A Trip to Porto

The best year of my life was not such a good year, mundanely speaking, as it happened in full pandemic, 2021. It was a good year because I was finally living in an apartment so luminous and so spacious (by my standards, ok? :-) ), that everything seemed finally „in the right place“, after a long search for the perfect home.

2021 was a great year because the pandemic secluded most people and I ceased to seem so lonely by comparison :-)) . As a family, we were most of time together  (which I liked) and we travelled for summer in a magnificent place, far from covid prone crowds, Skopelos. I keep a beautiful memory of that holiday.

It was also a year of growth, through pain, which is always good, in Seneca’s words, „too bad for those not tried by hardship, as they do not get the chance to prove themselves“.

So, 2021 was my best year yet. If I am to choose a photo to describe it, would be one from Skopelos, but it is hard to choose.

This year I went to Porto. I've arrived exhausted, continued and left tired, all in different ways. For most people, Porto is cheap and delicious food and good wine. And that is true for the city shops and restaurants (not the seaside, where food is more expensive). We have discovered tiny, family run restaurants with unpretentious settings and flavorful dishes, food markets with a very diverse and delicious offering and a fishermen village with the most delicious seafood grill.

Porto is more than that, of course.

For me, it is a blue melancholic and yet refreshing picture, a poem by Pessoa and a Fado song, a long walk by the ocean and an endless embrace of the river Douro with the Atlantic.

It could be a romantic destination, a recovery setting for unattached people, a remote work choice (consider the cheap food) and many more. While offering plenty of places and activities for kids, it is less the summer vacation destination that wise parents of spirited children would make, especially if those strong willed children would be swimming lovers. If the water is not yet an iceberg, the child would sit in the water all day, fighting all other entertainment proposals.

For me, the endless wooden path that was build by some smart administration of the seaside was a bless. You can walk for more than 30 km seeing the ocean and being close to the beach on a bridge that passes over the sand and succulents, small rivers and patches of vegetation planted to create some dunes. For runners also, this bridge is a very nice way to go far along the water without the distress of wet sand and detours.  For my kid, the walk was boring compared to the chill and thrill of div

ing into the (cold) waters of the Atlantic.

If it were for me, after the mandatory chasing of azulejos  on the steep streets of the city center (Rua de Flores, Avenido dos Aliados), blending in the scenery next to the Chapel of Souls, I would just stand by the river

„ … on the bank of the river

Calmly …watch it flow, and learn

That life passes, and we are not holding hands.

(Let us hold hands)“  F. Pessoa (under the pen name Ricardo Reis).

Rua de Miguel Bombarda is a delight for art seekers, galleries are welcoming the eye with intriguing pieces. I’ve got pretty enthusiastic about a Koons 😃

A place to visit is the Museum of Contemporary Art, a wonderful garden with precious works. When one needs to understand contemporary art , this piece of example cold help: it is a video, an installation and a story and leaves you with a terrible feeling that something is lost, but for others too and the gain, the beauty is that some of us acknowledge this loss. It is the role of art to create emotion and contemporary art uses the means that are proper for our era:. The Great Silence is the story of Alex, a parrot that had a message for us. 

Speaking of destruction and distraction, a piece of consumerism that might consume your time is another „must see“. I did stand in line for the famous bookstore Livello but not because I am such a big Harry Potter fan but because it is a piece of architectural jewellery indeed. It is extremely crowded, the book offer is not particularly rich, nevertheless, they have books in many languages and a section for children. I‘ve got „Message“ of Pessoa and was very happy.

It didn't appeal to me to see so many people taking selfies in a bookstore and not buying books, but it also didn‘t make any sense to me to see people on the rocks of the Capela do Senhor da Pedra, posing in their bath suits (chidren of God, they do not need clothes, i take that), but what for?

I would ignore next time the bridge(s) Ponte Louis as they get pretty crowded. Better to be alone/in selected company by the ocean.

The beaches are long, the sand is gently kissing the feet. If you venture next to water, daring waves splash you in a surprising touch . You may lay in the sun to warm and dry or you can walk on the long, long wooden bridge that connect all beaches, over tinny rivers and small swamps as they find their end in the ocean.

There are places that I would avoid, small villages with crowded beaches, but this is because I do not seek proximity, I lounge for connection and this has nothing to do with distances  but with the... wave lengths.

Along with other insignificant beasts, I wandered the seaside, waiting for the tide to feel my lungs with the salty vapors. I love the ocean, hope it loves me back. It was freezing for me, not for all, but i come from a culture that considers cold air/water an enemy for health. It is not, au contraire.

I regret not buying Porto wine that pairs with chocolate**, from the Museum of Chocolate, next to another museum with an interesting exhibition about math in arts, optical illusions and installations that made us think and laugh and that was good too. I would have visit the museum of Rose too, I think it would have been very Instagramable, but the price was high. There are seven museums in that plac

e, WOW Porto, a reason to come back and delight the spirit, not only the body.

*) Restaurants that I liked most: Camelia Brunch Garden, close to the river, Casa Dias, close to WoW Porto, ContramareAfurada, in a fishermen village, food market Mercado BonSucceso, Restaurante RC (for a more classical decor, has also some Fado entertainment) .

**) I picture myself, towards the end of my life, on a diet of coffee, chocolate and music . Next to the ocean, with two happy cats. People would be free to bother me, at their choice and on their risk, but they would be free to leave and live as they please, 'cause the key to happiness is not to hold on to anything except to your own principles.

Filme romanesti: Teambuilding vs Taximetristi

Nicio surpriza aici: ambele sunt tragi-comedii foarte bune.

Daca ai vazut deja piesa de teatru omonima, Taximetristi ar putea sa te lase cu sentimentul ca ar mai fi putut fi ceva in plus. Asta, pentru ca piesa e buna, foarte buna.

Daca, la fel ca mine, ai auzit ca Teambuilding a avut mare succes la public, s-ar putea sa il urmaresti cu asteptari scazute si sa te surprinda in mod foarte placut.

In orice caz, ambele analizeaza fin, cu umor si autoironie realitati de zi cu zi si infuzeaza doza de optimism necesara nu neaparat comediei sau filmului de larg consum, dar emblematica pentru filosofia de viata in partea asta de lume: hazul de necaz, ca metoda de adaptare/supravietuire.

Orice exemplificare ar fi un inutil spoiler. Orice avertisment in privinta limbajului ar fi inutil si pretentios: daca mergi pe jos intre Romana si Universitate, nu zic de cartiere marginase, auzi tot repertiorul de injuraturi si obscenitati atat de incriminate de publicul "rusinos", dar atat de reale si proprii mediului (ne)academic.

Vizionare placuta, daca nu le-ati vazut deja!

Great insights on AI

If you haven't read yet Yuval Noah Harari's article from The Economist, I invite you to, as it is a perfect summary of where we stand now regarding AI.

Minimalist portrait by Astrig