Narrow streets

It's funny: everytime I talk  to strangers/people at the streets, they usually ask me where am I from (because of my funny accent, probably!). Most of the times I need to explain where is Portugal or clarify that I speak the same language as the brazilians, and that Portugal is not a city in Spain. bua bua! :( Remember that Cristiano Ronaldo (and soccer in general!) is not that famous here in Richmond...

One time, someone asked me if it is true that in Portugal we have narrow streets. ahah Yes, we do! Actually, Portugal has a very rich and interesting history behind: the first county was formed at 868 (That old!). That's why you usually found the narrow streets in the historical part of the city.

Let me show you some pictures of narrow streets in Coimbra. Enjoy!

Charming Aveiro

So, this is Aveiro, this nice little city located on the shore of the atlantic ocean... It's often called the portuguese Venice and you can see why. It's not a big city packed with cars and buildings but it is a cute and charming one :) During the holidays I went for walk by the canal with my sisters and my cousin and I took a couple of photos. This is just a sample of the city. Definitely I need to go home again and fill my sd card with moooore photos of Aveiro.

PS: vota no soblushed para ''Blogs do ano 2012', na categoria 'blog estrangeiro em língua portuguesa'.

Obrigada!! :)

Por-tu-gue-se food :)

What is my favorite dish? hum... that is a difficult question! But I'm sure that is probably something that involves fish! Yes, I'm from Aveiro region, so the fish is a big thing for us! Specially the eels stew with beautiful yellow sliced potatoes because of the safron sauce, that is one of our specialty dish!

I took some photos of the food that I ate during the holidays in Portugal, check them out!

Check also the photos from last year Xtmas+Reveillon, more food there!

Spending the holidays in Portugal means...

Happy new year!! I'm sorry for the lack of posts lately but december was (always is, actually!) such an intense month: finishing some experiments at the lab, making sure that the presents come in time,... 

2012 was tough: I stayed the entire year here in USA and I had a lot of fun but I was already missing my country...  Portugal was calling for me from the other side of the ocean. I needed to recharge and get inspired for 2013 near my beloved ones so I went back home to spend the holidays!  

Spending Christmas in Portugal means: spending time with my cat&dog, crazyness with my sisters, boyfriend all the time, coffees (espresso) with friends, reveillon playing silly games, good food, walks into the city,.... Life is good!

See the photos bellow; they are just a small sample. I hope you enjoy! ;)

3.270Kg of Portuguese cookies

LOOK-AT-THIS!

BRUTAL!!!

Thank you Antonio for all the cookies and the Easter almonds.

I'm in heaven right now! *amaaazing*

I have all the family:
classic Maria

toasted Maria (with a hint of cinnamon)

golden Maria

wholewheat Maria

Maria: the queen of all the cookies! eheh

Um Jantar à Portuguesa

(this time, in Portuguese)

Já há muito tempo que queria fazer um jantarzinho especial para os meus colegas de laboratório. Aproveitando umas coisitas que trouxe do supermercado português (no Canadá) resolvi fazer assim um jantar caprichado, como nós gostamos de fazer. Um jantar à portuguesa!

Foi um sucesso, eles gostaram muito! Dei-lhes a conhecer os tremoços, a chouriça e a broa, e acharam imensa piada ao nome ‘Baba de Camelo’ hehe. No final ainda tiveram direito a umas caipirinhas (um abraço aos nossos irmãos deste lado do oceano ;))

Uma vez que não tinha espaço para todos se sentarem à mesa, foi uma coisa mais relaxada, informal; houve música portuguesa, guardanapos vermelhos e verdes e ementa escrita em português (e inglês). Haha É sempre giro pô-los a falar português! E pelo que parece temos sons muita difíceis de pronunciar..

Aqui estão algumas fotos. Que tal? Aprovado?

Kiss,kiss

JB*

 

 

Coimbra tem encanto

Today I'm going to show you some photos of Coimbra, an historical city which is located over a hill by the Mondego river, in central Portugal.

Coimbra is amazing and you can breed its history all over the place. Walk in the streets, seek for the monuments and finally, sit by the river and enjoy the view. At night, search for the Tunas (students musical groups) and hear its music...They will sing a serenade just for you...and then Fado de Coimbra will make you cry.

The intense cultural life centered on the university, one of the oldest in Europe, attracts every year students from all over the country and many international students.

Did you know that Coimbra served as the capital of Portugal, from 1131 to 1255? Or should I say Kingdom of Portugal, since I’m talking about our first king D. Afonso Henriques? Cool, right? The architecture is a result of many influences, considering, for example, that Visigoths, Moors and Germanic people invaded the city before the Christian reconquest.

Back in the Middle Ages, Coimbra was divided into an upper city (Cidade Alta or Almedina), where the aristocracy and the clergy lived, and the low city (Cidade Baixa) near the Mondego margins, where the people lived and the most part of commercial activities took place.

I took some photos at the baixa of Coimbra as I was waiting for my ride. I hope you enjoy it.

Portugal is really beautiful and magic; there is always a story behind each city, each monument, each corner. Be proud! I am proud!

Kiss, kiss

JB*

one month ago.

It’s tough being an emigrant!
Everytime I go to Portugal is such a blast! I always want to do so many things: visiting so many places I miss, eating all my favorite dishes, hugging and kissing my beloved ones…and yet, the time flies and there is always something left to do... When I arrive in Portugal I just don’t care about jet lag, you know, I simply don’t have the time for it! I’m always so excited that my body almost forgets that I've just slept a couple of hours. Unfortunately, my clock doesn't care about this excitement and steals 5 precious hours in Portugal.

This year, it was even more difficult to manage my time specially because Christmas and the Revellion were at weekend! However, I did visit my favorite cities!! I went to see my sister in Coimbra and my friends (and my boss) in Braga. I wish I took some more photos though… And I’m sorry Aveiro but I just didn’t have the time to take photos at your beautiful Ria.
The next collage of photos is just a little smell of my holidays back in Portugal; as you can see, I've manage to take photos of some great portuguese food that you would certainly enjoy :D .

Now, I'm back to the lab..and back to the gym too! hehe
Enjoy!

Kiss,kiss
JB*

vacations*férias*vacaciones

<24 days have passed from my vacations... really?! grrr.. It seems that I'm here since eternity! -'- And specially because I had to start my experiences at lab like crazy. :/
Well, I'm definitely sure that this post is going to put me a smile on my face! (I'm already smiling just thinking in all the good stuff!). And you know, I'll definitely, bookmarked it, and see it over and over again :D
As I told you I had a lot of fun on my vacations back in Portugal. Do you want to see some pictures that I took (and I have to say that I'm really frustrated because I wish I had much more photos)? So, ok I'm going to share just a bit. And I will start with the FOOD. Of course, THE FOOD!
Here, just a sample of all the cheeses and cured sausages that I ate, the bread... Oh, the bread!

All the soups, grilled fresh fish, fish stew (including eel stew, of course!!), molluscs, roast sucking piglet, ... food that I can't eat here! :( It's very, very hard to find a good fish here, like, real fish, you know?

The deserts... Oh the deserts! Actually, I can make them here. It's not hard! :) Our deserts doesn't have any weird ingredient: it's all about eggs,right? eggzs... 8-P

And of course, at the end: the amazing coffee! The perfect and tiny espresso.. I miss you..

But nothing compares with eating all of these goodies with all the friends and family... so much better!! And speaking of friends, yeah! I have more pictures to show you! Now, just have a look on these snapshots, because this Summer was also a synonymous of: a baptism, my cousin's wedding, a relaxing weekend with my boyfriend in the north of Portugal, the south (Algarve) for the awesome beaches (yes!).. and a time with my friends in Palma de Mallorca (I don't have any photo with me, sorry! But just picture this: nice weather, nice beach with warm water but with super fine sand, and surrounded by thousands of germans! lol Ah! and paella!), uai:) The perfect Summer ever, right? (sighs..)

kiss, kiss
JB*