Real Richmond!

I don't know how to start.. But Richmond is definitely a different city.. It doesn't have so many tall buildings like NYC, neither a lot of museums and memorials as DC neither the ocean so near as in Boston. I'm here since November and I'm still exploring this city.. For instance, yesterday I went to Broad st. for the First Fridays Art Walk. That was awesome! Every first friday of the month, the art galleries are open with new exhibitions, we can found street animations, live music.. that street just came to life! 

So, what does Richmond have?

• Maymont park with a mini-zoo and a beautiful gardens like the Japanese Garden.
• The white Virginia State Capitol surrounded by nice squirrels.
• Lovely Victorian style houses (I definitely have to do a post for this!)
• It has Jackson Ward, a historically Afro-American neighborhood. I like the houses with front porches, the barber shops full of people, the cars parked there..
• James river full of rapids and pools; nice for fishing, rafting and for swim (like a little Jacuzzi pool, maybe not so hot lol)
• The special Cardinal birds; so unique!
• It doesn't have subway :(, only bus (and it sucks on weekends!)..
• The Cary st. is awesome: the west side is good for shopping (stylish vintage stores) and the east side is for the pubs
• The beach is not that near (Virginia Beach is 2h away from here..) but it has the same latitude as the beautiful beach in Zambujeira do Mar, in Portugal.. Almost summer,yes!

I found that Richmond is very real and raw! Welcome to Richmond!


Kiss,
JB*

PS: Hey, by the way, did you already click LIKE on my facebook page? You will receive the updates from my blog and I will post also some photos from my everyday life..I hope you like it!

Me want cookies!

Oh cookies, cookies! I'm the kind of girl that is crazy about sweets: not candies or gummies but homemade cakes, cookies, muffins and chocolate..There must be two types of girls: some crazy about sweets, others crazy about salty.
And today I'm going to talk about COOKIES! Cookies are not a thing that I remember my mom or even my grandma doing.. I don't know, perhaps Portugal doesn't have a large history in cookies, I don't know.. However I always had some cookies at home, at least a packet of Maria cookies (I miss them!) :)
I was doing some research and I found that the word cookie originally came from the Dutch keokje, meaning "little cake" and the Dutch first popularized cookies in the United States. Cookies are consumed in 95.2 percent of U.S. households. Americans alone consume over 2 billion cookies a year, or 300 cookies for each person annually.
So, of course, I had to try the american cookies!!


Cappuccino Cookies with espresso and white chocolate. This was my first tray of cookies, and it turns out they were a success. Check here the recipe, her blog is adorable! She is american so nothing better than learn from her. You can try with some dark chocolate chips and pecan nuts too. The taste of coffee is something fantastic!

 
Chewy Low Fat Banana Nut Oatmeal Cookies. Another recipe that you have to try is these light cookies. The recipe is here. And by the way, this blog is very nice because Gina makes delicious low fat recipes.

Oh cookies, cookies! You are awesome, you know that? I have an entire book of cookies recipes to try! but you know what..the summer is almost here... I'm so sorry mister cookie! in another time (but I will assure you that will be on this life! c;)

Kiss,

JB*
P.S.: let me know if you have any questions about the recipes ;)

WoW Washington DC!

Next stop was: Washington DC, the "District" of Columbia! Is not a part of any state: neither Virginia nor Maryland. Is a sacred land! So it means that the Washington Dulles and the Ronald Reagan airports don't belong to Washington but they are actually from Virginia. hehe
So, after landing in Dulles, we took the subway to no man's land :P! Do you want to know what did we experience right before we arrive? Hot as hell (calor do catano!)! And, again, we weren't ready for that! God! So first the wind and cold in Boston..and now the hot,hot,hot weather in DC. grrr! In fact, we don't have many travelling experiences ...we are the so-called "the beginners"!
What did I think about DC? Well, built to be the capital of US. Basically, it's a nice and new city, with some tall buildings..and then, when you get closer to the "center", you have a sacred and immaculate strip of land full of MEMORIALS, MUSEUMS, MEMORIALS and more MUSEUMS! I mean, you don't imagine how big is that and how many things you can watch/visit and take photos. So, don't try to do that in one day! The center has all those museums but nothing else... I mean:and for that I mean: no starbucks, no deli markets, no stop subway stations,.. so funny right? You just have these yellow cars with hamburgers, hotdogs and pretzel, that took over the immaculate strip of land.
I enjoyed the city, we had some lucky with the hotel, very near from the immaculate strip of land..Oh, and guess what? When I had lost hope, with my luggage ready to go to the next stop, I finally found Zara, H&M, American Apparel, Macy's and Forever XXI in the same block...sweet!

What DC has?

• Mister Lincoln seated, looking at the city.
• It has a reflecting pool, but at the time it was under construction :s
• mini Chinatown (very light, considering the Chinese things lol) with some food and very important: Smoothie King..oh God!After our long walks (under the sun, should I remember you!)..nothing better than a fruity smoothie.
• nice Aquarium, fresh and protected from the sun :D
• a lot of Museums: we "just" saw the National Museum of Natural History and the National Gallery of Art.
• White house with Obama and his family doing a Easter party. hehe
• Madame Tussauds, because it is always fun to chill out with some famous and Very Important People (V.I.P.)
• Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, George Washington, Ronald Reagan, John Kennedy,etc.: they were all there!! ;)

Amazed?

Kiss,
JB*

PS: DC has the same latitude as Lisbon =)

 

Bold Boston

United-States-of-America. How many united states? 50 states! What are the differences between them? I still don't know. But one thing I know for sure: you can found Starbucks in each and every state (I think!and I hope!). ;)
Since I cross the Atlantic, I must explore these lands, right? So, in this month I did a fantastic trip (with my lovely boyfriend) starting in Boston. Then, Washington DC, Richmond and NYC! This post is about Boston!

What does Boston have?

• It's a coastal city, so you can breathe the Atlantic ocean. The landing of aircraft is very cool.
• It has the same latitude as Vigo (Spain).
• Has Garnett (Go Celtics!), Bruins (hockey) and Red Sox (baseball) =)
• Has the MIT and Harvard. You feel some history in Harvard, it's cool! And has this guy (John Harvard) with a gold-tipped shoe.
• Subway that works and is very nice!
• Lovely bronze ducks and frogs in the middle of the city.
• The Massachusetts state house that is the "Hub of the Solar System". I love the golden!
• Sea Food Legal (try to say with a Brazilian accent, lol) is a restaurant that you can find all over the city. The price not so Legau (nice!) and we, as portuguese, are very, very knowledgeable about fish.
• It has a little, little Italy. I definitely recommend the Bertucci’s; this italian restaurant is delicious. I ate kind of a pizza with grilled vegetables on top. Oh, and by the way, I had a perfect expresso at Bertucci’s in Fenway (near the Red Sox stadium).

I really enjoyed the city. I think that somehow is more european, I don't know.. It has a nice downtown with stores, bargains, nice buildings. 

Do you want to know something funny? The weather at that time wasn't so pleasant, really! So I had to buy a sweater to use on those days.. I should had checked the weather. lol
Enjoy the photos,

Kiss

JB*