the Good, the Old and the Wise

"Come one...

Come all...!"

 

~the Hunchback of Notre Dame

 

Hi again my dears!

it's so damn hot right now... I should be doing other things, but the heat is so unbearable that I honestly can barely move from my bedroom floor!

 

right before the Book fair, me and my dearest found, only by change imagine, a small fair in the heart of Lisbon that consisted in showing a bit of the cultural aspects of certain rural villages of Portugal.

and they had it all, really.

just the food was... well, if I had been rich then, I would've drank and eat my way into poverty.

 

* scary Masks for Scary people *

 

 

 

* yes, that is a real warthog's snout *

 

 

these awesome canes make think of a scary, dark lord of the rings character...

 

* a Careto and a deer mount *

 

these are all "Caretos"

 they can have many colors and forms, but they all mean the same.

 

the wiki has a little description on that:

 

"The Careto tradition is a pre-historical religious ritual, from northeastern Portugal, namely the little village of Podence, 8 km from Macedo de Cavaleiros in Bragança District. It currently takes place during Carnival.
Caretos are masked young men dressed in suits made of yellow, red, black, blue and green fringe wool quilts, wearing brass, leather or wooden masks and rattles in their belts.
Shrove Tuesday and the prior Sunday are the days when the Caretos are most active. They appear in groups from every corner of the village running and shouting excitedly, frightening the people and “robbing” all the wineries.
The main target of these masquerade groups are single young girls, who make them climb to the top of walls and verandas.
Scholars associate the Careto tradition with memories of magical practices related to agrarian fertility cults.^[1]"

~wikipedia

 

* one of the most Amazing portuguese Liqueurs *

 

 

* the right cups to go with the right Ginginha *

 

* olive oil, honey, Jeropiga (liqueur) and ginginha *

 

 

cheese from the Isle São Jorge, one of the islands in Azores.

so deliciously full of zing!

 

* it's olny Fair that São Miguel has its Cheese too *

 

* canned sardines with several sauces *

 

 

believe it or not, this is no more no less than Pineapple Liqueur and Passion Fruit Liqueur!

I never knew such things were even made by portuguese people...

but it sounds kind of delicious.

 

 

beautiful homemade hot sauce...

I swear, every time I look at this photo I want to buy one.

 

 

this is homemade flower of salt, black olives and green olives,

you can see a bit more on the salt here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleur_de_sel

 

I have to say, I had no idea of what flower of salt was.

 

 

handmade pottery from neighbor spanish - portuguese villages.

these are a real statement of how little the boundaries of maps really mean to simple people living together and experiencing and mixing cultures, creating new, intense traditions.

 

the anthropologist in me appears...

 

these are all natural products from the local habitants of the rural villages.

you can't get more healthy than that!

 

 

and since we're talking about good portuguese things...

search Pastel de Nata and see what you find.

 

lovely!!

 

P.S - I have some photos of my last shoot for you guys to see... wait for it!

Celebratum

"good evening...

I'm your host, you're ghost host...

with the most!"

 

~house of a Thousand corpses

 

my birthday was actually very low key, since I divided it in 2 parties, one for my parents and one for my close friends.

I never did like to celebrate my anniversary, but this year something popped in me and I said:

what the heck, let's do this bitch!

 

so this is the one with my parents:

 

 

we went to a lighthouse that's basically falling into a huge cliff where we can actually see, the centuries passed in the broken rock, all the way from top to bottom!

 

 

this gorgeous wind chime was outside of my favorite souvenir store of the lighthouse, I just wanted to grab it and take it home with me! it's so whimsical and nostalgic of the 90's...

this little store doesn't even have a name, it's small and smells of waves and beach sand, but I always get this feeling of awe everytime I'm inside it.

 

this little store sells loads of oddities, related to the sea that you wouldn't even dream of...

my parents actually bought me an atlantic horseshoe crab in mint condition!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlantic_horseshoe_crab

 

needless to say it is one of my prized possessions in the oddities department.

but I'll do a video about my oddities, probably today!

 

*the View*

 

there's no protection whatsoever to keep you from falling into this pit.

I kidd you not.

when it's really windy they forbbid people from going to this part of the cliff.

 

I was completely feeling the scary freedom of no boundaries...

...and it was breathtaking.

 

*The Lighthouse*

 

 

me, caught off guard, loving mother Nature...

 

after that we went to visit a castle in Setúbal (I always ask my parents to take me to a different castle every year on my birthday and of course, the tiny shop on the cliff filled with taxidermy)

 

on our way there we came across something so beautiful and yet so... full of... loss.

 

 

the rain storms in my country knocked down many trees, and I feel really sad for that, because I feel such a deep connection with nature, I hate it when it seems she's punishing herself.

 

feels like self-harm to me.

 

 

I feel so alive in dead places.

for me they're not dead at all. I can feel even more life from all the people that passed through this place for centuries.

it pulsates with history and experiences.

 

 

after that it was time for dinner, and I had been craving seafood for about 3 months, so I can safely say this dinner was one of the best in my life!

 

lovely!

xoxo