Here are some more pictures from Ricardo's trip to Toronto with Justin & Beth.
Our view during lunch at Niagara Falls (on Friday).
Better have a good barrel.
Then, on Saturday morning, walking around U of T, a very pretty University down-town.
Across from our greasy spoon breakfast diner, on Queens.
The gang and Pepe.
Ricardo drove up to Toronto last weekend (8 hrs+) with some friends, to watch two FIVB World League matches between Canada and Brazil.
Brazil is the undisputed Best Team in the world for the last few years, and Canada is ranked 12th. Many of the Brazilian players are probably the best at their position. The games were a little disappointing, since Brazil won so easily, but it is always impressive to see such quality volleyball in person. Canada fought much better on Saturday than on Friday, but still lost in 3 straight sets... There are some bright spots (Dan Lewis, for one, and Mark Dodds), but there's a long way to go.
Here are some random pictures from our seats:
Substitute Samuel getting high, with Brinkman late to close the block.
One of Brazil's weapons: Dante's serve. Almost as good as his back-court attacks.
Setter Koskie didn't seem sharp, and Grapentine was quiet during the game, but they could still be impressive.
Celebrity spotting...
Substitute setter Munday came in briefly, and connected well with Brinkman.
The best setter in the world...
... where's the ball going? Only one person knows for sure.
Another Brazilian substitute, Heller.
Winters was a little inconsistent, but he sure can jump...
One day, we managed to drag ourselves away from the beach, we drove a few kilometers West to spend an afternoon in Tavira...
... famous for its distinctive rooftops.
Full of beautiful flower gardens...
...and an excellent farmer's market.
A few more pictures from Praia Verde.... we miss it already.
The walk to the beach.
Near the cafe.
Julia being careful with the UV.
Now getting a little sun.
Laughing with daddy.
Fun in the Sun.
Sunset view from the terrace.
After getting up at 4:00am, and following 2 flights (including a few hours in the magnificent Munich airport), and a 3-hour drive, we finally arrived in Paradise, around 7:00pm (actually 9:00pm, Bucharest time). It was a long tiring day, but well worth it.
Thanks again to Rita, Bé & family for letting us stay there. :)
The ladies arriving:
Praia Verde.
First thing, Julia went to the beach, to dip her little toes in the Atlantic.
She even got a little piece of seaweed on her foot...
The view from the top of our palace, at dusk.
We'll love to show you some pictures from the beautiful Algarve in a day or two, but since Julia recently started crawling around, we thought we'd publish this instead:
We also spent 4 days in Bucharest.
Coffee at an outdoors cafe in beautiful Cismigiu park.
Taking a luxurious bath.
Beautiful despite so many wires everywhere.
A market (Piata Matache)
Getting around by metro was easy. In all our trips around town, not once did we have to stand with Julia. There was always at least one person willing to give up his/her seat for us. Plus, considering that the weather was pretty hot & humid above ground, it was a relief to be in the cool and breezy underground.
Angst for sale.
Following our 4 days in Lisbon, we flew to Bucharest.
Julia is getting comfortable in airplanes by now:
Meeting Mamaia:
And Bunica:
The Zamfirs. Thank you for your help!
We did not have as much time as we would have liked to walk around in Lisbon, and we also didn't have time to visit Leiria (and Vieira de Leiria), but we walked around Belém a bit, and downtown as well. Didn't get around to all the spots we know, and also didn't explore much new ground. Next time.....
We walked from Restelo to downtown (Praça do Comèrcio). This is at a park on the way:
Os Bicos da Casa:
On another day, we had a lovely travel assistant drive us around, to Cascais, Sintra and Estoril (drove right past the autodromo - where Ricardo once saw Senna race a go-kart)
Mandatory stop in Sintra.
Sintra.
More Sintra.
Soon after all this, we flew to Bucharest.
As always. the main purpose of any trip back "home" is to see the family. We never seem to have as much time as we'd like, but sometimes quality is more important than quantity. :)
Ritinha & Julia:
André:
Rita, Julia and Ti-Ana:
Julia, Alice & Zé:
Ines, Rafael & Joana.
Rafael liked the video.....
...but Tio Zé didn't get it.
Julia and Sao, having a personal moment.
Meeting Tuki.
Bé & Rita, practicing.
We set out to introduce Julia to the 4 great-grandmothers, and the great-grandpa. Our trip went very well, and we even managed to spend a few days relaxing in the beautiful Algarve.
We'll add more pictures over the next few days, but here are the main reasons why we went there:
Avó Julieta (Ricardo's paternal grandma) & Julia:
Avó Alice (Ricardo's maternal grandma).
Avô Alfredo (Ricardo's paternal grandpa).
Roxi & Mamaia (Roxi's paternal grandma).
Bunica (Roxi's maternal grandma).
