Last Remark

As promised here his the adress to my new blog:

http://www.aquijazo.blogspot.com/

Since the creation of this blog I got addicted to this...

Take a peek!

Take care!

André Rolo

Back Home

.:back home:.

I'm back in Portugal. I've been doing a million things at the same time, so it's hard to post news lately... I guess that I was also trying to avoid it: because this is the end of this blog. It accomplished its purposes working, at the same time, as small report of my experience in Wroclaw, and helping me sharing this experience with family and friends. Since I'm back home, there's no point in making new posts. Anyway, I'll leave it online, for as long as the blogger server allows it to be.

I never had a blog before, but the thing is that after this experience I'm addicted. I'm planning on creating a new one, with no special theme, just a place where I can "lay" some of my photos & some stories. It's still being "projected", but as soon as it's online, I'll leave the address here, so remember to check in for the new blog address.

To everyone that kept coming here to check on my adventures abroad, I wish to thank you, because you gave me the will to keep on updating the blog. Everyone in Wroclaw, you made my year! You all make Wroclaw a greater place to live, and are the living color of the city. It's so damn easy to fall in love with this city... It will always be a special place for me. A place where I already felt like home (when returning from some big trips). A place where I dreamed of Wroclaw instead of my home town, having in mind what Joren taught me.

Hope to be back soon. Take care!

Lets just say Narazie...

This is not the end

"...just relax..."

Juz czuje tesknote!

Notice that foreigner on the back...

My participation at the diggings came to an end. But it's impossible to put an end in the fabulous friendships I made there. Truly unforgettable! One of the moments I felt the most welcome and beloved by everyone, here in Poland. Great atmosphere & companionship. From the table football games, to diggings, passing through the great times in the "grill"... These were 3 of my best weeks in Poland. Things are not ending suddenly as I expected... they're only ending to fast. But fear not my Polish friends, I intend to come next year, so get the wódka ready! Let me just remind you all, that you are most welcome in Portugal, and you have a place to stay there ("Mate", Portugal is waiting!). Thanks to "Panni Doctorze" for all his kindness and for sharing a little of his wisdom and experience with me (there should be more people like you in the Portuguese Universities!). Thanks to Justyna, for making me use my rough Polish, and for having patience for me & Claudia in our big trip to the south. Thank you all, from the "sponk" of my heart! You are the best, & this is not goodbye, it's more like "narazie"!

P.S. - To all of you who wondered what "saudade" and "fado" is, it's more or less what I'm feeling about this experience now...

Weekend Report

The urn

Pottery from the urn

Fibulae

Pin

Making some shadow for the photo

Football match during the spare time

Once again I'm sorry for the lack of news. For some moments I made it through the WiFi connection at the school where I'm sleeping, but I now I can't make it no more. Anyway, I'm having a blast at the diggings in Sulów, and the findings couldn't be anymore exciting! Everyone is great, and there's a great atmosphere within the group. A lot of "matraquilhos" (table football?) and ping-pong matches during the spare time, and some walks through the village surroundings. Regarding the findings, I couldn't be more fulfilled than I already am! A complete late Hallstatt urn, which besides the remains of the cremated bones, contained also a fibulae and a pin! Here are some photos of this last few days. Take care!

Finding of the day

Roman coin found in the digging today by Joanna Michalska

Wykop

-The digging I'm currently on, in Sułów. Iron Age, Przeworsk Culture, Lusatian & even Hallstatt-

Lack of news

I'm sorry for my absence, but I'm currently digging in Sulów, 60km north from Wroclaw. I already have a lot of new things to post, which I promise I will do, later on. Take care!

Going Underground

Set of sculptures symbolizing the underground movement in socialist times in Poland (PRL).
(photo shot near the Arkady in Wroclaw)

S. João in Wrocław

Before the first bar (and still sober...)!

We couldn't just let this special day pass and not celebrate it. Claudia some days before had the great idea of doing a "Rally das Tascas", in which everyone is supposed to cruise the city, checking in every bar on the way. So we decided to celebrate the Portuguese (from Porto) holly day in this way, cause there's no way we could find any fresh sardines in here... Instead we had cheap, some times hot, beer! The plan was so appealing that even a Turkish friend joined us.

The Portuguese Gang

"...e ela dizia baixinho: Comé qu'eu hei-de, comé qu'eu hei-de, comé qu'eu m'hei-de ir embora..."

After a whole afternoon eating grilled kielbasa, in the garden of João's dormitory, along with Polish, Spanish & even Hungarian company, the group headed for the city center. Once there, precisely in Literatka, it was time to play "scissors, paper and stone"... It's easy to loose, so you never get thirsty and the beer just keeps coming! After some rounds, everyone is singing popular Portuguese songs, and saying all sorts of "non-sense"! What a night...

Queen Libido

She's hungry for you love... or anything else!

If by any chance you find this woman on the street, run in the opposite direction. Stop only when you have ran 1 km or more, because she doesn't give up easily. She keeps harassing all the men she sees on the street. She doesn't smell. She doesn't really look that drunk. She's mad... Something went wrong in that little head of hers... One thing I can tell you for sure: her libido is not working properly! I was lucky... Only got a kiss on the cheek (even with Filipa by my side...)! Some of the others got some neck licking & ass grabbing (among other areas...)! She might also insist on introducing you beneath her skirt. If you're a male and walk through the city of Wroclaw keep an eye for the Libido Queen! Be afraid, be very afraid...

Only a Polski Fiat...

Try doing that with any other car...

A week of Archaeology and Museums

Reconstructed kurgan

Foundations of Early Christian Apsida

Early Christian Graves in Hungary

The whole "archaeological gang"!

After another long week, here I am again with a report on another trip. As if walking 20km a day, through the Sleza Mountains wasn't enough, I enrolled in a second trip, this time "over borders". Organised by the the Institute of Archaeology and it's professors, this trip consisted of a week of archaeological sites & museums throughout Slovakia, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. For the value of around 200 zloty's (50€!), the students had a bus taking us every where and accommodation included, for the whole week. Now that's an example, my department back in Porto should follow... First stop, the city of Nitra, near the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. There we went to an "archaeological experimental field" which consisted in the reconstruction of some dwelling structures from several ages. There we also had the opportunity to visit the reconstruction of a previously excavated kurgan, which amazed everyone by the quality of its realisation. Next stop a well known pre-historic site, already in Hungary, but near the border. Among the findings there, there is the occipital bone of the first "humans" in Europe, and one of the first evidences of man made (or started) fire also in Europe. After this, we headed for Budapest, where we had the chance to visit the History museum, which had a very rich, and well elaborated exhibition, comprehending some of the cultures that where present the nowadays Hungary, and also a great exhibition on the Mongols, and it's invasion of Hungarian territory, being Genghis Kan (of course!) it's main symbol. Following the capital it was time for Pecs where we had the chance to visit the main museum and later one one of the best preserved archaeological sites I've ever seen. It consisted of 4 underground levels, beneath an 18 century building, that I can't even imagine how hard it was to dig and later on "musealize"! After some "regular tourism" in the capital, and another fine in the underground (already had been fined there in February this year!), the group headed for Pecs, where we had the chance to visit the main museum and later one one of the best preserved archaeological sites I've ever seen. It consisted of 4 underground levels, beneath an 18 century building, that I can't even imagine how hard it was to dig and later on "musealize"!Next stop: Balaton. A huge lake in the middle of Hungary, where we had a break, and enjoyed the great view and nice Hostel. The Polish ran for the water, while me and Claudia had a beer, and chatted with the nice hostel owners. And this was our last stop in Hungary, after what we went for the Czech Republic, for the city of Brno. After one good night of sleep, and a funny adventure regarding our room key, we visited two more museums, the first mainly pre-history, and the second with a full range of findings of cultures present in the territory of the country until the present day. All in all, a great adventure, a nice opportunity to return to some previously visited places, but now with an "archaeological perspective". I realy wish that this kind of events would be made in my home university in Porto, but "people" always seem to busy for this. Regarding the museums and sites visited, it was great to testify that countries like Slovakia, Hungary and Czech Republic are investing so much money into archaeology and preservation of sites, most of them with the European Union Funds. I wonder, in 21 years of Portugal in the E.U., how much of these funds were applied to archaeology and heritage... It's great to see that somewhere else, people are doing better... I would also like to leave here a big "ZAEBYSCIE!" to all the polish friends I made in this trip! Never met any foreigners who could learn Portuguese swearing so quickly and well. Take care!

Ślęza Mountains In a Week

Ali à direita, com jeitinho, até faz lembrar o Monte da Virgem...

During the week, the blog has been quite inactive due to the fact that I've been visiting the Ślęza Mountains everyday with a some Archaeology colleagues and Artur, one of my Professors here and my Erasmus Coordinator. It ended last Friday, and it was a great experience. We started the day in Sobótka, the village on the bottom where the bus stopped, and proceeded to the natural park, starting our tour along old paths through the mountains. Wild nature, observe and study some archaeological sites, and in some of the days, 20km walks... I leave you here a panoramic shot from the top of the highest mountain we've been on. Take care everyone!

A Resposta

Agora, em resposta: ...ele já morreu, quem o descobriu fui eu!

Após anos a fio, a ouvir a pergunta de quem "ele" é, eis que eu, após aturada investigação no estrangeiro, descobri a sua identidade. Seria esta uma das maiores incógnitas da cultura popular da cidade do Porto e arredores, que desde tempos remotos nos aflige, e nos incita a procurar saber quem é "ele", perguntando de modo sistemático a qualquer transeunte ou conhecido. Caros compatrícios, tenho-vos a dizer que, a verdade é decepcionante: ao que consta, parece que já não será de todo correcto perguntar quem "ele" é, mas sim, quem ele era... Paz à alma deste icon da cultura nortenha!

Boat Trip on the Odra

There's Captain Ahab!!
Just cruisin'...

I couldn't miss this one, because I missed the one in the first semester! What's there to say? A lot of Erasmus, plenty of beer, loads of fun, nice view, great weather, Antonio DJ'ing, great time! Here's some photos I shot during the trip. Hope you like it! Take care!

Driving a Polski Fiat

Just look at those shinning rims!

Finally, I had the chance to do it... I have been craving for this moment! OK, so it's not the real thing... But the game is loads of fun! Try it, you can download it, for free, from this site: http://www.ms2.boo.pl/

It can be quite tricky to get a hold of that slippery Fiat. Have fun!

Sueca

Nostalgia, saudosismo, o que quer que seja...

Bruno em casa da Agnieszka, numa festa rica em português!

Maluch, "o pequenino"

"Tu fala-me com jeitinho..."

"É frequentemente referido pelos polacos como sendo o único carro "com alma", uma vez que muitas vezes se desliga espontaneamente e pode demorar bastante a voltar a ligar-se. Algumas pessoas afirmam mesmo que é necessário "falar-lhes com carinho"."

Obtido em "http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polski_Fiat_126p"

First Diggings

"Yes, yes, maybe a little bit more in your right side... Yes ... Perfect..."

So recently I had my first chance to dig in Poland. The digging concerns the area of a future construction of a speed-way around Wroclaw, that should be ready for the Euro 2012. Apart from the strange weather, you can see it's a hard knock life for all of us digging there... It is. The photo was taking during a break! I swear. This is not Portugal.

Playing with fire...

"Quem brinca com o fogo, mija na cama!"

-photo taken in Rynek, Wroclaw-

Art Exhibition in Rejs

Quais CCB, qual carapuça... No Rejs é que é!

Recently, in the 12 of May, Artur (now you know who he is...) managed to gather an Art Exhibition in Rejs, and he also invited me, among others, to exhibit some photos of mine. It was quite nice, because I had lost the opportunity to participate on the Erasmus Photo Contest while I was travelling through the Baltic States and Berlin. So, this way, although not being a contest, I was able to show some of my photos to my friends in Rejs, and I got quite pleased with the result. Besides photo contributions, there were also paintings, drawings (amazingly well done, using coffee as ink), collages, and there even was a slide presentation that was quite astonishing.

All in all, it was great, and the "general mood" of the event was amazing.

Artur

"What have YOU done for Rejs?"
Artur, the man, the myth...

I've already told you about "Rejs", my favourite bar in Wroclaw. One of the people, among others, that makes Rejs special, is Artur, one of the guys that works there! Always ready for a good conversation, and to put a beer in your front, he's already a part of the bar, and "the other way around". He has worked there since the beginning. Today, while in Rejs, I was fooling around with some photos on the computer, and I had the greatest idea: to use the famous PRL propaganda poster, that is also a part of the bar decoration (with some minor changes...), and adapt it, for "a better fit", with Artur's face. So this was the final result. I printed it in the shop next to Rejs, and handed it over to Artur as a surprise. He blushed, and everybody had a laugh! He posted it in the wall next to the previous one, and I was quite happy, because now, I also contributed for the "complex" and rich set of elements that, among other items, makes Rejs such a special place.

The Wall

- Berlin Wall, east part, nowadays -

Royalty

- Nefertiti -

(photo taken in the Bodemuseum , Berlin)

II Trip Report

Bialystok

Vilnius

Riga

Berlin

We had already done south, so in these few days (about a week or more...), we went north. To the Baltic area. The initial plan was, cross Poland until Bialystok, only for a pit-stop, then Vilnius, Riga, Tallinn and catch a flight from Tallinn to Berlin, where we would be only 5 hours away from the starting point, Wroclaw. As we where travelling through the first stops, we heard about the problems in Tallinn, riots and manifestations, and a guy had already died, so we gave up of this destination. We ended our "Baltic Experience" in Riga, leaving from that airport to Berlin, with some extra days on our sleeve to enjoy our visit to the capital of Germany...

Bialystok- What's there to say about this city... East of Poland... Small city. Has I said before, it was more of a pit stop, after 9 hours on a train crossing Poland. Even so, we took a spin at night, before going to bed, on the main avenue. Nice town hall, a lot of advertisements on the streets... But, all the warnings they gave us in Wroclaw were true, it's eastern Poland... It's not exactly the same thing as the western side. Well, it full filled its purpose: to allow us to rest, although the lady in the hostel reception(by the way, the only one in the city!) had some kind of problem with her feet, if I make my self clear. It was hard to breath through all the bureaucracy of the "check-in". Early in the morning in the next day we where already on the move: next stop - Vilnius;

Vilnius- "Slightly" bigger than Bialystok, after all it's a capital, Vilnius was a nice surprise. Calm town, good weather (such luck...), and a very beautiful city center. It was characterized with a lot of medieval remains, and, some new ones: shopping's. I mean, I know that the communist era ended some years ago, but, for Christ sake: Giorgio Armani, Prada, Escada... They were all there. Some years ago, someone sang: "Go west...", but the after all, it's of no use, because West is going East! Anyway, we climbed to the castle, and went up the tower, were we had a panoramic view of the city, even beyond the old city center, and there it was possible to see a new, growing modern area of the city. The hostel wasn't bad... Although no one spoke English there, which doesn't make things easy. The one main problem was that we had a bunch of middle aged Russians, in the next room. Practically drunk all day, when sober, they kept bugging in and asking cigars, or asking for Irina (who the f*** is Irina?")! It might had something to do with prostitution, or some kind of human traffic, but who knows? I don't speak Russian, and I didn't understand also the moans of the also Russian woman back in the next room... So odd it could be a David Lynch movie. Oh, one more thing, Pedro, the girls are nice although not in the same quantity as in Wroclaw.

Riga- We had a blast in Riga. The city is filled with nice details. The architecture is great, and you can see here that the European Union money is being applied in recovering the historical part of the city (and also in the above mentioned shops...)! The Orthodox Church is amazing, Sadly enough, we weren't allowed to take photos inside of it. In the central garden you can find a lot of statues and sculptures, some of them quite comic. Once again there's also the famous costume of leaving locks in some bridges (also in Vilnius). I figured out it should be some kind of ritual for matrimonial good fortune, because almost all of them had the names of couples engraved in them. Before I kept thinking why they take the bikes and left the locks... Regarding the hostel, we broke our record: a 20 bed dormitory. It wasn't that bad. When we arrived there, there was, what I thought to be, a whole strip tease team, sleeping in it... They checked out in that morning... On the door of the room there was a sign saying that the hostel didn't had anything to do with the bar on the basement, so I decided to go out the building and find out what was. Although it was closed, the name said it all: MADmoiselle... So everything was clear then... The strip tease team, with flashy clothes, and the bar bellow the hostel!

Berlin- What a life, what a city! I don't know if I lost a lot by not going to Tallinn, but the extra days in Berlin sure where cool! We decided to spend almost all the first day in a tour (in Spanish, 'cause the group was smaller) around the city's most important sights. We seen it all! And Berlin is also a city of museums, so I had to check some of them too: Pergamon, Bode (the Nefertiti sculpture!), Neue National Galerie, the Bahaus archive, It was great. My feet where killing me, but I couldn't stop. I just had to keep walking! There's so much to see! The Reich stag, Berlin Siegessäule, the Wall (or what still remains of it!), the Bradenburg Gates and so on! Needless to say, I took hundreds and hundreds of photos. Some of them are in these sets of this post, but later on I plan to post some more interesting details... About the hostel in Berlin... Jesus... That wasn't a hostel! I think it categorizes already as an hotel!!! It was called Generator Hostel, and it also exists in London. Its HUGE, a whole block building! It's not in the city center, but it a very good connection by tram or underground: 15 min. I loved Berlin, and since it's "only" 5 ours from here, I just might return there before going to Portugal in the Summer.

There is so much more things to tell, but then again, this is getting quite long, and I know that most of you don't ready the texts anyway. I fell like a writer for the Playboy magazine... One more thing: if you would like to see some more photos from our trip, take peek at Filipa's own blog: Enfezado. Take care!

On the go, once again...

Currently in Vilnius, Lithuania. Previously Bialystok, Poland. Next stop Riga, Latvia. Last one Berlin, Germany. Photos and "history" soon. Keep in touch. Take care.

25 de Abril

"O povo é quem mais orden(h)a ..."

25 of April... In Poland! Who would of say that I would also celebrate the Portuguese day of "freedom" in Poland. It was on a Portuguese/Brazilian party, in a pub called "No Name". A lots of "samba", a lot of "lambada", but what about good old Portuguese music? Concerned with this fact, because this was ALSO a Portuguese party, some of the Portuguese and some "Portuguese speaking Polish" were arguing about this, and someone had the greatest idea of all: we should ask the DJ to play "Grandola Vila Morena", the famous Portuguese "interventionist" song, typically sang in this date. But that was a long shot... Who the hell could have that music, at that time, in an underground bar, in the opposite side of Europe from Portugal... And this is what makes the Portuguese, Portuguese: someone had a CD with the song, with him, at that time!!!... So some minutes later, the above mentioned group was begging the DJ to play that one music! It was quite convenient, warning him that in a mood of samba and lambada, this kind of music would be a little bit awkward, and that he might would had some people leaving the dance floor. So, the Portuguese (and the Portuguese speaking Poles), gathered up, and sang, on the top of a stage, Grandola Vila Morena... I never saw something like this... Some people indeed did abandon the dance floor, but some, "strangely" enjoyed the music and danced, and there were even some couples dancing really tight to each other, like if it was "one more sexy/sensual Latin song"! Crazy night, but what could I expect? Some Portuguese gather, they have some beers, and the next thing you know, they are yelling interventionist songs at the top of their lungs. It happened before... it will happen again! Take care!

Dwarfs of Wroclaw

Try find them all..

I've been planning to post some photos of these guys a long time ago.

"They appeared on the streets of the city in August 2005. Their history is connected with the Orange Alternative movement and the year 1982. It is then that some dwarfs with funny hats and smiling faces were painted as a graffiti covering anti-Communist slogans. The present day dwarfs are statues sculpted by Tomasz Moczek, graduate of the local Fine Arts Academy. There are as many as five dwarfs in the city. Each of the dwarfs has a name, e.g. Dwarf the Sleepyhead in sw. Mikolaja Street or Dwarf the Butcher in Jatki Street. There is also a museum dedicated to the dwarfs in one of the ''Hansel and Gretzel'' houses near the St. Elizabeth's Church in the town centre. Be watchful not to miss its door as it is halfway up your knee."