Surf Central – Ribeira d’Ilhas

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Ericeira is known for the multitude of different surf spots, each with their own characteristics and level of difficulty. Possibly the most famous of these beaches is Ribeira d’Ilhas, which recently hosted the Quiksilver Pro Portugal 2010. This is a beach to see and be seen, and in summer is packed with surfers and gorgeous girls wearing hardly anything. Obviously everyone is only there for the waves… It’s typically a sand and reef point break that changes dramatically from high to low tide and with swell direction. In general it is a fat slow wave that is easy to surf…

Vila Nova de Milfontes

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A little while ago I took a (long) drive down south to the Costa Vicentina, with Zé Pequeno in tow of course. This was the first time I had driven so far on my own (on the wrong side of the road!!) and am still quite relieved that I made it home again in one piece… but that’s a story for another day. But we didn’t drive all that way just to take a walk on the beach… the reason for the trip was to photograph Quinta do Monte, a beautiful home on the banks of a river available for…

Venice

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Venice! The fabled city of water, the city of romance and history… the city that spins her webs and draws you in with the whispers of mystery and intrigue… Well, yes. But it’s also a city overflowing with people, and not too many of them are Venetian. Venice is beautiful, without a doubt, but to really feel the essence of the place, like anywhere famous, you need to avoid the touristy areas and just go and get lost… literally. That’s when you find the true Venice, the city of history and romance.

Summertime… and the living is easy

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So were off to the southern hemisphere, don’t hate me because I get to have 2 summers this year… And this means that there’s going to be a little bit less blogging action going on for the next month. I have lined up a few more travel posts and will try to put up a few pictures during the holiday but its all going to be a bit random around here for a while. But random is good, and there will be more South Africa on this blog than any of you can handle when I’m back in freezing Europe!…

The day that chocolate beat art…

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So its winter, and its cold, rainy and miserable… which always makes me want chocolate, makes me CRAVE chocolate. And it was while I was thinking about chocolate and blog posts that I remembered a day long ago in Ghent, Belgium, that I had photographed a chocolate factory when I was actually supposed to be photographing art… In my own defense, it was cold, miserable and raining… so I was doomed from the start. While on a tour of the town highlights we had stopped in at the world-famous Saint Bravo Cathedral, famous because it houses the 15th century Belgian…

In which I obsess about windows and doors:

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We have previously discussed my bicycle fetish and so it was only a matter of time before I had to confess to another photographic obsession. Windows. And doors. So technically 2 obsessions but who’s counting. I have recently been trying to ignore the windows as I walk down the street, because really… enough already. But last weekend we were in the Alentejo and I saw a window that I couldn’t resist, and so the floodgates have been opened… Casa Branca, Portugal    Lisbon, Portugal    Serra de Sintra, Portugal   Gradil, Portugal  Alcaçovas, Portugal   Ericeira, Portugal   Ribamar, Portugal  Óbidos, Portugal  Carvoeira, Portugal  Tabuaço,…

Alaska

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Alaska is stunningly beautiful, breathtakingly expansive, almost unbelievable in its raw beauty… and yet, there is a sense of sadness. Like a powerful and majestic symphony played in a minor key, it leaves you with the feeling, after the music has died away, that something feels… odd. Behind the cheery facades and the tourist souvenir stalls filled with cruise passengers there was an undercurrent of loneliness, perhaps because of the isolation or the lack of sunlight in the winter.  Perhaps because the majority of people are only there temporarily, working the summer season and those who have stayed, or still stay,…

Autumn, chestnuts and horse-fairs… without horses.

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Well, actually there were horses, lots and lots of them, but since Zé Pequeno is apparently NOT a horsey kind of dog I didn’t get close enough to taking actual photos of said horses. So I (we) took photos of the other (more important) things that were happening at Golegã last weekend. Namely: food and people watching. There was a bit of agua-pé (alcohol) involved too, but one can’t drink, photograph and keep dog from eating-random-objects-on-ground simultaneously, so I have no photos from that part of the day…

São Vicente, Cabo Verde

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It was late in 2005 that I visited São Vicente, the biggest of the Cabo Verde islands. This was long before I had any idea about Portugal or her former colonies and even though my brand new Portuguese boyfriend was excited to drink a Sagres (beer) and feel a little bit at home it just seemed like Africa to me. Now, however, looking back at these photos after having lived in Portugal for over a year, getting to know the culture and traditions, I can see the influences. Cabo Verde is definitely more Africa than anything else, but the connection…