Summer 2010 I - Holland and Italy

The Summer is now (long) gone and with it the resting, the good weather and the travelling. You will not be surprised to hear that I did a bit of travelling over the summer… I was meant to have posted these entries much earlier, but too many things have been happening in my life which have prevented me from doing so. Better late than never, so here are three posts about my summer! I - Holland and Italy; II - Portugal; III: Brazil. Enjoy!

Summer travelling kicked off with a trip to Holland to visit my Dutch friends. I studied in Holland in 1995 as an Erasmus student and made three good friends: Saskia, Kristel and Yvonne. Since then we remained in touch and for some time we tried to meet every year, either in Portugal or in Holland. However, we had not met since 2002. Since Saskia had just had a baby girl, this was a good opportunity to visit them again. It is amazing that so many years later we are the same (ok, we are bit older…). It was good to catch up, know what they have been up to and remember the good moments we spent together in the past. We met on the day of the world cup final. Unfortunately Holland lost...

From left to right: Saskia, Yvonne holding Teuntje and Kristel

Teuntje; how cute does she look here?

Watching the world cup final. My friends has a surprise for me. A pair of typical Dutch shoes!

Even the cake was Orange!

Visiting Leiden - the traditional Dutch windmill in the back

now... which one is my bike? bike parking area with literally thousands of bikes

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During my trip to Holland I still had time to visit my class mates and friends Pedro and Patricia in The Hague. Pedro works for the Portuguese Tourism Board and has been working as the Representative for the BENELUX markets for two years. It was great to see them again, specially their little boy Pedro Junior.

In front of the Royal Palace in Den Hague

With Patricia and Pedro Jr (Pedro Senior was taking the picture)

Reception of the Dutch Football Team by the Queen. The crown waiting for the players to come to the Balcony. I had to leave to the airport and ended up not watching the players.

In Holland... be a Dutch!

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ITALY

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At the end July I went on a week-long Salsa Holiday in Italy. I had tried to dance Salsa for a while, but always struggled a bit. This year I tried again and it ‘clicked’ – I finally managed to dance. Since May I have been trying to practice a lot and learn a few more moves. Going on a salsa holiday would tick two boxes – learning salsa and relaxing and having bit of fun. I searched options on the Internet and found the ‘Salsa in Toscana’ Holiday, organized by Leuven Salsa, from Belgium. The holiday took place in Prata and Bocheggiano, two very small – but beautiful – towns near Massa Maritima/Follonica (around 2 hours south of Pisa). Both villages are at the top of hills and the views are amazing. This was my first time in Italy. Toscana is quite beautiful and I will certainly be back soon.

I had not realized that there were two quite different styles of salsa – LA salsa and Cuban salsa. I do Cuban salsa, but in Italy it was LA salsa. At the beginning it was difficult as the choreographies are different and some of the ‘rules of the game’ too. For example, in Cuban salsa you are much more free to use the space in dance floor, in LA salsa you have to keep a line with your partner. At the beginning most of the mistakes I did were because of not meeting this rule. During the holiday we had salsa parties virtually every night, most of them at open air venues. Needless to say, I met a lot of people (we were around 30 salseros) and some of them became good friends. Besides people from Belgium, there were people from France, Slovenia and even one American!

Amazingly delicious tiramusu that I ate in Massa Maritima

Dancing with Agata. I was probably thinking... bugger, I do I get out of this move?

After an energetic walk through Maremma National Park, a deserved swim on the Mediterranean sea.

Maremma National Park

Amazing Raibow at a Tuscan Hotel where we had some classes and dinner

Learning some new moves. Dancing with Sylvie.

Last day dinner in Bocheggiano

Avec les Francaises... Karen and Sylvie

The buys doing silly things (the woman's hand posture...)

The chefs dream team: me and Carolyn. We cooked for 25!

The entire group at Maremma Park beach

Summer 2010 II - Portugal

For the second stage of my holidays I went 10 days to Portugal to be with my family and friends. The days in Portugal were wonderful. My family’s Summer house is in front of the sea in a town called Praia do Pedrogao, not far from where my parents live (around 11km). The house is small but gorgeous. It has been in the family for four generations – it belonged to my great grand uncle, then my grand uncle, then it was inherited by my grandparents and now is owned by my mother and her brothers/sisters. The house is the ‘meeting point’ for the whole family (uncles, aunties, cousins) so it is always quite busy during the day.

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Beautiful sunset I

Beautiful sunset II

My mum's rice pudding - the best one in the world (guaranteed!)

This year I was lucky that the sea was good so the fishing boats went out to sea virtually everyday. That means fresh fish! One day I went to buy it from the fishermen at 11am, and by 1pm it was in our plate! It can’t be fresher than that!

The boat is about to be launched on to the sea

On the water...

Arriving...

The net is pulled

The two sides of the net are closed when the 'bag' is about to arrive - excitement grows

The net's bag has arrived!

Fish market on the beach - all the fish has to be sold on the beach staright after being caught

'Jaquinzinhos' / Carapau (Small horse-mackerel)

My mum cooking the 'Jaquinzinhos'

Look how small they are!

Me eating the 'jaquinzinho'. You eat them in one go (only the tail is not eaten). They are best eaten fried with tomato rice and lettuce salad.

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During my stay there was also the annual the local fete. The house faces the main square, where the entertainment takes place. In fact, the stage is right next to the house! While we have a privileged view, we also have to endure with loud music from 10am to 2am… not the best thing when you want to have some rest! This year there were four days of entertainment, with live music in the evening. During the weekend there is also day entertainment and the celebrations finish with fireworks on the Beach. I did not see this year’s fireworks, but a couple years ago I did and it is very beautiful. And because they are just in front of the house, we have a prime view of it.

View from the balcony: the crowd dancing

View from the balcony: singer 'Flor' and her Dancers Ines Gomes (Blond) and Eden Ricco (Brunette).

Summer 2010 III - Brazil

In September I travelled to Brazil to attend two conferences in Sao Paulo. The first one was the VII Annual Conference of the Brazilian Association of Tourism Researchers held at Anhembi Morumbi University. I participated in a round table about the Internationalisation of Brazilian Tourism Researchers and Higher Education Institutions. The 90 minute session, chaired by Professor Jose Gandara from Parana Federal University, featured four other academics from foreign institutions: Dr. Julio Mendes (Algarve University, Portugal), Dr. Jose Fraiz (Vigo University, Spain), Dr. Mario Passos Ascensao (Hagga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, Finland) and Guilherme Lhoman (Southern Cross University, Australia). Around 100 academics and post-graduate students attended the session.

Sorry, no pictures of ANPTUR yet...

In the second part of the week, I attended AMFORHT’s Annual Forum (World Association of Tourism and Hospitality Education), organised by SENAC (a public body responsible for tourism and hospitality education). The Forum involved a series of keynote speeches, parallel academic presentations and workshops/case studies. The theme of the Forum was ‘tourism experience’. I presented a case study on the Salvador Carnival. Twenty eight delegates attended the lively presentation. Although all were familiar with the event/experience, I think they appreciated the view that I brought about the experience of the event.

Getting ready to do my presentation

First day of the conference

The company 'Melhor da Vida', which focuses on experiential marketing, organised an entertainment activity for the Forum guests. It involved bringing in a Samba band who performed for us. They also brought large quantities of two instruments (one of them is in the picture - Tamborim). After a crsh course and a bit of training, we had to play the instruments. Very interesting indeed! Picture by Dani Fernandes!

Before going to Sao Paulo, I took a week off to rest and visit some friends in Brazil. After a day in Rio, I travelled to Salvador da Bahia, where I spent 5 days. From there, I went to Sao Jose do Rio Preto in Sao Paulo state to attend CarnaRioPreto, one of the many ‘Micaretas’ (or off-season carnivals) that take place in Brazil. Two of my favourite bands were playing there: Chiclete com Banana and Batom na Cueca. In fact, I had the privilege of enjoying Batom na Cueca’s show from the top of the truck as I know Darlan, the percussionist of the Band. It is quite a different perspective from there, as you have a bird’s eye view of the crowd.

First day. In Niteroi with Alessandra and her friend, Paula and Rodrigo




In Salvador, with some of my good friends: Me, Tati, Cynthia, Pati, Tom, Pati's Father and partner, Davina and her 'paquera'

With some of the fellow 'micareteiros' during Saturday's barbeque in CarnaRioPreto

'Em cima do Trio' (on the top of the truck) with my friend Darlan in the back totally focused on his job!

Me and Renata, my guest on the top of the truck. Renata is a 'professional' Micareteira, but this was her first time enjoying it from the top of the truck (for me it was the second)

Bird's eye view of the Micareta - a different experience from the one on the ground

Another view from the top - this one over the VIP box (yes, no special effects, it was dawn!)

With Diego, Renato and Tais. These guys are simply amazing: they laugh and make everyone laugh from beginning till the end.

Me with Bell Marques performing - Chiiiii-cleeeee-teeeeee

Bell Marques and Chiclete com Banana

Bell Marques from chiclete com Banana very close to the fans

After the week in Sao Paulo, I returned to Rio de Janeiro. First, I met my friends Carol e Mariana in Leblon (a neighbourhood in Rio de Janeiro city). We met at a ‘boteco’ in the afternoon (Boteco is relaxed bar which also serves food). After a pizza for dinner, we went out to Barra da Tijuca (an affluent neighbourhood in the south of the city) to a nighclube (can’t remember the name…). It was great to see them. We always have a great time.

With Mariana and Carol during the 'esquenta' (i.e. warm up drink before you go out)

The 'trio' at the nighclube

Not sure what this face is about... intriguing... I think they call it the 'absolut' face :-)

The next day I went to Niteroi (neighbour borough of Rio de Janeiro - on the other side of Guanabara Bay), where I attended the Bridal show of Paula, my Brazilian ‘sister’. Around 70 people attended the party, which not surprisingly involved a lot of food and drink. Guests had to bring a little present for the kitchen. Then, before opening the wrapped present the bride and the groom need to figure out what it is. If they fail to guess what it is, they there is a ‘punishment’ (e.g. to say what they think of their mother in law LOL).

Paula doing something after not guessing what the present was (I think she was singing! ouch...)

Paula and Rodrigo dancing Funk after not guessing what the present was. Thank God they decided to be dentists and not Funk dancers!

All the single girls pulling the string to see who would get the one with the ring attached. The symbolism is similar to the grabbing the flower bouquet - the one who gets it is the next to get married. at the end there was one very happy face and several jealous ones!!

Me, rodrigo-the-groom (in green) and some of the guests attending the Bridal Shower

Me and Paula