My birthday weekend began with the long awaited trip of going to visit Pipina. First I went to Lisbon's Marquês do Pombal Square and the famous Avenida da Liberdade. It was simply stunning. I didn't have the big camera so I will have to return to get some more pictures. Next week there will be a great show in this avenue. Can't wait.
Portugal has a huge tradition of tile “azulejos” like these
I found wondering around the park, used to decorate the façade of Pavilhao Carlos Lopes. There
is also a museum in Lisbon – Tile Museum - for this amazing portuguese art. I
will have to go there for sure.
This picture was on the back of a public transportation bus,
advertising the Tile Museum.
In order to reach the village where I grew up, I traveled with my godmother's sister, Rosa, and her family. I met her sons at her home in Odivelas. Eight years ago João was just a baby that had just begun to learn how to walk. Somehow when we picked him up from sunday school, after a few seconds he got all excited and yelled "IT'S PEDRO!" I have no idea how he remembered who I was. I am guessing that it has something to do with the box of marbles in his room. It used to be mine and now it has been handed down. We spent some time sharing which ones were our favorites.
In Vale do Grou, instead of doing our job of sweeping the terrace we came across a fun activity. Lemon throwing!
First we had to collect them.
The goal of the game was to hit that broken down car, which had weeds growing inside. You earned three points if you hit the roof, one for the hood, and two for the windows. This scoring was certainly not to scale with the difficulty of the shots.
Meet the crew!
João Rafael
Gatinho
This little kitty is Pipina's companion and loves to play. He loves being tickled, and in response he grabs on with his claws and bites you in a playful manner. It is adorable. The pain... only barely tolerable.
Rafael hopes he'll become a Foosball Pro.
João wishes to travel the world.
YEAH!
We went on an afternoon day hike to "Penedo Furado". This stream wonder of Portugal has not been kept well but it still holds a lot of memories and it is filled with beautiful nature.
Rosa, safe and sound while adding scale and perspective.
João and I just kept climbing. Wherever we went, Rafa came with us. It was a gift to be able to experience this place while observing their young perspective. It gave me a new sense of adventure and an old sense of remembering the days when I was that short.
If foosball doesn't work out, Rafael is going to work as a frog mascot for Nike.
I didn't have the good camera and forgot to adjust the contrast and brightness in these pictures. Now it is simply too late since I would have to waste 2 minutes fixing everything. Simply too much...
We also brought Pedro Pequeno with us. His name is Small Pedro because we looked extremely alike when we were younger. Since I was older, I earned the prized title of Big Pedro. Now we are the same height and his facial features have COMPLETELY changed. I am still having a hard time coming to grips with the fact that it is actually him.
When leaving, I began throwing these little flax plant things at Rafael's back. It is said that the number of plants that get stuck to the shirt will equal the number of relationships that the person will have. As it seems, Rafael is on his way to be a stud!
After a game of foosball. ice cream, and bit of playing with the kitten, it was time to relax by a warm cooking fire as it began to drizzle outside.
