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

Tuscan Cats

I haven't always loved cats. When I was a child, we didn't have any pets. I believe that was a consequence of living in the countryside, which meant, for most of the population, that having animals was for consumption only.

First we had dogs, when we already lived in the "big city". But one fine day, an experienced street smart black cat gently made her way into our house, along with her kitten and they stayed for a while. After some time she decided to wander the world, and then another cat, gray fur and the world's most expressive eyes, arrived at our house meowing one afternoon and gained our hearts. Nina stayed with us for nearly ten years.

When I got married, I stayed without any pets for some months. But on a given Saturday night, when my husband and I were having wine and watching our favorite series, I said: "You know what's missing? A cat." We adopted a ginger kitten soon after that.

More than love, I nurture admiration for cats. Cats are elegant, athletic, agile, and have an enviable sense of self-respect. That's where all the admiration I have for cats, which makes me want to pat and photograph every cat I see, comes from. Friends traveling with us must find it very weird that we even go out of our itinerary to see cats!

In Tuscany I found that, apparently, Italians love cats. They are everywhere and don't even care about the hundreds of tourists. In some villages, they are more numerous than humans.

Below, you'll see my "photo-tribute" to the cats that make of Tuscany the most charming destination in Italy!

The sequence below happened in a restaurant in Sant'angelo in Colle, in the city of Montalcino, and made me think of the great traveler, writer and chef Anthony Bourdain, who always says that a good restaurant must have a cat or a dog sleeping on the floor or in one of the chairs. In the first picture, we see the cat waiting in the kitchen door, and then, satisfied, sleeping on the floor among the tables.

Mr. Jones

I wish I had the grace of the felines
and those big eyes
that understand everything.
Full peace of mind laying in the sun,
not a height too high,
and no fatal fall.
From resting to fully alert in one second
and total disdain with other's opinions.
However,
with muscles much less agile,
atrophied self-esteem
or with the charm of a porcupine,
we must learn
that learning
is not optional.

Ana Raspini

LIEBSTER AWARD!

Yay! I was nominated for the Liebster award by Kay, from iTravelista!
Thank you, lovely!

The Liebster Award is given to new bloggers by other fellow bloggers and is a way for them to be discovered as well as connect and support the blogging community.

But that's not all! Every blogger must create 11 questions for the other bloggers to answer. And then, every blogger must nominate 11 blogs s/he enjoys!

Here are the questions I was given:

1. What has been your most enjoyable place you have been to?

I enjoyed many places: Portugal, Germany, Uruguay... But I think my favorite one was Alsace, in France. It is such a perfect combination of good wine, amazing food, beautiful architecture and the quiet feeling we get from being in the countryside that I would move there without thinking twice!

2. What has been the worst situation you have been in while traveling?

The worst situation I faced was, without a doubt, when my husband (fiancee at the time) and I were coming from Germany (where he's from) to Brazil (where I'm from) to get married. Lothar had only bought a one-way ticket to Brazil, for he planned to live in Brazil with me. However, being a European citizen, authorities in Spain were not allowing him to check in for our flight because he had to have a ticket to go back to Europe in less than three months, which he didn't! We were supposed to get married in two weeks, and I thought I would go back to Brazil by myself! In the end, we managed to buy an absurdly expensive ticket, which was nearly not refundable. We did get married two weeks after that and have been living together in Brazil for the past 6 years.

3. What camera do you use on your travels?

Barely starting: Nikon 5100.

4. Most memorable moment when traveling?

Oh, so many... But as food is really important to me, I'll have to say that my most memorable moment was when I had a piece of the best chocolate cake in the world, the one from "Pão, Pão, Quejio, Queijo" in Lisbon, while seated on the sidewalk, looking at the ocean and at Torre de Belém. It changed my life!

5. Worst food experience in any country?

It was not in a country, but in an Air China airplane, where I was served rice and fish for breakfast, it was just so weird! 

6. How did you gain courage to do your first solo trip and where was it?

I still haven't done that... I always travel with my husband or friends, but I sure want to have that experience one day!

7. What do you use most to stay in: airBnB, hostels, couchsurfing or hotels?

I usually stay at hostels, but I have already had two experiences with AirBnb, and they were great!

8. What are 11 fun facts about you?

1) I'm Brazilian, but from the south, and that means that it snows every winter where I was born;

2) I learned English by myself, through songs;

3) I'm married to a German;

4) I'm a Brazilian who hates soccer and carnival;

5) I'm scared of butterflies and aliens;

6) I have a Masters in English Literature;

7) I'm an animal activist;
8) I've been an English teacher for 12 years, even though I'm only 30;
9) I can speak 5 languages;
10) I actually have a TOP 20 list on my computer, with the 20 countries I most wish to visit;
11) I've already been to 10 countries from those TOP 20 in my wish list.

9. What is your favorite app to use while traveling?

I'm a big fan of Trip Advisor! I think personal experience is a great way to evaluate a place. I usually browse the website looking for someone who has similar opinions, and then I take his/her advice seriously.

10. What have you learned about yourself?

I've learned that I'm insignificant in such a huge, complex world, but at the same time, it is a privilege to be able to travel and witness such complexity and beauty.

11. Favorite photo you have taken?

It has everythink I love in one photo: Castles, windows, reflection, dry leaves...

Here are the instructions for my nominees:

Create a blog post on your site answering the questions that I have provided below;

In your post, be sure to link back to the blog who nominated you (which is me, Facebook page and Blog);

After answering the questions I gave you, provide 11 questions for your nominees;

Select, list and link 11 other bloggers with under 200 followers and provide these instructions;

DON’T FORGET to create 11 questions for them to answer;

Notify your nominees and provide a link to your post so that they’ll know what to do;

Once you’re done, come back here and comment with the link to your post so I can check out your answers.

Here are the questions for my nominees:

1. Have you ever suffered any kind of prejudice while traveling solo?
2. Did your solo trips changed how you faced trips with friends/husband/boyfriend?
3. Was there a place you visited that you immediately felt connected to and dreamt of living there for good?
4. Tell us your best AND worst food experiences while traveling. Where and why?
5. Show us your favorite photo from your travels.
6. Tell us your best experience with wine or beer while traveling. Where was it, how was it?
7. Tell us your dearest memory from a trip.
8. How do you communicate in a country whose language you can't understand? Do you use English or try to learn the local language?
9. List the TOP 5 most beautiful places you've been to.
10. Tell us 5 fun facts about you.
11. What was the biggest, most profound discovery you had about yourself while traveling?

My nominees:

As my blog is both in English and in Portuguese, I'll split the nominees by language!

5 in English:

Diana Corridori from http://vinovitaviaggi.com/
Katy from http://www.wanderingwithwine.com/

Swati Saxena from http://lostinmaps.com/

Nika Dobrovolna from http://www.nextstopabroad.com/

Cristian Figueroa from https://mytrippingsoul.wordpress.com/ (in English, Spanish and Portuguese)

And 6 in Portuguese:

Milene Maciel from http://www.transitividadepessoal.com/
Rafael Souza from http://rafeudes.wix.com/bragt
Thais Sores from http://quandonietzschegargalhou.blogspot.com.br/
Gabriela Schotten from http://pagina51.blogspot.com.br/
Fernanda Castelo Branco from http://vontadedeviajar.com/
Adriano Gonçalves from http://www.essenciadasletras.blogspot.com.br/

The One that Got Away

I’m sure you all heard about that syndrome travelers suffer from that is characterized by the urge to add a million destinations to a small trip. You check the map and there is just so many interesting things around your route that you decide to include every single one of them to the itinerary. The problem is that you depend on time, and the time frame you have in your mind is very different from the one in real life. Time flies by fast and you struggle to keep up with your plans, but only ends up visiting the place in a hurry, that is, superficially. That or worse, sometimes you end up giving up on that destination in the middle of the trip. And we ALWAYS regret it afterwards…

I’ve learned that the hard way: giving up Giverny on a trip to Paris for lack of time, giving up Colonia del Sacramento on a trip to Montevideo for the same reason… And now I have to live with the doubt of questioning myself if I will ever have time go visit those places again and reclaim what I missed…

However, maybe worse than planning to visit a place and giving up on it while in transit is discovering the existence of an amazing destination very close to where you traveled AFTER you get home.

Yes, that has already happened to me many times and that sudden acknowledgement always gives me a feeling of stupidity! If I researched about that destination for months, how can I have let that one amazing place get away?

Let me mention the most recent example. We planned a trip to Italy for over a year (!) with some friends and we thought we had a great itinerary in our hands: some days in Rome, slow travel around Tuscany, finishing up in Venice and Verona. The trip was amazing, of course! It’s always a pleasure to finally visit a place you have been dreaming about your whole life! Yet, a month after I got back from Italy, I laid my eyes on these astonishing ruins of an abbey, the Abbey of Saint Galgano, and researching for it on Google Maps I discovered it is only 25 kilometers away from Siena, where we stayed for three days!

I have this fascination for ruins and, can’t quite explain why, especially ruins that still have walls, but have no ceiling. As if the sky was the only thing we were to supposed to have over our heads. Baths of Caracalla, in Rome, for example, is so hauntingly beautiful I still sigh while thinking of it today. Lisbon also has something similar, that I also let get away: the Carmo Convent. The ruins of a convent with no ceiling in the heart of Portugal’s capital city. At the time, we decided to check the convent on our last day in Lisbon, however, our last day there was December 24th. What we didn’t know was that, in Portugal, not only December 25th is a national holiday, but also the 24th. When we got there, the place was closed and I nearly cried.

It really bumps me out when I discover beautiful places right after I’ve just been there. Of course I try to see it on the bright side, that if I am ever to go back there, I’ll have something new and amazing to see. But I’m not a full-time traveler and it scares me a bit thinking that I may never have the chance to go back.

Has this ever happened to you? Tell me your story and how you feel when that happens!

Source: www.sangalgano.it