I have a mansion

YEAHH!!!!

Just to tell you again... I'm the best! Don't think that I'm being too pretentious, I'm really the best. Yuup... the best!

I'm like jumping Jack Flash happy, walking with the biggest smile on the streets, hands in my pockets, whistling, humming, singing, happy, happy, happy.
Let's check it: I've found a great job (I already wrote about that) and now I found a great place! In Borne (La Ribera), the fancy place, like a downtown full of style, best shops, designer's shops, the best small bars and tapas restaurants, small beautiful streets. In some words, if you'd come to Barcelona and you're not a typical tourist and you're just looking for style and good life quality you'd come to Borne. Like in Footprint's Barcelona guide says: "Passeig del Born, once a theatre for medieval jousting tournaments and carnivals, nowadays the fiesta continues at the string of ultra-trendy bars and clubs that line the street of Passeig del Born. Beggining at the side entrance of the churche of Santa Maria del Mar [the street of my place] this is one of the hippest neighbourds of Barcelona, known simple as 'El Born', the narrow streets which splinter of the Passeig are packed with slicked with tapas bars, restaurants and stylish interior design and fashion shops" Oh, and by the way, the place is huge!!!

Well, I'm sharing it with cool people (we're 3), one them a windsurfer. How cool is that? My wetsuit is already coming on it's way here :)

Beautiful people!!!! Start with your bookings, the people from here are totally ok with bringing friends and sooooo... I can have visits! Within some common sense, of course... (summer course?)

See ya around!

Barcelona...

It's almost November and I walk around in the streets with my sunglasses on, wearing only a t-shirt.

It's seems just like my home town, only no waves... but as for the style, it's full of it.

Full of people. Full of life. Loads of restaurants, tapas bars, coffee shops, stylish clothes shops everywhere. At the moment I'm staying in Borne (La Ribera) the perfect place to go shopping. Filled with different little shops each one with a perfect front window design, betting not in much quantity but in quality and taste.

In the morning I open the window and hear the acordion player entertaining the tourists. If there was a cannal in front I could be in Venice, regarding that. Just walking around in the streets is a pleasure with all the things happening around. Today I was just walking down when I see a blonde guy holding a paiting (probably made by him) when a couple with a scooter passes by (yep, they drive them on the sidewalks...). They stop, check the paiting, and the blonde guy asks them to see it better (and probably other paitings) with more calm in his shop around the corner... making business just like this... Life is taken easy around here. There's always time for everything and always will to do something. People here don't stay at home in the evenings, they go out, even if it's just for a stroll.

Barcelona... what a city!

Settling down...

Eia beautiful people!

From this moment on I'm oficially "O Maior" (portuguese for something like "the best"). After 5 days in Barcelona I get called for an interview for a place in an irish pub. After some chat I say that I have no bar experience, but that I'm a good learner. Some more talk and she says (she is the manager) that they (they are the bosses) are going to open a new bar, something very poshy, trendy, a lounge bar with an expensive restaurant upstairs, a live DJ all the time and that after 23 turns into bar/club, and that she might put me in the bar of that place. Uau!
Well, next day, trial day. I guess I got along! The place is only opening Thursday, for now is just experimenting. The rest of the staff.... well... they all seem like a bunch of models! The girls... amazing! (don't worry, you all are still my beautiful people :) All of them have previous experience, they know what they're doing... me... I wonder how the fuck I was chosen for this place!? But, I feel great! Pays well, it's an incredible job and I just arrived.

Ahhh... live's good. Sometimes it sucks... others... :)

Traveller

Traveller...

I've been called that many times. It's strange since I'm used to read books about real travellers, people that dive into adventure. Never took the effort of thinking about myself.
It's funny how things start to seem smaller, how in a couple of hours I can be really far away, meeting friends. I've just been through 2 amazing weeks, I met great people and now here I am, in an airplane, ready to do something like 1000 km to see other friends.
Europe is already a small place for me. It sounds a bit too proud, but it's the same feeling I have when I go to a new place, like a new school, where I don't know anyone. In the beginning I feel overwhelmed by the amount of new people I meet, the size of the school and then slowly things start to become normal, familiar and I feel totally comfortable in that place, so much I start to considerate it mine, and me a part of it. Europe's becoming familiar to me, specially due to the friends I have and I've making everywhere.

I think it's time to slow down. Maybe, try to become part of something else...

07.10.2005

Walkers

I wrote this text some 2 years and something ago, before I made a single cool trip... :

A walker passes by.

I find myself at the counter asking for a slice of that cracker cookie when the walker comes by my side. He asks only for a tea. I go back to the outdoor terrace and to the spectacular view it gives. He doesn't. Sits down on a wooden bench, outside the terrace, sideways to the sea and to all of us. Strange world must be his. Bag pack on the back, flip-flops on the feet and an adventure ahead. An unknown future, with no worries in planning whatever, just walking and enjoying everything that comes on his way. Opposite of all of us, that spend the most of our life planning, running towards several objectives. Most of the times they're too ambitious and the result is disappointment, frustration and we go back to some kind of emptiness. The problem is that while we run towards our plans, we do it so fast that there's no awareness of what's happening around and the best opportunities just pass by without even imagining what they could become. Better this way. It's much worse when we get aware of what we lost. The best is just drift around...

Let's all be travellers.

16.03.2005

London in review

I'm already in London.... missing a lot the "beautiful people" I met in Torino... a fantastic group, people always high with happiness, willing to have fun and with whom I spent some of the best moments one can have. Ahhhh.... anyway, I recomend to everyone to put themselfs going around, the payback is the best! I wanna see everyone again!!!!

Well, more down to earth, here in London the extrem spirit of the Summer Course keeps on going. I came and met with some friends who don't let me rest. After some beers with my previous supervisor (that left me walking a little sideways), I'm going to another pub to meet some other group of friends, and after to some private party of somebody that I still don't know who is. Come back to the student halls to smoke some shisha (or nargile, for the knowers) and some chilling out with nice music. Since I don't have much time to be here, I can't sleep much, and waking up early leaves me in the same "zombie" condition that I still bring from Torino (I had only one night of 7.30 hours sleep after the course, the rest has been 5, 4 little hours). Yesterday the party was softer, inauguration of Teresa's, Fred's and Nuno's new place, in Pimlico, but that still ended up around 3.30 with a guitar and some out of tune voices.

Next Tuesday, 11th, I'm heading for Barcelona... I'm going to see the sea again :)

2 weeks in Torino

Only 2 more days for the course to end. Average of sleeping hours: 2. (the night when I slept some amazing 5 hours had to compensate something).

Academic part: visits to Lavazza coffee factory, Martini factory, other coffees roasting places, some days where I have 3 degustations of wines in different places. Tastings of food and wine. Going to extremely expensive restaurants (eheh, the course is for free), apperittivi in the most luxurious bars of Torino (yesterday I was side by side with Trezeguet, yep, the one from Juventus). Then we have the leisure part.... endless parties, everyday (that explain why only 2 hours of sleep per day) of the most crazy you can imagine. Example, last friday the organizers asked us to dress up for the "Toga Party", everybody in minor clothes, like we were in Ancient Roman times. Then, without notice, they take us to the most fancy Club in Torino.... where obviously we were more than the centre of attentions... just saying that we were a bit out of context is not enough! At least the drinks were for free!

The people I've been meeting are of the most fantastic I could ever imagine! They're great, I've met wonderful people, made friends that I'm sure are the kind to last... well... it's beautiful!

I'm just in love with life!

Small detail: I keep waking up most of the times still quite drunk... what a healthy life!