Yesterday, I went to a birthday party, in a restaurant somewhere in a small village south of Lisbon. A small miracle happened: after five months of drought (something never seen this century in winter) it finally rained. I used my digicam at ISO 400 to take this picture.

When I left the tram, near Restauradores... A colour picture for a change...

And there we went, down the hill... The one in the picture was actually coming up.

View from the back, inside the tram.

I suppose this thing is well over a hundred years old...

Inside the tram...

Later, heading back home, I decided to use this old tram, which connects the Bairro Alto to the Restauradores, in the center. It had been quite a while since I had last been inside.

I left the underground in the Chiado station, and while trying to photograph the buildings, secretely photographed this couple asking for directions to a policeman... I don't know about you guys, but I find photographing strangers quite... embarassing!

Looking at these trees from the other side of the world, I wondered if this is how forests in Australia looked like...

The eucalyptus trees in the park are some of the tallest in the city.

It had been a long time since I crossed the park in Campo Grande. I had forgotten how beautiful the trees are here. Some palm trees are of a variety we don't usually see here, like this one.

Today, I did what I rarely do these days - to walk. To save time finding a place to park in the city, I left my car in a parking area and used public transportation for a change. The sky was partly cloudy at midday and the sun created strange shadows near this place, in Campo Grande.

Although we hardly left the small hotel where we were, due to the rain, it was such a lovely weekend, surrounded by such nice people. I took this picture at night, while we were walking in the city center. I hope I'll go back soon. These pictures are also to welcome a new addition in the club, a photoblogger friend from the north of Portugal. Check her nice photoblog at http://metallyptica.blogspot.com/, "The Eye of the Beholder", in my link list.

I believe the tower you can see in the horizon is the Torre dos Clérigos, one of Oporto's landmarks.

After all this time, I still don't know what this building is. Shame!

Some of you may have seen this picture before, the Dona Maria bridge, built by Gustave Eiffel (the one from the Eiffel tower in Paris!) between 1876-77.

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.