Travel Tips

... brings us some nice surprises. ...

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I had never been to this place before -- although it is really really near home -- and I went there last weekend just looking for another tip to my Rio pages.

Well... I just found there one of the best view points to the Bay, to Sugar Loaf, to the beach and all the mountain range... all brand new different angles and sights...

Thanks, VT... :-)))

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Only after my last trip it happened to me to discover VT. What a pity! It would have been great having the chance of using the helpful tips available here in order to enjoy the best from the places I visited.

Last February I was "googling around" and ended up in a forum where a girl was asking about Amalfi Coast and I decided to reply - which I only could do after join the site...well, you know the procedures... and never returned here - untill the begining of April when another randomic "googling session" brought me back here. I decided to log in ( at least I didn't forget my password! ) just to find out there was a notice for me and it was that girl's thanks for the information. Then I started browsing the pages and just loved what I found! All of you sharing your experiences, turning this vast world into a cozy, friendly place.

Although I don't travel as much as I would like, I hope the little amount of information I have to share may be useful for someone and so I decided to build my own pages on VT.

If you are wondering about how I still do not have a decent page on my hometown... what can I say? SHAME ON ME. If you were able to see me right now, you would notice how red my face looks at the moment... I have never been kind of a "picture taker".... until I got my first digital camera, last year - just before my trip to Austria and Italy. But I made myself a promise of working on this and on some nice tips also

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I received this caricature from my VT friend Vitor ( quartinb )
I really liked it....it's funny.
It's good to pretend I'm in that good shape hehe
Thank you Vitor.

First I have posted here only part of the text below concerning "The Cronopios" - which I have found as an excerpt from Julio Cortazar's book. But I felt it would be easier for those who don't know the book to understand better if I could present the other two characters - the Famas and the Esperanzas. So, I apologize to my beloved Cortazar and to you, as well, but I decided to "commit" a translation of the rest of the text.

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"When the Famas travel, their customs to spend a night in a city are the following: One Fama goes to the hotel and checks cautiously the prices, the quality of the bed-sheets and the colour of the carpets. The second goes to the commissariat and declares all the assets of the three, as well as their suitcases contents. The third Fama goes to the hospital and makes a copy of the list of doctors and their specialties.
Once, diligently, they have finished these tasks, the travellers gather at the city's main square, exchange their observations and enter a cafe to have an aperitif. But before, they hold their hands and dance in a circle. This dance is given the name "Happiness of the Famas".

When Cronopios go on a trip, they find that all the hotels are filled up, the trains already left, it is raining buckets and taxis don't want to pick them up - either that or they charge exorbitant prices. The Cronopios are not disheartened because they believe firmly that these things happen to everyone. When they manage, finally, to find a bed and are ready to go to sleep, they say to one another, 'What a beautiful city!' And all night long they dream that huge parties are being given in the city and that they are invited. The next day they rise very contented, and that's how Cronopios travel.

The Esperanzas, sedentary, let themselves to 'be travelled' by things and by men - they are like statues that one have to go see them for they wont take the trouble of making the effort."

JULIO CORTAZAR - FROM THE BOOK CRONOPIOS AND FAMAS

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Even when things seem to be a little bit out of control on a trip, let yourself float with the stream and enjoy... Most trips I've done happened to be a little bit different of what they were supposed to be... for the better.

The best ones were full of surprises, delays, changing routes - which always give us the chance of knowing people and places other than the planned ones....

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