Graças a um bom amigo da blogosfera e do Facebook, tive o privilégio (porque o é, de facto) de poder ver esta curta-metragem/documentário sobre a belíssima Sintra. Sem mais comentários, que aqui são desnecessários!
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Os Lusíadas, usually known by the title «The Lusiads» in English, is a Portuguese epic poem by Luís Vaz de Camões – sometimes spelled Camoens in English – and is considered one of the most important works of World literature.
Written in Homeric fashion («Iliad» and «Odyssey»), the poem – in ten Chants/X Cantos – focuses mainly on a fantastical interpretation of the Portuguese voyages of discovery during the 15th and 16th centuries.
The poem is often regarded as Portugal's national epic, much in the way as Virgil's «Æneid» was for the Ancient Romans.
It was first printed in 1572, three years after the poet returned from the Orient.
In the fifth Chant – Canto V – the story moves on to the King of Melinde (eastern Africa), describing the journey of the Armada from Lisbon to Melinde.
During the voyage, the sailors see the Southern Cross, St. Elmo's Fire or the Maritime Whirlwind, and face a variety of dangers and obstacles such as the fury of a monster in the episode of the Giant Adamastor.
The Canto ends with the poet's censure of his contemporaries that despise poetry.
The Giant Adamastor is a Greek-type mythological character invented by Camões, as a symbol of the forces of nature Portuguese navigators had to overcome on their discovery travels:
"Chill the flesh and the hairs
To me and all [the others] only by listening and seeing him".
"Arrepiam-se as carnes e os cabelos
A mim e a todos só de ouvi-lo e vê-lo".
This is intended to convey pure fear, the imminent threat of annihilation. The evil demigod is preceded by a black cloud, which appears above the heads of the sailors.
Expressing the surprise he experiences, Gama quotes himself:
"Oh divine power – [I] said – sublimated,
What divine threat or what secret
This clime and this sea presents to us
That seems a bigger thing than a storm?"
"Ó potestade – disse – sublimada,
Que ameaço divino ou que segredo
Este clima e este mar nos apresenta,
Que mor cousa parece que tormenta?"
As a "strange Colossus"/"estranhíssimo Colosso", "Rude son of the Earth"/"Filho aspérrimo da Terra", Adamastor became the Spirit of the Cape, a hideous phantom of unearthly pallor:
"Even as I spoke, an immense shape
Materialised in the night air,
Grotesque and enormous stature
With heavy jowls, and an unkempt beard
Scowling from shrunken, hollow eyes
Its complexion earthy and pale,
Its hair grizzled and matted with clay,
Its mouth coal black, teeth yellow with decay."
"Não acabava, quando uma figura
Se nos mostra no ar, robusta e válida,
De disforme e grandíssima estatura;
O rosto carregado, a barba esquálida,
Os olhos encovados, e a postura
Medonha e má e a cor terrena e pálida;
Cheios de terra e crespos os cabelos,
A boca negra, os dentes amarelos."
Such emphasis on the appearance of the Adamastor is intended to contrast with the preceding scenery, which was expressed as "seas of the South" ("mares do Sul"):
"The winds blowing favourably
When one night, being careless
In the cutting bow watching,"
"Prosperamente os ventos assoprando,
Quando uma noite, estando descuidados
Na cortadora proa vigiando,"
Camões gave his creation a history as one of the Giants of Greek mythology who had been spurned by Thetis, now appearing in the form of a threatening storm cloud to Vasco da Gama and threatening ruin to anyone hardy enough to pass the Cape and penetrate the Indian Ocean, which was Adamastor's domain.
Cape Point: the tip of the Cape Peninsula where the Atlantic and Indian oceans come together
«Eu sou aquele oculto e grande Cabo
A quem chamais vós outros Tormentório,
Que nunca a Ptolomeu, Pompónio, Estrabo,
Plínio e quantos passaram fui notório.
Aqui toda a Africana costa acabo
Neste meu nunca visto Promontório,
Que para o Pólo Antárctico se estende,
A quem vossa ousadia tanto ofende.»
«I am that one occult and great Cape
That you others call Tormentor,
That never by Ptolemy, Pomponius, Strabo,
Pliny and many before was known.
Here the entire African coast I finish
In this mine never seen Promontory,
That to the Antarctic Pole extends,
To whom your boldness so much offends.»
Thus it represents the dangers Portuguese sailors faced when trying to round the Cape of Storms, henceforth called, in consequence of the resultant success in despite thereof, Cape of Good Hope.
Adamastor has figured in much poetry of the Cape.
It is also mentioned in the opera «L'africaine» (1865) about Vasco da Gama by the composer Giacomo Meyerbeer. The slave Nelusko sings a song about Adamastor while he deliberately steers the ship into a storm and it sinks.
In «The First Life of Adamastor», a novella by André Brink, the writer refashioned the Adamastor story from a 20th-century perspective.
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There's no such thing as noncommunication.
It seems my «universal Babylon» here has been proving this motto of mine with more and better evidence each and every day.
It does feel great to know you're an inherent part of something that's happening simultaneously everywhere in the world.
Is this blog cosmopolitan or what?
Check out the following list and try to find the nearest name to your home place. Enjoy this quick journey around the world!
Africa
Morocco: Casablanca
Algeria: I-n-Salah
Tunisia: Tunis
Egypt: Alexandria, Asyut
Cape Verde: Praia
Senegal: Dakar
Ghana: Kumasi
Nigeria: Lagos
Kenya: Nairobi
Angola: Luanda
Mozambique: Maputo, Nampula
South Africa: Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria
Mauritius: Port-Louis
Americas
Canada: Calgary, Gaspé, Halifax, Montréal, Ottawa, Port au Port/Stephenville, Québec, Regina, Saint John, Sault Sainte Marie, Toronto, Vancouver, Winnipeg…
USA: Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Wisconsin, Washington, Wyoming…
Mexico: Guadalajara, Hermosillo, La Paz, Mazatlán, Mérida, Mexico City, Monterrey, Tijuana, Villahermosa
Bermudas: Hamilton
Puerto Rico: San Juan
Bahamas: Nassau
Jamaica: Kingston
Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo
Martinique: Fort-de-France
Aruba: Oranjestad
Guatemala: Guatemala
Costa Rica: S. Jose
El Salvador: San Salvador
Nicaragua: Managua
Panama: Colon, Panama City
Colombia: Antioquia, Bogotá
Venezuela: Caracas, Maracaíbo
Ecuador: Quito
Peru: Arequipa, Chiclayo, Lima
Bolivia: La Paz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra
Paraguay: Asunción
Uruguay: Montevideo
Chile: Antofagasta, Punta Arenas, Santiago, Valparaiso, Viña del Mar
Argentina: Bahía Blanca, Buenos Aires, Corrientes, Mar del Plata, Mendoza, Mercedes, Rawson, San Miguel de Tucuman…
Brazil: Acre, Amazónia, Bahia, Brasília, Ceará, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Minas Gerais, Pará, Paraná, Pernambuco, Rio Grande do Norte, Rio Grande do Sul, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, Santa Catarina, São Paulo, Sergipe, Tocantins…
Asia
Russia: Yekaterinburg
Turkey: Ankara, Burdur, Istanbul
Cyprus: Nicosia
Israel: Haifa, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv
Iraq: Basra
Iran: Isphahan, Teheran
Saudi Arabia: Jeddah, Riyadh
Dubai
Muscat
Qatar/Bahrain
India: Ahmadabad, Amritsar, Cuttack, Indore, Madras, Mumbai
Thailand: Krung Thep
Vietnam: Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City
Singapore
Malaysia: Kuala Lumpur, Sibu
Brunei: Bandar Seri Begawan
Indonesia: Bali, Jakarta, Ujung Pandang
Philippines: Cebu, Davao, Manila
Taiwan: Taipei
China: Beijing, Chunking, Hong Kong, Macao, Shanghai, Zhenzhou
South Korea: Seoul
Japan: Kobe, Kyoto, Naha, Osaka, Tokyo
Europe
Austria: Vienna
Belgium: Antwerp, Brussels, Gent, Laarne, Liege, Mechelen, Namur…
Bulgaria: Sophia, Burgas
Czech Republic: Prague
Denmark: Arhus
Finland: Helsinki, Oulu
France: Avignon, Dijon, Grenoble, Lyon, Marseille, Metz, Montpellier, Nancy, Paris/Île-de-France, Reims, Rennes, Toulon…
Germany: Berlin, Halle, Hamburg, Hannover, Munich, Münster, Stuttgart…
Greece: Athens
Hungary: Budapest
Iceland: Reykjavík
Ireland: Dublin, Limerick
Italy: Bari, Cagliari, Milan, Naples, Palermo, Rome, Turin, Venice…
Latvia: Riga
Lithuania: Vilnius
Luxembourg: Dudelange
Macedonia: Skopje
Malta: Valetta
Netherlands: Amsterdam, Lelystad, Utrecht, Zutphen…
Norway: Oslo, Stavanger, Tromsø
Poland: Gdansk, Katowice, Warsaw
Portugal, Azores & Madeira
Romania: Bucharest, Cluj, Pitesti, Timisoara
Russia: Moscow, Saint Petersburg
Slovenia: Ljubljana
Spain & Canary Islands
Sweden: Gothenburg, Stockholm, Uppsala
Switzerland: Aargau, Basel, Geneva, Lugano, Vaud, Zurich…
Ukraine: Dniepropetrovsk
United Kingdom: Cardiff, Coventry, Edinburgh, London, Manchester, Portsmouth, Southampton…
Oceania/Australasia
Australia: Adelaide, Alice Springs, Brisbane, Canberra, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney
New Zealand: Auckland, Christchurch
New Caledonia: Nouméa
… Have you found it? I do hope so! If not, I'm entirely to blame. I may have overlooked one of those red spots, you know… Lol!
I thank each and every one of you so very much for being an inherent part of this too!
RIC
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Rangiroa, which means "Far Sky" in Tuamotuan, is an atoll of the archipelago of Tuamotu in French Polynesia and one of the largest in the world.
It is located at approximately 350 km in the North-East of Tahiti, in the Palliser group. In its high limits of size the lagoon is 80 km long and 32 km wide, and its maximum depth is only 35 meters. It is so large that it has its own horizon…
The atoll consists of about 250 islands, islets and sandbars comprising a total land area of about 170 square km, and there are approximately 100 narrow passages, called «hoa», in the reef.
Paradise on earth, wouldn't you say?…
This is what I call true evasion!
Enjoy it lavishly!
I wish I were on Rangiroa right now!…
RIC (with a little help of Wikipedia)
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Unwillingly following a sad tradition, I hadn't posted about Spain yet… until now! I can only hope I may be forgiven, since there's a lot about Spain and the Spaniards that I do like very, very much! ¡Por supuesto!
Westwards from Madrid, four cities give shape to a kind of a rectangle on the map that I call "my Spanish/Castilian rectangle". In alphabetical order they are: Aranjuez, Ávila, Segovia, and Toledo. They've given me what I consider to be the very best of Spanish culture.
Shall we go for a walk together?…
Aranjuez is known for the Palacio Real de Aranjuez, a royal residence, and its vast gardens. The strawberries of Aranjuez are also famous throughout Spain; they are shipped by the carload to Madrid every day during their season. Internationally, Aranjuez has become known through the fabulous Concierto de Aranjuez by Joaquín Rodrigo: "Aranjuez, mon amour"…
Ávila is renowned for Saint Teresa of Ávila (c. 1515-1582), the Carmelite reformer who lived there. Another prominent native was Tomás Luis de Victoria. The convent and church of Teresa mark the supposed birthplace of the saint whose name they bear. Ávila also possesses an old castle – the alcázar.
Segovia's old city is spectacularly situated atop a long, narrow promontory. It contains a wealth of monuments, including the cathedral, a famous ancient Roman aqueduct, the Alcázar, and various churches built in the Romanesque style including San Esteban, San Martin, and San Millan. The old city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and is surrounded by walls, built probably on a Roman base.
Toledo is located in central Spain, 70 km south of Madrid. It is the capital of the autonomous community of Castile-La Mancha, and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986, due to its extensive cultural and monumental heritage as one of the former capitals of the Spanish Empire and important place of peaceful coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Moorish/Arab cultures. Famous people and artists were born or lived here, including Garcilaso de la Vega, the Renaissance poet, Alfonso X, the wise, king and poet ("Cantigas de Santa Maria"), and El Greco, the painter.
Em duas ocasiões reservei os últimos dias de viagem para explorar com calma o que eu chamava o meu rectângulo castelhano, atitude que levantou suspeitas entre alguns companheiros mais patrioteiros. Espanha?! Madrid?! Mas o que é que isso interessa?! A mim, interessava-me. E muito. Adjacente a Madrid para ocidente, há uma região compreendida entre Ávila e Segóvia, a norte, e Toledo e Aranjuez, a sul, cidades que muito me fascinam e ajudaram a conhecer e a compreender melhor a realidade castelhana. Nunca mais escutei do mesmo modo aquele delicioso concerto para guitarra e orquestra de Joaquín Rodrigo, o Concierto de Aranjuez. Aqueles sons não são apenas a sensibilidade de um homem posta em música. Revelam a alma de um povo no seu melhor, pelo elaborado dedilhar das cordas de uma guitarra.
RIC
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«Nairobi, 7 de Junho de 2007
Olá a todos,
Directamente de Nairobi, as primeiras impressões são poucas. Uma cidade tipicamente africana, mercados de artesanato de perder a cabeça e, para meu grande espanto, zonas verdes quase luxuriantes.
São 9:30 da noite e espera-me uma noite de sono que acalme a canseira da viagem. Amanhã, de madrugada, começa o verdadeiro safari.
Se puder, volto a dar notícias.
Beijinhos a todos, até ao meu regresso.
Karla»
Baroness Karen Christence Dinesen Blixen-Finecke, a.k.a. Isak Dinesen, performed in "Out of Africa" by the stunning Meryl Streep:
"You see, I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. But it really began before that; it really began in Denmark. And there I knew two brothers. One was my lover, and one was my friend. I had a farm in Africa… I had a farm in Africa at the foot of the Ngong Hills. I had a farm in Africa…"
«This is the stone farmhouse, now in a Nairobi suburb, where Danish author Karen Blixen lived from 1914 to 1931 and where she welcomed her lover, Denys Finch-Hatton – remember Robert Redford?…
Since the 1985 Oscar sweep, crowds have doubled at the Blixen manor, now restored as a national museum. A band of eucalyptus woodland, the Ngong Road Forest, still separates the cool, upland suburb from downtown Nairobi, at 1,700 m.
The mahogany-panelled rooms are plunged into a dim, natural light, filtered by paned glass and lace curtains. The house and grounds were presented to Kenya as an Uhuru (Independence) gift by the Danish government. A manicured walkway circles from Karen Road to the veranda where Blixen spun stories at sundown for guests, most especially Finch-Hatton.
There is a replica of the RCA Victor gramophone on which Streep/Blixen and Redford/Finch-Hatton played Mozart concertos – even on safari –, especially the Adagio of the Concert for clarinet and orchestra in A major, K. 622, a piece of gold amidst all the others that compose the film's soundtrack. There is the lantern that she hung outside to let him know she was home.
Floor-to-ceiling library shelves hold copies of Denys' books, each marked with a small brass plaque – DFH. Blixen's square corner bedroom, its white wooden bed swagged with mosquito netting, is at the end of a narrow hall. Blixen's actual bed belongs to her godson, long retired and living in Nairobi. The museum is hoping for a bequest. Most of her other possessions are in her museum in Copenhagen.
Blixen's repeated attempts to establish a coffee plantation were foredoomed because neither the soil nor the altitude was right for such a venture. Financial ruin finally sent her packing home to Denmark, where she wrote with such passion of her years in what was then British East Africa.
Now the acreage is a park of palms, Norfolk pines and columnar cypress, backed by the smoky blue Ngong Hills. The most startling plant is a ghostly-gray giant cactus, shaped like a candelabrum, an 82-year old candelabria euphorbia.
Across the grass and ducked into the bush, following a damp, shady path there's a clearing where a rusty contraption stands that could have been designed by Dr. Seuss, a coffee bean husker and sorter with oddball parts imported from Liverpool and Aberdeen.
As for the film, it was shot on the far side of the property in a sort-of-replica house built by Universal Studios. The real house was deemed too dark to use – especially the dining room where Blixen entertained by candlelight, treasuring her crystal and Limoges. After all, those were the foolish 20s, she was living in the middle of nowhere out there in the heart of Africa, but she was still a baroness anyway…»
According to her safari's program, Karla will be today on Rusinga Island – a paradise for the 270 species of local and migratory birds – on Lake Victoria…
Oh Lord, can you feel that dreadful jealousy eating you from inside out?!…
Enjoy it all lavishly, dear Karla! I'm looking forward to watching all the photos!
RIC (mainly edited)
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I wish we could all chose our last place on Earth to spend our own very last instants of this life the best way possible…
Sorry, I don't mean to be morbid at all. It's just that I've found myself some years ago pondering the possibility of definitely leaving Portugal and settling somewhere else for the rest of my days. I know I was only indulging myself with that characteristic we Portuguese like so much to call «universalism» of the Lusitanian soul – that strong inner voice calling us all one way or the other, sooner or later, to leave this western European strip of land, and to travel about in the world…
All in all, we may be about 200 million people speaking Portuguese, but the truth is wherever you go you're somehow bound to hear someone speak in Camoens's and Pessoa's idiom… It has happened to me! Quite far away from Belém, as a matter of fact, in North America, which is not that odd anyway, if you consider what emigration has meant in Portuguese culture ever since the 15.th century…
I've somehow fallen under the Brazilian spell. In the 50s an uncle of mine had left for Rio, and only some years ago he was still very much alive and kicking in his eighties, having a great time in São Paulo… So I guess I was destined to listen to the Brazilian call…
And then one day 'it' just came over me like a flood of unspeakable beauty!
It's Parati I would like to write about, but I'm not so sure whether or not I can. Not much, just an appetizer, for the photos speak for themselves. The colonial town lies on the Rio de Janeiro-Santos axe, on the Atlantic Ocean, on the shore of the magnificent Ilha Grande bay. The place is just what you may easily consider a paradise on Earth, and it has no less than 300 (!) enchanted beaches!
But there's somehow more to it than just its stunning beauty. When I first saw it in a movie I finally understood it: if I ever believed in reincarnation I most surely had to admit I've lived there before. Have I?
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I've been trying to deal with this subject ever since I watched the number of those red dots growing on that enchanting map a few months ago now.
But then there wasn't that much yet to write about, and now I just couldn't find the time to go through my atlases and try to match each and every dot with a name on the map…
At first I thought it wouldn't be such a difficult task… Little did I know…
It took me really a long time checking all the possibilities for place names, especially as far as Europe, USA, and Brazil are concerned…
Gosh! It was really hard, but it was great fun as well, I do admit.
I believe I was careful enough (!) as not to let out any place where I know a dear blogger friend is at home. But the truth is the dots are there, as you can clearly see, so I just had to mention them all anyhow…
All I can wish for now is that each and every one of you will feel happy when you check out the following list and find your dwelling place or, at least, the place nearby that is a little bit larger so that I could spot it on the map…
It's quite possible I may have made some mistakes… I'm the only one to blame for them. All I can hope is that you'll be kind enough as to forgive me. Thanks a lot!
Watch and enjoy!
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I've never been that much into cars or motorbikes or any kind of wheels, for all it matters.
If there's an English verb that relates me to them is "dislike".
Only psychological and psychoanalytical explanations made me understand – only to a certain extent, I confess – what people (especially men) generally see in cars, be it their own or those they dream of their whole lives through…
When the departure to such an adventure as this rally has already proven to be happens to take place only a few hundred meters away from my place, menacing to drastically alter my daily routine, then I believe I have all the more reasons to get mad at this kind of events, not to mention fuel consumption, pollution, and so on, and so forth…
But just in a few days they'll all be crossing sandy deserts, rocky deserts, lunar landscapes, putting their abilities to the proof… I get reminded of "A Tea In The Desert", "The English Patient" among other great films, and I forgive them…
Competition calendar
☺ 3.rd and 4.th January 2007 – Administrative checks and scrutineering.
☺ 5.th January a.m. – Administrative checks and scrutineering.
☺ 5.th January p.m. – Briefing assistance.
☺ 5.th January evening – Competitors briefing.
☺ From 6.th to 20.th January – Crossing of Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Mali and Senegal.
☺ 21.st January – Finish, prize giving, and evening party.
If you happen to be a fan – or a fanatical admirer – of motor sports, enjoy the event lavishly! I rest my case.
RIC
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The Celcus Library, Ephesus, Turkey
The Alexandria Library, Egypt
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This is part of a Newsletter I just received.
I have already voted for the New Seven Wonders of the Modern World!
And you, dear blogger friends, have you voted too? Or are you willing to? So go ahead! Find out all about it.
"European World Tour Ends With a Bang after Visiting Eight Finalists
World Tour Launches in Athens
Declaration in Lisbon, Portugal
After successful visits to the Acropolis in Athens, the Hagia Sophia (photo) in Istanbul, the Kremlin and St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow, the Colosseum in Rome, Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, and Stonehenge in England, the European leg of the World Tour ended at the Alhambra, in Spain, on October 24.th. From the launch on, as the New7Wonders hot-air balloon rose in the pale light of an Athenian dawn to mark the start of the Tour at the ancient Acropolis, there were many incredible moments and meetings with fascinating people. We met historians, politicians, actors, museum curators, Bavarian dancers and singers and, in Stonehenge, real druids with long beards and flowing, white robes!
Watching the New7Wonders airship soaring through the European sky one last time as it gracefully flew above and around the Alhambra, the N7W team reflected on how well it had all gone. For one, despite bad forecasts and lots of rain the days before our events, we always had great weather!
See the exciting photos and read all about the World Tour online at www.new7wonders.com/worldtour.
We head to Asia next, with the first stop being the Great Wall of China on November 7.th.
Next year, we will be in Africa, the Middle East and South and North America.
As you know, the finale will be the Official Declaration of Modern World's New Seven Wonders on
July 7.th 2007 – 07.07.07 in Lisbon!"
… And that will happen at the Benfica Football Club's brand-new Luz Stadium!
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No, this is no business company I might be trying to advertise. I would never be good at such a job… It's just a point of departure I've found for some reflections of a different kind on being a worldwide blogger.
It's quite a unique feeling knowing that you're connected to the whole world.
Honest it is. It may seem tacky to say it this way, and perhaps it is indeed, but as a common human being you only realise the true meaning of such an abstraction when you get evidence of the phenomenon. You don't believe it until you see it. As old as mankind…
So a map and a counter have been giving me enough to think about. Looking at the map I see dots almost everywhere. What can this possibly mean?
First of all, the connection is an obvious reality, regardless of any doubts I might still have. Millions cross the cyberspace at any hour, day or night, searching for each other, hoping perhaps to find a consoling word, an instant of amusement, a soul mate, or a reason of any kind to go on believing in themselves, in others, in life. (Often it's much less serious, I know…)
Taking a closer look I see dots where I never thought I would see any. Not for a reason in particular, no. I suddenly realise I'm still depending on last century's thinking categories, all of them relating to time and space. "If one doesn't travel so often or so easily to such remote places, how come they show up on the map?!" Quite silly, isn't it? Well, I'm not thinking exactly this way, but I guess I'm not that far from it either…
Asia and Oceania would still be a certain kind of mythical places – some Shangri-La or El Dorado: New Zealand, Australia, Japan, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Vietnam, Thailand…
I can't help wondering what those visitors expect to find here, what they think about the blog, about me, what makes them come back and – last but not least – why they come and go so silently. Some are occasional visitors, definitely, people who come across the blog just to find out it's not their cup of tea at all. But I mean those who keep coming, over and over again. Always silently… Not a word…
Central and South America may be a slightly different case. People may just want to take a look out of pure curiosity, I'd say. Brazil is dotted all over, but my contacts are, as far as I know, in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo. As to all others I haven't a single clue…
Africa is a whole mystery in a certain sense; in another, however, there's no mystery about it at all. A few countries apart, Africa has still a long way to run before taking its due place in the cyberspace. So much is still such top priority that just the thought of being connected to the rest of the world may seem a futile exercise… I wonder whether it truly is.
North America and Europe are the best saved for last. Here too, however, my reflections follow the same path as before: many of those dots are silent places, either in the USA, Canada or Europe. Flags have been being displayed day after day, but their true meaning in this context can only be one and one alone: people just come and go. Well, I guess that's exactly what mankind has always been about anyway, cyberspace or no cyberspace.
One last note: it's quite possible, or almost certain, that most people don't like what they see or read. That's okay with me as well. I've never claimed I was here to please both Greeks and Trojans, have I?
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Create your own visited countries map
or Vertaling Duits - Nederlands (Translation German - Dutch)
Vêem como o meu mundo é pequenino?
Voyez‑vous comment mon monde à moi est-il bien petit?
Seht ihr, wie winzig klein meine Welt ist?
Zie je hoe grappig klein mijn wereldje is?
Do you see how tiny small my world is?
I wish I were a real citizen of the world, a true cosmopolitan, embracing all that «comes with the package». There's so much to explore...
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For those who read German and also for those who enjoy watching beautiful, large pictures (some of them on two pages!) here is a magnificent window onto many different aspects of Portuguese nowadays daily life. It concerns not only the traditional tourist but also the curious voyager's mind.
You'll find all this in Nr. 4 August - September GEOSpecial issue.
Give your eyes a treat and enjoy the reading!
An older issue (May 2004) still available of MERIAN magazine is a delightful introduction to Lisbon habits, traditions, people, lifestyles, monuments, museums, and so on, and so forth, and brings you much closer to the most South-western European capital.
What if you happened to fall in love with it?…
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