Yes, I´m here, in the other side of the world! Its almost everything as I´ve imagined it. A giant city, unlike any other thing I´ve seen before, and they all speak my language - although the written Portuguese here is slightly different, and the accent much sweeter than ours in Europe. This megalopolis has great skyscrapers from the beginning of the century - like the Martinelli building, on the right. The 200 million Brazilians are a curious mixture of European (not only Portuguese, but Italian, German and whatever you can imagine) and African and Amerindians. This is reflected in one of the most cosmopolitan cultures in the world. Unfortunately, as in most South America, poverty, violence and criminality, is a major problem. I´m here on hollidays right now, but also checking some media magazines where I might write as a correspondent in Europe. Tomorrow, I´ll be heading to the beach, 10 hours away from here. More news soon ;)

Speaking of skyscrapers... I'm thinking of Sao Paulo, that huge city in Brazil, where I'll be staying the next few weeks. I'm quite excited with the idea of leaving Europe again, and discover another Portuguese speaking country - for the first time. In my mind, I see this magnificent city with over 10 million people, amazing architecture and one of the cosmopolitan melting pots of our modern world. I hope I'll like it. I'll share pictures with my comrade photobloggers as soon as possible, but I'll be checking what you're doing in your blogs often ;)

Sheraton Hotel. These two towers are some of the few skyscrapers we have - with less than 30 floors, people in America or Hong Kong would possibly laugh and say they are too small to be called skyscrapers.. Tall buildings are not encouraged in Portugal, and even prohibited in most cities.

Amoreiras Towers, Lisbon. A busy commercial area, with one of Lisbon's most stylish shopping centers.

Driving around town II. United States of America Avenue, near where I live.

Driving around the town... I love these huge eucalyptus trees we find everywhere in Portugal. We brought them from Australia over a century ago, and they have literally invaded the country, where we now find huge forests everywhere. They burn easily in the summer fires, apparently destroy the soil, but no other tree here seems to me so beautiful. And at any time of the year, they release this wonderful fragrance...