My Inner Muse

This is very cute town 1.5 hours south of Porto (by train). It is known as the "Venice of Portugal" for its many narrow canals traversed by wooden gondolas.  There was a compact, pretty, touristy areas at the center, which gave way to clean, well-maintained residential areas along with several parks. This prompted me to consider Aveiro as a possible longer term residential option if (when) I return to Portugal.

  Porto Days 2-4 3 days of seafood (garlic shrimp, delicately pan-seared bass and herb-battered cod) plus red sangria and I am captivated by Porto. Today I am visiting Foz do Douro, which is where the Douro river meets the Atlantic ocean. Small sandy nooks dot the coastline up towards Matinhos, not really big enough to call beaches, but they do anyway.  🥹 I learned about Porto’s history as an old Roman port city (Portus Cale) which changed hands numerous times before becoming the first capital of Portugal.  Today it was foggy and windswept — which was a delightful break from the humidity a few days earlier — and it lent an ‘untamed’ quality to the coastal scene. Sailboats dot the horizon and their sails are full, even tilting the slender boats nearly over. As I walked up the coast to Matinhos, I came up a terraced restaurant/lido overlooking the ocean and whiled away a few hours enjoying the view. Something I appreciate about being in Portugal specifically, and in Europe...

What a lively and clean city, steeped in history. I love the cobblestone sidewalks, the beautiful, tiled buildings, and the large plazas. I am staying in the Fountainhas area about 5 minutes from the Douro river. It is near some elegant churches and historical landmarks, and the city has a fabulous network of trams, buses and   metro stations.   I knew that Porto was hilly but I didn‘t think about the banks of the Douro being so steep. There are windy streets and unexpected staircases everywhere. The intermingling of old and new structures from many eras works well here and it does seem that older buildings are getting a facelift while crumbling structures are being torn down to make room for modern ones. As I sat at a coffee shop people-watching today I saw more brown and black locals and tourists than I had seen in Italy. South and East Asians, Brazilians, Africans (perhaps from the former Portuguese colonies), along with the Spanish, French, Italians, Germans, Swiss and Bri...

La Valle dei Templi (Agrigento, Sicily) x This a an UNESCO heritage site nestled between the western Sicilian coastal city of Agrigento, and the serene blue waters of the Mediterranean sea. The archeological park houses a museum, subterranean caves and numerous Grecian temples in the Doric style with many columns and structures still standing. (Top to bottom: Temples of Hera, Herakles, Concordia, Dioscuri) I was a bit ill-prepared to visit Agrigento as I hadn‘t done much research and didn‘t have a car. Fortunately, I found a couple of helpful  websites to figure out the Trasporti Urbani Agrigento system. I took the 2.5 hour train from Palermo to Agrigento Centrale, walked 10 min to Piazzale Roselli and caught the #2 TUA bus to the Valle dei Templi biglietteria. The park is well organized and majestic. I felt a reverence as I walked among the ruins of once-grandiose Greek temples to honor   Hera, Apollo, Hercules and others. The surrounding hills were planted with what looked l...

Today I leave Italia after a week in Sicilia and two weeks in La Marche region of mainland Italy along the Adriatic coast. Soaking up the good vibes here has been nourishing - the calm, azure waters, wonderful food including my favorites (lasagna and tiramisu), the friendly and warm people, the beautiful architecture, the fabulous historic centers, and so much more.   The last time I traveled solo in Italy was in 1991 after graduating from UCSD as a Linguistics Major with an emphasis in Romance Languages (Spanish, French) and a Minor in Japanese Studies. I based myself in Napoli for 2 months, staying rent-free in a historic granite- and wood-embellished apt that my friend, Daniela (who I had met and lived with in Japan in 1989-1990) arranged for me. From Napoli I visited Roma, Firenze, Pisa, Siena, Capri and smaller towns in Calabria. I spoke to everyone in Spanish until I started learning the correct Italian words.    People were patient with my language skills and I som...

Palermo I stayed in the Sicilian capital of Palermo for 3 nights, mostly because it’s a convenient and well-connected transit hub close to the Punta Raisi airport and important sites in the western side of Sicily, including Il Valle dei Templi in Agrigento, where I am headed today. Palermo, in and of itself, is the least favorite place I’ve visited on this beautiful island.  As the current capital of Sicily, it is filled with important buildings and museums from Baroque, Gothic and Renaissance eras which have been recognized by UNESCO.  However, despite my appreciation for these historical works, as well as the very clean and well-organized Stazione Centrale, the city is dirty and forlorn, compared to many other capitals I’ve visited. With the exception of a few neatly maintained streets in the area pedonale in the city center, neighborhood after neighborhood was awash with trash, graffiti, dog poop on the sidewalks, weeds growing through cracks in the concrete, etc.  Sad...

I eavesdropped with great interest on the conversation between 2 Indian-looking college students and an Italian-speaking Arab boy on the train to Agrigento. I could follow most of their conversation as the students had only learned 2 years of Italian so far. They were keeping the boy entertained and I listened to them seamlessly switch and forth between their native language which I knew was Indian (but couldn’t place exactly) and their acquired Italian. I got really excited when I learned they were also fluent in German, English and Tamil (their native tongue and also my Dad’s).   When I told one that I was impressed by how many languages he spoke, we struck up a brief conversation. He said Americans are always impressed when hearing    how many languages Europeans speak and said simply “We’re Swiss, so we learn a lot of languages growing up.” He asked if I speak Tamil and I had to admit sheepishly that I can only understand a little.  And then the familiar sadness ...