A huge amount of tourists crowded in groups wherever we were. And that was the main impression I had of Prague: an over the top tourist place.
Besides the huge time zone difference, which makes you numb for a while, I arrived in Beijing in one of the coldest days of that year. Temperatures around -14°C and very windy. When I left the hotel without a jacket or a hat, I felt a heavy weight, as if someone had laid their hand over my head, but actually it was the cold wind starting to freeze me up.
The winter really came to Brazil this week, that’s why the image shows the coldest day I had in life. It was during a -12 degrees snowstorm in the afternoon in Amsterdam.
In the hottest months of the year, Isla Martillo is the home of 2 species of penguins, Papúa and Magallánico. They come to reproduce, and the youngest ones to change their plumage. These young penguins are rather ugly and have missing feathers. The island is full of nests, which are holes in the sand surrounded by plants. I had never thought I could see so many penguins on a landscape like this.
Cold, humid days and soft rain. Typical London winter. A good warm coat with a hood played the trick, and the rain did not stop me. There were moments in which I thought I was in a suspense movie, the city is full of alleys, bridges, dead-end streets that give you that creepy feeling.
Spending New Year’s in London demanded a little bit of sacrifice, hours waiting, freezing cold, but all worthwhile. About 5 minutes of show which seemed to be more, the fireworks covering the sky as far as I could see, lots of lights, music and the Big Ben announcing 2010.
I had seen pictures and was delighted with the place. I thought it was amazing, I love mountains – it is more charming when there is snow. I went to Chamonix – Mont-Blanc, Chamrousse and Grenoble.
Alsace is on France’s eastern border and was, for many years, the subject of war with neighboring Germany. Around Christmas, I visited Equisheim, Colmar and Mortzwiller.
Loire Valley (Valée de La Loire) deserves a ride, because it is a bit far away and has many castles. It is also possible to join excursions that leave from Tours. We decided to go by car, and as we got away from Paris, we found fields and trees covered in snow, everything white and a cloudy sky, contrasting with the gray road and leafless trees.
Urubici is the highest point in Santa Catarina and It already registered the lowest degree in the country, -17,8ºC in 1996. It was in the morning, before leaving for a trail at 7:40 PM, that I had the pleasure of taking this photo when the city was hidden by a fog typical from the region. It seemed like I was on clouds.