A Portuguese Love

Pedro Cruz is the author of these photos. He publishes his work in many newspapers and magazines. I asked his permission to post it for you. He's a local young man, a journalist who is also passionate about taking photos.I think he has a keen eye for photography. Want to see more? Check out this link to his Carnival 2012 album on Facebook. Thousands came to Figueira da Foz to watch the Carnival parade on the Avenue of Brazil, near the beach, on Sunday. The weather was great, lot's of sunshine, no wind. This year the kings of the Carnival were a former football player, Paulo Futre, - I wrote about him before in a post about Licor Beirão advertising campaign - and a local female figure. In addition to several decorated floats that focused on the satire of national and international recent political events, many masked people, adults and children, and the samba schools filled the street with color and animation.

On New Year's Eve, some minutes before midnight 1000 mini fireworks were lit in order to achieve a Guinness World Record for Figueira da Foz. We made it!

Yesterday I took an hour and went to the beach in the afternoon. The summer end is fast approaching and so I try to enjoy the last warm days every minute I can. With the start of school next 13th September, most families with children are no longer at the beach. The background noise is different. The light is different. Now everything is more quiet and slow at Figueira da Foz beach. In photo number four you can see a lifeguard talking to some boy surfers about the sea conditions. Lifeguards dress in red and yellow. In photo number five there's a man dressed in white with a container. He sells bolacha Americana, literally, it means American wafer(or cookie?!). It's thin and crispy like the one in the photo below. (That last photo isn't mine because I always eat the waffle before I remember to click the machine...!) These men walk the beach all day long selling bolacha Americana and some are witty and say funny things to catch people's attention an...

Today's afternoon. Splendid weather. Fantastic sea. Lot's of surfers. No fishermen. Top less girls. Lazy couples. Happy children. Seagulls standing. = Lovely beach!

The Portuguese coast is more than 1000 kilometers long. I love to go to the beach. I like everything about it. Also, I prefer to eat fish to meet and can't resist seafood! Sea animals are fantastic and one of my best childhood memories is of going to the beach and looking for small fish, octopuses, and crabs, in nested pools on the rocks. I think that's very important to test how to deal with accidents that cause coastal pollution. Mock combat pollution in the aquatic environment took place on May 4th, in Figueira da Foz, the city where I live now, involving various resources from the Navy and local authorities, and volunteers. The scenario: by night the merchant ship "Mondego" crashed in the port of Figueira da Foz and for the next four hours, 500 cubic meters of fuel was dispersed by the sea and reached the river and adjacent beaches. Then the operation followed with actions on land and at sea aimed at containment and removal of hydrocarbons – this was simulated ...

It seems I missed the party of the year. This guy is Joaquim, he's Portuguese, yes, in fact, he lives in my street when he's around. I've seen him plenty of times jogging in the neighborhood. He works international level ( www.bestmodelsagency.com Porto, Portugal, www.whynotmodels.com Milan, Italy, Bananas Mambo, Paris, France, and Blu Models Los Angels, US ) and has quite a reputation as a top model. Lately, he's acting DJ also at very celebrated parties. A few months ago I read an interesting interview he gave the local newspaper. He seemed quite an intelligent man -yeah, yeah, you know, I always seem to forget that models have a brain on top of those bodies - and I was pleasantly impressed with his opinions on local development, fashion, and culture. Well, it seems he just turned 34 and made a big birthday party at the local Casino. Music and fashion and lots of celebrities there, I'm sure. Not entirely my cup of tea. But it might have been fun! Happy Birthday...

Found three photos I took in the Summer. This exhibition was on display in our public garden for maybe two or three months. I think these fish were painted by children with some help from local plastic artists.

Last Sunday, October 25, we've had Daylight Saving Time clock usual change - 1:00 AM back to 12:00 Midnight. I hate it. As a result, we´ll get an early evening with the sun going down too soon for my taste for the following months. I took this photo 45 minutes ago.In Summer at this same hour we have still a lot of natural light...