Saturday Lisbon day

Saturday was the marathon day. I thought that if I did that, some kind of secret mechanism will be triggered and I will be able to magically push a button that would instantly take my mind and soul to Lisbon whenever I wished to. I don’t push any button now, but I somehow walk silently in the streets of Bucharest and all of a sudden I am in Lisbon, in Principe Real, taking tango lessons next to Santa Apolónia train station or smelling and tasting the beautiful Pasteis de Belém sprkinkled with cinnamon-my heart knows where she is :-)
....I woke up and went to Alfama, not before having a coffee with a friend of mine in Praça das Flores(one of my favorite Lisbon places) and saying goodbye to São Bento.....






Alfama as charming as it can get







It was the end of October and I was still getting tanned, even burned from the crazy, Lisbon Sun, that I adore. I walked in Alfama like a tourist, taking pictures, I did all the things that a tourist would do, I even ate sardines-to be honest, I think the most delicious ones, of course I made friends with the waiter, who invited me to a free Fado concert.



I took a walk to Terreiro do Paço watching the seagulls, enjoying the Sun reflections in the water...and all of a sudden.....surprise.... I could hear men screming and see men swimming in the dirty water of the river.....I got closer and closer and there they were....four guys completely naked and completely drunk screaming and enjoying themselves. Of course I have pictures from all the possible angles but I will not post them here for reasons of decency – but for those who do not believe me, I have the proof :-) only I can get to walk in a city and see naked women in Rambla Santa Mónica in Barcelona or naked men in Lisbon one day before leaving....







And then I took the train to Cascais for a single reason that I did not want to miss...u know why?

Friday

My dear ones, I am in Romania now. I have been busy lately and I didn't have time to write - I regret this now. It is incredible how a place can offer you good, creative energy and others can't do that. Cities are like people-they can offer you love or not, they can offer you joy or not, they can offer you everything, or not. Lisbon filled my soul with EVERYTHING I needed instantly. For me it was pure 100% magic for 2 years and a half. I have lived in a perfect state of grace for all that time, I don’t know if you can understand how somebody can be overwhelmed with happiness by his own feelings-I was like that, I used to walk in the street hand in hand with my muse, hand in hand with all the good vibes of the world. I was lucky to make secret wishes that have been nicely fulfilled by the Universe-I saw places blessed by God, waves and sunsets that made me cry, I was free and happy and sooooooo in love with Portugal. I realized over and over again that life knows exactly what you want, that you don’t have to repeat a wish over and over again, you don´t have to become obsessed with something, you just say it once and let it go. That wish will become reality one day. I still want to know, though, what in my life made me attract my departure, because I did not want it. Some questions have no answers when we want them to have.

The last week in Portugal was the most intense. I was still in denial, hoping that some kind of miracle will happen that will make me stay there, I wished for that, wanted that, craved for that, but it didn’t happen. The funny thing is that I was sooooo happy, I made my wish and let it go, knowing that if it is meant to happen again, it will happen,




The last Friday in Lisbon.
I woke up and went to Jardim da Estrela, I took pictures of my dear lovely pink tree and discovered a house made out of wood in the middle of the garden- a nice project of some Portuguese designers, a house that you could rent for a night and get to sleep there, in the middle of the green nature. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I have this wish everytime I go out in open air, to be able to go and sleep under the naked sky full of stars. I did sleep in tents, I did sleep in a sleeping bag once in the middle of nowhere and I would do that all the time if I could. For a while, my wish was to sleep on my balcony in Lisbon, next to my dear Tejo and caressed by the morning rays of Sun, but I did not do it afraid of the mice-I had a nasty experience with them once and I did not want to repeat it. I did not sleep in the garden house neither, as I was supposed to book the room in advance and I was running out of my Lisbon time.






That day I discovered the building of the National Archives, an amazing construction, made out of marble and with huge rooms, very strict architecture and very beautiful. I was not allowed to take pictures.

I went then to take a walk around the house – I floated over the city, literally. I was so happy and could feel so much good energy around me, that I thought for a moment that I would see the Word “love” written on the sky. I did not see that, but I saw a red heart on the sidewalk, for me it was a normal and expected “sign” – I was surrounded by love. I took pictures of the beautiful streets, people looked at me and at the things I was shooting, I have no idea if they were seeing what I was seeing. I walked and walked and enjoyed what I love most in life-freedom and love.