a2lopes' VirtualTourist Home Page

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Presently in Portugal

The Lisbon Half Marathon will be taking place in March over a course that takes runners across the 25 de Abril bridge and offers them some beautiful panoramic views over the city. The race covers a distance of 21,097 meters from its start at the toll booths on the opposite bank of the River Tagus to the finishing line in front of the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos in Belém. Also included in the program is the Mini-Marathon, which covers a distance of 7,200 metres and is open to all those who wish to participate, being essentially more of a social event than an actual competition.
If you’re in Lisbon, come and join in this festival of sport, which last year reached a world record number of 36,000 participants. And take advantage of this great opportunity to cross over the 25 de Abril bridge on foot, appreciating the magnificent view that it offers over the Portuguese capital.
March 16th
http://www.meiamaratonadelisboa.com

Holy Week is the most important religious event of the year. Holy Week celebrations are given major prominence in the city of Braga, encompassing various processions, complemented by several popular traditions and wide and varied cultural programming.
In Porto and the North of Portugal, in accordance with tradition, the Easter celebration of the Resurrection marks the end of Lent and a return to traditional gastronomy - such as oven-roasted kid, sponge cake, almonds and port wine.
Ensure you don't miss any of the events
March 15th – 23rd
http://www.visitportoenorte.com - http://www.rtvm.pt - http://www.semanasantabraga.com

The Portuguese Motorcycling Grand Prix , a stage on the annual motorcycling circuit for 125 c.c., 250 c.c. and MotoGP, is held on April.
If you like speed, don't miss this race, which takes place in the region of Estoril, a world-famous resort, a true cosmopolitan centre with wonderful nightlife and all the infrastructure for a summer centre - beaches, excellent hotels, golf courses, the largest European casino and the motor-racing circuit.
Friday, April 11th - Sunday, April 13th
http://www.circuito-estoril.pt - http://www.motogp.com

Be amazed by the Flower Festival in Funchal , Madeira, April 5th-6th. Streets strewn with floral carpets, and shop windows decked with flowers, create a unique and unforgettable atmosphere in the town.
Be sure to visit the Flower Show in Largo da Restauração, where you will be surprised by the creativeness of Madeira's flower growers.
http://www.madeiraislands.travel

The Portugal Open is the main international golf competition held in Portugal and is part of the calendar of the PGA European Tour circuit.
Contested on Portugal's best golf courses, under a blue sky, it is an opportunity to see well known players.
Thursday, April 3rd - Sunday, April 6th
http://www.visiteestoril.com

The 18th Estoril Open , the most international tennis event in Portugal, will host some of the best tennis stars from the world tennis circuit along with some young Portuguese talents.
April 12th - April 20th
Tennis Centre, Jamor national stadium, Cruz Quebrada
http://www.estorilopen.net/

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What to say about my lovely town ? (we can not avoid some adjectives to the things we like)
Where I was born where I grew up, and where I like to return from my trips and time living outside.

"You love a city not for its seven or seventy-seven wonders, but because it has an answer to your special question" , Italo Calvino

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I’m proud of being born and raised in my country -Portugal- which I like to live in and to return always after any trip or some time living abroad. Nevertheless, I’ve been lucky to live abroad in so different cultures such as Sweden, Brazil, USA or Malaysia, which make me a more judicious person about “things of life” and the “human nature”.

Born in the country of the “discoveries” and the “discoverers” (the ones depicted in the picture) I dreamed of traveling “all the world” when I was a little boy, not necessarily in a caravel but I always felt the impelling force for the journey and not needed much more stimulus to go and know. Talking about sea traveling -one of the “travels of my life” was in the 70 years old topsail four masted schooner Creoula, an ocean training ship which I partially sail between Lisbon - Azores - Lisbon. Really adventurous to sail a ship of 70 m long.

So far I have been to many places in this world, nevertheless, I haven't seen “anything” yet. There are still plenty of places in my wish list, but I have to regret I have no means -either time and money- to know “all the world” as I dreamed when I was a small boy.
Moreover, you don’t need to “travel the world” to discover the beauty and the unknown hidden in the small places nearby your home.

On top of that life is made of options at any moment and we do have to choose. We have to think on all the important items -family, work, traveling, fun- (not necessarily in this order at each time) and make a jigsaw puzzle with them.
But always, I say, always, carpe diem because tempus fugit.

And although I have a very messy passport full of stamps more and more I feel like a citizen of the world where the geopolitical divisions and the borders are meaningless.

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you have to see this work of art

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My niche is here - the mouth of Tejo river (yeah you can call it Tagus ;-) in front of Bugio fortress.... maybe one of the best places in the world
(please enlarge the picture)

Along with one of the places I love more definitely one of my favorite poems
Ithaca by Konstantinus Kavafis or Cavafis (1863-1933)

When you set out on the voyage to Ithaca,
pray that your journey may be long,
full of adventures, full of knowledge.

Of the Laestrygones and the Cyclopes
and of furious Poseidon, do not be afraid,
for such on your journey you shall never meet
if your thought remain lofty, if a select
emotion imbue your spirit and your body.
The Laestrygones and the Cyclopes
and furious Poseidon you will never meet
unless you drag them with you in your soul,
unless your soul raises them up before you.

Pray that your journey may be long
that many may those summer mornings be
when with pleasure, what untold delight
you enter harbors you've not seen before;
that you stop at a Phoenician market places
to acquire the goodly merchandise,
mother of pearl and coral, amber and ebony,
and voluptuous perfumes of every kind,
as lavish an amount of voluptuous perfumes as you can;
that you venture on to many Egyptian cities
to learn and yet again to learn from the sages.

But you must always keep Ithaca in mind.
The arrival there is your predestination.
Yet do not by any means hasten your voyage.
Let is best endure for many years,
until grown old at length you anchor at your island
rich with all you have acquired on the way.
You never hoped that Ithaca would give you riches.

Ithaca has given you the lovely voyage.
Without her you would not have ventured on the way.
She has nothing more to give you now.

Poor though you may find her, Ithaca has not deceived you.
Now that you have become so wise, so full of experience,
you will have understood the meaning of Ithaca.

The quest for Ithaca seems impossible but after all Ithaca it is life itself and that is the reason for traveling, go in search for - happy traveling.

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The World Heritage List presently includes 830 properties forming part of the cultural and natural heritage which the World Heritage Committee considers as having outstanding universal value. These include 660 cultural, 166 natural and 25 mixed properties in 141 States Parties

Luckily I’ve been to 241 sites so far:

Andorra
-Madriu-Perafita-Claror Valley

Argentina
-Los Glaciares
-Iguazu National Park

Australia
-Greater Blue Mountains Area
-Sydney Opera House

Austria
-Hist. Centre of Salzburg
-Palace/Gardens of Schönbrunn
-Semmering Railway
-Hist. Centre Graz
-Wachau Cultural Landscape
-Fertö/Neusiedlersee Cultural Landscape
-Hist. Centre Vienna

Belgium
-Flemish Béguinages
-La Grand-Place, Brussels
-Lifts on the Canal du Centre
-Belfries of Belgium
-Hist. Centre of Brugge
-Houses of the Architect Victor Horta (Brussels)
-Notre-Dame Cathedral in Tournai

Bosnia and Herzegovina
-Old Bridge of Mostar
-Visegrad bridge

Brazil
-Hist. Centre Olinda
-Iguaçu National Park
-Brasilia
-Hist. Centre of São Luís
-Central Amazon Conservation Complex

Bulgaria
-Boyana Church
-Rock-Hewn Churches of Ivanovo
-Pirin National Park
-Rila Monastery

Cambodia
-Angkor

Canada
-Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks

Chile
-Churches of Chiloé
-Historic Quarter of the Seaport -Valparaíso

Croatia
-Hist. Complex of Split and Palace of Diocletian
-Old City of Dubrovnik
-Plitvice Lakes National Park
-Episcopal Complex of the Basilica in Porec
-Hist. City of Trogir

Czech Republic
-Historic Centre of Prague

Denmark
-Roskilde Cathedral
-Kronborg Castle

Egypt
-Ancient Thebes with its Necropolis
-Islamic Cairo
-Memphis and its Necropolis – the Pyramid Fields from Giza to Dahshur
-Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae

Estonia
-Hist. Centre of Tallinn

Finland
-Fortress of Suomenlinna
-Struve Geodetic Arc

France
-Chartres Cathedral
-Decorated Grottoes -Vézère Valley
-Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay
-Palace and Park of Versailles
-Palace and Park of Fontainebleau
-Strasbourg - Grande île
-Cathedral of Notre-Dame, and Palace of Tau, Reims
-Paris, Banks of the Seine
-Canal du Midi
-Historic Fortified City of Carcassonne
-Pyrénées - Mont Perdu
-Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France
-Belfries of France
-Jurisdiction of Saint-Emilion
-The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes
-Port of the Moon, Bordeaux

Germany
-Aachen Cathedral
-Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady, Trier
-Frontiers of the Roman Empire
-Hanseatic City of Lübeck
-Palaces and Parks of Potsdam and Berlin
-Bauhaus and its Sites in Weimar and Dessau
-Cologne Cathedral
-Luther Memorials in Eisleben and Wittenberg
-Classical Weimar
-Museumsinsel (Museum Island), Berlin
-Upper Middle Rhine Valley
-Dresden Elbe Valley

Greece
-Acropolis, Athens
-Meteora
-Mount Athos
-Paleochristian and Byzantine Monuments, Thessalonika
-Arch. Site of Olympia
-Arch. Site of Vergina
-Arch. Site of Delphi
-Arch. Site of Epidaurus
-Mystras
-Monasteries of Daphni, Hossios Luckas and Nea Moni of Chios
-Arch. Sites of Mycenae and Tiryns

Holy See
-Properties of the Holy See -Historic Centre of Rome
-Vatican City

Hungary
-Budapest, the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue
-Old Village of Hollókö
-Tokaj Wine Region Cultural Landscape

Indonesia
-Borobudur Temple Compounds
-Prambanan Temple Compounds
-Tropical Rainforest Heritage of Sumatra

Ireland
-Arch. Ensemble of the Bend of the Boyne
-Skellig Michael

Italy
-Church and Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie with "The Last Supper" by Leonardo da Vinci
-Hist. Centre of Rome, Properties of the Holy See and San Paolo Fuori le Mura
-Hist. Centre of Florence
-Piazza del Duomo, Pisa
-Venice and its Lagoon
-Hist. Centre of San Gimignano
-City of Vicenza and the Palladian Villas of the Veneto
-Hist. Centre of Ferrara
-Hist. Centre of Naples
-Hist. Centre of Siena

Some VT people I really meet out of this virtual world

aaaarrgh, Ld
Acirfa, Ld
adawn412, Ld
Aggeliki, At
alucas, Ld, Mb, St
alusru, Ld, Mb, At, St
anand1560, KL
Anne-Lieze, St
Appleseed81, At, St
audrey118, KL, Ld, Lx
AussieMadCow, Ld, St
AyurinHiro , Ky
Backpackermoose, Ld, At, St
Balfor, Mb
barryg23, Ld
beach_dog, Ld, Mb, At, St
belsaita, At ,St
bernd_L, Mb, At, St
bernish, Ld
BluBluBlu, Ld
BodX, Ld
bradbrown, Ld
cachaseiro, Ld, Mb, St
californiadreamin73, At, St
cardesigner, Cd
carmela71, Ld, Mb, At, St
carmen., Be
chiabh, KL
chrishc, Ld, Mb, Lx
cnango, St
Co48, Mb, At, St
Dabs, Ld, Mb
DAO, Mb, St
daphne_b, Be
dar76, KL
dila, Mb
dejavu2gb, Ld
dfactor, KL, KS
dora_heta, KL
Durfun, Ld, Mb, Lx
eden_teuling, Mb
Elena_blue, St, Be
elucas, Mb, St
EviP, Lx
Fen, Ld
film, Ld
flyingkiwi, KL
FruitLover, St
Gammy1968, At, St
garry123, Ld
Geisha_Girl, Mb
giampiero6, St
GillianMcLaughl, Ld, Mb
gillybob, St
gingerbird, Ld
globetrott, Lx
gone_with_wind, Lx, Oe
grets, Ld
haldane, Ld ,Mb
hanoun , Ld ,Mb
Hikerpark, At, St
HORSCHECK, Lx, Mb
Hosell, Mb
huggy93, Ld
Igraine, Mb, At, St
inguuna, Mb
INSULARIUS, St
iris2002, Ld
jadefrau, Mb, At, St
janetanne, At, St
jenniflower, Ld
jennysTravels, St
jessica-b, Ld, Mb
jetsetterforever, Ld
jo104, Ld
johngayton, At, St
JulesH, Ld
Kaspian, Ld, Mb, St
keida84, Ld, Mb
KristaB, Ld
kristara, Mb
krumlovgirl, Ld, Mb
lina112, Mb
littlesam, Ld, At ,St
LoriPori, Ld, Mb, At, St
Lyndahall, Ld
Mahieu, Mb, St
Manyana, Ld, Mb
Mardaska, At, St
Mariajoy, Ld
MATIM, Mb
Maurizioago, CC
Mavl, St
meenoi, KL
minanga, KL
mittnic, Ld
mizzzthanggg, KL
mustertal, Ld
myfanwe, Mb ,St
nhcram, Ld, Mb, Lx
novsco61, Cs, CR, Si
OH_DK, At, St
omran, Tp
Orkaena, St
outforlunch, At, St
p_yenyen, KL, KS
Pakistaniguy, Mb
paulo_pinto, Po, Cs, CR, Si
Paulo&Rosario, At, St, Be
petertktan, KL
PetraE, Ld
poons, Ld, Mb
portgrl, Al, Po, Ga, Cs, CR, Si, Cd
poupeeAztec, Ld
Princess_Emily, At, St
razmatac, Ld
rebibi, Mb
redang, Al, Po, Bj, Cs, CR, Si, Md
revontulet, St
RhineRoll, Ld
ricky52, Ld, Mb
ritaz, St, Lx
romina78, Ld
RonDace, Ld
rusket, At, St
Saasaan, St
saccharinicity, Mb
sachara, Mb, At, St
salsa_girl, Mb, At, St
sandysmith, Mb
sara_slo, Cs, CR, Si
schlumpf, KL
senoritasmile, Mb
sinequanon, Mb, At, St
SirRichard, Mb
sha_stallion, KL
sofia_79, Lx, Si
soulfisher, Lx
sourbugger, Ld
St_Vincent, Ld
Stephanie, Ld, Mb, At, St
sue_stone, Ld
suet, Ld, Mb
sun-spot, KL, Ld, Lx
tere1, KL, Lx, Oe, Al, Po, At, St, Be, Cs, CR, Si
tertuliatulia, Cd
TheView, At, St
TheWanderingCamel, Lx
travellingSpirit, Ld, Mb
tuna_ank, St
VincentJJ, Mb
vivalasteph, Ld
vondutch, Mb
Waalewiener, Ld, Mb, At, St
Willettsworld, Ld
Willy_wonka, Mb
yurijade, KL
zuriga, Ld
zweiblumen, Mb

Al - Almada, At - Athens, Be- Belém, Bj - Barajas, CC – Costa de Caparica, Cd- Carnide, CR - Cabo da Roca, Cs - Cascais, Ga – Vila Nova de Gaia, KL - Kuala Lumpur, KS - Kuala Selangor, Ky - Kyoto, Lx - Lisbon, Ld - London, Mb - Marbella, Md- Madrid, Oe - Oeiras, Po - Porto, Si - Sintra, St - Santorini, Tp - Tripoli

My VT Meetings
in Europe
some huge ones
EuroVT Meeting Marbella 5-6-7 May 2006
EuroVT Meeting Santorini 1-2-3 June 2007

in Asia

in Africa

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All photos by a2lopes otherwise stated