next chapter: Turkey

So... my blog is 2 weeks behind i think... 

So I went to Istanbul for the reasons 

already explained. Got the overnight train from Thessaloniki. It was quite exciting because i had never travel by train before (long distance). I had 

my own cabin and a berch and everything... (actually not more than that, it was very small). Met a French guy - Benjamim - and was talking to him for many hours. Shame I didn't get his e-mail address, or I could visit him in Paris... 

They take your passport and keep it for about 2 hours, until we pass the Greek border. it was quite scary because my passport is my life... then they wake you up again when we reach the Turkish border a

nd take your passport one more time. We have to get out and pay for the visa. and only after that they give you the passport back, but they still wake you up another time - customs... i had to open my lugagge but the guy didn't even look at it. 

So after this 14-hour journey we arrive in Istanbul.  It was very hot and very crowded. It was like a Disneyland for adults - queues to get into places, overpriced tickets, and amusement in the end. I was asked to describe it in one word and I said 'colorful'. It is just so different that it is nice. I have to say I didn't do much. I did the main things and I liked them all - the Topnaki Palace, Haghia Sophia, the Blue Mosque, the Grand Bazaar, I went to the new part of town, and to the Archeological Museum.

 

And that's it. It is not much for 3-4 days, I could have done it in 2. But it was so hot... and the hostel had a roof terrace and it was nice to go back to the hostel around 4pm and just relax, have a shower, sleep a bit, read, feel the breeze, do nothing. The area I stayed at is quite leafy, it is nice when you get a shade. I met 2 girls in my room on the very same day I arrived: Ann and Kayla. They were my compagnions in Istanbul and we had fun! We would do our own things during the day but always meet up back in the hostel in the afernoon and always go out for a drink - the endless search for the cheapest beer in town! 

we went to a Turkish Bath (the one you go completely naked and have a massage) and that was quite an experience. It was a bit odd at some points, but very relaxing and you do leave with the feeling that you are clean. 

By the way, do you know that Troy is in Turkey???? I ALWAYS thought it was in Greece but it is not!

So whilst in Istanbul I started seeing lots of things about Cappadocia and felt like going there. So i did. Booked a tour (so i wouldn't have to figure anything out on my own)! It is a crazy place.. i mean, people lived in caves in the rocks... until the 1920's!! It is something like you've never seen before. I enjoyed it. I stayed in a cave room. heheh 

So there was another site that i also wanted to go: Ephesus. It was an important city in ancient times, i wanted to see the ruins because from what is left you can actually have an idea of the city, you can still see the street, etc. So went there. Ruins, ruins, ruins. Also went to the house where they say Virgin Mary died. We went to a place where they make the carpets. 

When i looked at the map I realised there is a Greek island just off the coast of Turkey and the ferries leave from the city where i was staying... so instead of going all the way back to Istanbul and taking the train back (that was the original plan), it made more sense to take the ferry to Samos. 

This was last Tuesday (exactly a week ago), and this is end of my Turkish tale. 

it happened in Thessaloniki

I know i disappeared... but internet connection was limited in Turkey and also I had to focus on other things... 

anyway, before I proceed, I wanted to tell 2 funny things that happened in Thessaloniki that I forgot to tell you before... 

The first one is the place where i had lunch... the city was like a ghost town, as i said before and it was also hard to find a place to eat because everything was shut. So I walked past this little place (pictures above) and there were some old greek men eating there - and you know the rule: if there is senior locals eating at a place is because the food is good! There was also a tourist couple (very blonde!), so I figured they were tourist-friendly. I walked in, sat down and asked for the menu. 'No menu' the guy said not so sure of his English skills... then he asked 'meat?', to which I said 'yes'. After that his English was nule and in order to show me what they had he signalled for me to follow him to the kitchen and pointed at the food they had. hahaha it looked good, so i said it was ok. Looked like rice with meat, but in fact it was pasta. The meat was very good though! Anyway, they only have one main per day - a very big pot of it - and there's nothing else to choose from. very funny. i felt self concious to take pictures in such a place, as if their local was a tourist attraction... so i pretended i was just looking at the camera (that's why you can see the table edges). 

The other thing is: is my skirt that short??? I got evil looks from old greek people and an old Orthodox lady dressed in black even did the cross sign... and she kept talking to me in greek although it was clear I coulndt understand... I felt really self-concious. After that i put the skirt right at the bottom of the suitcase because that would be a definately no-no in Turkey! 

Greece - Plan B

I had to leave Athens... by the way, the whole time in Athens was a bit of a waste... i hadn't planned anything, i changed my plans and as a result i have the feeling i did nothing. i spent 5 nights there and all i can say i did was to visit the sacred site of Delphi and go one day to the beach. apart from that, a lot of time on the internet cafe (resolving pending issues and checking what to do next) and hanging out at the hostel's roof bar with other backpackers - which is fun, but after some time you get tired of replying to the same questions...
oh, by the way, i didn't feel well on the last day in athens... my stomach... plus i was feeling very weak, thought i was going to black out on my own on the tram... i got very scared! a girl who was sleeping in my bedroom gave me some medicine and i stayed in that night; went to bed very early. i started to feel better on the next day - i felt hungry for the first time in 4 days! (then i knew i was getting better)
and the guy from the hostel let me leave a bag there until i'm back. i wasn't thinking straight in the last month or so... you can't imagined how much i packed. there was NO WAY i would manage to carry that around. so left a whole bag in Athens. that was actually the best idea of the month! i might be starting to think straight again! this whole thing has been an emotional roller coster... sometimes i am very happy, sometimes i am very lonely and lost, without knowing what to do... i hope i am back on track now.
yesterday i started my way to the northeast of Greece, to Macedonia. Got a train in the morning to Thessaloniki (6 hrs). The other stupid thing i did was to spend a night here this weekend... it was bank holiday on friday and everything is shut. now, if everything was shut in Athens, obviously it would be shut in Thessaloniki! it is a ghost town! EVERYTHING IS SHUT, no cars, no one on the street... went to bed early, slept about 12 hours. i keep having long dreams... since the other night when i wasn't well... some are like nightmares... i dream about Reiss, about things in Rio, everything that has been haunting me in the past couple of weeks... very bizarre.
anyway, i think i walked the whole city today in about 4 hrs. (i was following my guide, which is another sign that i am starting to behave like myself again!) now i have nothing to do...
i have 2 hours to kill until my next train - i am going to Istanbul! (that was plan B). Istanbul is one of the cities in Europe that was on my list and i hadn't been able to go, so i am glad that i am doing it. it is relatively close to here and a lot cheaper, and it will give me time to plan Greece properly. I will come back later and hopefully a lot of people will have returned to work and the islands won't be so busy. that was the wisest plan - I hope!

Greece - the return - chapter 2

i will try to write everything very quickly because i've been in the internet for the last 5 hours trying to figure out where to go next and haven't even had lunch... 

well, i kind of completely changed the purpose of the trip! 

the original idea was to rent a room in athens to use it as a base to explore the nearby ancient cities, and maybe get a part-time job to pay for some expenses (hmm... going out expenses!). in the last couple of months i had been in contact with 2 people here in Greece (i didn't tell anyone about this because i think things don't happen if we tell) and that gave me some hope that things would work out great! but they didnt... 

the first person is a friend of a friend whom i met briefly before. she is greek, lives in athens and has a spare room in her flat. so i thought maybe i could rent it of her for a month, but she just disappears. i know right now she is one of the islands. she hasn't replied to e-mails or text messages... so... i gave up on that. and the thought of flat-hunting in a strange country with a strange language is too terrifying. i remember how haunted it was in london and i can't imagine going through it here (specially in this heat)...

the other person i had been in contact with was the editor of the Athens News - the only newspaper in English in Greece. I had sent him a sample of my work and had arranged an interview with him the day after i arrived. I just thought that instead of working in a bar i could do what i know to do - to write, about fashion, obviously. so i thought it could give me good pocket money, but again i was wrong... first because he said he only publishes a fashion article every 6 weeks (in average), so i would have left Greece by then; second because they pay soo sooo little and it would hardly help. (i am not saying how much because someone who shouldn't know might be reading this). Anyway, i did agree to write a story for him, but that will only happen in September (related to London Fashion Week), so will be of no help right now... 

so i got back to the hostel on tuesday feeling very frustated and lost... bless the 2 nice girls who were sharing the room with me - i started talking to them and it helped me to clear my ideas. i had a nice time with them drinking and going out for dinner. and then i decided i will just travel. so no more work and no more flat-hunting-staying in athens sort of thing. 

took the 'day off' yesterday and went to Delphi (where people used to go to consult the oracle!)

and just spent this whole time here in the internet researching where to go. those girls are going to be in the island of Ios tomorrow, but their hostel is fully-booked, as everything else i looked in the islands. so, my theory - the idea of going with the flow is beautiful, but high season is not the right time to do it! i checked countless islands and couldn't find a combination ferry / hotel availability / price that worked on either of them... 

so i created a plan B! but i will only say what it is after it happens! 

xx

Greece - the return - chapter 1

So... arrived in Athens last night and only then it hit me that what i did was a bit crazy... i had to fill in the registry at the hostel i am staying at for the first 3 nights - when it came to address, i realised i don't have one! I DON'T HAVE AN ADDRESS! Plus, country of residence.. ?? Uk? Greece? Brazil?? that was very bizarre... i had to leave it blank. 

the guy from the reception remembered he's seen me before, but nothing further than that. He asked me where i've been since and i replied 'London'. And he said with a puzzled look 'that's strange... i thought you'd be around the islands...'. Which means i am the only crazy person who goes home and back within 2 months... Then at the hostel everyone is in their early 20's - my age when i moved to England - and travelling around Europe. They all ask me the same questions, but I have no answers... 'where do you live' 'at the moment no where'. 'how long are you staying' 'not sure'. 'where are you going next' 'i don't know'. 

i am the prototype of a lost person! 

the good thing is that everyone thinks i'm around 26! that feels good! 

xx

pão-de-ló, como dizia a minha bisavó...

Gente! Olha como o Clint Eastwood era bonito quando jovem! Fiquei chocada. 

modelitos Durrr / Trash

algumas fotinhas dos modelitos de segunda passada na Durrr, que é uma night as segundas na The End (super young!). 

A Durrr é uma reciclada da Trash, que durou 10 anos e terminou no Natal de 2006. Várias bandas começaram lá e o idealizador da noite, o DJ Erol Alkan, hoje é super conhecido. Eu posso falar com orgulho que vivenciei pelo menos uns 4 anos trash. Eu carreguei para lá todo mundo que veio visitar do Brasil e estava por aqui numa segunda feira. E vários dos meus amigos atuais eu conheci por causa da Trash. (anyway, reminiscências do passado, de tempos que não voltam mais... That was the best of London!) Lá era o tipo de boate onde você sempre vê as mesmas caras, então depois de um tempo dá até para ir sozinha pq vc sabe que vai encontrar alguém. 

A Trash acabou pq o Erol cansou, e os outros djs que tocavam na noite seguiram com a Durrr, no mesmo local. Só que óbvio que não tem a mesma 'atmosphere' - ou então sou eu que estou ficando velha. Anyway, a Trash tinha o famoso 'dress code' - se a pessoa não fosse cool, não entrava - então até hoje as meninas se arrumam, e é ótimo para 'people watching'. 

beijos

Elle Macpherson

esqueci de contar que vi a Elle Macpherson na rua no outro dia. 

eu estava voltando para casa à noite e passei pelo Soho. Assim que virei uma esquina vi uns 20 papparazzi clicando descontroladamente. A reconheci em uma fração de segundos, mas mal vi a cara dela, só o cabelo, a malha dourada e as pernonas. Tinham 2 caras do meu lado se perguntando quem era a celebrity, e eu - very proudly - disse que era a Elle Macpherson (como eu estava sozinha, essa foi a minha maneira de dividir o momento com alguém), e eles ficaram meio frustrados de não terem visto direito / reconhecido. 

No dia seguinte fui correndo olhar o jornal para ver se eu estava certa. 

Ela e outras celebrities estavam no Ronnie Scott's, que é uma casa de jazz super antiga aqui de Londres, e que naquela noite estava sediando um evento beneficente. 

Só em Londres! 

Radiohead 24.06.08

tá na hora de atualizar esse blog.... 

ontem fui no show do Radiohead - pela segunda vez. A primeira foi logo que cheguei em Londres, ha quase 6 anos atrás! E foi um dos melhores shows que vi na vida. Na epoca uma amiga foi nos dois dias de show e disse que as músicas tinham sido completamente diferente, ou seja, um nunca é igual ao outro - acho que eles acordam e pensam 'o que estavam a fim de tocar hoje?'. 

Apesar de estar num momento de economia, fiquei na pilha de ve-los ao vivo de novo, e de certa forma fechar um círculo. Acabei indo sozinha (não consegui encontrar a minha amiga), mas mesmo assim foi ótimo. Assim que eles entraram no palco tudo ficou ok, as pessoas felizes em volta, uma energia super boa. 

Então, já que fechei um círculo, resolvi listar tudo o que vi aqui em 6 anos... haja gig! (só é melhor não contabilizar quanto gastei em ingresso! hehe). tenho certeza que não lembrei de tudo, mas aqui estão os principais for sure: 

Bat for Lashes abriu o show ontem; Moby foi o primeiro show que vi em Londres; Coldplay no T in the Park 2003; Damien Rice no mesmo festival; Madonna (Re-Invention tour, mas desisti de ir a show da Madonna pq nenhum vai ser tão bom quanto o Girlie Show q vi no Rio); U2; Placebo; Garbage (em comemoração aos velhos tempos de Bunker); Morrissey (juro que se eu fechasse o olho podia quase sentir minhas amiguinhas do Rio dançando do meu lado!); Strokes (o mais engraçado) e Pixies no mesmo festival, no mesmo dia; Los Hermanos, Gil; Caetano; Mutantes; CSS; Ivete Sangalo (juro que fui ver Ivete Sangalo aqui... e chorei baldes pq me deu muita saudade das minhas amigas, de uma época, Carnaval...); Rolling Stones; Simon & Garfunkel (histórico!); Kings of Leon (fraco); Long Blondes; Franz Ferdinand; Interpol (maravilhoso!!) com abertura do Bloc Party (quando eles ainda mal eram conhecidos); Arcade Fire (poesia sonora); !!!; Out Hut (super energético); Beck; Sigur Ros (a vez da minha amiga chorar o show inteiro); Belle & Sebastian; Blondie (decepção); Sex Pistols (uma surpresa - e o melhor, fui de graça!); Depeche Mode (the sexiest man on stage); New Order (eles tocaram Love Will Tear Us Apart); Hot Chip (num show super pequeno e em outro menor ainda na festa da Mulberry durante a London Fashion Week - só em Londres!).  Isso tudo fora os showzinhos pequenos em boas e bares (Soulwax, Glass Candy, Chromatics.........)  

Gente, não sei se vocês conhecem o asos.com. É um site que vende cópias acessíveis dos figurinos que vemos na TV e nas celebrities (asos = as seen on screen). Então... acabei de descobrir que eles fizeram um especial Sex And the City. Minha dica: se você não quiser parecer com metade (ou mais) das mulheres do MUNDO, não use nada a la Carrie Bradshaw! Não vi o filme, mas já estou cansando de ver fotos dos mesmos outfits. To imaginando todo mundo igual nas ruas... 

Greece - part II

   



So, back in grey London, still reminiscing of my time in Greece.

continuing last post...
Santorini is lovely. I went on a boat trip and met 2 American girls who were sweet (and gorgeous - the younger looked like that actress from Lost). They took the best shot of me of the whole trip, but it is on their camera and they haven't e-mailed it to me yet. I didn't get their contact details (d'oh!) so i have to wait and worried they lost my e-mail address...We went to the volcano, swan at the caldera (that is obviously warm, very salty and full of sulphur - you get a slightly orange tinge that comes off on your clothes); and we watched the sunset in Oia, which is the city with white constructions that you see in every postcard from Santorini. i was knackered in the end.
spent the next day on my own and got the ferry to Heraklion (Crete), which i didn't like. not a nice city, but it was just an easy location to get to Knossos Palace (which was the reason of going to Crete in the first place!).
Next day i went to Chania (Crete, 3 hours from Heraklion), which would be my base to explore the island and where i would stay until the day to come back. I went to deserted islands and beautiful beaches (Gramvousa Island, Balos Lagoon and Elafonissi beach). Gramvousa was the most beautiful place I've been in my life, BUT... there were only couples, families with small children and old people in Crete... So i spent 3 days completely on my own and desperate to talk!! It was beautiful but not fun. So i had the magical idea of changing my arrangements and going back to Athens a day before to enjoy my last night there. And so i did! and it was the best arrangement!
I didn't stay at the same hostel because they were fully-booked, but that didn't stop me from hanging out at the roof bar. My last night was spent drinking beer with Daniel and his friends, first at the terrace and then at an opening party. And moped rides - obviously!

I didn't want to come back... thought of moving to Athens and getting a silly job just so i could travel around the country. BUT fashion there is almost non-existent so don't think it would be a good career move...

If you want to see more pictures, click here.

having fun in Athens

I thought I should write a bit to amuse you with my adventures in Greece. (this post will the in English. Brasileiros – se voces quiserem receber em portugues, me avisa que eu mando por e-mail.) There won’t be pictures yet because I forgot to bring the camera’s cable…
The trip started with a gorgeous steward from Swiss offering me chocolate while we were flying over Athens – I think that set me on the right mood.

I arrived in Athens on Saturday afternoon and it felt like home. On the metro the people looked and dressed like Brazilians – it might be a climate thing!
That day I just walked around and had a lovely Greek meal. Next day: straight to the Acropolis. I have to say I was a bit disappointed. I was expecting something magical, but it was just real. I thought I would be able to imagine I was back in time, but the scafolding and tourists wouldn’t allow me to leave reality. The best bit for me was the Theatre of Dionisios, where you can actually sit on the steps. Then I joined the hostel’s tour to the Temple of Poseidon (about 1 hour from Athens), Sounio beach and Hot Springs. I thought it would be a good way to meet people and so it was! There were 2 girls from Wisconsin (reminder: I lived in Wisconsin when I was 17) who were on the same flight as me to Santorini at 5:30am the next morning. So lucky! I had been worring about leaving on my own at 3am, so now I’d be with other people. We arranged to meet at reception at 2.50am.

Also met an Aussie girl with whom I had nothing in common (except that she was also traveling solo), but she was friendly and opened to chat, so I found a good company on her. Back to hostel, we met later on at the roof bar. Her name is Mary, which I found quite funny – the holiest possible name, but she was far from being holy. She was talking to a few guys when I went up, so I joined them. Mary talks a lot and she likes telling stories. I realized later that the Aussie guy we were talking to is one of the guys who owns the hostel. He confessed in a whisper he couldn’t understand half of what Mary was saying. I laughed because I also couldn’t get the connection to some of her stories. He was going to meet friends at a bar and asked if I wanted to go along. I felt bad to leave Mary behind but I had only met her a few hours earlier and that was my last night in Athens… We rode on his moped to this Greek bar, full of Greek people. It was very exciting! He said he could have never brought Mary because his friends would give him mixed looks, but he thought I was cool and would fit in – which I did. I guess I am a very likable person! Although I still think he liked me because I said I had been to a Nirvana concert.

At the bar, as soon as I said I’m Brazilian people would welcome me with a friendly smile. I met 2 girls who were very nice. I think Greek women stick together, there is an air of companionship between them, they speak with their eyes. We also met a stock broker who was huge (imagine Pavarotti, but a bit smaller) and for me he personified the Greek men’s personality. He would burst out laughing no matter if what he was saying was good or bad. He was very drunk. Very patriotic (from Macedonia) – he would bang on his chest when talking of his country and started going on about Alexander the Great and some other historical figure. It was funny.

Daniel – that was the name of the guy who had taken me to the bar. I only asked his name when we were already there – after moped ride et al. Bizarre. But who cares? Someone is nice regardless of their name. There was nothing between us, he didn’t try to kiss me or anything – which I actually thought was quite nice (the thought he had taken me out because he sympathised with me rather than because he wanted something in the end). I got back to the hostel at 2am. He dropped me off a block away so ‘it wouldn’t be strange’, although this was the strangest thing of the whole night. But whatever! There were some people chatting outside and I think he had probably had something with one of the girls. I went to bed wearing my dress – only had 30 minutes! Got up at 3am with the girl from Wisconsin in the darkness of my bedroom whispering my name – my alarm hadn’t worked! If it wasn’t for the Wisconsin angels I would have missed my flight! And Thank God I forgot to lock the door when I got in at 2am! And that I had left all packed to go!

More on next post - I’ve written too much for a day!
xxx

florence and the machine

Ola, ainda estou de férias, mas deixei esse post programado para vocês não sentirem muito a minha falta! 

dêem uma olhada nesse myspace: www.myspace.com/florenceandthemachinemusic

esse menina tem um vozeirão e é ótima ao vivo, e eu só queria dizer que eu vi primeiro!! 

eu acho que por acaso vi o primeiro show dela, deve ter mais de um ano. ela ainda se chamava 'Florence is a Robot'. foi num domingo num bar em Reading. uns amigos foram chamados para discotecar nesse bar durante o dia e eu fui junto, só de sarro (aquela coisa, domingão, sem muito o que fazer, Reading é a só 1 hora de Londres e eu nunca tinha ido - não tem nada by the way). a florence foi a última do dia e na platéia estavam os pais e o irmão, sorrindo orgulhosos, dançando (só deviam ter umas 20 pessoas). 

agora ela esta virando fenômeno - vai tocar em todos os festivais desse verão, já vi reportagem em revista e na TV. mas ainda não chegou ao mainstream. mas vai chegar! ela é muito boa. 

então ouçam! vale a pena! 

beijos 

de malas prontas

estou de malas prontas de novo! estou saindo de férias durante uma semana. meu destino ainda é segredo. se eu me inspirar (e se achar uma internet) de repente coloco um post revelando onde estou. senão vocês só vao ficar sabendo na volta mesmo. Dessa vez nao tem a ver com moda - vou ser turista! 

beijos

Fashion in Film

Está rolando até o dia 31 de maio a 2a edição do Fashion in Film - festival de cinema sobre moda, como o nome já diz. Dessa vez o tema é "If Looks Could Kill", que propoe mostrar como a moda e estilo são utilizados para dar um tom de glamour aos filmes de suspense e crime - muito batom vermelho, luvas, e meia-calça para esconder o rosto. 

A curadora (Marketa Uhlirova) foi minha professora no London College of Fashion. Ela é tcheca e acho que como estrangeira, ela sempre busca fazer uma mistura de filmes de diversos países. Alguns são mais atuais, outros são preciosidades que geralmente não passam na telona. Fora isso, o festival conta com palestras e painéis de discussão com vários pesquisadores de moda. 

Super legal! 

Stockholm / Estocolmo

Eu nunca achei que um dia fosse dizer ‘estou cansada de ver loja!’. Mas isso aconteceu, em Stockholm. Passei um feriado lá há umas 3 semanas. ADOREI. A cidade é bonita, as pessoas se vestem super cool, os homens são lindos e super vaidosos (de uma maneira bem descolada), a noite termina tarde e as lojas… lá é um dos berços do ‘scandinavian design’, ou seja, qualquer cafofo é estiloso.
Em Stockholm não tem nada histórico que seja imperdível então a melhor opção é mesmo explorar as lojas – e os museus, que são fantásticos (principalmente o moderna museet que é imperdível). A área de Sodermalm é onde estão as boutiques independentes, a galera mais descolada, bares, cafés e muitos brechós.



Me chamou atenção a predominância do estilo urbano. Homens e mulheres usam tennis super coloridos e com o cadarço meio folgado (então eles fazem ainda mais volume). As meninas os usam com saias e vestidos. E vestido por cima da legging. E me surpreendi com a moda masculina – achei que os homens lá experimentam mais, não tem medo de misturar cores, e são tão antenados quanto as mulheres!
De quebra, ainda peguei o último dia de uma exposição sobre o Andy Warhol (que eu AMO!) focando nos filmes dele; e o show do Messer Chups, uma banda russa de Rockabily (numa boate rock n’ roll chamada Debaser).

cheguei! finalmente!

depois de 6 anos em Londres, e de tanta gente perguntando porque eu não tenho um blog, finalmente resolvi criar um. Aqui estou, sob o codinome de Miss Lopes. 

Vou tentar fazer desse espaço um diário (sem os podres), falando das coisas que eu estou vendo e vivendo por aqui - incluindo moda, arte, amigos e histórias engraçadas. 

Welcome! 

beijos, 

Miss Lopes