silvia

last year silvia was my partner in crime. whether it meant sharing secrets or concerns, or exploring some unkown, beautiful, place i had only heard of.

our biggest adventure was finding this bizarre stone house and its surroundings.

i remember that day like it was today.the 3 of us in her car, completely in awe with what we were seeing. after admiring the house,and pick-nicking, we got in the car and saw wild horses. and bulls.

after stopping n 3 oter places we finally got home, exhausted and thrilled about the journey we had taken on.

this year she's in rome. she'll be back at the end of july.

i miss her.

ladybugs

ladybugs are the only insect i can  tolerate. actually, for some reason, i've loved ladybugs since i was a kid.
maybe it all started because they're called 'joaninhas' in portuguese, a sweet name used for all girls named joana.
maybe just because they're tiny and not scary looking, but rather cute, with their red body sprinkled with black spots.

this is drave

some photos taken while exploring drave.
you don't have to travel far to find true, natural, beauty.

the day was hot and dry. and for the most part there wasn't a shadow in sight.  my skin started to hurt. but as we started to see the forgotten village fo drave, i forgot about it.

the beautiful lagoon was a wonderful treat on a hot day, but also a vision of paradise.

and as we got back, the sun was already down, and the natural curves of the mountains stood out.

a wonderful trip i will have to repeat.

old sanatorium

old, abandoned, sanatories make great field trips.
at least for today.
we were all excited at the first glimpse of the sanatorium. then, as we got in, this gloomy structure, marked with paintballs all over, brought some fear and cold chills. at least for some of us.
we took some pictures, amazed at the beautiful scenary coming through the inumerous windows.
and although the time there was enjoyed, we left. happily.

benny

benny, the cat, has been awfully quiet the past couple of days.
my achy, sunburned, shoudlers thank him for a break from the constant need of cuddling and attention.
i love him to bits

revisiting memories

a while back i looked at a photo on flickr and i recognized its location. it was the name of a park i used to go as an enfant, on school trip days.

i remembered only the name, and that it had a bush maze. it was higher than me, at that time, and we all loved to go there and 'get lost' and found at its center.

so i decided to go back and revisit that park. and i was amazed at how big that park was. and that there wasn't just the maze, now smaller than me, that i remembered, but so many different spaces.

returning

after completely forgetting i once had a blog, here i am again.

in the months and months since, i have enjoyed life!

i've taken advantage of my love for travelling and seeing new places, whether it means taking a plane to paris or just crusing around my hometown.

and here i am, after all that time, writting this down, sitting in my couch, while trying to heal a really bad sunburm - the result of yesterdays exploration. it hurts, but it is so worth visiting drave! i've wanted to go there since november and finally yesterday was the day. trekking through miles and miles, up and down a mountain and finally seeing the beautifully forgotten drave. it was breathtaking. the best part? enjoying the wonderful, crystal clear, lagoon in drave in a sunny day!