If you’re looking for great posts on a wide range of topics, simply scroll down the page for excerpts of our latest Personal A to Zs from around the world or search by letter or category.
Better still, why not join in the fun with a Personal A to Z of your own?
To find out more, read About My Personal A to Z Challenge then register to add your Personal A to Z Challenge and posts or visit the FAQs page if you’ve got more questions first.
The banks of the Guadiana are wonderful for walkers, and the riverside road back down towards Castro Marim, from Alcoutim to Guerreiros do Rio, is one of the loveliest I have ever driven. For now though, continue north on the N122, over the border into the Alentejo. Set high above the Guadiana, at Mertola, are the mighty ruins of yet another Moorish frontier castle. The region is home to the rare black stork and little other than birdsong disturbs the peace, though copper was once mined locally. At the top of the winding streets the mother church, Igreja Matriz… read more?
[Chinatown] is known in film world as one of the most outstanding mastering of production design. It is one of the most authentic looking period films, and that is thanks to both Polanksi’s vision and style and designer Richard Sylbert’s keen eye.
They decided based on the premise of the film, that all sets would be in dry land colors: brown, tan, beige, and everything in between. EXCEPT, however, at the Mulwray’s house, where they have been part of a water scandal, there is a LOT of green.
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I love watching movies from decades ago and seeing what they thought the future would look like. Maybe it isn’t REALLY what they thought it would look like, but it moved the story forward. Either way, [A Clockwork Orange] takes place in the unforeseen future. This film is very violent and provocative, which may not be easy for everyone to watch. This futuristic Great Britain feels like maybe sex is much more acceptable and you get that from some of the sex scenes and from some of the decor.
As a way to express that this film takes place in the future without having to state where and when, the designer adds elements that are showcased around the neighborhood. For example, right in the lobby of [our antihero] Alex’s family apartment there is remnants of art, as we know it today, all over the walls, except that it has all been graffitied over and vandalized, insinuating that it has been a while since that art was put up, or maybe even respected.
See what I had to say with examples from the films @ http://cest-la-vie-dml.blogspot.com/2012/05/c-is-for-chinatown-clockwork-orange.html
Continuing on our journey down the Garden Route, I thought that for those not au fait with the route, I should perhaps first expand a little on the area before letting you into my next secret find.
The Garden Route in the Western Cape is one of the most scenic routes in the country and a main tourist attraction. If you had been one of my international clients, visiting South Africa, I would have definitely recommended that, had you the time, you explore this region as a priority on your trip. As for the locals, well, guys, if you have not spent some time at least once on this amazing route, I really do feel for you – you just do not know what you have on your doorstep and what you are missing.
Click HERE to read more about my secret find on a road less travelled on the Garden Route
Outeniqua Trout Farm - our lodge is at the top on the left
When I decided to participate in this challenge, I knew that there would be letters that would leave me stymied: the letter I is the first. Initially I thought about writing on igrejas or churches but I figured that this was too obvious a choice for me…
Check out the link if you want to read more about my choice for the letter I.
the A-Z challenge is perfect for me! I’ve slowly lost most of my motivation lately, and this will be a fun exercise and further training while in between shows, as well as also maintaining my blog:
I will choose films starting with the appropriate letter of the alphabet and try to find pictures exemplifying their production design and discuss their design choices at whatever length I can. I will probably try to do a couple for each letter, because I have too hard of a time choosing just one favorite (in EVERY aspect of my life: color, ice cream flavor, deodorant…).
How could my Personal A to Z of Portugal not include the nation’s most famous cake, pastel de nata?
A light, slightly flaky, crispy pastry cup holds a sweet, smooth creamy custard filling which is browned off in the oven, giving them a home-made, slightly burnt appearance. They may not look especially appetising to the uninitiated but trust me, these little custard tarts taste delicious.
Pastéis de Nata, image courtesy of ART-Ko on Flickr.com
My ‘U’ in the A-Z of the Dominican Republic is for UASD, pronounced ‘Wass’ which stands for the Universidad Autónoma de Santo Domingo (Autonomous University of Santo Domingo). It is the public university here in the Dominican Republic with its flagship campus in Santo Domingo, the capital and with regional campuses in Puerto Plata, San Juan de la Maguana, La Vega , Hato Mayor, Nagua, Santiago Rodriguez, Higüey, Barahona, Santiago, Mao and San Francisco de Macoris. To read more or leave a comment go here.
Australia is going through a mining boom, which means more workers are needed to fill jobs mainly in the resources industries.
Of course not enough skilled workers are to be found in Australia, which means these companies are pressuring the Government to increase the quotas of skilled migrants, as they need qualified welders, engineers, riggers, etc.
Right now 4000 workers are needed at Rio Tinto´s mines in northern Western Australia, and it´s been predicted that in the next ten years Western Australia will need 500,000 new workers.
Read more about jobs in Australia by following this link: http://www.sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/z-of-australia-j-is-for-jobs.html
Mistakes. Everybody make’s ‘em. Mostly, we don’t like to admit to ‘em but they’re there. Usually for everyone to see.
So here we go…. it’s a brief post…
Click here to read M is for Mistakes
A friend recently visited me here in Portugal and when I asked her what she liked about the country, I wasn’t surprised when she said, “I feel safe here.” I do too. I feel free to explore and enjoy and that’s not something I take for granted. Let me give you an example.
When I visit a new place, I like to get lost. Not on my way to the hotel, or anywhere I need to be by a certain time, of course, but if I’ve got a map in my bag for when I’ve done roaming the streets, I prefer to choose my route based on whatever catches my eye at the time.
Click here to read more of this post and leave your comments.
The suggestion for this post came from one of the blog readers. I took it on board but my knowledge of this subject is not that much…
Speaking with a few friends that lived all their life in East London, I’ve learned that a Cockney is someone born within hearing distance of the bow bells (note that these bells are from St Mary le Bow church in the City of London, not Bow Church), hence my friends being Cockney themselves.
[Click here to learn a bit of the famous rhyming slang and to leave your comments]
My A-Z of the Dominican Republic continues with letter T and Rafael Leonidas Trujillo Molina who was the President of the Dominican Republic for 30 years. As Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, and we went to the cinema to see ‘101 Dalmatians’ and ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’, Trujillo was busy being one of the worst tyrants ever in the history of Latin America, responsible for the deaths of over 50,000 people. To read more or leave a comment go here.
Dzień dobry (good day or good morning) must have been the first piece of Polish I ever learned. At the time I didn’t think about it too literally, being more concerned with how to say it. (dz is pronounced like the ds in odds, according to my text book)
To continue the Polish lesson you can click here. Good luck!
Aussies have a rep. A couple of reps, actually. A reputation for being laconic (I’m not, but I can be excused for having been born elsewhere) and a reputation for being larrikins. I might have been one of those in … Continue reading
“Dating at least from ancient Rome, the holiday was a time of public and communal celebration, a time to commemorate some event of civic or religious significance that all citizens participated in equally.” Barry Schwartz
Some of these public holidays are obvious and need little expansion – however others are more significant to the Portuguese nation – so I have enjoyed exploring these for you on this post … so that next time I hear a marching band in the next town, or see fireworks light up the sky – I’ll know why!
Click here to read more
There is a wealth of natural springs in Portugal, some of which have been developed into health resorts. The term “caldas” refers to thermal springs, as in Caldas de Monchique in the Algarve. Further north, Caldas da Rainha (Queen’s hot springs) has had a thermal hospital since 1488, when Queen Leonor discovered the curative power of the waters.
To read more of this post please click here
I’ve been married most of my life. To the same person. 29 years and one month. An oddly surprising realization, that. I’ve been a parent for most of my life. Not only that, the parent of a youngish child for most of my life.
One thing that the parenting of young children for the entirety of my married life has meant is that trips taken by just my husband and me have been few and far between. Partly because of money, responsibilities and boring stuff like that, but also because we really enjoy having our children with us when we do special things, so we tend to bring them along for the ride.
To read more, click here
My first Easter week here I was working on the beach as a scuba diving instructor and the owner of the dive school told me that there would be no diving from the Thursday to the Sunday of Semana Santa, nor boats in the water. I assumed that it was because the Dominican Republic is a Catholic country and every one would be at church. How wrong I was. The reason that no boats are allowed in the water is because there is no room for them. To read more or leave a comment go here.
When people ask us why we moved to Portugal, we come out with a whole list of reasons but, for the most part, they can all be grouped under one overall title – Lifestyle.
Click here to read my full “L is for Lifestyle” post.
A is for Antonio’s on Porto do Mos beach and ideal restaurant with the open terrace over the glorious beach. Great value food and wine too
B is for Beach we have some of the best in the Algarve 4kms of golden sands along Meia Praia, Batata Beach in town centre, Dona Ana Beach with it’s spectacular rock formations nestling beneath the cliffs, the small, Camilo Beach towards Ponta de Piedade and the sandy bay of Porto de Mós Beach
C is for Casa Rosa anyone looking for a good cheap feed and good times, all meals under 5 euros the home of the power hour where you pay 10 euros and you recieve a huge meal and all the beer you want in an hour! free internet, books to read and connect four on every table great staff and very friendly, a must for any traveller
D is for Dancing in the summer in the central square of lagos, sometimes the local have a band playing and dance the night away
E is for Eddies one of Lagos long running bars, dont go there for a quiet drink it where a lot of locals and staff from the bars drink.
F is for Fresco Cafe The service is very friendly and welcoming, the venue is elegantly designed and comfortable and homemade cakes
G is for Galão a tall milky coffee perfect for that breakfast drink
H is for Happy you will be if you visit our city
i is for International Cafe a modern and bright cafe bar that does a great Sunday Lunch
J is for Jahshaka surf shop now expanded offering the best gear at great prices (this is not an advert just a recommendation)
This is a continuation of a series of posts that form part of My Personal A to Z Challenge.The next letters all have a relationship to one another in my listing. F stands for flowers, the G for gardens and the letter H for the hydrangea.
Among some of the earliest memories I have is watching my maternal grandmother tend her garden of hydrangeas…
You can read the rest of the entry here.
Going to the river is a Dominican institution and there are several fabulous rivers throughout the country. Many have stunning natural waterfalls and are ideal for a day out – and Dominicans know how to enjoy themselves better than any other nationality I know! The first stage is to get to the river. Some of them you can drive to, but quite often you have to walk, carrying all the provisions for the day, which will include all the cooking pots and of course the rum. I went a while ago with a group of Dominicans and was faced with a hike through the woods and half way up a mountain. To read more or leave a comment go here.
Finally my last post about Islands in WA. Hope you have been enjoying them, in this one I write about Penguin Island which was my favourite of them all!
If you would like to read more about Garden Island and Penguin Island and find out more about the Little or Fairy Penguins, just follow the link:
There are a million (well, ok, maybe not quite a million!) different information websites, forums and groups out there for people who are considering moving abroad. Thousands have people have gone through something akin to what you’re about to do and so everything should be discoverable, right? Every question you need to ask, every hurdle you have to jump over, every bridge you have to cross will have been asked, jumped over and crossed before by countless different people, all happy and willing to impart their great knowledge on those who seek it?
You’d think so.
Click here to read more of my “K is for Knowledge” post
If you have never been to South Africa, and you were wondering what kind of floral kingdom it would have, perhaps, because you think of it as being hot and sunny, you assume that it’s pretty desert like and quite scarce in the flower department; well nothing could be further from the truth.
10% of the world’s flowering species are found in South Africa with the Cape Floristic Kingdom being one of the world’s six plant kingdoms. The others are the Antarctic, Australasian, Boreal, Neotropic and the Palaeotropic. This makes us the only country in the world where an entire plant kingdom can be found inside its borders.
Read more about this HERE and please send me some comments
The King Protea
In February 2012, unemployment here in Portugal reached 15%, 3rd highest in the EU, behind only Greece (21% December 2011) and Spain (23.6%). Youth unemployment is 35.4%. That’s over a THIRD of young people out of work! It’s quite terrifying really.
Click here to read my “J is for Jobs” post
our first entry for this month is A to E
What we at Lagos365 like about our city
A is for Antonio’s on Porto do Mos beach and ideal restaurant with the open terrace over the glorious beach. Great value food and wine too
B is for Beach we have some of the best in the Algarve 4kms of golden sands along Meia Praia, Batata Beach in town centre, Dona Ana Beach with it’s spectacular rock formations nestling beneath the cliffs, the small, Camilo Beach towards Ponta de Piedade and the sandy bay of Porto de Mós Beach
C is for Casa Rosa anyone looking for a good cheap feed and good times, all meals under 5 euros the home of the power hour where you pay 10 euros and you recieve a huge meal and all the beer you want in an hour! free internet, books to read and connect four on every table great staff and very friendly, a must for any traveller
D is for Dancing in the summer in the central square of lagos, sometimes the local have a band playing and dance the night away
E is for Eddies one of Lagos long running bars, dont go there for a quiet drink it where a lot of locals and staff from the bars drink.
our News and features blog is at www.lagos365.com/news sign up for our newsletter at http://eepurl.com/jy-3b
Quisqueya was the name used by the indigenous Taino Indians for the whole island including Haiti and it means the Great Land. When Columbus and the Spaniards arrived they changed the name to La Española meaning little Spain, which was then changed by Pietro Martyr d’Anghiero who wrote his account of the island in Latin in 1493 and translated La Española as Hispaniola. In 1930, the United States Geographic Board apparently decreed that the whole island should be called Hispaniola. To read more or leave a comment go here.
English is a pretty universal language and you can sometimes hear it spoken more, when out and about, than you hear Portuguese. In tourist season, you’ll wonder if you even live in Portugal at all sometimes! It’s a shame but it’s a fact of life of the Algarve. You can rehearse your restaurant order in Portuguese but don’t be surprised if your waiter answers you in English. Chances are, the German couple next to you will order and be responded to in English too. It’s everywhere!
Click here to read more of my “I is for Inglês” post
Western Australia whose capital is Perth (where I live), is the State with most islands, a total of 3747! It would be hard to visit them all !!!
Just off the coast of Perth are the most known of WA´s islands – Rottnest, Carnac, Garden and Penguin Islands. Apart from Garden Island where public is not allowed I have been lucky to visit the other 3. In this post I will talk about Rottnest and Carnac islands, and the next post will be about Garden Island and the cutest … Penguin island.
http://sami-colourfulworld.blogspot.com.au/2012/04/to-z-of-australia-i-is-for-islands-part.html