A stroll in the park

the park

... enjoying this amazing Spring weather. Actually, more like summer weather with a high of 28ºC (82.4ºF, according to the converter). I stopped by my favourite bookshop to get something to read while sitting under one of the beautiful linden trees in the city centre & couldn't resist Sylvia Plath's poetry. Ok, not the merriest of poets for a day like today, but for some strange reason I'm always drawn to people with a dark side, which is quite a contrast with my own "joie de vivre".

the bookshop

I couldn't concentrate on the poetry, too many sounds, sights & scents to distract me. And ended up drifting into my own thoughts, some of the very same ones that keep me awake at night. How I wish I could be a poet to use words to unburden my soul.

Another beautiful day awaits me tomorrow, and so does another stroll in the park.

Wednesday Words

The Keeper of Sheep II

My gaze is clear like a sunflower.
It is my custom to walk the roads
Looking right and left
And sometimes looking behind me,
And what I see at each moment
Is what I never saw before,
And I’m very good at noticing things.
I’m capable of feeling the same wonder
A newborn child would feel
If he noticed that he’d really and truly been born.
I feel at each moment that I’ve just been born
Into a completely new world…

I believe in the world as in a daisy,
Because I see it. But I don’t think about it,
Because to think is to not understand.
The world wasn’t made for us to think about it
(To think is to have eyes that aren’t well)
But to look at it and to be in agreement.

I have no philosophy, I have senses…
If I speak of Nature it’s not because I know what it is
But because I love it, and for that very reason,
Because those who love never know what they love
Or why they love, or what love is.

To love is eternal innocence,
And the only innocence is not to think…

Alberto Caeiro (Fernando Pessoa)
Translation: Richard Zenith

Show and Tell

My guys are always complaining about how lazy I am when it comes to walking. It's the absolute truth! I'm embarrassed to say that I will get into my car to drive up the street for a coffee at the corner cafe. Well, today, even though I was feeling crappy because of my cold, I decided to go with them for a walk in one of my favourite places - the grounds of the Monastery of Tibães. The monastery was founded in the 11th century and in the 16th century the monks of the Order of Saint Benedict took over. The gardens and the woods around the monastery are absolutely breathtaking. Visitors can choose from two walks, the short walk or the long walk. Well, guess which one I normally go for? Yup! Always the short one! But today I got up my courage and decided to risk it (yes, because I'm sick) and went the long way round. And we're talking uphill. Funny enough, it did me good. I think the fresh air and the dampness were exactly what I needed. Here are some photos I took along the way:

The walk begins here.


Losing my nerve. A peek back at the monastery. Humm...


Ok, I didn't turn back. Still a long way to go, though. A quick stop to catch my breath.

Just about to chicken out. All those steps to climb.


Exit to the right. I made it!

Update: Just noticed that the cheeky little bugger made his way into one of the photos. Can anyone spot the little guy?

Welcome to Portugal

Thought I'd take you on a tour of some of the most beautiful places in my town.

Lisbon Comes Alive in the NYT

Click on the image to view the slideshow on Lisbon's art scene in the New York Times.