Discovering Portugal :: Guimaraes

Aqui nasceu Portugal - Here was born Portugal - is what you read as soon as you get to the historical center of the city. Known as the birthplace of the nation, Guimaraes is one of the most important historical cities of Portugal. It's was the first governative center of the Portuguese kingdom as it was born in that region in the beginning of the XII century. The most important historical figure of the city is, of course, D. Afonso Henriques, who's been said to have born there, though not proven. The adventurer knight battled with his own mother's army to take control of the land, and later became the first king when the kingdom was recognized in 1143. Adventurous and rebel as he was, naturally he had proclaimed himself king of Portugal several years before that happened.

As it is to expect, the city is full of history and walking trough the streets you can really feel it's character. Its historical center is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and it's really worth a visit. Also, this year the city is nominated one of the European Capitals of Culture (along with Maribor), so there will be lots of fun and interesting things happening.

And, since we embarked on this quest to discover every Portuguese castle, we can proudly say we scratched another one from our never ending list!

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all photos by me
(except that one the hub took of me, obviously! ;)  )

Welcome 2012!

Happy New Year everyone!! Oh... I know it's already the fourth day, but never mind me.

I was wondering if anyone would have missed me... (if you didn't, please don't say so) Christmas time is also known as crazy time in here. We've been oh so so busy! Between all christmas celebrations, and lots of rehearsals, and hand-making all the christmas gifts, and... starting everything to get our etsy shop open soon... the list is endless.

But we managed to get to days of to get away of everything to start the new year. We considered going to somewhere near the sea, and then went for something totally different (don't even ask...) but it was super! We went to Guimaraes, the European Capital of Culture for 2012, and we loved everything. The beautiful old city (more on that later), the awesome party, the christmas lights (oh, yes, there were lights!!) and even the cold weather. It was the perfect getaway! (follow this link and watch the video on the right to see how the party was)

Hope you started the year with good vibes too!

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all photos by me

Mom, matchstick potatoes and round potatoes come from the same tree?

 

This used to be a family thing, getting together for planting and picking the potatoes for the whole year. The day of the potatoe harvest was like a family feast. Once a year everybody would get together to pick the potatoes for the next year. Started early in the morning to avoid the hot summer sun and ended at lunch, eating the first crop of potatoes. It was hard work but it was a family day and it was a joint effort to produce something together. This is a portuguese tradition that is probably doomed to be lost.

Francisco's family keeps that tradition and the thing I love the most is watch the kids running around excited, and asking all sorts of questions about it. Isn't a shame that today's kids don't know were things come from? Probably they think they just come from the supermarket...

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 all photos by me
with android camera phone

The August Break - Day 18

Lisbon. Love to watch the city life by the colors of the morning sun.

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all photos by me

The August Break 2011 - Day 10

The forest of Bussaco. An amazing place.

The August Break 2011 - Day 9

On the river there was an island. On the island there was a castle.
On the castle there was a rooster guarding it.

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all photos by me

Good memories don't need 10 megapixel

"Don't bother pulling out your phone camera, those pictures are gonna look like shit."

Yeah, I hear you. Back in my head there's a little voice saying "did I asked for your opinion?". I know, I have evil voices in my head, and they also whisper me things like "since when everybody has become such a photography expert?". (sometimes I don't really know if they're in my head or coming out of my mouth, but that's a whole other story...)

Me, being me, just take the pictures anyway.

More and more often you see people pulling out their fancy cameras - witch they can afford, congratulations! - and think of themselves as photografers. And suddenly everything else is crap. When did we get so picky? Don't get me wrong, I have wild dreams, I mean reeeally wild dreams, about cameras but they're nowhere near being in my budget at the moment nor in a near future so I have to stick with my bridge cam and be happy with it. You say maybe I'm just jealous. Well yeah! Probably. But thats not the point.

I say, do you remember when you were a kid and your father had a weird plastic kodak or olimpus camera, with manual focus (or no focus at all, and no zoom!) and a blinding flash? I do. I remember my father also having a polaroide and I loved it more than candys! I love to get those albums out of the dusty closet and laught at those old pictures and remember all those happy moments. And some pictures I really wanna magnify them and hang them on the wall, because they have such a unique beauty! And you know what? My crappy cellphone camera has more definition then those cameras had. So, there's my point. When did we get so picky? Good memories don't need 10 megapixel, zoom 15x nor ISO 6400.

This pictures were taken in the new year's day. We had forgoten our battery charger and, as it happens on that day, there was not a store open where we could buy some. So, out came the cellphone.

For me this are happy pictures. They make me smile every time, and they make fly back in time. And I can feel the cold in that day, and the fog around the city. Even though they are noisy and blurry, I love them.

And they are beautiful. I say so. That's what they make me feel. Good pictures also don't need 10 megapixel.

And here's other things I say:
A good camera does not make you a photographer, and it's not enough to make a good photo, it's the person behind the camera that makes it. It helps having a good camera, and if you can take the most out of it and can afford a really good camera, nice! Not everybody has to be a photographer, and you don't have to be one to take happy pictures, but I guess you already knew that. I'm not a photographer, nor pretend to be one. I probably would have gone that way if I were not to be a designer, still, even though I've not learnt much about it, I love to take photos, capture moments... and I don't have a fancy camera. I just try to do the most with what I have in hand.

So, go ahead, pull out your not so fancy cameras and take happy pictures!

And there will be times when you may surprise yourself by loving especially the most weird ones, because they have some special thing in them, or then thats just me who's the weird one. You can say that too.

Oh, and if you have time take a look at this place. You'll find a girl who knows a thing or two about happy pictures.

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all photos by me

Weekend at the beach

Well, not really, but that's what we hoped for.

Last week we felt like camping again. We haven't done it in a long time, I mean... not since the wedding almost a year ago (yes! a year in a few days!!).

Since it was hot we chose the beach. So we went for three days to a small village near Aveiro called Praia da Vagueira (Beach of Vagueira). It turns out it was not hot after all... It was windy and a bit cold because the sun felt like playing hide and seek with us, but it was worth it! We ate fresh fish, bought fruit and veggies from the local producers, took long walks (when the wind calmed down and allowed us that), took hundreds of pictures (ok, I confess: I took them. Thank God the husband aka my-personal-model doesn't complain! God knows I would.), and mostly just enjoyed the quiet and being with each other. In the end, that's really what matter.









In the end it paid of not being mad with the weather, after all we just wanted to be alone, away and relax a bit. So, guess what? The very last day the sun really came out behind the clouds, the wind stopped around lunch time and we had a wonderfull beach afternoon. Just the way I like it. Quiet... and the beach getting empty as the sun gets closer to the horinzon and the families leave to get back home. And man, it was hot! So what to do? Put on the bikini, sunscreen and... take more pictures.











I really don't like extra long posts that forces you to scroll down over and over, but I just couldn't resist to put all these photos so, sorry for that.

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all photos by me