Back to São Vicente, Cape Vert, after 45 years

For a long time, I had doubts about returning to Cape Vert, where I spent 2 years of my childhood. I had so many good memories about that tie, I feared they could be spoilt by seeing it again, so any years later; wouldn’t it be too different, wouldn’t my childhood memories be somewhat shattered? But then my sister talked me into going, and off we went, a family trip down the memory lane – my mother, sister and niece.

I’ glad we did it. We landed in S. Vicente airport (now named after Cesárea Évora), and the landscape of barren hills immediately felt familiar. As the sight of Mindelo harbor, and the Pracinha, where we stayed in a very nice hotel.
My first impressions of the city were how small it looked! The centre was so much tidier than before, and everything I remembered was in a short walking distance – my old school, the beach where Matiota used to be, the palace where I played as a child.

The centre of Mindelo is very well preserved, very clean - the bright colours of the houses and the old colonial architecture wonderfully kept. Everything we remembered – shops, cafés, the eagle statue, the palace, the Pracinha – was in walking distance, and I mean like a 5 minute walk.

There was a great exhibition of African art at the Palace, and there were a lot of tourist shops, but also genuine nice cafés. And the Leão drugstore was exactly the same as I remembered it. As was the Monte Cara, the same beautiful sight as always. The weather was unusually humid, so there was a mist stopping us from having a clear view of the Santo Antão mountains.

The food was, as expected, a wonderful experience. The first restaurant we went to was the Cocktail, where we had a buffet of hearty and tasty food, and later we tried several different restaurants, the Nautilus being the best, in my opinion. Tuna cooked in different ways, cachupa, cheese goat from Sto. Antão, cheese pudding – all delicious, as the white wine from Fogo.

The Burning Library, by Edmund White

I've read a few of Edmund White's novels, but I always liked much more his essays and memoirs - My Lives is excellent. Edmund White's essays are extremely interesting and sensible. I highly recommend this book.

Maria Accanto, by Matteo B. Bianchi

I discovered Matteo B. Bianchi through a friend who recommended me Generations of Love, his first novel. I read it in a Spanish translation, and loved it - a fresh, funny and insightful coming out novel, full of references to the 1980s I also lived in and could relate so much to his writing and impressions. I wanted to read more of his work, so when his novel Maria Accanto came out, I waited for a translation, but it was taking too long, so I decided to read it in Italian.

Italian is a Latin language, I am Portuguese and know French, so it seemed a doable project. And it was, I had to use the dictionary lots of times at first, since I lacked the basic vocabulary and there were a lot of "false friends" words, but I managed to understand it pretty well and enjoy the reading. It was worth it, the book is very good, it reminded me of a Woody Allen movie - an out-of-worldly experience by a common girl, that makes her think and grow. All in a casual and funny tone and an optimistic mood, you feel happy upon reading it.

I'd really wish Matteo's books to be translated to English to get them the audience they deserve.

Uppsala

I had been to Uppsala for a day trip before, 6 years ago, and had had a taste of the city; this time I could enjoyed it more leisurely. It’s a beautiful city, combining the historic feeling of an ancient capital with the modern bustle of a student city, since the university is the center of its life. I started by strolling along the river and relaxing at a nice café, before meeting my friends for a great Indian lunch, during which they gave me some invaluable tips about what to visit.

So I started with an incredibly good exhibition of old books and manuscripts at the Uppsala University Library, with some gems like Vesalius Anatomy, Newton’s Principia, Mercator’s maps, the Silver Bible, Persian, Jewish and many other beautiful books, even a letter by Marie Antoinette.

Then I visited the Trefaldighet church, with its beautiful wall paintings and altar piece, and then the Gustavianum Museum. It houses a small but excellent Egyptian collection, the curious and interesting Augsburg cabinets, a great collection of scientific instruments that look like works of art, and the recreation of the 17th century anatomical theater – not as beautiful as the one in Bologna but still remarkable.

Uppsala cathedral is an impressive building, both on the outside and the inside. Beautifully decorated, with many royal tombs and a small but great museum in the tower – medieval textiles, royal regalia from the tombs and the clothes of three nobles killed in the 16th century – interesting to see how small they were – people really got taller with the modern diet and health.

The Botanical Gardens are a good place to relax, the arboretum is great and the plants all labeled. From the castle one has great views over the city, and the Linneus Garden is also beautiful and informative. It was nice walking around town with a friend who explained about the Nations – the students’ places according to their origin – and several interesting anecdotes about the city.

I finished my visit to Uppsala in Gamla Uppsala, the seat of the old Viking capital. The burial mounds are still impressive, and the church – the former cathedral – beautiful. And it’s nice to have a feeling of a village just by the city.

I really enjoyed this trip to Sweden – resting, sightseeing and meeting friends, the perfect holidays.

Around Stockholm - Gripsholm and Sigtuna

The next day I took the train to visit the small and quaint village of Marienfred, by the lake Mälaren, and the castle of Gripsholm. Marienfred is a scenic little village, with wooden houses, a small church whose steeple towers over it, a nice waterfront with boats and views over the lake and the castle.

The castle of Gripsholm, built under the Vasas, is a beautiful red brick palace (the most recent tower is actually faux-brick, painted to resemble the rest) and houses the biggest portrait collection in Europe. And a truly remarkable collection it is, displayed all over the castle, whose architecture and décor are also worth seeing. There are portraits from all the royal houses in Europe since the Renaissance, the Swedish nobility, and Swedish personalities from the last two centuries, from Dag Hammarskjold to Greta Garbo or Björn Ulvaes.

After visiting the castle, I enjoyed a nice walk to the train station – only in Sweden can one enjoy walking 4 km in the sun at 3 PM of an August day! I ended the day catching up with a couple of old friends over dinner in a Thai restaurant in Gamla Stan – perfect.

The following day, I headed to Sigtuna in the morning. The oldest city in Sweden, it is a nice little town with a very touristy main street, some good rune stones, and a wonderful church. Mariekyrke was worth the trip by itself – beautiful wall decorations and altarpiece, and a bucolic graveyard.

Back in Stockholm, I walked from Odenplan to Karlavägen, a beautiful street lined with splendid buildings, towards the Historiska Museum. This is another wonderful museum, with an outstanding Medieval art collection, a treasury room full of amazing gold artifacts from the Viking age, and an interesting exhibition about the history of Sweden.

I walked along the sumptuous and super-posh Strandvägen, with its nice boat cafés by Djurgården, before having dinner with another old friend from Malmö who luckily happened to be in Stockholm – surstömming and Sauvignon Blanc at a terrace by the lake, talk of politics and travels, lovely.