It's been over a year since me and J. went to Oporto (we say Porto), our northern capital. Quite a romantic place, with its darker colours. It was quite a rainy weekend, I had never used a digital camera before, and although the views are stunning, most of the pictures came blurred. In the city center, most of the streets are narrow, and the pavemente made of dark stones.

On our way back, I took a picture of this tram, moving.

One of our friends, an actress, later joined us in the cafe. She had just bought a present for someone nearby, a bike made of wood.

View from our table.

Detail of the ceiling, painted in a very strong red, and a wooden fan.

The wooden clock, inside the café.

Inside the café... The decoration is stunning...

Later, we went to the Brasileira cafe, built in the 19th century and quite a famous place among artists and intelectuals since then.

On our way to the restaurant, we passed near lovely, and expensive, shops, like this one. I'm quite surprised with some of these pictures. I actually didn't use the flash in any of them!

Those wires bring electricity to the trams. Quite old technology, but it still works.

Church façade being restored.

Some of the buildings are being restored, like this old church, now painted in a stromg yellow (it used to be a boring gray)

The Chiado area is a hilly place, with fine monuments and a fashionable comercial area. The streets were quite empty last night, and everybody just kept talking about a cold wave coming from northern Europe, quite alien to our mild winter temperatures.

It's always difficult to find a place to park here, as it is an old part of town, with narrow roads. The old Lisbon trams still pass in this area.

Last night, we went out for diner at the Bairro Alto. I was trying to take pictures at night with my small digicam, but I'm afraid I still dont know how to control its settings. Most of the pictures were a bit blurred. This is a view to Lisbon's Dona Maria II theater, our main opera house, in the downtown.

A bridge, leading to a small lighthouse, in the village of Alcochete.

The river in Alcochete.

River beach, Alcochete.

Days ago, I found this river beach in Alcochete, some 40kms away from Lisbon. The river here really looks like a wide lake.

And that's what I wanted to photograph... That tower is my favourite building in the area. Built in the 1940's, it always reminds me of Kim Novak's posh building in Hitchcock's "Vertigo". If we only had built more things like these... Like other buildings in the area, it does need some restoring.

My home is near the Avenida de Roma, one of the capital's main avenues.

Heading back home, I passed near this... No, it is not a mosque, although nothing in Iberia looks more like one. It is actually a bull fights arena, the Praça de Touros, in Campo Pequeno. It was built over a hundred years ago, imitating Moorish architecture. It is now being restored, and they decided to paint the domes green, which doesn't look that much nicer...

First sky picture... Went to wash the car today and tried to photograph a saturated blue sky. I guess this picture could be from anywhere in the world.

River views... The main building in the picture is the National Pantheon.

Fishing boats.

River view, Sacavém.

The river near Sacavém. These pictures were taken with the Fuji camera and then edited to B/W.

An old ferry, in Cacilhas.

A ferry, crossing the river. The only really good thing of my new Fuji camera is the 10 x zoom, which allowed me to take this kind of picture from quite far away.

The view, just opposite the "horror" house... The more typical Portuguese architecture of late 19th century.