bridge are equivalent to its symbolic and touristic value. Equivalent to the love the Manezinhos have for it.

Working out in the seashore is a duty, and an art. Having a meal at the Public Market at least once in your life is a necessity. Oh, and you must have your meal while smelling the fish, it's part of the experience. But please, always remember to stop and ask for the price of the mullets, and, if you can, stop to watch the lady who cleans the shrimps... She cleans them without even looking, so automatically that she serves the customers at the counter, tells prices, complains about the economy, everything at the same time. And she does that so quickly that she must have cleaned a kilo of shrimps while you read this text.

Florianópolis is a case of love and hate. However, if the traffic is kind and the weather is sunny, more love than hate.

...

For the Portuguese version, please visit Diario Lirico de Viagem

Photos 1, 2, and 3 are by Meiry Peruchi






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