- Porto is awesome!
[Couldn’t agree more.]
- Everything’s increasing: temperatures, prices, taxes... only salaries stay the same.
[It’s tragic to witness the decrease of a population’s purchasing power but it’s it equally tragic to realise that a population isn´t able to make the best out of what’s available?]
- Today’s a good day for pickpocketing.
[This is totally not what I had in mind with making the best out of what’s available.]
- In my experience, men find it difficult to understand why sisters stop talking to each other. Why is that?
[Asks a woman to another woman. Wouldn’t it be smarter to address this question to a man who doesn’t understand it? But then again the priority here is not to obtain answers...]
- If you mind your own business, you’ll already be doing enough!
[Spot on! The thing is that it´s not as much fun.]
- Those women have no shame! It would seem that any man is good enough for them!
[Says a woman to a man. Spoken like an arrogant frigid but, hey, why judge, right?]
Monday, 30 July 2012
Monday, 23 July 2012
Green ideas
1) Take your iPod for a stroll in the gardens of “Fundação Serralves” – but don’t leave the house without making sure that there are a couple of songs by the Beta Band on it. Stick around and listen to some jazz music afterwards; if there are no concerts taking place that day, you can always stay for a drink.
2) Pay a visit to the Botanical Garden. Boys, this is a lovely place to ask a girl to be your girlfriend – it has plenty of charming romantic corners and you won’t have to pay 500 EUR for the privilege of walking around (I’ve read in a magazine the other day that a twenty-year-old boy spent that amount of money to rent a restaurant’s covered terrace; and he did it in order to ask a girl to be his girlfriend); girls, look for a seat under the shade and read a few love letters of great men and women.
3) Take a picnic to the City Park and spend the afternoon reading Cosey´s comic strips under a tree. If you feel energetic enough, go for a bike ride and marvel at the surrounding nature - only the ocean´s the limit...
2) Pay a visit to the Botanical Garden. Boys, this is a lovely place to ask a girl to be your girlfriend – it has plenty of charming romantic corners and you won’t have to pay 500 EUR for the privilege of walking around (I’ve read in a magazine the other day that a twenty-year-old boy spent that amount of money to rent a restaurant’s covered terrace; and he did it in order to ask a girl to be his girlfriend); girls, look for a seat under the shade and read a few love letters of great men and women.
3) Take a picnic to the City Park and spend the afternoon reading Cosey´s comic strips under a tree. If you feel energetic enough, go for a bike ride and marvel at the surrounding nature - only the ocean´s the limit...
Monday, 16 July 2012
Map for a sunny day
Get up early and head towards the beach in Miramar (Vila Nova de Gaia). As soon as you get there, start walking until you reach Gaia’s riverfront. Make sure to stop for one or two drinks along the way – you’re looking at a 7 to 8 km long journey.
Once you get to the riverfront, treat yourself to a well-deserved lunch. Remember that, if you don’t feel like having Portuguese food, there’s always the possibility to go for Indian or Japanese cuisine.
As soon as you feel re-energised, take the cable car uphill and enjoy awesome views over Porto. Cross the D. Luis bridge and keep on walking until you reach the S. Bento train station. This is your chance to contemplate its magnificent panels of tiles – in case you haven’t done so yet.
Hop on the public bus to “Mercado da Foz” and ring the bell as soon as you spot “Castelo do Queijo”. Pay a visit to “Sea Life” – Porto’s Aquarium – and spend a couple of hours learning about marine life, as well as Portuguese shores.
Just before getting back to the city centre, take a short afternoon walk by the sea until you reach the street “Nossa Senhora da Luz” (which you have passed when on the bus to the Aquarium). Have a coffee and pastries at “Tavi” and start preparing for the evening...
Once you get to the riverfront, treat yourself to a well-deserved lunch. Remember that, if you don’t feel like having Portuguese food, there’s always the possibility to go for Indian or Japanese cuisine.
As soon as you feel re-energised, take the cable car uphill and enjoy awesome views over Porto. Cross the D. Luis bridge and keep on walking until you reach the S. Bento train station. This is your chance to contemplate its magnificent panels of tiles – in case you haven’t done so yet.
Hop on the public bus to “Mercado da Foz” and ring the bell as soon as you spot “Castelo do Queijo”. Pay a visit to “Sea Life” – Porto’s Aquarium – and spend a couple of hours learning about marine life, as well as Portuguese shores.
Just before getting back to the city centre, take a short afternoon walk by the sea until you reach the street “Nossa Senhora da Luz” (which you have passed when on the bus to the Aquarium). Have a coffee and pastries at “Tavi” and start preparing for the evening...
Friday, 13 July 2012
Opening up to an old new world
There´s no point in denying it: I´m a morning person. This is the reason why I chose this time of the day to learn Mandarin Chinese.
Sometime ago, I bought "Talk Mandarin Chinese", a course for beginners covering the basic everyday language, and have now decided to use it at home.
Just in case you´re wondering, I´m not learning any Chinese characters; the manual presents the language using pinyin - the official system of using roman script to represent Chinese sounds.
The truth is that knowing how to read and write Chinese characters isn´t my priority - I´m more concerned about being able to talk to people in everyday situations.
When I first started listening to those truly daunting tones, I thought that I was wasting my time - I would never be able to understand them nor repeat them. A couple of days later, I realised that I was making progress - I was starting to recognise and use very basic constructions!
The learning process is now very enjoyable. The question is - will I have the opportunity to practice these skills in real-time?
Sometime ago, I bought "Talk Mandarin Chinese", a course for beginners covering the basic everyday language, and have now decided to use it at home.
Just in case you´re wondering, I´m not learning any Chinese characters; the manual presents the language using pinyin - the official system of using roman script to represent Chinese sounds.
The truth is that knowing how to read and write Chinese characters isn´t my priority - I´m more concerned about being able to talk to people in everyday situations.
When I first started listening to those truly daunting tones, I thought that I was wasting my time - I would never be able to understand them nor repeat them. A couple of days later, I realised that I was making progress - I was starting to recognise and use very basic constructions!
The learning process is now very enjoyable. The question is - will I have the opportunity to practice these skills in real-time?
Saturday, 7 July 2012
Found in translation
Over the last few weeks, I´ve been dedicating a lot of my time to the translation of a Portuguese text into English.
Most of you might know that I don´t really like translation - serving as the middleman or middlewoman between two speakers/writers of different languages has never really been my thing - but it´s hard work and for that I´ve always respected Maria José, João, Carolina and Astrid for dedicating their (professional) life to it.
Lately I had the opportunity to realise that translating is somewhat compatible with my nature because the truth is that I treasure intercultural communication and accuracy greatly. It stops being compatible, however, when the bigger picture is lost due to the fact that a lot of time and efforts need to be devoted to details.
Be that as it may, I´ve been enjoying my task immensely - a lot more than I anticipated. Time will tell if this will develop into something more serious. One thing is for sure though - I like to keep my options open and my horizons, wide...
Most of you might know that I don´t really like translation - serving as the middleman or middlewoman between two speakers/writers of different languages has never really been my thing - but it´s hard work and for that I´ve always respected Maria José, João, Carolina and Astrid for dedicating their (professional) life to it.
Lately I had the opportunity to realise that translating is somewhat compatible with my nature because the truth is that I treasure intercultural communication and accuracy greatly. It stops being compatible, however, when the bigger picture is lost due to the fact that a lot of time and efforts need to be devoted to details.
Be that as it may, I´ve been enjoying my task immensely - a lot more than I anticipated. Time will tell if this will develop into something more serious. One thing is for sure though - I like to keep my options open and my horizons, wide...
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Trilogies
After I finished reading "Eat Pray Love", I thought that I had just read the world´s greatest trilogy. I really enjoyed getting into Gilbert´s mindset and witnessing how she went around its handicaps by traveling to three different countries (Italy, India and Indonesia) in order to focus on three different energies (physical, spiritual and emotional). This woman´s search for peace and enlightenment, which eventually led her to find love, has truly inspired me.
But then I discovered Paul Auster´s "The New York Trilogy" and realised that labelling "Eat Pray Love" the world´s greatest trilogy was an exaggeration. Auster´s writing has definitely made a very positive impression on me. Not a day goes by without me wondering what ever happened to Quinn, Blue and Fanshawe. Luc Sante wrote in the introduction that they have stumbled into New York City´s "force field charged by synchronicity and overlap". I like to think that they all had the privilege to step into the Twilight Zone and came back to tell David Lynch about it.
Be that as it may, I won´t label Auster´s Trilogy the greatest one in the world - life has taught me that there´s no such thing as "greatest" - but I will label it greater than Gilbert´s trilogy. What now remains to be seen is if "Trilogia", a bar in Porto´s downtown area, is greater than both these books. I suppose I will need a couple of drinks before making any kind of decision...
But then I discovered Paul Auster´s "The New York Trilogy" and realised that labelling "Eat Pray Love" the world´s greatest trilogy was an exaggeration. Auster´s writing has definitely made a very positive impression on me. Not a day goes by without me wondering what ever happened to Quinn, Blue and Fanshawe. Luc Sante wrote in the introduction that they have stumbled into New York City´s "force field charged by synchronicity and overlap". I like to think that they all had the privilege to step into the Twilight Zone and came back to tell David Lynch about it.
Be that as it may, I won´t label Auster´s Trilogy the greatest one in the world - life has taught me that there´s no such thing as "greatest" - but I will label it greater than Gilbert´s trilogy. What now remains to be seen is if "Trilogia", a bar in Porto´s downtown area, is greater than both these books. I suppose I will need a couple of drinks before making any kind of decision...
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)