Just as temperatures started to rise in Cabril I jumped on a train, plane and automobile and headed north to spend a few days in the Netherlands with my oldest friend and her family. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the trip but I didn’t expect to find a whole new perspective. And contrary [...]
At least when it comes to family visits, the Bravo clan has always believed in quality over quantity. A few days of sharing stories, sipping wine on our balcony, and touring Portugal’s rural cafés ended with a gorgeous night in the big city. We only had a few hours to explore Porto so we had [...]
Easter was always a big deal in the Bravo family. Lots of good food, lots of easter eggs, lots of chocolate, lots of strawberries, lots of champagne, lots of eastery springtime stuff and lots of fuss. Rarely on the same continent at the same time, the four of us always made an effort to be [...]
It came, it went. Our second Natal em Cabril was quite loverly (we celebrate Dec 24). Finding our turkey ‘undressed’ first thing in the morning was a bit of a surprise but five hours later all was well. Papersurfer Jr. educated his elders in the languages of ‘rip stick’ and ‘tech dech’ as our cepo [...]
Last Sunday I found myself drenched from head to toe, tied to a tree and praying for enough strength to save our barn from disaster. Between cursing and yelling I found myself asking, “How the hell did I end up here?!?” This is a far cry from stilettos, skyscrapers and martinis. Our story begins at [...]
Roadtrip! Last week we drove 4,576 km using the F1 route to plan our destinations along the way. Pau (S. France) for the first night followed by a little stop just before Geneva where we actually got a chance to practice shy French phrases before getting robbed by the Swiss Autobahn authorities. Next stop: Würzburg, [...]
Cabril sits nestled in a tiny valley with both houses overlooking the tree farm below. This week rows and rows of orange trees appeared below us as os trabalhadors revealed a neatly striped landscape. The only signs of modern civilization are the telephone poles that hang dangerously low across the field. We are free and [...]
You can take the girl out of Alberta but you can’t take Alberta out of the girl. In the last ten days I’ve spent quality time with Daddy Bravo and taught him how to use his new computer. I’ve caught up with family friends and eaten the best filet mignon you could ever imagine. I’ve [...]
Yesterday marked the anniversary of Tango arriving on this earth (also known as Lincoln’s Birthday). With the exception of last year’s big one, the event is generally regarded as a low-key celebration. Penfold, in his intuitively loverly ways, celebrated the day with me exploring things and places I love. Eating our tostas mistas and sipping [...]
I have no idea how it happened but AtomicdogmA.com has been nominated for IX10 (The Top 100 International Exchange and Experience Blogs 2010) brought to you by the good folks at bab.la and Lexiophiles. (How do you say w00t in Portuguese?) We’ve been looking for the top 100 blogs that presents us with the joys, difficulties and [...]
