Day W

During the day I am going through my "Portuguese language" phase-this means that I try to capture as many words as I can from people's conversations in the street and then I get all excited that I understood everything-but well, usually what I hear are tiny fragments of sentences, like "estás a brincar" , or "eu lá fui" ... :-))



During the evening I get all nostalgic and start longing for Lisbon and the Portuguese amazing beaches. Then is where I take my dear Lolita and head together to Praia da Torre in Oeiras-there is a "right side" beach and a "left side" beach-now I like the "left side" one....and I go there and walk bare foot in the fine and silky sand and remember Sting's song that goes like this "sister moooon...." and I promise to come back and take pictures during the night ....


Good night!


PS: I don't like counting the days anymore so I will name them as they come up into my head.

Day Four

Sometimes I just like walking in the street with nothing else in my pocket but my cell phone and my keys. Saturday I went to see the lovely shops on Rua de São Bento like this -all these antiquities shops, all these old windowpanes and nice people greeting you and welcoming you inside. This year the "noites de São Bento" was far from being spectacular-I guess the financial crisis reached this street also. I received though two lovely roses-a white and a yellow one and walked around trying to spot the opened shops from looking at the blue carpets laid in front of the entrance. I know this was the last night of the event but I didn't expect not to find any kind of food :-) - no sweets, no sandwiches, no presents....nothing....but a nice feeling though, a peaceful music and happy faces. Monica happy too. No pictures though.....




Today, though, I went to see my dear Estrela-you know that when I am away I miss her, like I miss Graça and many, many other places. I use to call her in Romanian "little star" which sounds very sweet in my mind....and so I went today to take another look at her and say hello. I like escaping from my world of worries and this always works with me-I get out and feel soooo free that I keep wondering how am I able to squeeze into a system, any system. I have no idea where this craving for freedom comes from, if it is good or bad, normal or absurd but I like that every time I am in the middle of the nature I feel free and able to do anything. I took my books to read and gazed at the trees around the garden, the flowers, the birds. Of course I couldn't help myself not to get on my knees again and take some pictures of these lovely flowers. I've heard that they are poisonous, but so beautiful. This was a white day.

Day Three

It was a Tuesday (or Monday??) - the day I went to see Valentina (my dentist)-who is a sweet heart and a great dentist-so if you need a good one in Lisbon, just let me know :-)) After saying good-bye to her and hoping to meet again soon, I decided to go to Barreiro-Barreiro is a small town on the other side of the Tejo river. I wanted to make this trip for a long time-it is cheap also but I kept postponing doing it. I love crossing Tejo, it brings back nice memories into my mind, it makes me feel free and careless and I love admiring Lisbon from afar. This time it was sunset, pretty crowded ferry. I went there and then got back with the same ferry. This is when I discovered I was almost alone in the boat, I climbed up the stairs and went to the top floor, took my red shoes off, opened the window, climbed up the chair and got my arms and head outside the window. You can't imagine how it is like to look at the beautiful sunset and feel the fresh air on your face. Pure bliss again.

Day Two

One sunny lovely Sunday morning I went again to the Museum of Antique Art - this time to see a temporary exhibition about the Portuguese discoveries-very nice but sooooooooo many people that it made me scream almost. But just when I was thinking that I knew everything about Lisbon and that she could not surprise me anymore, I discovered this-the lovely garden of the museum with this magnificent view - I took a chair and enjoyed the rays of Sun on my face and thanked Lisbon again for what has offered me and keeps doing this all the time.

Day one

I had to find my way to say good-bye to Lisbon-because I didn't really know how this should be done-should I take a picture of each corner and every little stone? Should I walk around saying thank you? Should I just let the pure air and lovely colors invade and embrace my sight and body? So, I started a ritual. My good-bye ritual in which to be honest I don't really believe because I know that I will be back here somehow and my mind and soul refuse to think that the love-hate relationship I have developed with this place can just vanish into the Universe. I know that Lisbon managed to squeeze herself deep into my soul, to charm me slowly and stay there for good.





Today was the day I went to Alfama and Graça, I tried to pretend that I was a tourist even though I don't feel like one anymore. I jumped into tram 28 and managed to get a window seat and then started to listen silently to the explanations of a young Portuguese girl who was the guide of a foreigner. She was talking in English and I was wondering-hey, but I could do that easily as I know sooo much about this place. I walked around, found out from a Romanian painter (street artist) that the painters in Rua Augusta have disappeared because the mayor decided so-I was very upset to find that out :-(( and then I went to Sé (the Cathedral). Sé has an amazing "religious piece" made out of gold -17kg-and adorned with more than 4000 precious stones-amazing-they say that it is the most valuable in the whole world......








as you can see, every little corner appeared to my eyes and soul as totally new, filled with beauty and soooo many colors. I love you Lisbon.










in the evening, some very special friends of mine wanted to surprise me and threw a lovely, tiny, cute party in Cascais, where I enjoyed myself so much :-)) thank you! Lola, Doris, Dan, Philippe and .... Vladimir oh and cute Tam-Tam-the Sagittarius who wanted my attention and I was so mean that almost ignored him. Tam-Tam, you are cute and lovely. Please forgive me. Kiss kiss. My journey continues. Hey, and I'll be back :-)