MAGICAL CHRISTMAS LIGHTS IN LISBON

Christmas is not a big deal for me but I'm still fascinated by the smell, lights, smiles and joy. I don't really care for gift swapping because I don't like the feeling of obligation, I dislike spend a whole afternoon looking por possible gifts for my friends and family. It's too much pressure! When I'm inspired I make some gifts but I need time and motivation. I still give my beloved ones presents but I do it during the year, when I come back from a trip or simply when I'm walking and I find something I know that person will love and need. I probably should buy the gift and wait for Christmas but I can't wait to see the person reaction :D Maybe next year I'll do it differently and just give my gifts away in Christmas time. 

EIGHT THINGS I STILL WANT TO DO THIS SUMMER

It's true that Fall is around the corner (10 days left already?), my favorite season. But there are still few things I wanna do Summer 2015. 

Here goes a list:

(Could also be a list of things to do in South Portugal) 

1. Explore an island 

We have paradise islands in South of Portugal that I never been before. It's incredible I have been in Highway 1 in USA but some incredible spots closed to my hometown never been seen by me. I have been in Armona (in this picture) with ocean in one part of the island and river water in the other. Now I want to spend all day in Ilha Deserta (Desert Island) walking around and relaxing. Look at this crystal water wow!

THINGS TO DO IN FARO [PORTUGAL]

Low Cost flights with Ryanair brought even more tourism to the South of Portugal, where I grew up. The airport is situated in Faro, capital of Algarve (province of the very South of Portugal), so many people stay for one or two days to visit, before heading to the touristic towns: Albufeira and Portimão.

I studied 4 years in Faro University so I know well the streets and lifestyle of this city. I’m going to be honest here: I don’t like Faro. Everytime someone ask me what to do 4 or 5 days in Faro I have no clue, since I think one entire day is more then enough. Thru my eyes the city is not pretty but there’s always some spots you gotta visit and experiences you gotta take everywhere you go.

HELLO BEACH SEASON

When you born and grow up in a 5 minutes distance walking to the beach it's pretty hard to be far away from the ocean. After 2 weeks without ocean I have the need of breathing the breeze, feel the salty water on my feet, walk in the sand. Can be Winter, doesn't matter. Not to mention the stunning sunrises and sunsets!

In my area we live a quiet and stress free life during Winter time but when it's Summer all beaches are packed, traffic jams happen and all you want to do is to yell "Get out of my land!" But that's not cool. Everybody is welcome. South Portugal's main economy source is tourism, we usually work hard on Summer to make sure we have enough money to live during Winter. Doesn't it sound like ant's life?

If you are wondering where this wonderful beach is in ... Portimão. It's called Praia do Alemão (literally German Beach). Look at this paradise! 

PHOTO AN HOUR [MAY 18TH]

On the third day of Road Trip in Portugal I decided it was about time to make another Photo an Hour Post. It was a long day, full of nature landscape, hiking two different trails and sharing "hellos" with locals. Let's take a peak on my day.

8am | Woke up, meditate and finished coloring the mandala I started last night. If I don't do it right the way I will never finish because I lose inspiration.

ROAD TRIP IN PORTUGAL

 One of my Goals for 2014 was to go on a Road Trip in Portugal, here we are! When you have empty family houses you gotta take advantage of the situation right? Bruno's relatives have houses all over Beira Interior area and we have 2 empty house keys, yuppie!

Feels good to travel differently for a change. This time we have our own car and our own houses to sleep, cook, relax, make friends with neighbours.

LISBOA OR LISBON OR LISBONA OR LISBONNE

::Source::

I don't get the point why they translate city names? Isn't it the identity of a place? Same thing when people call me Martha when I'm Marta. I understand is all to make it easier for people who can't pronunce well because of the language, but common let's make an effort. At least I smile when a foreigner says Lisboa instead of Lisbon or Porto instead of Oporto, doesn't it sound much better Milano instead of Milan?

VINTAGE TILES IN QUARTEIRA (ALGARVE, PORTUGAL)

Today I felt like a tourist in my own hometown: it was a sunny day, took my camera, Ricky and here we go!

I love traditional things and tiles are magical. Quarteira is filled with tile houses, mostly are hand painted. Some looked mandala inspired. And together with the tiles, the doors, the door number, a window.

GERÊS - THE HEART OF PORTUGAL

Finally we arrived Geres, the only National (protected) Park of Portugal, and no words to describe what our eyes were seeing. The first second we enter this magical place I felt a powerful energy all around my body, the oxygen was pure, my heart was bitting so fast showing me that he was so happy :D

If you are looking for a beautiful, peaceful, nature place in Portugal, then travel the very North of Portugal and you will find this amazing spot called Geres. It's divided in 5 areas (1 in located in Spain) so you have a bunch to do here. We spent around a week and it wasn't time enough. Best thing is to bring an autocaravan to sleep and eat anywhere but if you don't have one at least bring a car, a tent and a pan to cook. Don't worry with water, there're fountains everywhere with springs water, so pure and cold. You'll find camping areas often but you have to pay for them (around 4-6€ per day, middle season, on July and August prices rise). We stayed in Vidoeiro Camping with a small waterfall so you listen the water all the time, even when you're sleeping, how relaxing! And the other was the Cerdeira Camping is the most popular one, bigger and with a bunch of conditions (pool, restaurant, supermarket, hi-fi, etc etc) but also a lot of people equals noise.

OH SO IN LOVE WITH THE COUNTRY I BORN

Silly Marta. I started recognizing how weird was to travel Asia, America and Oceanea when actually I don't even know my own country??!! Every time someone asks me about where to go in my country I always answered with South Portugal, but what about the North?

I was around 4, 5 years old when mom and dad used to make these weekend road trips to the North and obviously I don't remember anything. Every two years I go to Porto and that's it.

Last Summer, me and Bruno thought about going to Geres, an Amazing National Park in the very North of Portugal, border with Spain but didn't happen. This Summer we said to ourselves: We wanna move to another country so we better travel our country first and that's exactly we've been doing: Road Trip to the North.

Castle @ Serra da Lousã

FIRST BEACH DAY OF THE YEAR

Although right now I'm living 5 minutes walking to the beach this was the first day on the beach... in Portugal! I was lucky enough to chase the winter this year and enjoyed the Caribean Sea and Pacific Ocean thru out Central America.

This Beach is in Quarteira, Algarve (South Portugal). During Summer this city is CHAOS. A bunch os tourists come to visit, enjoying the sun and the crazy night life in Vilamoura. It's great for the economy around here, but it's a mess all Summer long: traffic jams, lines and lines and lines, beaches packed with families...

But cannot complain, I born close to the ocean. I was 7 years old and I remember walking barefoot with my neighbours, cousins and friends to the beach every single day. By that time it was safe and we had way much freedom then the children now a days. I have a memory deep in my mind about ringing bells along the way to the beach and running away!! We had great laughs with this and off course a bunch of people yelling at us, nervous and pissed. Some kids used to do the same with me and yeah, it's not so cool waking up to open the door to "ghosts" haha

Here goes some pictures of the beach day today. I'm planning to take pictures of Loulé soon, so you can meet up my two hometowns, the places I don't think I belong but where I grow up and have special part in my heart ♥