Beautiful

It's been a long time. So many things have changed. I traveled a bit, I got a new bike and have been riding it a lot, I broke my arm, I had my first surgery, I met new people and got closer to some others I already knew. I cried and I laughed. And right now I am happy and I am in love. Life is beautiful indeed.

Carnival weekend

My first bike trip was amazing. Good company, beautiful views and way too much food. :)

Audax

In January 21st I tried my first Audax. I couldn't finish the 200km in 13 hours and a half, but I managed to do 162km in 10 hours. Too many hills for my legs. But it was amazing!

Suomi

Two weeks were enough for me to fall in love with Finland.

Comeback Kid

This is from last Sunday.
Great show, nice people.
I look forward to see them in Helsinki.

Berlin

Dedicated to my friend Katja. :)

Iguazu

Buenos Aires 2011

In January, for the first time, my family traveled abroad with me. My mom always said she wanted to visit Buenos Aires and after some work (hard one actually), my sister and I convinced her it was time to make it happen.

It was my second time in the city, what was good because I already had a good idea of what was interesting to see, what they’d like and also how much time we needed for some of the attractions.

We only had four days, but we managed to see a lot anyway. Our first stop was at Plaza Francia. We went to Recoleta and to the street market they have on weekends. Just crossing the street, there is the Floralis Generica.

On our way back to the hotel, we walked around the neighbouhood Recoleta, passing in front of Brazilian and French Embassies. We walked on Cerrito Street, passed in front of Teatro Colón and went until Av Corrietes.

At Avenida 9 de Julio, close to the obelisk, look up. On the top of one of the buildings, there is a little house. I learnt that the man who built it was too lazy to walk home from work every day and just made his life easier moving to a house on the top of the place where he worked. But searching for more info, I read that the salesman Don Rafael Diaz actually wanted to have a little cottage in heaven.



Going on, we reached Casa Rosada. On weekend, they have a guided tour each ten minutes. It was in Spanish, but not much was spoken.



Second day was a bit slower. We took some nice walk on Puerto Madero. It’s a very fancy neighbourhood. Close to it, there is the Reserva Ecologica, where I took a very nice walk during my first trip.



Next stop was San Telmo. One can’t miss the street market on Sundays. There is a nice atmosphere and also some cool stuff to buy. I got my picture with Mafalda (Chile x Defensa) and another in front of the smallest house in Buenos Aires (San Lorenzo x Defensa).



This time I took a picture of the wind couple.

Lunch was at Habibi. Great arab food!



Being at San Telmo, I really needed to stop at Walrus bookshop, a very nice second-hand for books in english.

We had a shopping day. Many Brazilians travel to Buenos Aires just for this. And I didn’t do it during my first trip. This time, I found some cool stuff. There are many cool designers there, especially in Palermo.

El Ateno bookshop is considered one of the most beautiful in the world. It used to be a theater and nowadays one can have nice coffee and alfajor at the old stage.



The city is pretty flat, so it’s a great place to walk and just pay attention to the beautiful architecture. I took a nice zig-zag walk going down on Santa Fé Av., going up on Corrientes until the Congress and then down again on Avenida de Mayo and back to the hotel.



Café Tortoni is a nice place and has one of the best cheesecakes I’ve ever had. But the cappuccino isn’t any special.

P.S.: some pictures like the little house on the top of the building are missing because this is the second post I write about Buenos Aires.

alive

I'm bad at keeping a blog. But I try anyway. I still want to write about last year's vacation (beautiful and tiny Ljubljana and breathtaking Croatia) and I promise these posts will be here in the future.

And I've traveled a bit during the last months.

Christmas was spent at the country side with my family, of course. Lazy days and lots of yummi fruits to eat.

I was three times in Rio de Janeiro and watched the new year arriving at Copacabana beach. We went to look for the king, Roberto Carlos. And I had my last night dancing samba at Mangueira's rehearsal. Beautiful!

Last weekend I was in Buenos Aires with my family. :)

Deutschland - Nürnberg

My original plans didn't include Germany, but I just couldn't resist. I really like the country and I wanted to meet some of my dear friends that I don't know when I'll be able to see again.

So, the trip started in Nürnberg, at Rock im Park. Great line-up: Rammstein (yeah!), Rise Against, Them Crooked Vultures, Kiss, Muse, Slayer, Motörhead, Alkaline Trio...



The festival area was quite close to the city, so we went downtown every day, also because another friend of mine was traveling with me and she didn't go to the fest. It's a very pretty city. I had been there in 2008 visiting a dear friend and it's nice to come back. Particularly, I prefer Nuremberg than Munich.

There is the Schöner Brunnen. There is a metal ring on the gate around the small tower and the story behind it is that an apprentice of blacksmith wanted to marry the daughter of his master. So, the father said "if you can make me a ring in which I can't see the binding, you can marry my daughter". So, he did it, he married the girl and the ring is on the gate for tourists and locals to find it, turn it three times and make a wish.



And the Ehekarussel is about the good and bad things of marriage. It starts when the man and the woman meet each other and there is romance. Then comes the marriage and kids and fights. It says "fights in marriage for eternity".

back home

i've got so many pictures to organize.

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13 days.

in June

Less than one month until my vacation. :)
Berlin here I come!

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2008.

Mi Buenos Aires Querido

In 2009 I went to Buenos Aires for the first time. Before going there I gathered some interesting information about the city and things to do there. I’ve shared these tips with some friends and finally I’ve set myself to write this post. It’s going to be a long one.

WALKINGS



My friend Eva was living in Buenos Aires and gave me the tip about the walking tours. The first one I did started in the morning and was more historical and political. It starts in front of the Congress building and ends at the Obelisk on Avenida 9 de Julio.

The second one is called Aristocratic Buenos Aires and shows the rich part of the city. It starts at Plaza de San Martín, at Retiro neighbourhood and ends in front of the Recoleta cemetery (where Evita’s mausolea is located). At San Martín Square there is a monument for the soldiers that died in the Malvina or Folk Islands war between Argentina and England.

Both tours take about two hours and are in English.



On Sundays, there is a cool market in San Telmo. One can find antiques, clothes, souvenirs and other things to buy. But even for those not interested in buying things, it’s worthy to visit and walk around. There is live music and some interesting characters like the Wind Man (a guy dressed in a funny way as if the wind was blowing his clothes – when I was there, I didn’t see the Wind Woman, because she had just got a Wind Baby) and the tango dancers.
The open market goes from 10 am until more or less 5 pm.

The Pasaje San Lorenzo is a very tiny house that belonged to and ex-slave. I read one can do some guided tour inside, but it was closed when I was there.



Caminito is one of the most famous images from Buenos Aires. It’s pretty colourful and there are restaurants, tango shows and lots of souvenirs stores. I think one should go there and see it, but I don’t think it’s so cool.

Close to Caminito, there is the stadium from Boca Júniors, aka La Bombonera. There is a museum inside and they offer different tours: museum and field, only field, only museum. In front of it, there are many stores selling football shirts and mugs and so on.

Both Caminito and La Bombonera are located at La Boca neighbourhood.



Close to the Recoleta cemitery, there is the Centro Cultural Recoleta. It’s open from Monday through Friday, from 2 pm until 9 pm and on weekends, from 10 am until 9 pm. There was a Berlin bear when I was there. As I love Berlin, this put a big smile on my face.



Where the avenues meet and Avenida del Libertador turns into Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, there is the Floralis Generica. It’s a huge metal flower with “petals” that are closed during night time and open during the day. It was a gift from the architect Eduardo Catalano.



Puerto Madero is a modern harbor and a beautiful area for a walk. Close to it there is the Reserva Ecológica that’s also good for a walk and a nice place for a picnic, especially by the river.

Cólon Theater (at Cerrito Str.) and Palácio dos Tribunais (Lavalle Square) were closed probably because of the flu.

I didn’t visit these places, but I’ll write about them anyway. At Palermo neighbourhood, there is the Planetarium Galileu Galilei and the Jardin Botanico (Botanic Garden). The Jardin is open every day from 10 am until 6 pm and it’s for free.

Jardin Botanico – Avenida Santa Fé, 3951.
Planetário Galileu Galilei – Avenida Sarmiento y B. Roldan.


MUSEUMS

Museu Nacional de Bellas Artes or National Museum of Fine Arts is pretty interesting. It’s at Avenida del Libertador, 1473. It’s open from Tuesday through Friday from 12:30 until 19:30 and on weekends from 9:30 until 19:30. And it’s for free.

Malba (Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires) is for Latin American art. It has more modern stuff. It’s at Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, 3415.



I wanted to see also the Museu de Arte Moderna in San Telmo, but because of the H1N1 gripe, it was closed. I also couldn’t go to the museum in Casa Rosada (the Pink House) at Plaza de Mayo.


FOOD

When it comes to food, Buenos Aires is well-known for steaks and I had heard from a friend of mine she realized she’ll be vegetarian for the rest of her life after going to BsAs. I went to two veggie restaurants there. Lotos wasn’t very good, but Spring was delicious.

Another option is the Arab restaurant Habib, in San Telmo.

Spring – corner of Jorge Luis Borges and Charcas, in Palermo neighbourhood.
Habibi – Humberto Primo street, 527. Between the streets Perú and Bolívar.

At almost every corner of the city there is a Havana Café. Paradise!


BOOKS



I love to read and I was so happy to find Walrus bookstore at San Telmo. It’s a very good place to buy second-hand books in English. There are books in other languages as well, but most are in English.



El Ateneo is probably the most famous bookstore in the city. It used to be a theater and the building is so beautiful! At the back, where the stage used to be, there is a good café. Avenida Santa Fé, 1860.


MUSIC



La Bomba de Tiempo is a percussion group that makes very nice music. They play on Mondays and it’s normally very crowded.


SHOPPING

Córdoba and Florida streets are famous for their stores. At Called Florida there is also Galeria Pacifico, a shopping mall.


WEBSITES

Mi Buenos Aires Querido
Oh Buenos Aires
Whats Up Buenos Aires

I wish some images would lose colours in my mind. I wish them to get blurry until they disappear and things feel right again.
When I think this might happen, my minds tricks me and brings it all back.
I have the heart of a fool who doesn't let it go.

happy birthday

I just came back from a nice birthday party. I missed my friends and we had such a funny time, as always. And the cake was so good!
There are many celebrations this month. Next one will be my mom's birthday, then another friend and finally my dad.

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Who knows me a little bit knows that I'm no big fan of beaches. But right now I'd love to have a relaxing time by the ocean riding a bike. And with nothing serious to think about.
The picture is from 2003, when I met for the first time a good friend of mine and we were taking a nice walk around the neighbouhood I used to live in.

I'm bad with updates, but I'm still alive

To write that I'm busy is no big news.
At the last post, I wrote about my vacation and I have to say it was simply great. Buenos Aires is lovely and I really want to go back. I will write a nice post with tips about the cool places I went to and the nice things I saw.
But right now I've got something bigger going on. After putting my final paper for the post-graduation course on hold for about one year, I'm working on it again. Today I had a meeting with my professor and she is very carried away with it.

The picture above is from El Ateneo bookstore in Buenos Aires. It was a theater and now it's the most famous bookstore in town with an amazing café. But my favourite is definitely Walrus Books.

Vacation fever

I started browsing at pictures from last year's vacation and it just made me more excited about my future trip.