Ana Raspini is a traveler, besides being an English teacher, and a writer.

Minha foto
Brasileira, professora de Inglês, escritora, mas acima de tudo, viajante.
Lyrical Travel Journal

A personal, slightly lyrical, point of view on the places I have been to.

quinta-feira, 23 de outubro de 2014

AMSTERDAM

The wind seems perpetual, and as usual, I’ve picked the best time of the year to visit: cold and rainy.
I like rain, but for touristic purposes in hasty journeys it’s not as pleasant as it is with tea on a sofa on a Sunday afternoon.
High expectations in the suitcase… I should have known better. Expectations are highly priced these days.
The canals are a near-endless maze and are content to confuse and disturb you.
Never mind, after all there are women for sale in tacky shop windows and handily narcotics on the way.
Flat countries are always good for walking and for having the horizon as a clear destination.
It always puzzled me how some countries, even rich or bearing glorious pasts, weren’t able to develop their own original, and complex cuisine. It is as if thousands of years weren’t enough to measure your culture up to the kitchen. Not a total fiasco, though. However, it is always reassuring to know that there is an Italian Restaurant just around the corner.
There is no shame in living by the glories of dead artists if you do it gracefully.

And we must always give merit stars to a place which has a museum with real cats in it.



terça-feira, 21 de outubro de 2014

LONDON

Other than being the “must-go” type of
destination, there is the Royal, superior symbol
everyone seems to carry on their foreheads, and
which makes 4 pints of ale a day be more than
acceptable.
The food is unfairly underestimated, of course,
but I blame that to the weak at stomach, who
think they can handle.
When you are cautious with your heart, your
stomach and liver will do the honors.
Not that being reasonable with your heart, yet
glutton is any harm to poetry.
Just as Titus’s feast, it is a pleasure for few.
There will be theater, and lyric words on your
way, but most certainly there will be bad
weather.
Here, I start to draw a connection between the
two: bad weather and comfort food. Again, very
reasonable.
And again I start to acknowledge that those who
deal with horrible conditions and are still capable
of feeling selected and superior are worthy of
some level of admiration.
Royalty takes you to absolutely no will to serve
others or be polite to strangers, but that is part of
the touristic journey, isn’t it? Along with
inflation…
Centuries of history have always turned me on.
Centuries of literature, architecture, and science
too, and there is plenty of that.
Besides that, who wouldn't kill for some hot tea
and pastry on a cold, rainy day?
That is poetry.