photography
Easter Walk 🐰
Quick stroll through the neighborhood, with a stop at the garden for a little exercise. No eggs were found.
Who needs eggs when these two are around anyway?
Happy Easter!
The River Rider
My mind keeps going back to this suffering people. When will it all end?
🇲🇲 ✊🏼
Happy Birthday
A kid in the building turned 10, someone wrote this on the pavement. He must have been so happy to see it… 🎉
Saturday, Part I: The Farmers Market
Check. Kale was purchased.
tinyMovieStar walked around a bit, feeling good.
The Rain is Back
After a nice couple of weeks with fair weather and lighter clothing, it’s rainy time again. It sucks.
Holding an umbrella in tinyMovieStar’s face is a temptation she can’t resist, and she’s moving back and forth the whole time. One less available hand too. A heavier jacket, one that can keep her covered. Added weight.
We did two and a half hours today, so far. Went to the bakery, and that added a bag of bread to the whole thing.
It was a great walk, all things considered, but an exhausting one. We are walked slower, trying to keep us closer to home, but still managed a very respectable 7.1Km (4.4 miles for the rest of you) in the end.
We met a colleague from the newspaper times, one of the people I respected the most. Felt really nice to see her.
The River
The Tejo (or Tagus) is an incredible river. It’s impossible to imagine the city without it. And yet, a lot of times, it feels like it’s something no one thinks about.
Sure, you can find people at Cais das Colunas, and all the way to Cais do Sodré, the renovated part. They’re enjoying the water view, there are a couple of kiosks selling food & drinks, there are musicians playing their guitars, and you can catch a glimpse of what life could be if the rest of the river bank got the same kind of attention. Sadly, it does not.
(For those not familiar with the city, this part is a very very small section of the river front.)
On most of what’s left, kilometers of it, you’ll find parking lots, warehouses, semi derelict, a few restaurants and clubs, marinas, but it all feels very much abandoned.
Homeless people call it home, the smell of piss mixed with the scent of the river, and poorly graffitied walls are the norm.
Today we went to Lapa, one of the fancy areas in town, and walked down to the river. We crossed the train tracks, and walked a bit along the water. It’s not nice.
A few people running and cycling, but that’s it. It’s mostly an empty area, until we get closer to the station at Cais do Sodré. Once there you can expect the usual crowd that seems to gather at every single city train station in the world: winos, junkies and other assorted people dealing with addiction and homelessness.
We were looking for the nice man playing the saxophone, he was so sweet yesterday. There was no one else around, he played for tinyMovieStar, she loved it, we danced. We were not carrying any money then, and we were about to fix that. He was not there.
We walked back, the usual climb. Not sad, but a little disappointed. With everything.
Why Would You Do That?
I’d seen it drive by, but always too noisy and speeding, so I couldn’t get a proper look. Then I found it parked. Still can’t picture myself riding (driving?) one of these around.
Happy Days
Long walk this morning, down to Rossio and on to the river, along it for a while until we reached Cais do Sodré.
We were met by two friends and made our way back with them, up the hill, until we were home.
Enric and José, a couple of great photographers and avid walkers, as I guess most photographers are.
I really enjoy walking alone with tinyMovieStar, but having company is a very welcome change. After all the time we spent locked at home, talking to people over the phone, texting and video calling (not a fan!), it’s great to be able to meet people, look at their faces, and actually talk.
We even took longer than the usual two hours on our walk, the little one was getting a bit hungry and sleepy. That’s not a good mix. Sorry about that, tinyMovieStar!
D for Dad
We have found ourselves buying books for tinyMovieStar lately. Actual books, physical ones. Ours are now mostly digital.
Some of these books, truth be told, are also for us. And we’re lucky to have Planeta Tangerina in town, their books are AMAZING.
Yesterday, while at the bookstore, movieStar got this one for me, as a belated Father’s Day present. I was beyond thrilled!
#GardenLife
Another Zoom call for mum, a handful of steps for tinyMovieStar and dad. Those were the afternoon plans, and we completed them with flying colors.
movieStar joined us for the second half, in the garden, for a little walking practice with the baby. Again her doggy friend was there, they had fun together.
At the moment it’s still forbidden but, being Portugal, yea… No!
Cafes and kiosks can sell beer, for takeaway. Or takeaway…
We’re now doing the American, and have bottles in bags all over the garden. Groups of people, still keeping a distance, drinking out of the bag. It’s another thing that will be forever remembered as Covid related.
The bookstore was our final stop before getting home.
Our plans now: dinner & sleeping.