A Perfect Weekend in Lisbon

Lisbon, Portugal.  This is an elegant city, most famous for its black and white cobble-stoned walkways and early explorers.  It is, of course, on the sea, and prone to beautiful sunrises like this quiet one captured on my last morning there.  I was lucky to get it, since it down-poured several times during my weekend stay! But, if you are heading there soon, fret not.  The skies opened to sunshine in between showers and it was alternately cold and warm, cool and sunny, and overall, very pleasant.

The buildings' facades are often tiled, giving the city a unique flair within Europe.  Somehow, it reminded me a little of Venice, with it's quaint, decaying buildings, tiny eateries and proximity to water.  But Lisbon is a fun weekend trip all in its own right.
Things worth seeing:
1. The Elevator: Built by Miseur Eiffel, of the Eiffel Tower, this elevator still runs daily and offers superb views of the city from it's high platform. Next door is the Igreja do Carmo, an elegant skeleton of arches of the once-largest church in Lisbon, now hosts a museum after the 1755 earthquake.
2. Vasco da Gama Memorial: Walk along the "boardwalk" and you'll be sure to see this beautiful monument to the explorers, with it's own mini-museum inside (which I did not go into). You'll also see a beautiful copy of the San Francisco Bridge, Christo Rei, a knock off of the Christo Redentor (in Rio de Janeiro), and the beautiful Tower of Belem (where Ali, from the Bachelorette had a fun date...did anybody else see this?), but which was -before reality tv- known as a fortress point for navigators.







3. Mosteiro dos Jeronimos:  This monastery is worth paying for if you enjoy grand architecture.  It's only a few dollars, and, though I've seen many churches, castles, and museums since moving to Europe, I was thoroughly impressed by the inner workings of this place.  It is tranquil, intricately designed, and interesting to walk through.   Plus, the shadows created  with all the arches and designs made it a feast for my camera to enjoy!


Good Eats Found:
1. Brasileira Cafe:  This cafe  with golden-framed mirrors is a 1920's classic in Lisbon. Get some tasty treats with your cappuccino here, and you won't be disappointed.
2. Hole in the Wall places: most food is good here, I found, no matter where we stopped!
3. Any Seafood (no surprise there, I'm sure)

History of Lisbon:
You can find it anywhere online, but of course, Vasco de Gama sort of steals the show. He is mentioned everywhere. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasco_da_Gama
We saw an exact copy of the ship he sailed to South Africa while exploring the Capetown region, pictured below.

Thought for Food: It's amazing to think that Portugal was once such a world power.  Like England, it's such a tiny place.  Yet, there are treasures gallore, and they accomplished much during their prime time.  Now the country is a service country, and gives off only an impression of power in things past.  What happens to these great places?  And what will happen to the US, I sometimes wonder?
If you spend time walking around the city, even without going into any of the popular places, you will likely have a good time.  It's a pretty place, with not-too-steep hills and good food.  Just beware of the cheesy dinners with "authentic singing".  It's probably not worth your time...

see more photos at: photo-therapie.org/blog

Vespanating through Europe: Sweet Little People

Vespanating through Europe: Sweet Little People

Sweet Little People

When bicycling around Amsterdam (specifically, in Keukenhof), brightly-colored tulip fields spread before your eyes and sometimes reach as far into the distance as you can see.  Maybe it was my age - a time in life when many start growing their families.  Or maybe it was just the sheer joy that I saw on people's faces that forced my pedals to stop whirring and watch as they relaxed together with those they most loved.  There were old and young families alike, frolicking about the gorgeous, vibrant fields of flowers, enjoying each other, laughing, running, smiling, or simply standing and taking it all in.  Two families in particular caught my eye, and, after striking up a rocky conversation in German with each, I offered to take a few photos.  Lucky for me, they accepted!
This shy little girl captured my heart, with her stoic glances, sweet presence, and independence.  She wanted to do her own thing, and we let her.  Just look at her, secretly pleased with the attention, yet not wanting to admit it.  She warmed up by the end of the short session and was running, laughing, and bouncing about with her older sister!

























Next came two bright boys with carmel-colored hair and grins galore! These two little guys were absolutely adorable and were radiating love for their parents through their sweet cheeks and shining eyes. I could have watched them for hours.  They were thoroughly entertaining.  But, so as not to be a creepy stranger, I simply took a few shots and enjoyed this moment with them and their generous parents.


































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A Very Bavarian Weihnachtszeit

Bavaria, for those of you too busy to google it, is the southern part of Germany, sort of like a state.  It is known for being beautiful, wealthy, and extremely traditional in its German ways.  I'm going to go ahead ahead and say right now that this is a pretty accurate description.

The countryside of Munich reminds me much of the countryside of southern Ohio, with rolling hills, emerald-green grass, farms, cows and small villages scattered throughout.  The main difference would obviously be the looming Alps in the backdrop.  They are maaaaaaaarrrrrveeeloooooooous! Winter adds a charming, winter-wonderland, "I'm-in-a-movie" feel to this beautiful backdrop.

Downtown Munich, however, is quite a bit more elegant than any town Ohio has to offer (sorry, Cedarville, but it's just true).

Munich's bustling city center is pedestrian only, for about half a mile.  It's filled with theaters & shops of every kind, and is as crowded every evening as Chicago's Michigan Avenue on a holiday weekend.

I believe the main reasons for this are:
1. There's no other real place to go shopping
2. On Sundays, everything shuts down
3. After 8pm, everything shuts down

Thus, it is constantly crowded, as people try to make it in to find what they need before the shops close, again.

During Christmas time (Weinnachtszeit), it is particularly lovely, with hundreds of booths and tents set up to sell Christmas drinks, food, and gifts.  Here you will find little hand-carved, wooden trinkets, hand-made mittens, socks, toys, and cookie hearts on a string (these are very popular for some reason probably linked to tradition, but they are nasty. Be fairly warned...).  Everything is decorated for Christmas, and it's so crowded during this time, despite the cold, that it's similar to walking through a crowded house-party.

Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of the festivities this year, d/t flying to South Africa just after Munich set itself up for Christmas.  But you can picture it in your head, right?  If you live in Chicago, you have probably seen the mini-version set up on Daly Plaza. It probably looks like this: http://v9.lscache2.c.bigcache.googleapis.com/static.panoramio.com/photos/original/16908738.jpg
or this:
http://vfinance.vn/Data/Images/2009/11/27/Vfinance_germany_2005_christmas_market_weihnachten_markt_chris_kringle_kris_muenchen_---_munich_024.jpg

Another tradition of Bavaria is to dress in traditional dirndls and lederhosen on the weekends.  For example:

Notice the painted background in the above photo, celebrating clothing choice...

While the northern Germans think it's a bit odd, in the south, it is totally normal here to wear traditional dress, and not just on special occasions. In fact, the dirndl is an entire niche business.  Fancy dirndls (the dresses) cost upward of 600 Euro....about $900- who knew!  While I did not, in fact, buy a fancy dirndl, visitors will find me at the airport to greet them in something akin to traditional German-wear.  This is my gift to you, for coming all the way out here just for a visit. You may or may not want this gift...but I bet you do.

Die Sweiz

I think it is a tad ridiculous that countries have different names for the same country.  This only makes it confusing for everyone.

When I moved to Germany, I realized that, yes indeed, they call their land Deutschland. Perhaps I had heard this at some point, but I didn’t really know it until coming here. Why doesn’t the U.S. call it Deutschland? 

Another prime example: In Germany, they further the hatred of all South Americans and Canadians toward the already egocentric U.S. when they call the U.S. Amerika.  (In case my fellow “Americans” are confused, the Canadians and S. Americans are all Americans.  They like us to say we are U.S. citizens, as it otherwise sounds like our country is the only one that really counts over there.) When I take over the world, there is going to be only one name for each country, and everyone will call it by that name. This will lead the way toward world peace.  

Except for maybe the South Africans, who have a committee whose entire job is to invent new Afrikaans words for words that develop (like, internet).  That’s right. They grasp into thin air, create a word that, to them, sounds like a good ole Afrikaans word.  I think it would be a fun job. I mean, don’t we all come up with our own new words sometimes? http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/news/2010/07/100721_palin_nh_sl.shtml

Back to die Sweiz, Suisse, or Switzerland.  Some friends and I took a road trip to an area called Villars.  My friend had studied there for a couple of months and wanted to see her old stomping grounds.  I had heard so much about that time in her life (along with another good friend of mine) that I was excited to see it.  Her husband came along and we hopped in the car.  Off to Switzerland!

Switzerland is one of the prettiest places on the planet.  The cities seem to have been intentionally built around the Alps in such a way that one sees nearly every Swiss Alpine mountain when driving or getting from town to town.  There are so many villages on lakes with the picturesque church and looming mountains in the background, one starts to wonder—why do I not live here?

After a couple of days at L’Abri (the refuge), and hiking up one of said beautiful mountains, we traveled back to Interlaken to pick up my husband. Near the quaint town of Interlaken is a place that I hope you all get to see some day, Gimmelswald. We took a side-excursion from our long drive home to take the gondola up to the top of the mountains there.  Geez-oh-man!  There we found retired folks who now make the aged Alpine cheese that goes to the 5-star hotels, fresh beef jerky (I don’t even like that stuff, but I tried it and really enjoyed), and sweet Swiss mountain people who wave to each other and take walks daily along the top of the mountain.  We even met the cheese man, Hans, who retired from being a NYC banker after 4 years and moved back to his homeland. He now sells the freshly made Alpine cheeses to 5-star hotels, and was a delight to meet!  He told me to bring some cheese back to “Angela” (Merkel) for him.  Pictures are definitely better than words here, so, without further adieu…

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