Italy is a food fest...

After going back to Oslo for a couple of days (and meeting this crazy, incredible guy who lost 28 years of his memory-- blog about that coming up soon!) I went to the north of Italy, close to Lake Como (where George Clooney has a house!) to see one of my best friends in the world, Joel.

The week was very mellow, and consisted on a crash course in intensive Italian, a million calories, great laughs, playing with a beautiful baby girl, and a few liters of coffee a day. Can it get any better than this?? hehe...

Here are a few pictures:

Joel and the beautiful Sunshine lady... 

Having loads of food with lots of friends...

Beautiful, wonderful food... 

Espresso... hmmm! 

Has anyone ever seen a more beautiful baby?? I doubt it!!! 

Norway- Part II = Tromsø

The view flying into Tromsø

Picture this: a Brazilian, from a city where the worst weather, in the dead at night in the middle of winter MAYBE gets as low as 10 degrees Celsius (about 50F), going to a place way above the Artic Circle in the middle of the winter, a place where the average temperature in the middle of the summer, is 11 degrees Celsius. I'll let you imagine what the average temperature in the winter is...

But I happen to have a friend there (and if you're thinking that I have friends EVERYWHERE in the world, yes, you're absolutely right, I'm lucky that way! :) ) so I wanted to go visit him... and the result is a Brazilian in the Artic Circle... :)

If I thought that Oslo was winter wonderland, I now know better... Tromsø is winter wonderland... :)

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Joar is there, although he moved so he looks a bit like a ghost... but he's real... really!

(This picture was taken close to the ocean, on the same pebbly beach where Joar took that much better picture with his family...)

It was very, VERY cold and the wind from the ocean didn't help at all, but it was beautiful... 

I took that picture when we were leaving... from inside the car cuz by that time I was already too frozen to have the motivation to get out into the cold again... 

The next night I insisted we go out in an attempt to see the Northern Lights.... we had gotten a LOT of fresh snow during the day... and this is where my slight obsession with snow-angels (already mentioned in the previous post) kicked into high gear... :) 

I've sunk in above my knees!!! 

Falling....

Like an angel... :) 

Happy! :) 

We had a good walk... unfortunately the ski did not clear... No Northern Lights for me... :(

The next day we walked around, had some tea, went to a photo exposition and then went to the Artic Cathedral... it's an awesome place to take pictures... 

This is it from the back...

I just love this picture! :) Possibly one of the best I've ever taken...

Well, unfortunately my time in Tromsø was VERY short, but it was SO good to see my friend again, and we had a great time... But I really wanted to see the Northern Lights and that didn't happen... I left 12hrs too soon because that night they showed up in full glory... you can see some of Joar's magnificent pictures  here.

But I guess that only means I'll have to come back next winter... ;)

Norway-- Part I- Oslo

After the disaster mentioned on the last blog post, I went back to Paris where I stayed until I got on a plane to Oslo... Didn't feel like doing much, but managed to hang out with a couple of friends, and even meet a good friend of a good friend... :)

Then I bundled up and layered up with as much clothing as I could, and headed for the airport. Temperature in Oslo -5C (about 20F).

My first impression when getting out of the plane was that I had arrived in a black and white winter wonderland. Everything was beautiful and white...

(So the picture isn't great but it was taken from the bus, so give me a break...)

Arriving in Oslo, I met one of my hosts in front of the National Theater, and we went home. The people I stayed with could NOT have been more wonderful. There were 6 of them to begin with, and I had moments of great fun and interesting, stimulating conversation with each of them, and a really incredible experience in Oslo. Here are a few pictures...

Sunday morning on the way to Korketrekken with my hosts Meera, Frode and Gunnar. The 1952 Olympics used that same route for their sleigh competitions... and it was perfect weather, clear blue skies, no wind, just perfect!!!

That's Meera flying by... I stopped in the middle of the track to take pictures of people, and then when it was going to be my turn, I ran out of battery... silly me. :(

That was this crazy "let's all dance like we're in kindergarden" thing on Monday night. It happened at a pub, but there's nothing there on Monday, the place is closed, they don't even sell anything, but during one hour, this girl puts silly dance music and makes us all dance like maniacs. It was a LOT of fun!!!

The opera house by night...

That's me standing on a frozen river.... yep, that's right... frozen RIVER! See the bridge behind me? yeah, it's not cold at all over here...

After we got home I made dinner for all of us at Bianca and Ingrid's house...

Another beautiful and sunny day at Vigeland Parken, with hosts Katrina and Tine...

Jump! :)

I seem to have developed a strange obsession for making snow-angels...

Beautiful sunset over the frozen fjord... (yep, it was frozen... so much so that the boat cruises weren't operating... bummer!)

My last night in Oslo, I made dinner for my 6 hosts plus 4 friends, and it was wonderful! :)

But tomorrow, I fly to Tromsø, way  north of the Artic Circle, to visit my good friend Joar...

Balance of the last 48hrs

The first part of the 48hrs was great... It involved 2 great meals, 1 in Paris Saturday night, the other in Lyon, Sunday lunch. Lots of friends. Loads of food. Lots and lots of laughter and fun. Even made a few new friends, a French/Greek guy who told me what to do and what not to do in Greece, and even a couple of Brazilian girls! The day Sunday was amazing, clear blue skies, crisp clear air, absolutely beautiful and perfect!!

Then the 2nd part of the 48hrs came...

Grams of great food ingested in a happy mood* with great friends= 0
Moments of laughter and fun= 0
Friends= -2 (yes, that means I lost 2, possibly 3 friends)
Weather= -10 and snowing

*To be honest there was one meal with great friends, but unfortunately the happy mood was not there.

And if that hadn't been enough, 136 Euros flushed down the toilet...

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At least they kinda balance each other out... despite the fact that I'm emotionally drained, physically exhausted, quite a bit poorer, and lost something priceless= the friendship of 2 people I thought were some of my closest friends.

But I survived through it all... 

I wish I was insanely obese...

You might think I'm crazy, but I have a point.

Today I walked around Paris, up and down, left and right, some of my favorite places. And EVERYTHING is on sale. I bought a hat, really cute, warm woolen beenie for 2 euros. That's ridiculous.

But I am on a tight budget (as mentioned on my previous post) so I have 2 choices: I can either buy half of Paris, or eat for the next 2 months.

If I was obese, not only would I get to buy half of Paris, but I'd also be on a forced diet.

Unfortunately, I have no choice in the matter... no, I'm not suicidal. And I love food. And cheese. And plan on eating lots and lots of it...

Sales? maybe another time...

And off we go again! (Rough itinerary!)

I have just landed in Paris!!!!!!!!!! Could not be more excited, as you can imagine!

This is a rough itinerary, some of the dates are set in stone because of plane tickets which unfortunately allow no flexibility, (those are in bold) but everything else is still up in the air...

27 Jan = Brasilia - Paris 
31 Jan = Geneva?
  5 Feb = Paris - Oslo
 11 Feb = Oslo - Tromso
 15 Feb = Tromso - Oslo
17 Feb = Oslo - Milan
24 Feb = Milan - Billund (Denmark)
 28 Feb= Billund- Copenhagen
  3 Mar = Copenhagen-Geneva
 3 Mar - 18 Mar = Make my way through Switzerland and Germany until I reach Frankfurt
18 Mar= Frankfurt-Berlin
29 Mar= Paris
31 Mar= Mom arrives in Paris
  1 Apr = Paris - Tel Aviv
22 Apr = Tel Aviv - Athens
 7 May= Athens - Paris
10 May= Mom flies out of Paris
11 May= Paris - Stockholm
24 May= Stockholm - Paris
27 May= Paris - Brasilia (unless I "accidentally" miss my flight!!!)


This trip has a lot of potential. It is the first trip I take with my mom (obviously not counting when I was a kid), I have planned everything and all the responsibility is on me, she's just along for the ride... for her, it will definitely be the trip of a lifetime, and the accomplishment of a life-long dream (to visit Israel). For me, it'll add a few more countries under my belt (somewhere between 5-7 new countries! YEY!), give me the chance to spend quality time (hopefully!) with my mom, see a lot of my friends who happen to be scattered around the Old Continent, and then when time comes to leave, have an overwhelming desire to jump off a bridge or "forget" I have a plane to catch, and just stay over there... and probably starve to death.

Needless to say, I'm going to be on a VERY tight budget. It's incredible that you can buy a Ryanair flight from Oslo to Milan for 5 euros but can't buy yourself a sandwich with that. I bet if they still served food on planes, people would take flights just to eat for cheap. So if I cross your path while I'm there, please remember I'm poor, and will definitely not be able to join you at a restaurant (even if it's the cheapest restaurant ever!) or any other outing that requires money. However, I do have 2 very good legs, and don't mind walking anywhere... that's the best way to discover a new city, so if you're showing me around, don't hesitate to plan walking tours, etc...! :)

And if you happen to not be on my itinerary, but would like to join me for part of it, feel free to do so also! :) I'd be delighted to have people come visit me... :)

Alright, looks like I've already written too much....

Hope to see you soon!!!!!!!!!! :)

Ooohhhh... here we go again...

I feel it coming. That familiar feeling. That swelling in my chest that makes me excited and feeling like I'm about to explode. Yep. It's here. My disease has caught up with me again. I have to do something about it. I have to indulge in it once again. I have to scratch the itch. Yes, this disease manifests itself with an indescribable, and unbearable itch.

What disease is this you ask?

Itchy feet.