Gabi On The Go

Last full day in Florida!

2011-02-26T16:50:00.020-05:00

On our last day in Florida, Mike and I decided to do something different than just sit at the beach. We headed to one of the most visited US Wildlife Refuges: the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge.

We got there at 8:30 hoping to do the breakfast in the boat tour, but since nobody else showed up, it was cancelled. So, we waited until 10am for the Tram tour, by land. But the place is so beautiful that time flies when you are right there, admiring the nature!

Although there is a large diverse population of different animals, birds are the most seen here. There are about 200 species that migrate here every year.

It is common to see poles with bird nests on the top. These two are a couple of ospreys. We were told that they come here every year to have babies. The city put up the platform on the top of the pole and they do the rest.

FROM: http://www.fws.gov/dingdarling/

The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is located on the subtropical barrier island of Sanibel in the Gulf of Mexico. The refuge is part of the largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystem in the United States. It is world famous for its spectacular migratory bird populations.

This is Don, our tour guide. He told us that he is a retired photojournalist who's decided to live here and work with tourism. He sounds very passionate about the wildlife here and was ready to answer any question.

These trees are called Mangrove. They have adapted to the salt water and can be found in tropical regions. They dominate three quarters of tropical coastlines.

This was the first nice bird we encountered. Forgot his name, sorry!

And then we started seeing white pelicans everywhere. According to Don, they can migrate from northern areas as far as Edmonton, in Western Canada.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge is part of the United State National Wildlife Refuge System, located in southwestern Florida, on Sanibel Island in the Gulf of Mexico. It is named for the cartoonist Jay Norwood "Ding" Darling.

The 5,200 acre (21 km²) refuge was established in 1976, to protect one of the country's largest undeveloped mangrove ecosystems. The refuge is well-known for its migratory birds populations. Hurricane Charley struck the refuge on August 13, 2004, causing major changes to the topography and ecology. The J. N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge Complex consists of the following: the Darling Refuge itself, and the Caloosahatchee, Island Bay, Matlacha and Pine Island National Wildlife Refuges. The northern part of the refuge is designated as the J.N. Ding Darling Wilderness Area, and consists of 2,619.13 acres (10.6 km²) or 41.0% of its total area.

While doing the tour you can see lots of people on bikes or walking. I think that would be the best way to really enjoy this place. If you are planning to come here, I recommend a full day, if possible - but bring your own food, of course.

Cool Mangroves!

The picture is a bit blurry, but YES it is a snake that you're seeing.

This little guy is called tree crab. You can see tons of them hanging around trees.

The tram tour lasted about one hour and half, with one stop to learn more about the Mangroves.

These lagoons are very shallow, some like this one are less than a foot deep.

This is a Mullet Fish, one of the most common fish harvested in Florida.

FROM http://www.fl-seafood.com/species/mullet.htm

Mullet are found worldwide in tropical and subtropical waters including the bays and estuaries on Florida's Atlantic and Gulf Coasts. The primary commercial fishery area in Florida is along the Gulf Coast. The body of the mullet is elongated and rather stout. The color is a dark bluish on the top and silver along the sides. It has a small mouth with closely set teeth and widely separately dorsal fins. The large scales along the sides of the striped mullet consist of a dark center giving a distinct illusion of horizontal stripes. The average weight is 2 to 3 pounds, but can be in excess of 6 pounds.

Mullet swim in large schools and are commonly seen jumping out of the water, hence the name jumping mullet. This makes it easy for fishermen to spot the fish even in the dark. Mullet feed on aquatic plants and algae found floating, attached to the bottom or mixed in with surface sediments. The mullet is considered a vegetarian and is the only fish that has a gizzard, much like a chicken, that is used to grind up and digest plant material. Commercial harvesters use a cast, beach or haul seine net to catch mullet.

You can't see it too well here, but this is a tiny little spiky red spider.

More interesting species of birds. Enjoy...

We signed up for this tour hoping to see our friend gator, but obviously we just t00k home a picture of the sign. BTW... if you DON'T want to see a wild animal, take me in a tour with you!

If you know Gabiruga, you know I had to take this picture!

These trees are everywhere in Florida.

They look like a pineapple.

We were told by Don, our tour guide that those love birds are actually Bald Eagles...

...so we came back and photographed them. Aren't they cute?

These are "Pneumatophore" or Aerial Roots. They are above ground and penetrate the sand around the Mangrove tree. Cool, eh?

Bromeliad Plant.

What an elegant guy!

OK, we didn't see any alligators, but I will go home happy.

Look what we found: a turtle!

We ended our tour around noon and headed back to the beach to get Mark, who was tanning away at another beach of Sanibel Island, not far from the refuge.

And the fun tour ended at a nice local restaurant. The boys had burgers and I enjoyed a delicious Grouper. YUMMY!

This was the best desert we had, but it didn't last for too long.

With this picture I say goodbye to this Florida adventure.

Thank you Margie and Mark for such pleasant trip!

What's next?

Let's see where baby Julia - due to come on end of May- will take us.

Take care all!

Back to Sanibel Island: Bowman's Beach!

2011-02-26T16:39:00.005-05:00

What else can you do in Florida? I headed to the beach on Friday, again and it was AGAIN a wonderful day. We went back to Sanibel Island, but to a different beach: Bowman's Beach.

Maybe I am getting used to it, but the water felt warmer today. Mike and I actually went for a long swim!

The temperature outside was about 24-26 degrees celsius, but a bit windy.

This is just before we get to the beach. We were looking for alligators, of course.

But again, no luck!

Too bad, I was already taking my clothes off!

Another HARD day on the beach!

2011-02-24T10:29:00.011-05:00

Since Mike just arrived, he was the boss and it didn't take too long for the boss to decide what to do: beach day! I am glad he picked that, because we had an amazing and relaxing day at Fort Meyers Beach.

Again it took us just over an hour to get there, since traffic was a bit heavy today as well. This is a very different beach from yesterday, much more crowded. There are lots of shops, restaurants, services here and way, way more people.

Silly vacation moments to follow:

This reminds Balneário Camboriú, in Santa Catarina, Brazil, where I used to spend vacations with my family as a child. They even have the "bondinho", as we used to call the trolley.

A packed boardwalk just before the beach where you can find everything: from cheap greasy food to tacky souviniers.

THE BEACH!!!!!

Good luck finding a spot on the sand!

It's nice to have you here, meu amor!

Now it's just relax and enjoy the warm day on the beach. Hard life eh?

A basic stop to have lunch (at 3pm!) and my super young looking husband gets IDed at the restaurant. You must be 21 years old to drink here in Florida. Mike just made it! He also left a big fat tip to the kind waitress. :)

This is a PERFECT day for a cold beer, but I could only have a sip!

Can't wait for Julia to be over age to drink with her! Haha!

CHEERS!

Mark being a goofy!

The food was good and cheap! This delicious Tilapia plate was only US$ 7.99 and it came with a soup bowl. Too much food, though. A basket of crispy fries were US$ 2.50, same as a pint of beer! A huge lunch for four with tons of drinks: less than US$50! Not bad!

Back to the lazy beach day!

If anyone from school is reading this blog, here is the proof that I did school work on the Reading Week!

I am reading Regarding the Pain of the Others by Susan Sontag!

As the sun starts to go down the temperature also drops a bit, after all we are in February!

But the scenery is just marvelous!

We left the beach just before 7pm, exhausted but happy.

I realized once more that no other place makes happier and calmer than the beach facing a big the ocean!

Vamos a la praya!

2011-02-23T09:37:00.013-05:00

It's a beach day! For the first time since we got here, we headed to the beach. We left a bit too late (11:45) and an hour later we were the happiest people on the planet, enjoying the sunshine and the white sand.

We got caught in a bit of traffic getting into the Sanibel Island, on the Gulf of Mexico. Although it was a Tuesday, it didn't matter because every day here - for the retired people - is a holiday!

To get onto the island you have to pay $6.00, which I think is fine, since the beaches have nice and clean washrooms, outdoor showers and security cameras (???)!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Sanibel Island is an island located on the Gulf coast of Florida, just offshore of Fort Meyers. In 2000, it had an estimated population of 6,064 people. Located within Lee County, Sanibel is a barrier island– a collection of sand on the leeward side of the Gulf Stream from the more solid coral-rock of Pine Island.

The city of Sanibel incorporates the entire island, with most of the city proper at the east end of the island. After the Sanibel causeway was built to replace the ferry in May 1963, the residents fought back against overdevelopment by establishing the Sanibel Comprehensive Land Use Plan in 1974 helping to maintain a balance between development and preservation of the island's ecology. A new, higher bridge without a bascule (drawbridge) having to open for tall boats and sailboats, was completed in late 2007.

Thanks in part to the new causeway, Sanibel is rapidly becoming a popular tourist destination known for its beaches, shelling, and wildlife refuges. More than half of the island is made up of wildlife refuges, the largest one is the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge. The Island also hosts the Sanibel Historical Village and a variety of other museums and theaters.In August 2004 Hurricane Charley hit the island causing mandatory evacuation for the island's residents and resulting in the most damage done to the island in 44 years.

The drive there is just fantastic! The skies were really blue, and the breeze gives you a cool welcome when you open the car window and feel the nature.

I love the vegetation!

After having a bit of a hard time finding a parking spot, here we are!

It was hot, but not hot enough for the ladies to go swimming. So we enjoyed our quiet time on the sand reading, talking, relaxing...

Another showing off my belly moment!

Beautiful couple Margie and Mark! Thanks for the vacation, you two!

We had to leave earlier than we wished, at around 4pm. For two reasons: we were not prepared and didn't bring food. There are no vendors or business along the beach areas. And also, we had plans to have people over for drinks at 5pm. But it was a great time, anyway, and we will definitely go back!

This was my last chance to photograph the pelicans flying all over us, when crossing the bridges. I know it's not the best shot, but you can see they were there. One flew over, right beside my car window! Huge animals!

At night, the most exciting moment of the whole trip: to pick up my lovely hubbie at the airport, coming from cold Toronto!

Welcome to paradise, meu amor!

Not bad!

2011-02-21T22:38:00.008-05:00

Now we are settled here and already enjoying the Florida sunshine! Things are really quiet and relaxing here. We are staying in a golf community called Cross Creek. It has houses like this one in the photo, with a golf course, a community swimming pool and club house - with a bigger swimming pool, common area and restaurant. This has been our home since we arrived!

Our neighbour's car!

Gabi (and Julia) going for a walk in the neighbourhood.

I love the birds down here! They are just cruising around!

These are a couple of residents here. They are mostly retired seniors who have decided to enjoy the rest of their lives. You must be 55 plus to buy a house in these communities.

Another beautiful bird doing his daily morning gracious walk for us.

It looks like it has its lunch already.

You definitely need a car here. Everything is spread out and the stores and other services are all in malls around big highways. Not my favourite set up, but that's the way it is down here. If you want to go for a walk, it has to be in your community. And if you need some milk, you might have to travel in your car for about 10 minutes to find a simple grocery store.

Our backyard.

Our place is the one in the middle, beside the beautiful and good smelling orange tree.

God bless America!

Orange trees. These flowers have the nicest smell!

Apparently there is at least one alligator in every body of water in Florida. I didn't believe it at first, but every person I spoke with says it's true. So far I was only able to find this one... a fake one.

Another beautiful picture of my favourite orange tree!

A nice family dinner: auntie Cathy, Marggie, John, me and Mark behind the camera lens.

We had an amazing time at the pool, yesterday (Monday)! The weather was just perfect and the water was delicious!

Training Julia to enjoy the water!

I think she likes it!

The girls ended their day at an Outlet shopping mall called Miramar. The place is huge and the deals are even bigger. Most of the stores were 70% off. Too bad I am a student! If you are around here I totally recommend a day of shopping here. It's worth it!

Look at Marggie and auntie Cathy! They are ready to go!

Chasing the sun and warm weather in Florida!

2011-02-19T11:15:00.011-05:00

Gabi (and Julia) are on the road again! This time - for the first time - with my lovely mother-in-law Margie and her also nice husband Mark! We have been planning this trip for a while now, and Puerto Rico was our first picked destination. But high air fares (it would cost about $800 a person to fly down there) made us change our minds. And here we are! On our way to Florida! Driving!

We left Toronto a bit later than planned: around 2:30 pm, but who's in rush? I just finished my last class for the week and will have a week off my studies for Reading Week, although I am taking down a suitcase filled with books, computers and readings.

We crossed the border at rush hour. It was a bit busy, but we had no trouble getting into the United States of America.

Here is my little spot, in the back of the car. It was comfortable for a while, but later I needed to move to the front seat to accommodate my big belly. We made a point to stop every two hours to pee and walk for a bit. Pregnant women are strong candidates for blood clots.

Our plan was to to keep driving, non stop, for about 26 hours straight. But we realized that this would be too much. We stopped at around midnight for the night in Summersville, West Virginia. That was a great idea! We all had an amazing rest, and felt 100% the next day to keep driving.

Here I am - half asleep - trying to get some orange juice (???) at breakfast!

Of course that was the joke of the day!

If you are ever driving by Summerville and need a place to stay, here is our advice: Country Inns & Suites. For $US100 we had a big room with a king size bed, a pull out couch and a hydromassage bathtub. On top of that, I had the best breakfast included meal at a cheap hotel in North America! They had the usual muffins, bacon and eggs, with toast, PLUS fresh fruits, yogurt and different kinds of healthy cereal. We were really impressed!

This is for my cute niece Carolina!

The drive was nice, with nice weather and a full moon, but the scenery wasn't anything out of the ordinary. But here is a couple of beautiful shots from a spot just outside of Charlotte, North Carolina.

We drove through 8 states to get here: New York, Pennsylvania West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia and Florida.

Passing by Charlotte, North Carolina. This is the 18th largest city in the US based on population. More than 700 thousand people live here.

As real Canadians, we were very happy to get away from the snow and cold weather. The temperature went up as soon as we hit Virginia. I had to rush to my luggage and get my Havaianas to replace my heavy boots! (and show off my manicure, of course!)

Check this out: 26 degrees!!!!!

Eating out can be a problem here. Although we packed as much food as we could, we still had to stop to have a couple meals. Here is one of our choices: Hardee's, where we had a juicey cheeseburger! Later that day we stopped in Sparks, Florida, where we had a - at least funny- experience. After trying few different spots, we finally found an OK place (Ihop) where we had a decent meal and were exposed to the delightful southern accent. But that's a different story for a different occasion!

TRIP LOG

Total time: 36 hours

(left Toronto Thursday at 2pm and got to Fort Meyers, Florida, Saturday, at 2am).

Kilometers: 2500

States: 8 states

Countries that Julia has visited inside my womb: 4 (Canada, Brazil, Argentina and USA)!!

Lucky baby!

Monday - Tango all the way!

2011-01-10T22:53:00.024-05:00

The day was planned. But it had to be changed. We woke up early and really excited to go to Uruguay! Yes, another country, but you can easily access it by a one hour boat ride from Buenos Aires. But we got to the harbour too late and there were no seats left on any of the boat for the day. We felt disapointed because Colonia of Sacramento was on the top of our list of things to see and do.

Nerver mind... the day went on just perfectly and now we have a reason to come back to Buenos and visit Uruguay.

These photos are from the harbour area called Puerto Madero, definitely a place worth a visit.

But if you are rushing to get to the BUQUEBUS to get the boat, it's better to get the bus 152, from Plaza Del Mayo to drop you off at the boat terminal.

Ah, it helps if you are NOT pregnant, so you don't have to stop every five minutes to go pee. BTW, I should write about Buenos Aires washrooms, since I feel like I've used most of them!

Here is the bus 152, very useful!

We took it all the way from the harbour area to the famous neighbourhood of La Boca.

La Boca is known mostly for it's stadium (home of Boca Juniors)
and its bohemian style, but over all it's not a nice neighborhood to visit.

It's poor and looks rundown, but we are glad we came to see it.

Here is where the fun is!

I would imagine that this block was one day a hot spot for tango lovers and bohemians, but today, it's an area for tourists to think about tango and a Buenos Aires that might not exist anymore.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: La Boca is a neighborhood, or barrio of the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires. It retains a strong European flavour, with many of its early settlers being from the Italian city of Genoa. In fact the name has a strong assonance with the Genoese neighborhood of Boccadasse (or Bocadaze in Genoese dialect), and some people believe that the Buenos Aires barrio was indeed named after it. The conventional explanation is that the neighborhood sits at the mouth ("boca" in Spanish) of the Riachuelo.

In 1882, after a lengthy general strike, La Boca seceded from Argentina, and the rebels raised the Genoese flag, which was immediately torn down personally by then President Julio Argentino Roca.
It is known among sports fans for La Bombonera the home of Boca Juniors, one of the world's best known football clubs. La Boca is a popular destination for tourists visiting Argentina, with its colourful houses and pedestrian street, the Caminito, where tango artists perform and tango-related memorabilia is sold. Other attractions include the La Ribera theatre, many tango clubs and Italian taverns.
It has also been a centre for radical politics, having elected the first socialist member of the Argentine Congress (Alfredo Palacios in 1935) and was home to many demonstrations during the crisis of 2001.
As one of Buenos Aires's 48 barrios, La Boca is located in the city's south-east near its old port. The barrio of Barracas is to the west; San Telmo and Puerto Madero are to the north. In La Boca many of the residents are of mixed European descent. Mainly Italian, Spanish, German, French, Arab and Basque.

For a few pesos tourists can feel like they are tango dancer and bring home a photo with a hot Argentinean showing them the moves. These street artists are everywhere, like the super heroes at Hollywood Boulevard, in LA.

This was probably the coolest looking bar and restaurant in the area. The owner did a great job keeping the bohemian atmosphere alive. Mike had a beer there (right at the corner when la Boca Starts, in front of the Caminito) and I, of course, tried their washroom.

Anyone can dance tango here!

At least for the cameras.

The Caminito, which now houses souvenier stores, including one of the most famous Alfajore brand: Havanna.

If you go upstairs and buy a souvenier, you can take a photo from a balcony, with Maradonna.

I did it... strangling him.

Some restaurants have tango performers to entertain their costumers... and people just walking on the streets, like us.

I love the colourful old houses, caractheristic of the place.

This fellow is enjoying the tango life!

Mikezinho having a good time.

It was a very hot day.

You just walk around clicking your camera away.

It's a great place to take photos!

Here are the three most famous Aregntineans.

From left to right: soccer player Maradonna, former first lady Eva Peron, and, I think, tango singer Carlos Gardel.

What a beautiful and pleasant place.

In the end, we were almost glad we missed Uruguay.

He is everywhere.

I wouldn't normally post a Maradonna picture on my blog, but this is just to show how he is loved here (not by me!!).

This is La Boca's old market.

A very interesting place, worth a walk.

Me right after our amazing lunch: breaded beef, french fries and salad.

A local man... probably remembering the tango good times.

* * * TANGO NIGHT!!!! * * *

If you go to New Orleans you must see a blues...

Lisbon, a Fado.

In Rio de Janeiro you cannot miss samba.

Here, you must see a tango night!

There are many different theatres and shows offering an authentic tango night, but we choose one of the classics, the Esquina Carlos Gardel.

For 420 pesos, or about CAN $130 a person, you can have a delicious three courses meal and the show in a fancy theater.

The tango couple.

How do you like Mike's new Argentinean shirt, bought especially for the tango night?

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Carlos Gardel (11 December 1887 or 1890 – 24 June 1935) was a singer, songwriter and actor, and is perhaps the most prominent figure in the history of tango. His birthplace is disputed between Uruguay and France. He lived in Argentina from the age of two and acquired Argentine citizenship in 1923. He grew up in the Abasto neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He attended Pio IX Industrial high-school located in the Almagro neighborhood of Buenos Aires. He died in an airplane crash at the height of his career, becoming an archetypal tragic hero mourned throughout Latin America. For many, Gardel embodies the soul of the tango style. He is commonly referred to as "Carlitos", "El Zorzal" (The Song Thrush), "The King of Tango", "El Mago" (The Magician) and "El Mudo" (The Mute).

The show is really beautiful and the music is amazing, all by Carlos Gardel.

The unerring musicality of Gardel's baritone voice and the dramatic phrasing of his lyrics made miniature masterpieces of his hundreds of three-minute tango recordings. Together with lyricist and long-time collaborator Alfredo Le Pera, Gardel wrote several classic tangos, most notably: Mi Buenos Aires querido, Cuesta abajo, Amores de estudiante, Soledad, Volver, Por una cabeza and El día que me quieras.

You just feel like going home and practising some moves.

I guess it would be a bit hard with my new belly.

There are a couple of singers and about seven pairs of dancers, all amazing.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Tango dance and tango music originated in the area of the Rio de la Plata, and spread to the rest of the world soon after.
Early tango was known as tango criollo, or simply tango. Today, there are many tango dance styles, including Argentine tango, Uruguayan tango, Ballroom tango (American and International styles), Finnish tango, and vintage tangos. What many consider to be the authentic tango is that closest to that originally danced in Argentina and Uruguay, though other types of tango have developed into mature dances in their own right.
In 2009, Argentina and Uruguay suggested the Tango to be inscribed onto the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage Lists, in October of the same year UNESCO approved it.

But for me the most surprising was the orchestra, formed by very young people.

They were incredible!
I am afraid this boy here is under age! :)

It was a remarkable night!

This closes our trip to Buenos Aires in high style!

Sunday - from San Telmo to Recoleta

2011-01-09T17:05:00.019-05:00

If you are in Buenos Aires on a Sunday, you must visit San Telmo's market, an open air antique market right at the hippie neighbourhood of San Telmo. It seems that the whole population was there with the tourists, of course. You can find old things, as well as art pieces - photographs and paintings - artcrafts and clothes.

Make sure you wear a good pair of shoes. You will certainly walk a lot. The market main street goes on for about 10 blocks!!!
All the way to the Plaza Del Mayo.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: San Telmo ("Saint Pedro González Telmo") is the oldest barrio (neighborhood) of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is a well-preserved area of the Argentine metropolis and is characterized by its colonial buildings. Cafes, tango parlors and antique shops line the cobblestone streets, which are often filled with artists and dancers.
San Telmo's attractions include old churches (e.g. San Pedro Telmo), museums, antique stores and a semi-permanent antique fair (Feria de Antigüedades) in the main public square, Plaza Dorrego. Tango-related activities for both locals and tourists are in the area.

Sombreros= hats!

I love the characters that you find just hanging out there.

It was impressive to see the number of Brazilian tourists. They were speaking Portuguese everywhere, a real difference from 15 years ago when Argentineans used to come to Brazil for vacations. Our turn now!

You can find pretty much everything there!

Me showing off my 4 and half months pregnant belly while enjoying the hot weather at the market.

This lady was dancing tango, right there on the street.

It's a great place to take pictures, but we were warned many times to really be careful with our bags and cameras.

Girls are selling home made empanadas on every corner.

We went in the San Telmo Market (an indoor one). There they sell antiques, clothes, art crafts and food. It's an old and almost ugly place. But because of its picturesque look, it turns into an original and fun little place.

We decided to eat in the market. It's not the cleanest place, but for 20 pesos (about 6 dollars) we had a delicious meal with meat loaf and french fries.

Our waiter
making some meat empanadas.

They also sell fruits and vegetable like any other market.

Here Mike was trying to bargain, but they are tough! He walked away and the lady didn't want to settled at 5 pesos less, or less than 2 dollars.

This main street (Defensa street) is packed with people and hippies selling theit stuff on both side walks.

Sometimes it's hard to move foward.

After hours of walking, we got to the Plaza Del Mayo and headed to another part of the city: the Recoleta neighbourhood.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Recoleta is a downtown residential neighborhood in the city of Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, Argentina; it is an area of great historical and architectural interest, due, particularly to the Recoleta Cemetery located there. It is also an important tourist destination and cultural center of the city.
It is also considered one of the more affluent neighborhoods, and the cost per square meter/foot of real estate is one of the highest in the city.
The Recoleta is accessible by the “D Line” of the Buenos Aires Subway which passes through the neighborhood.

This place was also very busy with local families and tourists enjoying the sunny Sunday.

There are people walking dogs everywhere in the areas that we visited. The sad part is that I don't think people are used to cleaning up after their puppies. There is dog poopo all over the sidewalks. Watch out when you walk around!

We also visited the famous Recoleta Cemetery.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: La Recoleta Cemetery is a famous cemetery located in the exclusive Recoleta neighbourhood of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It contains the graves of some of the most important Argentines, including Eva Perón, Raúl Alfonsín, and several presidents of Argentina.

The monks of the Order of the Recoletos arrived in this area, then the outskirts of Buenos Aires, in the early eighteenth century. The cemetery is built around their convent and a church, Our Lady of Pilar, built in 1732. The order was disbanded in 1822, and the garden of the convent was converted into the first public cemetery in Buenos Aires. Those responsible for its creation were the then-Governor Martin Rodriguez (buried here) and government minister, Bernardino Rivadavia. The 1822 layout was done by city architect and civil engineer Próspero Catelin, who also designed the current facade of the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Cathedral.
During the 1870s, following the epidemic of yellow fever which ravaged the city, many upper-class Buenos Aires neighborhoods fled San Telmo and Montserrat and moved to the northern part of the city, Recoleta. By becoming a high class neighborhood, the cemetery became the final resting place of the families of greatest prestige and power of Buenos Aires.
The cemetery was remodeled in 1881, while Torcuato de Alvear was mayor of the city, by the Italian architect Juan Antonio Buschiazzo. The property contains room for about 4800 vaults, all above ground.

The entrance to the cemetery is through neo-classical gates with tall Greek columns. The cemetery contains many elaborate marble mausoleums, decorated with statues, in a wide variety of architectural styles. The entire cemetery is laid out in sections like city blocks, with wide tree-lined main walkways branching into sidewalks filled with mausoleums.
While many of the mausoleums are in fine shape and well-maintained, others have fallen into disrepair. Several can be found with broken glass and littered with rubbish. Among many memorials are works by notable Argentine sculptors. The tomb of Liliana Crociati de Szaszak is of special interest.
Each mausoleum bears the family name etched into the facade; brass or bronze plaques are added to the front for particular family members. La Recoleta is one of those cemeteries where the tradition of engraving a death date but no birth date has been maintained.
The cemetery was featured in the educational film Destinos as the final resting spot of a wife of the main character.

But the most visited tomb is by far the grave of Eva Peron, former first lady of Argentina, who died in 1952.

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

María Eva Duarte de Perón ( 7 May 1919 – 26 July 1952) was the second wife of President Juan Perón (1895–1974) and served as the First Lady of Argentina from 1946 until her death in 1952. She is often referred to as simply Eva Perón, or by the affectionate Spanish language diminutive Evita.
She was born out of wedlock in the village of Los Toldos in rural Argentina in 1919, the fourth of five children. In 1934, at the age of 15, she went to the nation's capital of Buenos Aires, where she pursued a career as a stage, radio, and film actress. Eva met Colonel Juan Perón on January 22, 1944, in Buenos Aires during a charity event at the Luna Park Stadium to benefit the victims of an earthquake in San Juan, Argentina. The two were married the following year. In 1946, Juan Perón was elected President of Argentina. Over the course of the next six years, Eva Perón became powerful within the pro-Peronist trade unions, primarily for speaking on behalf of labor rights. She also ran the Ministries of Labor and Health, founded and ran the charitable Eva Perón Foundation, championed women's suffrage in Argentina, and founded and ran the nation's first large-scale female political party, the Female Peronist Party.
In 1951, Eva Perón renounced the Peronist nomination for the office of Vice President of Argentina. In this bid, she received great support from the Peronist political base, low-income and working class Argentines who were referred to as descamisados or "shirtless ones". However, opposition from the nation's military and bourgeoisie, coupled with her declining health, ultimately forced her to withdraw her candidacy. In 1952 shortly before her death from cancer at the age of 33, Eva Perón was given the official title of "Spiritual Leader of the Nation" by the Argentine Congress. Eva Perón was given an official state funeral despite the fact that she was not an elected head of state.
Eva Perón has become a part of international popular culture, most famously as the subject of the musical Evita. Cristina Alvarez Rodriguez, Evita's great niece, claims that Evita has never left the collective conscience of Argentines. Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, the first female elected President of Argentina, claims that women of her generation owe a debt to Eva for "her example of passion and combativeness".

It was a busy and pleasant day. These two places (San Telmo and Recoleta) are places that any tourist should visit in Buenos Aires, for sure.

The day finished close to our hotel in a local restaurant with good food.

It's time to rest because tomorrow will be our last day here.

Saturday in Buenos Aires: a walking day!

2011-01-08T22:58:00.017-05:00

The second day in Buenos Aires started with rain, but we still went out to explore this wonderful city. One thing that I noticed is the amount of old cars on the streets. I love this one in the picture. They are everywhere and it seems that have Gabi written all over it! I want one!!!!We headed downtown in the rain. We tried to get the bus tour for the day but we were discouraged by their own people to buy the 70 pessos a person pass "because it was rainning too much (and was going to rain all day), therefore it was not a good say to do the tour." Well, I thought rainy days would be their best business days! Go figure!

We then bought two umbrellas for 20 pesos each and decided to walk in the rain.

First stop was the Plaza the Mayo.

FROM http://cruises.about.com/od/southamericacruises/ss/buenos_aires_3.htm

An appropriate place to begin a tour of Buenos Aires is at the Plaza de Mayo. It has been the center of political upheaval, vehement protests, and national celebrations over the years. On one side of the Plaza is the Catedral Metropolitana (Metropolitan Cathedral), which was built on the site of the original colonial church. This massive cathedral, with 12 pillars for the 12 apostles, is not only an important religious landmark. General Jose de San Martin, Argentina's most popular and revered hero, is buried in the Metropolitan Cathedral. Uniformed guards continually watch over the tomb.

On the east side of Plaza de Mayo is the Casa Rosada, the Pink House of Buenos Aires. This presidential palace dates back to President Sarmiento's time. The pink salmon color is said to have come from Sarmiento's attempt to bring peace between the Federalists and the Unitarists parties in his 1868-1876 term. The Federalists were the "red" party and the Unitarists were the "white" party. Another more interesting theory is that the Casa Rosada is pink from the use of bovine blood as a coloring agent. Whichever story is true, the building is certainly pink! Eva Peron (Evita) rallied the Argentine people from the balcony of the Casa Rosada, as did her husband Juan Peron and many other politicians who have convened throngs of Argentines in the Plaza de Mayo over the decades. If you see the movie, "Evita", the Plaza de Mayo was the setting for many of the key scenes.
The colonial Calildo, with an interesting artisans' market in the courtyard, is the town council on the south side of the Plaza.
Buenos Aires is a city of districts, and exploring each of these distinct areas is fun. You can either take an organized tour to get an overview of these areas, or take one of the black and yellow radio taxis, which are cheap and plentiful, to navigate quickly around the city.

Entrance of the Casa Rosada.

Inside the casa Rosada.

This is still the Presidential Palace, but it opens for visitations for free on the weekend.

The only problem is that the tours are done ONLY on Spanish.

They are now having a beauitiful photo exhibition about the women of Argentina.

They picked 14 women who have contributed to Argentina's artistic or political scene. Among them are Eva Peron, of course, and Mercedez Sosa (singer).

The exhibition was inaugurated on International Women's Day last year, by the also female president Cristina Kitchner.

Well done, Cristina!

From the same balcony that Evita used to talk to the people, we can see the Plaza del Mayo.

More of the Plaza.

We loved the tiles of the floor!

The decoration inside is also very beautiful.

This is the actual presidential office.

Cristina runs the country from here.

Her papers and personnal photos were still at her table when we visited it.

The astonishing inside garden, typical of the Spanish architecture.

Just to remind us where we are!

Argentina!

When we came out of the Casa Rozada'e visit, the rain was gone and a strong sun came out. The rest of the day was blue skies and hot temperatures: 33 degrees!

This photo bellow shows the very wide streets of Buenos Aires.

Here is the ministry of defense.

There are a few monuments to remember the fallen soldiers of the Falkland Islands war.

Very touching monument!

A walk though downtown buildings.

We had empanadas for lunch at a very local restaurant called Comet. The owner was a Spaniard who immigrated to Argentina in 1960, and has been one of the original owners of this place for 42 years. He said that a lot has changed and complained about the economy and the appearance of new business around to compete with his. "In the beggining there was nothing around", he remembers, a bit nostalgic.

I had to try an Argentina Alfajore.

They are delicious and I am definatelly bringing some home!

ABOUT ALFAJORES FROM WIKIPEDIA:

An alfajor or alajú (plural alfajores) is a traditional Arabic confection found in some regions of Spain and then made with variations in countries of Latin America including Argentina, and Mexico, after being taken there by the colonists. The archetypal alfajor entered Iberia during the period of al-Andalus. It is produced in the form of a small cylinder and is sold either individually or in boxes containing several pieces. In South America due to the lack of ingredients and habits, alfajores were made totally different. Nowadays, they are found most notably in Argentina, Uruguay, Ecuador, Paraguay ,Chile, Perú and the South of Brazil. Though the food has been popular in Argentina and Uruguay since the mid 19th century, it has its roots in the Arab World.

This is the Plaza of the Republica, where the Obelisco is.

A big space full of tourists. After walking around for hours and getting sore feet, we headed back to the hotel for a nap.

Later on in the evening, trying be like the Argentineans, we went out late for dinner, at around 9 p.m. We choose an area close to the hotel called Palermo hollywood, famous for its night life, bars and restaurants. As you can see in this picture, the place is empty and started getting full after 10:30pm.

A tip: if you are looking for action, don't leave your hotel room before 11pm... for dinner!

Menu of the day for the couple Veras-Smele:

steak with red roasted peppers for Mike, and home made egg noodle with goulash meat sauce for me.

And for drinks?

A FULL BOTLE of Argentinean wine for Mike and water for me!

Good night!

Mi Buenos Aires Querida: here we come!

2011-01-07T21:18:00.012-05:00

Although I have been away for four weeks, I feel like NOW I am starting my real vacation. Brazil is always lots of fun, but that's where I grew up and it's my safe harbour, therefore it doesn't count as a new exciting destination.

Here I am with Julia, in my already big belly, leaving the island where I grew up, Ilha de Santa Catarina, city of Florianopolis.

I love taking pictures from the plane! The day was perfect for some aerial shots and you can see the south of the island: the beaches of Campeche, Morro das Pedras and Armacao. Also, the Lagoa do Peri on the right.

After I took off I realized that this was the first time that I have flown to the south from my island. It was cool to see Lagoinha do Leste, a very well preserved beach that I used to go to, which you can only access by boat or by hiking. We used to hike 3 hours along the mountain coast and go back the other way, a one hour trek up the steep hill to Pantano do Sul Beach. It's a full day hiking trip, but I really recommend it!

Another view of the island: the south.

It was a 45 minutes flight to Porto Alegre, the next capital, going south. It's in the last state of Brazil, bording Uruguay. From here it will be a 1 hour and half flight to Buenos Aires.

Mike killing flight time with his new toy, the iPad.

Arriving at Buenos Aires!

From Wikipedia: Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent. Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, which also includes several Buenos Aires Province districts, constitutes the third-largest conurbation in Latin America, with a population of around 13 million.

Arriving at the airport, getting a cab and driving to the hotel was pretty easy. But once we got to the boutique hotel in Palermo-Soho neighbourhood, we found out that this hotel was overbooked. Oh well, it didn't bother us, because the hotel people sent us to an another hotel nearby called Palermo Suites. And what a surprise!!!!

This is one of the nicest rooms that I have stayed in. Mike are I are super happy with what we ended up with. We are paying about CAN$100 a night (one of the cheapest we could find) and it is totally worth every penny. It is in an old building, with tall exposed brick walls, with tiles on the floor and massive thick doors. Amazingly cozy and beautiful!

The furniture also helps. It's very well decorated and full of antiques. The washroom is in a higher level in the room, with few steps to get in. Very cool idea.

Check out the doors! Humongous!

This photo shows another room, before our room. It' s a great lounge area, where I am blogging from. Internet and breakfast are included BTW.

The building is a Spanish style building, with very simple facade and a long corridor heading to a garden inside. We saw a lot of those at the French Quarter in New Orleans and in Madrid as well. We love it because it totally surprises you when you walk in. And a swimming pool also helps, doesn't it?

Especially when it is 33 degrees celsius.

After settling in and having a rest - after all I am a pregnant woman now - we headed out for dinner in this lovely neighbourhood called Palermo. We decided to stay here, as opposed to downtown, after many people suggested the place because of its restaurants and shopping area.

We choose a nice and cozy restaurant that served Argentinean food. Mike had steak and I had fish. For drinks? He enjoyed a typical Argentinean wine and I had a delicious cold water!

Very first impressions:

- it looks like a mix of Sao Paulo (Jardins), Madrid and Paris

- it's a bit dirty

- people have a bit of an attitude

- people have good taste, especially about fashion

- most of the intersections have no traffic light, and no stop signs either!

MI BUENOS AIRES QUERIDA!

Back on the Road...Back in Brazil!

2010-12-11T18:34:00.023-05:00

After almost 4 months away from my travelling blog, here I am again!

It´s school holidays and I headed south again to see my family and friends in Florianopolis, in the south of Brazil. Most of the day I am just hanging out with my family, but I will try to post some of the fun tours around this beautiful island.

Today we had so much fun at Lagoa do Peri, a little paradise not too far from my brother´s house. The 5 km² lagoon is the largest fresh water body in the Santa Catarina State coast. The protected area is a park and often is used by schools to teach children about the environment.

Although the weather wasn´t the best - it was a cloudy day - , it didn´t stop the kids from having an amazing time, mostly in the water.

Picnic time with long time friends Laura, Dauro and family; and new friends visiting from Norway.

Vitor, my nephew having fun with some Barba de Velho (translating: old man´s beard).

Carol, my niece enjoying ice cream time!

And for the grown ups a different kind of treat: red wine!

Eirik and Helene (from Norway) introduced a great tradition: Saturday is candy day for kids. They went crazy, like little ants around sugar!

My little fish!

Relaxing time for me and the baby.

Beautiful Bromelias are growing on trees all around the park.

A big surprise: a toucan is flying around the park. It was born in captivity but its owners are slowing trying to make it go back to nature. Apparently it is working and slowing it is getting used to the woods.

Another fun surprise: little monkeys running around! They are called Miquinhos and come close to you to eat bananas.

They are common in this area, a vast Atlantic Forest.

After the little monkey´s show we headed to another beach close by: Pantano do Sul for dinner and more fun.

On the menu: oyters, grilled fish, callamari, salad, fries and rice and beans, of course!

This is one of my favourite spots on the island. It´s a very calm, well preserved fishermen village. A highly recommended place for sea food gastronomy.

And kids are still having a blast, now playing soccer.

A photo to always remember such a fun day!

A Canadian outdoors style wedding - August 21 & 22, 2010

2010-08-22T21:08:00.021-04:00

Mike and I have been invited to four weddings this summer. They are all of people who we really care about and I am sure they will all be nice. But this one, definitely is going to be the most different one: Kevin- a long time friend of Mike- and Christie decided to do a weekend-long outdoors wedding. We had to drive about 2 and half hours north of Toronto to a place called Minden, Ontario.

It's an area known for it's beautiful lakes, close to the famous Muskoka area.
On the way up there you can already see the different lifestyle from the big city.
Check out this magazine for sale at a small gas station.
Well, we drove to a place called Kinark Outdoor Centre.
It's an educational camp for kids - mostly autistic - and their parents, open year round.
It's a beautiful and very well kept place but there were no other guests - besides the wedding people- this weekend.
This is our cabin for the night.

Mike and I stayed in the "Porcupine Cave."
Cute name isn't it?
There are lots of snakes and frogs around.
This one was dead, but I could not resist to take a picture since it's so rare to see these creatures in Canada (at least in the cities)!

FROM: WWW.KOC.ON.CA

The Kinark Outdoor Centre (KOC) brings together quality facilities, leading programmers and a diverse range of activity opportunities to provide people-focused outdoor experiences throughout the calendar year.
The KOC has a rich history in residential camping and therapeutic programming and has grown to become the site of choice for more than 150 groups annually.
The KOC is situated on a scenic 250-hectare site in the Canadian Shield just 2 and a half hours north of Toronto.
The KOC features a secluded lake with a sand beach, hiking and ski trails, sports fields, a full service dining lodge, recreation/conference hall, four-season sleeping cabins for 100 and an array of natural features are to be found on the property.

The lakefront is absolutely beautiful.

The weather wasn't the best, but it was still nice and calm to sit admiring the water.

This is very Canadian: lakes, canoes, paddles, outdoors stuff.

Ahhhhhh!

This is me (in case you are wondering.)

YES, I did straighten my hair and YES, I am a brunette now.

I guess it's good to change sometimes!

This is the sign showing all the cabins.

Again, cute names!

Pick one for the night!

Our cabin - outside.

Our cabin - inside.

It's basically a room with bunk beds and mattresses.

We were luck because at this camp they have heaters and washrooms inside the cabins...

But showers are shared, in another building.

Mike inside of our cabin "getting ready" for the wedding ceremony.

"Los Tres Amigos" (Pat, Eamonn and Mike) dressed up, walking in the woods to the ceremony.

Here comes the bride!

Absolutely gorgeous!

As you can see, Christie and Kevin were extremely happy.

There was a great vibe in the air!

After the outdoors ceremony, there was a wonderful West Indies Island dinner, followed by a great party.

This was the view from the wedding ceremony.

Us in one of the rare photos together! :)

I had to post a photo of these guys because they were so cute and lots of fun.

Mike and I hung out a lot with the twins

and their family. Good times!
These are the groom's shoes. Awesome!!!

The next day the guests were treated again with a huge brunch.

Too bad the weather kind of pushed most of us out of there earlier, because it would've been nice to hang out more by the lake.

Bellow (from left to right): Pat, newly-wed Kevin, Eamonn and Mike.

Despite of the heavy rain and chilly weather, Mike thinks it' s a waste to come all the way here and not swim. Here he is in the water, like a little fish.

Little fish Mike.

This is a very traditional Muskoka chair.

You can find chairs like this one at any cottage in Ontario.

I LOVE this following picture!!!

It represents the great weekend we just had: very Canadian, beautiful like a wild flower and although the weather sucked, we still had a big smile on our faces!

Long weekend in French - Montreal, July 30- August 2

2010-08-05T12:57:00.018-04:00

It's a ritual: once a year (at least), we must drive about 6 hours east of Toronto to one of the greatest cities in Canada: Montreal!

I've lost track how many times I have visited this wonderful place, so I guess I am not a tourist anymore.

But this time we focused our trip on friends and favourite places.

This time our friend Marcelo came with us. (he would not miss an opportunity to be with us :) !!!) He is posing in front of our very good friends Gabi and Doris' house, in.....

Mike and his two Gabis.

Saturday we decide to do something that every tourist must do: eat at Schwartz's, the best smoked meat in Montreal, and maybe in the world!

From 11am until 2am, there is always a line up in front of the tiny restaurant.
But is worth the wait!

FROM WIKIPEDIA:

Schwartz's Hebrew Delicatessen, established in 1928 by Reuben Schwartz, a Jewish immigrant from Romania, is a landmark at 3895 Saint-Laurent Boulevard. It is the most famous smoked meat restaurant in Montreal, and kosher style rather than strictly kosher. Schwartz's often has a line extending out of the store, whether it is the middle of the day or late at night. The company also sells smoked meat by mail order.

Several restaurateurs have offered to build Schwartz's as franchise operations in cities across North America. The owners have always refused.

The Montreal Gazette has voted Schwartz's to have the best smoked meat in town.

Other notable smoked meat restaurants in Montreal include Ben's Delicatessen & Restaurant (closed down in late 2006), Smoked Meat Pete's, Dunn's, Snowdon Deli, Reuben's and The Main (located across the street from Schwartz's). The Main used to be located next to Schwartz's, benefitting from the proximity. When it moved across the street in the 1970s to a larger location, its traffic dropped off.

In the fall of 2008, Schwartz's opened an additional take-out location next door.

Even the waiter was a character!

The menu on the wall.

But most of the people just order the basic: smoked meat sandwich and a pickle!

It was mike's first time at the Schwartz's.

He approved!

Me too!

But something to eat every couple of years...

This is one of Montreal's most successful projects: the Bixi.

You basically rent bikes from stations like this one all over the city and pay only $5 a day.

But you need to check the bike at a station every half an hour, I guess to make sure people don't hold to it for too long. Anyway, we saw lots of people happily using this system.
It reminded me of the one in Copenhagen, when I visited it 13 years ago. But there the bikes were unlocked by a coin and you got the coin back after returning them.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Bixi (or BIXI in some marketing pieces) is a public bicycle sharing system launched in May 2009 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

In Montreal, the system provided 3,000 bicycles and 300 stations located around Montreal's central core by June 2009, expanding to 5,000 bicycles and 400 stations later that summer. Bixi marked its one-millionth ride on October 26, 2009.

A complete station is made up of a pay station, bikes, and bike docks (where the bikes are housed), which are fitted into modular technical platforms that are powered by solar panels. These technical platforms are the base and electronic ports for pay stations and bike docks. Bike stations can be created, expanded, configured and removed in about half an hour, monitored by a real-time management system. Excavation or preparatory work is not required, enabling the installation of a bike station as an adjunct to on-street parking.

Although I have been many times in Montreal, there are always new places to visit, like the Jean Talon-Market. I guess I don't need to say too much: it's a market!

I just LOVE the colours of fruits and vegetables on display!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Jean-Talon Market (French: Marché Jean-Talon) is a farmer's market in Montreal. Located in the Little Italy district, the market is bordered by Jean-Talon Street to the north, Mozart Ave. to the south, Casgrain Ave. to the west and Henri-Julien Ave. to the east. It contains two city-maintained streets both called Place du Marché du Nord. The market is located between the Jean-Talon and De Castelnau metro stations.

The market was opened to the public in 1933 while Camillien Houde was the city mayor. Before that, the space the market now occupies was a lacrosse field for the "Shamrock Lacrosse Grounds" club.

The market's single building (the chalet) quickly become the focal point for development of the area around it. From the opening until 1961, the chalet was used as a terminal for buses heading to the neighbouring city of Laval. Between 1961 and 1970 a municipal library and a social services centre replaced the bus station. Since then, the space was occupied by administrative offices.

Major renovations were undertaken in 2004 to handle the crowds that populate the market during the summer months. An underground parking lot was constructed, and an above ground structure was built over the underground parking area, to host 20 specialty boutiques.

Another Montreal thing to do: to sit on a patio and have coffee of tea.

Life is good!

Mike being artistic!

FRIENDS!!!

Next stop: the supermarket to stuck up on booze!

I learned last time I was in Montreal that alcohol is cheaper in Quebec.

Mike, I think we will be OK for the week!

Having a lovely breakfast on Sunday at Gabi and Doris' backyard.

Beautiful and comfortable place!

Crossing the Jacques Cartier Bridge for the first time and getting lost a couple of times.

Meeting friend and producer Hector and his friends at a barbecue at the Park de la Cite-du-Havre. We didn't have too much time, but it was nice to see him and enjoy a bit of this wonderful spot in Montreal.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Cité du Havre is a neighbourhood in the borough of Ville-Marie of the city of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is located on a narrow peninsula, opposite the Old Port of Montreal and Montreal Harbour.

The Cité du Havre is connected to Saint Helen's Island by the Concordia Bridge across the Saint Lawrence River.

The neighborhood is most known for its architectural landmark, Habitat 67. It also features a park, the Parc de la Cité-du-Havre, which was a filming location for the 2001 film, The Score.

Marcelo enjoying the sunny day!

What is he thinking about?

Quebec style BBQ!

We rushed to see our long time Friends: Ceasar, Sophie, Akira and Isabela. They moved (from Toronto) to St. Lazare - about one hour away from Montreal - a few years ago, and we miss them them terribly. It's incredible to see how well the kids are doing, especially Akira, who I've know since she was 5 years old! Beautiful girl!

Sophie prepared a delicious dinner for us!

Here is the whole gang!

Good times!

Isabela is the cutest little girl!

Last image of us, having dinner, taken by 4 year old Isabela.

Not bad, eh?

Hours after that, we got on the road back to Toronto, already planning our next trip to Montreal!

"How Y'all Doing?" like they say! Monday: last day :(

2010-05-26T13:05:00.004-04:00

We left the hotel looking for a bacon n' eggs kind of breakfast.

This is what we found: Voodoo BBQ & Grill. Food here tastes really good, but it isn't the healthiest.

We decided to walk to the Gardens District, starting from it's cemetery.

Since the city is above sea level, the graves here are above ground.
Otherwise they would be washed out.

Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 was established in 1833 by the city of Lafayette, an American city which was later incorporated into the current city of New Orleans.

According to the site graveaddiction.com Lafayette Cemetery No. 1 has been seen in many movies, including Anne Rice's Interview With A Vampire.
The cemetery is also featured in many of Anne Rice's books.

After the cemetery, we walked around the Garden District.
It's a very fancy neighborhood, also know as the English area.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Garden District is a neighborhood of the city of New Orleans. A subdistrict of the Central City/Garden District Area, its boundaries as defined by the City Planning Commission are: St. Charles Avenue to the north, 1st Street to the east, Magazine Street to the south and Toledano Street to the west. The National Historic Landmark district extends a little further. The area was originally developed between 1832 to 1900. It may be one of the best preserved collection of historic southern mansions in the United States. The 19th century origins of the Garden District illustrate wealthy newcomers building opulent structures based upon the prosperity of New Orleans in that era.

We were given the information - from the Tourist Information Centre - that the movie the Curious Case of Benjamin Button was filmed here, at 2727 St. Charles Street. Of course we took pictures, but something felt not right. Sure enough, when we got home, we searched and found out that the address the lady gave us was wrong. Oh well... at least we were in the right neighborhood!

I love this sign...

The place is beautiful, but Mike was a bit disappointed because we didn't see too many gardens at the Garden District!

If you have millions of dollars, this is a good place to invest in real estate.

Although it feels like we are in a very fancy area somewhere else in the States, the beads hanging on the trees reminds you that this is the fun capital of the south.

Viva Mardi Gras!

To get there, you can either walk about 30 minutes from the French Quarter, or take the St. Charles trolley for $1,25. But walking around is recommended.

The trolley makes you travel in time, but fortunately without the segregation!
I love the big window wide opened.

Next visit: Louis Armstrong Park.

We actually couldn't go in the park because it's been closed since the Hurricane Katrina.
They are renovation the whole thing.
But we were happy to just walk around the area.

The park is just outside the French Quarter and it looks like it will be a great place to visit when its open again to the public.

The neighborhood around the park is also nice and we felt safe, although many people told us to be careful here. I guess it can be a rough area at night.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Mahalia Jackson Theater for the Performing Arts is a theater located in Louis Armstrong Park in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was named after gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who was born in New Orleans. The theater reopened in January 2009 after being closed following the landfall of Hurricane Katrina on August 29, 2005. It will serve as the longterm residence of the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, the New Orleans Ballet Association, New Orleans Opera Association, and Broadway Across America touring productions.

Back at the French Quarter...
I can't get tired of taking pictures of these houses!!!

Love the Samambaias everywhere!

Louisiana style disco!

EVENING

Paraphrasing "When the Saints Go Marching in", "when the sun refused to shine," we hit the bars looking for good music!
It's our last evening in jazz paradise.
We must enjoy it as much as possible!

We had dinner watching this band - that I don't know the name- playing old jazz.
I thought a lot of my dad watching western movies.
It touched me very much, and I am sure the public around, all 60 plus!

But the real fun started later at the Blues Club, on Bourbon Street.

These guys were awesome!
The real stuff!
Most of them have been living in New Orleans for a long time and have the blues in their veins.

They are all Italo-Americans.

They were definitely the most fun band we saw in New Orleans!

This is Johnny, a real character. He was born ans raised in New Orleans and has the southern accent mixed with the Italian one. Really sweet!
He talked a lot with us and told us amazing local stories, including stories about Sam Silver Dollar, a mafia boss who kicked Al Capone and his men out of the city, back in the days!

The best horns in New Orleans!

Forget about tables! The bar is still the best place to hang out.
See those cups there? They are Hurricanes, a very powerful and popular drink.
It was all liquors you can name, or at least it tastes like it.
A couple of those and you are calling for an evacuation plan!

Some romantic times too...

A special guest: Al "Carnival Time" Johnson.
He is famous in the city for his catchy song Carnival Time.

Click here to listen to Al "Carnival Time" Johnson's famous hit

Doesn't Mike look like a New Orleans native?

I had to post these two here.
They were the most fun and energetic couple we saw during this whole trip.
What an energy! Good for them!

You can tell this was taken by the end of the evening, after hurricanes.
The ladies are dancing New York, New York here.
Good thing I was wearing my Havaianas (flip flops).

It is not Mardi Gras, but it is carnival time in New Orleans!

Johnny telling Mike good stories...

What a evening!
Here is Mike at the airport, about 4 hours after we left the bar.
I guess we said goodbye to New Orleans with style as well. :)
Maybe we just should say see y'all later!

A birthday with style! (Sunday)

2010-05-24T04:04:00.020-04:00

Second day in New Orleans... and my birthday! We started with a walk in the French Quarter again, looking for a place to have a nice breakfast. Our first option was the restaurant "The Two Sisters Court", but it was fully booked until 2:30pm.

So, we went to "Cafe Amelie," considered one of the best in the city, and "the one that locals would go," according to yesterday's tour guide Ken.

We still had to wait for half a hour for the next available table, but the place was so beautiful that we didn't mind to just hang out outside, in the garden.

And the food was great, indeed! I had cat fish sandwich and mike enjoyed an Italian meat one.

But the best was definitely the dessert!!!

A melting chocolate cake with home made vanilla ice cream on top.

The meal cost around $30.

Next stop was at the French Market, a flea market selling pretty much everything you can find in the souvenir stores in the city. Music is everywhere in the market.

A very fun place, specially today, a very hot Sunday.

If you want to get into the southern mood, you better get a hat!

Mike and I showing off our new hats.

His was on sale for $12, and mine was $27.

Don't we look cool?

Outside of the French Market, dozens of people were just hanging out, listening to some jazz music.

Isn't it like this anywhere else in New Orleans, though?

But it is still good to tell you about it! :)

Night time! Party time! More fun time!

We walked back to Frenchman Street - our favourite for night life- and tried to eat at a gourmet pizza place. While we were waiting to be seated, I asked a costumer about the food. He was very honest and said the food was not so good. Well, we ended up talking to this group of friends for another half an hour and decided to take their advice and change restaurants. That's how we ended up on "Marigny," an excellent Italian/New Orleans food place.

This was the best food I've had so far here: bbq shrimp, with green collards and grits. Grits a very popular southern food, hard to explain exactly what is made of, but from what I understood, it is like a porridge, with a totally different taste. I loved it! Mike had a equally great pasta with Italian sausage.

And we both share a peanut butter pie for desert.

A bit too sweet for my taste. All this food with wine cost us less than $50.

Pretty good for a great restaurant in a fancy area in New Orleans, isn't it?

With our tummies full, we hit the bars looking for good music now. And it wasn't too hard to find. Just down the street, we had about 10 different options for quality live music.

We chose this band - that I am not sure about the name - playing jazz and funk music.

I think because New Orleans is the centre for great jazz music, it is really hard to find bad musicians. Every bar you go to, the quality of music is unbelievable.

From there, on the way back to the hotel, we ended up at the Lafitte's - the oldest continuously running bar in the U.S. where we were drawn in by this beautiful piano sound.

With very low light, we hung out with other tourists around the piano, while this lady played any tune we asked for.

Our piano lady. It was a fantastic time, until they kicked us out of the bar at 2:30am!

It was a fantastic birthday!

Thank you, Mike!

New Orleans by (Saturday) night!

2010-05-23T17:15:00.020-04:00

The best way of visiting New Orleans is just walking around. And we did that a lot, but we decided that we needed a bit of information, so we took the very popular Haunted History Tours.

There are many of different tours, but we chose the one in the French quarter, that costs $20 a person, but we printed coupons before coming here and got a discount of $3 each. You can get a bunch of coupons for different services and stores in New Orleans at: http://www.neworleansonline.com/ (New Orleans Official Visitor's Guide).

Ken was our tour guide who, for two hours, showed us where some of the very interesting stories happened in the city and talked about their freaky characters. Some tales are really scary, and I got goose bumps as he told us.

New Orleans is considered the most cursed city in North America. It has been through a couple of fires that destroyed almost the whole city, many floods and tropical storms, hurricanes, being Katrina the most devastating one, and lately the oil spill. Definitely this city had its share of bad luck. But every time, the place has came together and its residences have re-built it!

We had a 10 minute break at the longest continuously bar running in North America.

It is a very cool bar, kind of away from the action, but worth it a visit.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: Lafitte's Blacksmith Shop is a tavern located on the corner of Bourbon Street and St. Philip Street. The tavern's building, built sometime before 1772, is one of the older still standing structures in New Orleans (the Ursuline Convent, for example, is older) and has been called the oldest continually occupied bar in the United States. According to legend the structure was once owned by the pirate Jean Lafitte, though as with many things involving Lafitte, no documentation of this exists.

Ken - the tour guide - recommended a couple of drinks: the hurricane, which would probably make me crawl back to the hotel; and the voodoo brew, also strong, but at least didn't end my evening... almost though!

ACCORDING TO OUR TOUR GUIDE...

(little curiosities about the French Quarter said by our tour guide)

- pedestrian don't have the right-of-way in New Orleans. So, if a car run over you when you are crossing the street, the driver has the right to sue you!

- cops don't need a warrant to search.

- 60% of imports in North America come through New Orleans (Mississippi River).

- local don't pronounce the French street names in French. They read it in English, and "only tourist try to pronounce it in French."

- prostitution was legal here until the 30s.

- although it is called the French Quarter, the architecture predominant here is Spanish. Most of the French buildings were destroyed during fires, having only three still standing.

- New Orleans was under the Spanish rule longer than it was under the French one.

- back in those days you MUST be catholic to live here.

- men were allowed to have a mixed blood mistress, but by contract, they had to support her for life, buy her a house, and support any of the kids that she might had, sending the kid to study in France. But they could never get married, because inter-racial marriage was against the law.

- the French Quarter didn't flood during the Hurricane Katrina because it is above sea level.

- New Orleans is an immigrant city and is the second greatest destination in the States for people from different countries to settle, after New York City.

- The Sicilian Mafia in the States was created here, not in NYC.

- "Barking" is an old practice still seen in the streets of New Orleans. It means to yell, selling your product.

- the front of the houses are actually the back, where they used to bring in their horses. Inside, you can find big court yards with beautiful gardens.

- Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt have a house here. "Brad Pitt loves to talk about the ghost stories. Angelina won't talk about anything," said Ken, our tour guide.

After the tour was over we had an amazing southern dinner at an affordable restaurant on Bourbon Street. But we wanted jazz music and the Bourbon has everything, but good music! That's when we discovered Frenchman Street!

What a great street! Far away from the busy and crazy bars filled of obnoxious drunk tourists, this area offers many different bars with great Louisiana music.

We picked the Spotted Cat Music Club and enjoyed this amazing band, that I unfortunately didn't get the name. But they played jazz with a progressive twist, almost funk.

What a treat!

Here was the good stuff again!

So, if we can give you a little tip: don't expect good traditional southern music on Bourbon Street. If you are looking for the good jazz bands, Frenchman Street is a much better option!

Another great day in New Orleans.

I just wish I was younger...

Talking about that...

Oh well! Tomorrow!

New Orleans by day!

2010-05-22T18:10:00.019-04:00

After the crazy evening we had last night, we woke up to a beautiful and much calmer New Orleans.

We had a light breakfast offered by the hotel - coffee, juice, muffins, danish and a couple of fruits- and headed outside back to the French Quarter.

It is SUPER HOT here! with the humidex, it feels like 36 Celsius outside!

"Unseasonably warm today," the weather guys is saying on TV right now!

The region has broken a few records! And it will stay like this for another week!

All this walking around made us hungry and we chose to try the traditional PO - BOY, a local sandwich. Mike had the sausage one.

And I tried the shrimp Po-Boy. It wasn't a big deal - just white baguette, with popcorn shrimp - but the craw fish sauce saved the deal!!!! OMG!!!! It was creamy and a bit spicy... Delicious!

We kept walking in the French Quarter in the afternoon.

It is common to see wedding ceremonies happening in public parks and squares.

This is right downtown in the French Quarter, where the French Market is. Busy and fun place. You can't hear, but everywhere you go jazz music follows you!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The French Quarter, also known as Vieux Carré, is the oldest and most famous neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. When New Orleans (La Nouvelle Orléans in French) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city was originally centered on the French Quarter, or the Vieux Carré ("Old Square" in French) as it was known then. While the area is still referred to as the Vieux Carré by some, it is more commonly known as the French Quarter today, or simply "The Quarter." The district as a whole is a National Historic Landmark, and contains numerous individual historic buildings. It was affected relatively lightly by Hurricane Katrina in 2005, as compared to other areas of the city and the region as a whole.

There are artists and art sales everywhere! Lots of artists still show the sad reality of Hurricane Katrina. Others prefer to portray the beauty of the jazz culture.

A must see place is the Cafe Du Monde, at Ann Street and Decatur St. This is a very traditional place, always busy that sells beignets, a kind of French doughnuts covered with fine sugar.

Mike, a big mini- doughnuts fan, eating the super sugary Beignets ($2,14 a portion with three).

I had one too. My teeth all hurt on the first bite. Yuck!

Happy couple at Cafe Du Monde!

Behind me is the Jackson Square, the most famous square in the French Quarter.

In the back is the St. Louis Cathedral; and in front of me is the Mississippi River.

Mike admiring the Mississippi River.

My little feet in the cold water of Mississippi River.

If you could hear, you would be singing with us: "When the saints go marching in..."

A local hangs out close to the river. Perhaps this is his home, as his sunburn face shows how tough life can be on the streets. But there is something special about his face.

A monument honours immigrants.

There are still old street cars running on the major streets of the French Quarter.

This is Hannah's Casino, one of the oldest Casinos in United States of America.

Inside, the decoration celebrates the jazz and Mardi Gras (New Orleans' carnival).

Tonight we will do one of the haunted History Tours.

Stay tuned for scary stories and out of this world pictures!

Open for fun!

2010-05-22T10:39:00.022-04:00

We've learned our lesson: flying to anywhere in the States from an American location is way cheaper than traveling from Canada. This time we saved more than a third of the tickets, but we had the hassle to travel a couple of hours to Buffalo, NY. As expected for a Friday before the long weekend, traffic was a bit heavy, but still good when we left before 4pm. At the Buffalo airport, most of the passengers were flashing their Canadian passports. I guess we were not the only smart ones!
We took a couple of flights (Buffalo – Charlotte and Charlotte – New Orleans) and arrived in the jazz paradise just before midnight (local - central- time).

Check in at midnight! But instead of turning into pumpkins, we got a second wind and headed to the party area, a few blocks away from our friendly hotel. "Let's just have a look and a drink," we said to each other. I guess that's the biggest lie in this city! It's impossible to leave the craziness before the music stops. Sure enough: we got back to the hotel (after a few drinks) after 3am!

This is the view from our room, on the 7th floor. The Queen and Crescent Hotel is an affortable simple accomodation, a couple of blocks out of the French Quarter. So far, so good!

Getting close!

There it is: the entrance to the craziness!

I am not sure yet what it looks like during the day. But for sure, at night, it is one of the most fun places we've ever been!

It's very hot here: about 25 C at night and over 30 during the day time.

I LOVE the architecture!

This is famous Bourbon Street!

It is a very long street with tons of bars blasting any kind of music - from rapp to country-, people drinking on the streets, dancing everywhere, partying themselves like there is no tomorrow.

It is probably as crazy as Vegas, but I think it is more real here.

There is so much good material to take photos of!

People are really stylish and places are very unique.

People stay on the balconies throwing beads to people walking by.

After asking for some beads and getting them, I realized later that the rule is to flash your boobs to get better beads. We actually saw girls doing it, right there, on the middle of the street.

Like millions of tourists who come to New Orleans every year, we also came after the jazz.

But we were dissapointed for a little while because we heard anything and everything, but jazz.

Untill we found the Fritzel's bar.

This place was amazing!!!!

It is a small bar, with chairs organized as a theatre, around the stage.

So, you walk in, grab a drink, sit and enjoy the fantastic orginal Southern Jazz!

There is no cover, but people are encouraged to contribute with some money in the tip jar.

This is the real stuff we were looking for!!!!!

What an amazing time!

Just like in the movies, the music and the good athmosphere just took over our souls.

We were the happiest people in the whole world!

The decoration was also out of a movie!

Best quality of musicians.

They don't sell food at the bar, but you can just run outside, grab a hot dog with chilli for $5 and eat inside while enjoying the best music!

On Bourbon Street, Mike chooses the best drink too.
Front row seats! Can't get any better!

We left the bar around 3am and the party was still happening. We asked the waitress "when is the last call?" "A long time ago," she said. "But you will keep serving anyway, right?" With a naughty smile in her face, she had the best and most obvious answer: "It's New Orleans!"

New Orleans, here we go!!!

2010-05-19T18:20:00.002-04:00

Ever since I watched Bond's movie Live and Let Die, as a child, I've always wanted to visit New Orleans. That funeral scene has been stuck on my head, and I remember thinking that I wish funerals were all like that: fun. Well, maybe that's not possible in our society, but definately Mike and I are signing up for the New Orleans fun!

We'll spend 3 and half days at the North America's Jazz capital and I will try to register it's colors and beauty here, on my blog.

We'll leave on Friday, May 21 and will be back on Tuesday, May 24.

Stay tuned for our new adventure!

Dixieland funeral march scene from the James Bond movie Live and Let Die:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bdohpu1ZRA

FROM LONELY PLANET:

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/new-orleans/history

History

The town of Nouvelle Orléans was founded as a French outpost in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville. Early settlers arrived from France, Canada and Germany, and the French imported thousands of African slaves. The city became a central port in the slave trade; due to local laws some slaves were allowed to earn their freedom and assume an established place in the Creole community as les gens de couleur libres (free people of color).

The Spanish were largely responsible for building the French Quarter as it still looks today because fires in 1788 and 1794 decimated the earlier French architecture. The influx of Anglo Americans after the Louisiana Purchase led to an expansion of the city into the Central Business District (CBD), Garden District and Uptown. By 1840 New Orleans was the nation’s fourth-largest city, with more than

100, 000 people.

New Orleans survived the Civil War intact after an early surrender to Union forces, but the economy languished with the end of the slavery-based plantations. In the early 1900s, New Orleans was the birthplace of jazz music. Many of the speakeasies and homes of the jazz originators have been destroyed through neglect, but the cultural claim was canonized in 1994 when the NPS established the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park to celebrate the origins and evolution of America’s most widely recognized indigenous musical art form. Oil and petrochemical industries developed in the 1950s, and today, tourism is the other lifeblood of the local economy.

This adventure is over! (May 3)

2010-05-10T22:59:00.003-04:00

THANK GOD, IT IS OVER!!!! :)

I am glad I made it back home safely after SIX weeks on the road!
It is nice to see Mike, his family and friends. I also have a sense of accomplishment, since I've got all the material I was looking for to do a couple of stories.

Let me explain what I went to do in Campinas, Sao Paulo State...
I shot a documentary on the first gay school of Brazil. It is a place where people (homosexuals or not) can learn more about gay culture, without judgment. Because I was shooting the whole time, I could not take pictures, but my new video camera (I love it!!!) takes still photos while filming.
Here are some of the characters...

Andre Fisher is the owner and editor of Junior Magazine, a very popular Brazilian publication for gays. He was very kind to do a last minute interview for me in Sao Paulo.
Already in Campinas... Here is Father Trasferetti, also known as "Padre das bixas (the Priest of fags)".
A few years ago, he used to strongly advocate to bring homosexuals into the Catholic church.
He believes that there is no reason to discriminate against gays.
His church used to be wide open for anybody, regardless of sex orientation.

Going through a transformation...

Chesler is about to become Lohren Beauty, a very popular Drag Queen in Campinas.

There she is.
Lohren is very popular among the gay youth in the city. She hangs out with them Friday nights in the main square and listens to their stories. Some of them are very scary and sad reports.

A reminder of the desire to go back home on a shirt of a stranger.

Deco Ribeiro is the director of the gay school that offers classes - like dancing, web TV and magazine writing- every Saturday. The school opened on March and it is already a reference for the gay community in Campinas. Deco is also a journalist, an university professor and an activist for gay rights.

Students learn dance moves with teacher transvestite Bruna.

It was a crazy weekend! I had to film different things, like a mass on the other side of the city.
It was just too much for one person, with no budget.
I enjoyed the story, but I am glad it is over and I made it back in one piece and with all the equipment.
I ended up, of course, at a gay nightclub, filming drag queens shows.

Thank you Lohren and Deco and all the people in Campinas that helped me in such a cool project.

A very Sao Paulo day! (April 29)

2010-05-01T11:08:00.000-04:00

The day started with the open market. Almost every neighborhood in Brazil has its market once a week. People like it for the quality of fruits and vegetables, and the lower prices.

But I like it for the characters.

"Feirantes" (people who sell on the "feiras", or markets) are the greatest to watch!

In Sao Paulo, people also go to the "feira" to eat "pastel de feira."

It's a deep fried kind of patty stuffed with different things, like beef, cheese, chicken, and other flavours. One pastels here costs R$2,50 (CAN$1,50) and it can be a meal for me.

I tried a beef and a cheese and corn one.

It was too much, but I wanted to have the experience! Yummy!

On market day people come from many offices in the area to have lunch here.

In the afternoon I went to watch the shooting of a very popular TV Globo show: Altas Horas (Late Hours).

My friend Fred works as a producer for this show and invited me to be part of it.

The auditorium is formed by students from different schools. In Canada it would be similar to CBC's George Strombolopolous: The Hour.

It brought me good memories since I used to watch another show as a teenager, with the same host: Serginho Groisman. He is spectacular! So good with the youth.

His first guest was Luciano Huck, another TV Globo host.

Luciano is funny.

The young people participate with opinion and questions for the guests.

One of the musical attractions was Maria Gadu, a new revelation in Brazilian music. She's got an amazing voice. I was really impressed and I have been trying to get her CD since then, but every store I go it's sold out!

Check out Maria Gabu's music!

But my favourite guest was the Brazilian legend Ney Latorraca. He is simply amazing! Latorraca is an actor with over 40 years of experience. He's done it all: TV, theatre and cinema. Besides his talent, the man is really smart, charismatic and has an incredible sense of humor- a bit sarcastic, though. He is our Jack Nicholson. I was very happy to spend a few hours under the same roof as him.

Even though his career is already established, Latorraca keeps a very close contact with his public. These kids share with their grandparents admiration for Ney Latorraca.

The other music attraction was an Australian band called The Beautiful Girls. I've never heard them before, but their music reminded me of Jack Johnson. It was cool.

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Beautiful Girls is an Australian band, predominantly playing roots music. They have released three EPs, Morning Sun, Goodtimes and Weight Of The World. Plus three full length albums, Learn Yourself, We're Already Gone and Ziggurats. This electric harmony of rock, reggae, pop and folk has drawn comparisons with Xavier Rudd, Ben Harper, Jack Johnson, Mason Jennings and more recently The Police. Since their formation in 2000 the group have toured extensively in Australia, Japan, North America and Europe.

Fans taking picture with Ney Latorraca during the break.

The Beautiful Girls' lead singer Mat McHugh.

Viviane Senna was the third guest of the evening. She is the sister of Brazil's best Formula 1 pilot Ayrton Senna, killed in a car crash during a race in 1994. If Senna was alive, he would be turning 50 years old in 2010. Viviane runs now Ayrton Senna Institute, which supports educational programs for children.

It took about three hours to tape the one hour and half show. After, fred took me on a tour of TV Globo Sao Paulo. For those who don't know, Globo Net is the biggest and most powerful television in Brazil. They can reach over 70% of viewers in one show.

Jornal da Globo set.
TV Globo Sao Paulo newsroom.
Because we are in Sao Paulo, we finished the day in a shopping mall, Shopping Eldorado.

Paulistas looooove their malls!

It was a fun day. Thanks, Fred!

A trip to the Sertao Nordestino!

2010-04-27T08:25:00.002-04:00

Back to Sergipe State.

It is kind of hard to explain to a non-Brazilian person what a life in Sertao really is. It's a place rich in culture, but with extremely poor conditions of life. The area, in the interior of the Northeast states, is often castigated by a terrible draught. But it is this awful reality that makes the Sertao people to be resistant and capable to survive and raise their children.

Here are some snapshots of a wonderful weekend at one of Brazil's most incredible regions.

We headed to the Sertao to visit a Quilombola community (formed by slaves

who escaped their owners during the colonial time) and do a documentary about its leader, Dona Josefa da Guia.It would be a 4 hour drive if we didn't get lost so many times. The second half of the trip was done on a dirt road, with no signs and many obstacles.
There are different wild animals on the road, including peacock.

Rita was our super driver.

Driving through a town called Nossa Senhora da Gloria, we were basically abducted into a house for lunch. We stopped to ask for directions and the house owner, a woman called Urandice almost forced us to seat down at her humble table and have her food.

Rita interviewing Dona Urandice on her back yard.

Dona Socorro, Rita's mom, a lovely travelling companion.

We had to cross parts of the road by foot, so the car (lighter) would pass thought the water.

The houses are very simple, most without running water but with parabolic antenna.

After about 8 hours of travelling, we finally arrived at the Serra da Guia Community, our destination.

There are animals running free everywhere.

Later, a couple of these chickens turned into our dinner.

There is a little stream that cuts the community and when it is not too dry, people use it to wash the dishes and clothes.

Film maker Rita Simone and I preparing to start shooting our project.

Dona Josefa with with friends, at her house.

She is the leader of this community and works like a doctor for them.

Her whole life was spent here, helping others as a midwife.

She also cures with plants and prayers.

Dona Josefa claims to have delivered more than 5 thousand since she was 11 years old.

Today she is a reference not only to her community, but in her State, for practises of popular medicine. Very often she is invited to participate on conferences and teach about her method of community leadership.

Last year she met with President Lula who told her about how much he respects women like her, since he was born with a midwife in a region like this one. But unfortunately, Dona Josefa is not recognized as a midwife. She doesn't receive any governmental compensation for her work.

Dona Josefa also took us into her house and offered us a wonderful dinner.

One of Dona Josefa's 23 kids, Tonha. This brave woman - Josefa- raised 11 children of her own and adopted 12 kids from the region.

The magic of filming touches those who have never seeing it so close.

These frogs are everywhere and make noises like a symphony at night.

The Cururu frogs are the size of a football ball.Dona Josefa, tired to photos and videos, accepts another take with us.

After sleeping at Dona Josefa's house, we took a tour on the little community to see their buildings conditions.

They use whatever they have to build things, in this case a fence with raw wood.

Behind the cactus, a "cistern," a system to collect rain water for personal use. Right now these people are happy because it is rainy season, but soon they won't see a rain drop for about 8 months. During this time they must rely on water trucks sent by the government or they have to go buy their own water one hour away by motorcycles.

One of the houses of Serra da Guia Community. They were built by the federal government, but they don't have running water, a major problem for these people.

The closest town with a health unit is about two hours away, on a very bad road.

That means that if you need a doctor, Dona Josefa is the better solution here.

The cactus are used for food as well.

Behind Dona Josefa's house I pose in front of the Juazeiro (Jua Tree).

Dona Josefa and her husband of 43 years, Seu Alexandre.

Sertao beauty.

This is Dona Josefa only cow.

Before we left, on the next day, a photo with our main character.

Back on the road, a quick stop to buy water and register more of the Sertao life.

The religious symbol at the town's entrance, a Saint Anthony statue.

The team (right to left): Dona Socorro (Rita's mom), Simone Leite (MOPS - Agency for Popular Health), Karen Bezerra (nursing student and MOPS volunteer), me and Rita Simone (film maker).

A common scene on the Sertao road.

CHILDREN OF SERTAO

Michael

Gabriela

Tauane

Andre Quandu oiei a terra ardendu, When I looked the land burnin'

Qual foguera di São João, Like a Saint John's holiday bonfire
Eu preguntei I asked

A Deus du céu: "uai, To the God in heaven: "whoah,

Pur que tamanha
Why all that

Judiação?"Anguish?"

(ASA BRANCA is a song written by Luiz Gonzaga and Humberto Teixeira in 1947. It has been covered by Zé Ramalho in his 2003 album Estação Brasil. It is about the droughts that often afflict the sertão of the Brazilian Northeast.)

David Byrne singing one of Sertao's classic, in English!

Salvador for tourists: day 2! (April 22)

2010-04-25T18:23:00.035-04:00

Salvador woke up much sunnier than the day before. From my hotel, I took a bus (R$2,30 or CAN$ 1,50) to Bomfim to see the Church of Nosso Senhor do Bomfim, the most famous one in Salvador. After a crazy drive when my bus driver took a "short cut" inside a gas station to beat the bus in front of him, I got there safe.

PS: If you are taking buses here (or maybe anywhere in Brazil), you must relax and trust the drivers. If you are not used to it, it can be a very stressful ride.

Most of the people have heard of Nosso Senhor do Bomfim because of these bracelets. Some believe that the colorful piece of fabric that you tie up on your arm while you make a wish, has an incredible power to make you wish come true. But be careful! You cannot break the bracelet on purpose. It has to naturally broken so your wish happens.

The problem is that sometimes it takes years to get rid of it!

Anyway, if you go to Salvador, you have to get a little bracelet for yourself and bring home many for your friends. They will love it! Don't forget to make the wish!
I was lucky to see the church opened and even participated of the very end of a mass.
It is a beautiful interior!

FROM WIKIPEDIA: The Church of Nosso Senhor do Bonfim (Portuguese: Igreja de Nosso Senhor do Bonfim) is the most famous of the Catholic churches of Salvador, in the State of Bahia, Brazil. It was built in the 18th century on a hill in the Itapagipe peninsula, in the lower town of Salvador. The church is the subject of intense religious devotion by the people of Salvador and is the site of a famous celebration held every year in January (Festa do Senhor do Bonfim).

Outside, vendors are a bit annoying trying to sell you their souvenirs.
But it is like this in any tourist places in Salvador.
Hopefully you will get use to it fast, because it can make your trip a bit frustrating.

The coconut trees makes this this place more charming.

From the Nosso Senhor do Bomfim Church, I decided to re-do another tour. I took a little boat and went back to Itaparica Island. (I was there for the first time when I was 6 years old with my parents).

The boat you have a beautiful view of Salvador. It cost only R$3,65 or CAN$2,00 one way, and it takes about 45 minutes to put your toes on the sand of this quiet and peaceful beach.

Arriving at Itaparica Island.

FROM: http://www.travbuddy.com/Itaparica-travel-guide-190443

Itaparica is the largest of the 56 islands in All Saint’s Bay (Portuguese Baia de Todos os Santos) in the Brazilian state of Bahia. About 15km across the bay from the city of Salvador, it has exuberant vegetation and more than 40 kilometers of beaches with very warm water that are generally pretty clean. The village of Itaparica, is a quaint little town with well-conserved old houses and shady plazas. In Punta do Areia you can get excellent fresh fish and clams delivered right to your door by local fishermen.Itaparica can be reached in about 1 hour by ferry from Salvador. The smaller passenger-ferry departs from near the Mercado Modelo while the larger car-ferry goes from about 2km north to Bom Despacho.This island is a nice place for a restful excursion while visiting Salvador de Bahia. It’s a beautiful place for resting at the beach and a visit to the town of Itaparica is also worth seeing.

It is hard to believe that the busy capital is right there, on the other side.

View of Salvador from Itaparica Island.

Itaparica Island, Mar Grande Beach (Big Sea Beach).

Geraldo is an artisan who was born on the Island and lives selling his art. Even though he lives looking at Salvador, he doesn't like going to the mainland because "it's too busy". I bought a little bracelet from him for R$5, or CAN$3. This money will be enough to feed beans to Geraldo and his family for almost 2 weeks. He also eats fruits and vegetables from the island. And since the temperature is never bellow 22 degrees Celsius, Geraldo doesn't have to worry about being cold as well.

A tourist from USA takes my picture on the island.

I had a Moqueca de Arraia (a sting ray stew) with rice and pirao (mandioca flower with fish sauce).

Back on the mainland I visited Salvador's downtown again and went shopping at the Mercado Modelo (Modelo Market).

Inside and outside the market you can find art crafts and cheaper souvenirs.

Coconut water for R$1,50 or CAN$ 1,00 is a good way to hydrate and stay healthy.

I said goodbye to Salvador with this beautiful sunset!!!

But I will come back (and I will definitely bring Mike)!

PS. I have to register here that Salvador is really ready to receive international tourists. Most of the people in the service sector speak at least English. I recommend!