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Luisa Vilela
Luisa Vilela

Luisa Vilela

traveled in 8 countries Read more
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  • África do Sul

    Outra vez Joanesburgo

    January 3, 2020 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C

    Neste último dia fomos a Pretória - Union Buildings and Gardens - e, em Joanesburgo visitámos Constitution Hill e Montecasino.
    Union Buildings (Uniegebou em africanse) é a residência oficial e sede do gabinete do Presidente da África do Sul. Foi construído em 1910 e tem estilo vitoriano. Tem cerca de 285 metros de fachada e possui forma circular, com asas laterais que representam a união do povo outrora dividido e as duas línguas mais faladas do país, o inglês e o africâner.Os seus jardins estão plantados exclusivamente com espécies da flora sul-africana e possuem diversos monumentos e um anfiteatro com nove mil lugares.
    Constitution Hill foi uma prisão até 1998. Aqui estiveram presos homens e mulheres de renome mundial - Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Joe Slovo, Albertina Sisulu, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela e Fátima Meer, todos cumpriram pena aqui. Para além deles também aqui estiveram confinados dezenas de milhares de pessoas comuns durante seus 100 anos de história: homens e mulheres de todas as raças, credos, idades e agendas políticas, o homem comum e a elite. A história de todo sul-africano está aqui presente. Muitas das pessoas que aqui estiveram não cometeram qualquer crime. Apenas foram presas por serem negras e estarem na rua fora das horas de recolher obrigatório.
    Montecasino é isso mesmo, um casino com uma centro comercial envolvente.
    E é assim que deixamos a Africa do Sul, com vontade de ter ficado mais um pouco. É um país demasiadamente grande. Devemos ter visto 1% do que há para ver!    Read more

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  • África do Sul

    De volta a Joanesburgo

    January 2, 2020 in South Africa ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

    Hoje foi apenas dia de regresso. Antes de sairmos ainda temos uma visita pela plantação de café da quinta onde ficámos alojados. Paragem para almoço com vista para um parque com rinocerontes, o único dos grande cinco que não vimos. Fora isso, fui pesquisando os nomes dos animais que vimos durante estes três dias.Read more

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  • África do Sul

    Kruger Park

    January 1, 2020 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 27 °C

    As fotos hoje dizem mais do que palavras. Apenas alguns dos nomes em inglês dos animais que não aparecem nas fotos para memória futura: kudu, waterbuck, marabou stork, hippo, steenbok, nyala, gnu, vervet monkey, warthog, baboon, lions and leopards, entre outros mais pequenos. Claro que elefantes, girafas, búfalos e impalas foram sempre mais fáceis de avistar não só pelo tamanho, mas também pela abundância!Read more

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  • África do Sul

    De Balule a Hazyview

    December 31, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ 🌧 22 °C

    Hoje o caminho era o destino. Os cerca de 250 kms que separam Balule de Hazyview estão cheios de atrações naturais. Infelizmente não paramos em todas, mas temos a oportunidade de ver as Three Roundavells no Blyde River Canyon, os Burke Luck Potholes e God’s Window. Como é fim de ano nem tudo está aberto, o almoço passa a ser num restaurante de comida portuguesa, gerida por moçambicanos. Às quatro horas está tudo a fechar mas as filas nas lojas de bebidas alcoólicas são longas. A preferência dos sul africanos vai para a cerveja, o gin e o licor de marula, de produção local. Nós acabámos por brindar o novo ano com as nossas garrafas de água mineral! Mais um belo dia em África.Read more

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  • África do Sul

    Safari em Balule

    December 30, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Este foi o dia perfeito! Alvorada às 5:30h, pequeno almoço às 6h, saída às 6:30h. A caminhada pela savana foi para ver detalhes. Desde caca de elefante ou girafa, passando por pegadas, buracos escavados no chão ou plantas, tudo é importante aqui. O Joe e o Steve são cuidadosos, mas muito divertidos e explicam a savana de maneira simples. De volta ao nosso acampamento podemos usufruir da piscina e de um simpático brunch antes de sairmos novamente, mas desta vez de jipe para tentarmos avistar o cinco grandes - leopardo, rinoceronte, leão, elefante e búfalo. E conseguimos ver claramente e muito perto uma manada de elefantes e uma de búfalos. Quanto ao leopardo, estivemos a olhar para umas ervas onde supostamente estaria, mas francamente, não o consegui ver. Foi um dia muito feliz outra vez!Read more

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  • África do Sul

    A caminho de Balule - Kruger Park

    December 29, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C

    Dia madrugador! Entre Joanesburgo e a entrada oeste do Parque Nacional Kruger separam-nos mais de 500kms. Por isso, as 6:30 estamos de partida. Vamos fazendo paragens estratégicas para comprar água, alguns snacks e “bushy bushy”. Ao almoço parámos em Dullstroom e comemos num simpático restaurante na rua principal, pontilhada de cima abaixo de restaurantes, lojas de souvenirs e especialidades da região - artesanato e tudo o que esteja relacionado com salmão, já que está zona é famosa pela sua pesca. Nota máxima para o “malva pudding” que, apesar de dulcíssimo, fez justiça à tradição doceira da África do Sul. Chamada de atenção ainda para a tentativa de bater o recorde do Guiness no tempo de permanência dentro de um barril em cima de um poste... o proponente já cumpriu 44 dos 67 dias que terá que ai ficar.
    Da parte da tarde o plano é chegar ao parque Krüger por volta das cinco. E assim foi. Os 13 kms desde a entrada até ao alojamento são cheios de surpresas. Poucos metros decorridos a Tixa avistou uma girafa, logo a seguir impalas e ainda zebras acostadas pelo Wolfi e elefantes muito ao longe, já na orla da piscina do nosso lodge.
    Steve e Joe, os nossos guias, são simpáticos e bem dispostos. Entre brincadeiras e piadas fazem-nos sentir confortáveis neste mato cheio de animais selvagens, com direito a mergulho na piscina e jantar de grelhados e vegetais. Tudo maravilhoso! Dia feliz!    Read more

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  • África do Sul

    Sterkfontein e o Berço da Humanidade

    December 28, 2019 in South Africa ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Saímos de manhã para as grutas de Sterkfontein, a cerca de 40 kms de Joanesburgo. Nesta área foi encontrado aquele que pode ser considerado como o primeiro humano. Em 1947, foi encontrado um crânio quase completo, que Dr Robert Broom disse ter pertencido a uma fêmea e terá uma idade entre 2,8 e 2,3 milhões de anos. As cavernas, de formação cársica, apresentam as clássicas estalagmites e estalactites e levam-nos ate 60m de profundidade. É muito interessante perceber como a prospeção do calcário, ligada à do ouro, levou a uma descoberta mais recente na mesma caverna de um esqueleto quase completo de outro exemplar, mas com uma idade estimada em 3,3 milhões de anos. A família Stegmann, proprietária destas terras, doou as cavernas à Universidade de Witwatersrand em 1958. No local existe o Robert Broom Museum, desde 1966, que tem informação sobre os achados, assim como sobre a evolução humana. À tarde vamos para Berço da Humanidade, Maropeng, que significa “retorno ao lugar de origem” em Setswana, uma das onze línguas oficiais da África do Sul. No Maropeng Visitor Centre viaja-se no tempo até ao começo do nosso universo, há cerca de 14 bilhões de anos, até o presente. A mostra levanta questões, entre outras, de como nosso cérebro se desenvolveu, de onde veio a linguagem, quando foi o fogo usado pela primeira vez e quais os riscos que nossa espécie corre no futuro. Quando se sai do centro dá-se de caras com uma vista incrível das colinas em direção a Magaliesberg, uma das melhores vistas em Gauteng.Read more

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  • África do Sul
    1
    12

    Chegada a Joanesburgo

    December 26, 2019 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 12 °C

    Hoje foi dia de viagem. Começámos às 23:00 de Lisboa no dia 26, parámos em Luanda durante duas horas e chegámos a Johanesburgo meia hora mais cedo do que o previsto. Depois de tratarmos da logística - dinheiro, cartões de telemóvel sul africanos e transfer - lá chegámos à Greenfire Lodge Johannesburg. É um alojamento com o telhado em colmo à moda antiga e um toque bem africano. Tem uma biblioteca onde se podem fazer trocas de livros ou até pedir livros emprestados e depois trazê-los no regresso. A sala de estar também é simpática e a nossa estalajadeira é uma mulher forte, loura, fumadora e ossuda. Dá-nos instruções para o dia seguinte e aconselha-nos um restaurante para o nosso jantar. Chegámos lá por volta das seis e trinta e já fomos tarde. O restaurante já estava cheio e acabámos por ter que esperar. Compensou a comida de qualidade em que a especialidade são bifes. Passado pouco tempo a Mané juntou-se a nós para combinarmos o dia seguinte. Vamos dividir-nos por dois carros e fazer a visita ao Berço da Humanidade.
    Como o dia já vai longo às 10:00 é hora de recolhimento. um um um um toque bem africano. Tem umuns quartos    Read more

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  • Christmas Holidays

    Viena 4

    January 1, 2019 in Austria ⋅ 🌬 8 °C

    Happy New Year Vienna! The weather is always the same - cold and windy! But we are weather proof and we don’t want to skip many things from our original plan, so we go metro hop on hop off and we can see a lot of the majestic buildings around the metropolis. The Golden Cabbage - the Secession and its nearby market, the Musikverin, where the famous new year concert was happening, the Museumsquartier where we had been the previous evening, now could be seen on daylight, the Karlskirche, the Votivkirche - a neo-Gothic church and the Minoritenkirche where there is a life-sized copy of Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper on the church's northern wall. It is a mosaic made by the Roman mosaic artist Giacomo Raffaelli, commissioned by Napoleon I in 1809, but it was not finished before Napoleon's abdication. Francis II of Austria bought it, wanting to install it in the Belvedere in Vienna. As it was too large for the building, it was set up on the north wall of the church, where it remains to this day. The mosaic is 9.18 x 4.47 m and weighs approximatively 20 tons.
    Before going to the opera we still had time to visit the Wurstelprater, an amusement park and section of the Wiener Prater (a park) in the second district of Vienna, Leopoldstadt. This institution dates back to the time of the Austrian Empire, when Emperor Joseph II made the Prater (which has been serving as Imperial hunting ground until then) open to public in 1766. Soon the first snack bars, stalls and bowling alleys opened up on the grounds and the Wurstelprater was born. The best-known attraction is the Wiener Riesenrad, a giant Ferris wheel. With a weight of more than 240 tons and a height of roughly 65 m the Giant Ferris Wheel looms over the Prater in Vienna since 1897.
    The UNO city is normally the landscape for the Vienna marathon starting point. It is here that the skyline has some skyscrapers that are lined along the Danube.
    The Bat - Johann Strauss Opera - was hilarious and the cherry on top of the cake for these short holidays! The atmosphere, the performance and the music gave us three hours of pure entertainment! Surely something special to repeat! End of the day in the Bermuda Triangle- called like so because many people who go to this area tend to forget where they were during their passage because of the great amounts of alcohol that one can drink in this area.
    As the following day was only for travelling back home, this was the end of the journey!

    Only one more thing... Thomas, our Airbnb host was a character who prepared really nice breakfasts, was very enthusiastic about having people around... especially Wolfgang... and maybe the only person that I have met who says: I really love housekeeping!!!    Read more

  • Christmas Holidays

    Viena 3

    December 31, 2018 in Austria ⋅ 🌙 3 °C

    This time we had a car and so we were around Vienna near the lake Neusiedlersee. This is an area with vineyards and we visited the Vinery Beck in Gols. The wine is completely different from the Portuguese wines. Nevertheless, some of them were really delicious and we ended up buying some bottles to bring back home. On the way back we stopped in an outlet shopping centre where we had lunch and after giving the car back we went around the city centre where the Silvestre - New Year’s Eve - could already be felt. There were different areas around the city with all kinds of music. At night we ended up in Stephansplatz where classical music was being played and we wished each other Happy 2019 under a “smashing” atmosphere. Meanwhile we had stopped in Bellariastraße in Bellaria coffee house for Sacher torte, apflestrudle and kaiserschmarrn... delicious! Dinner was at a small traditional Viennese restaurant and the night ended up on the street, dancing and drinking hot wine from the cutest cups ever!
    Happy New Year!!!    Read more

  • Christmas Holidays

    Viena 2

    December 29, 2018 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 5 °C

    The second day in Vienna was very rainy. The day before we had bought the tickets to visit Schönbrunn Palace and that was our first stop. This is definitely a special place to visit in Vienna. If you can start early you can have a relaxing stroll around the rooms. The free audio guide is very nice because it explains enough for one to understand what happened in Sissy’s time. Entertaining and not boring at all! After this we made an effort and went to the city centre but the rain got heavier and heavier, so our plans for the walking tour around the city centre were stopped after a while. One stop for coffee and Sacher torte, another in Saint Stephan’s Cathedral and even an attempt to go further after buying an umbrella weren’t enough to fight the discomfort of walking under the rain, so Wolfi went to the rent a car stand and the rest of us relaxed at the Airbnb for the rest of the afternoon. In the evening we met Miriam and Lucas for a special traditional dinner in Heurigen Sommerbauer Resi in Perchtoldsdorf. Heurigen is the name given to taverns in Eastern Austria at which local winemakers serve their new wine under a special licence in alternate months during the growing season. The Heurige are renowned for their atmosphere of coziness shared among a throng enjoying young wine, simple food, and - in some places – Schrammel music. Heuriger is the abbreviation of "heuriger Wein" (this year's wine). Originally, they were simple open-air taverns on the premises of winemakers, where people would bring along food and drink the new wine. Nowadays, the taverns are often situated at a distance from the wineyards and offer both food and drinks. Heurige where apple or pear cider is served are called a Mostheurige. In the well-known wine-growing areas of the city of Vienna many eating establishments have a rustic interior design similar to Heurige, yet they have a normal licence and sell wine they buy from outside sources.Read more

  • Christmas Holidays

    Viena 1

    December 29, 2018 in Austria ⋅ 🌬 3 °C

    Once again we went to Viena by bus. 70 km separate us from Bratislava, so this was a short journey. When we arrived it was already a good time to eat and that’s what we did. The Schönnbrunn palace was packed with tourists and no more tickets were available for the day, so we bought them for the following day and strolled around the Christmas market where the traditional Viennese cookies and Christmas decorations. So cold but sooooo beautiful! After checking in with Thomas - our make up breakfast specialist host - we headed to the city centre where it was still possible to visit St. Stephen’s Cathedral and the pedestrian area with the Opera House and the Sacher Hotel with the fancy butler and the Sacher Torte fans queuing outside.
    At eight we met Dorothea and her husband in a nice traditional restaurant with delicious Austrian food!!!    Read more

  • Christmas Holidays

    Bratislava

    December 28, 2018 in Slovakia ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    After a 2:30 min bus ride from Budapest, we arrived in Bratislava. The Virgo Hotel was just a short stop for leaving the luggage and we immediately started walking to the castle. This a huge building with a stunning view over the Danube, the UFO bridge and St Martin’s Cathedral. Downhill, after a long stop for lunch, we walked to the Old Town and could still see St. Michael’s Gate (Michalská brána), Schöne Náci Statue, Čumil, the Primate’s Palace (Primaciálny palác) and Blue Church (Modrý kostolík). It was a pity that by 16:30
    It was already dark and that we couldn’t see the magnificence of the church by daylight. Nevertheless, the city is nice and all main attractions are within walking distances. It would all be perfect if we didn’t have to eat out or buy groceries. Most people aren’t friendly. In fact, it seems that smiling is a bit difficult for their facial muscles. As for communication, it is not so easy because most people, like shop assistants, waiters and bus drivers, don’t speak English... that’s about it for Bratislava.    Read more

  • Christmas Holidays

    Budapest 2

    December 27, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 6 °C

    This the second day in Budapest. We visit another part of the city. First, near home, the Great Market Hall - a beautiful building with the traditional Hungarian paprika hanging from the ceiling and all kinds of goods you can think of. Then we follow the plan we prepared and we strolled along the way to pass by Dohány Street Synagogue, the Jewish quarter, the House of Terror, Andrássy Avenue, the Heroes Square, Szechenyi thermal spa, Vajdahunyad Castle and finally, to relax from the long walk, Kiraly Spa Baths. The Turkish bath in Kiraly Bath has a characteristic dim light, as the pool gets its light from the 16th century dome holes covered in glasses.
    The bath has not been restored for many decades, which gives it an even more fascinating historical appeal, where the Turkish details are mixed with the medicinal bathing culture of the 1890s, and the practical, ahistorical approach of the Communist Budapest era.
    Kiraly Bath is open every day 9 am to 9 pm, and the once famous men only bath is now completely mixed, unisex every day.
    The day ended in Sir Lancelot, a medieval restaurant with theatrical exhibitions, live music, belly dance and huge amounts of food.    Read more

  • Christmas Holidays

    Budapest 1

    December 26, 2018 in Hungary ⋅ 🌬 5 °C

    Budapeste

    It is the 26th December and we arrived the day before in Budapest. After some phone calls to Catherine it was possible to get into the Airbnb flat. It is in an old fancy block of flats. Tixa and Wolfi described it as the scenery of a James Bond movie. The are two open courtyards that we have to cross and an arched veranda leads us to the butterfly door! Nicely renovated it has room for the five of us to be pretty much comfortable.
    The following morning breakfast is at home and after that the city is here for us to experience it. It is bank holiday in Hungary and the streets are almost empty as we head to St Stephen’s Cathedral. It is a magnificent Basilica with splendours ceilings and Christmas trees around. The Christmas market outside is full of lovely handicrafts, food and hot wine stands. The smell of the spices invades the cold air still filled with the Christmas spirit. But we still had a lot to explore and the Parliament and the river bank with the Shoes Memorial are outstanding under the pale sunlight. After crossing the Chain Bridge we stop for lunch in a Belgian beer pub. Delicious food and a perfect way to get back to warm hands and faces. It was cosy enough to keep us there for a while but still on time to visit the Fisherman’s Bastion and the Castle Hill. The view to the other side of the river is amazing and we can have sunset and evening in our pictures. Crossing back the Chain Bridge we look back at the castle reflection on the Danube... breathtaking too. Again the chilly windy evening takes us inside a coffee shop to eat apple cake. Walking back home for some rest before dinner, we still pass by the Christmas market for mulled wine that keeps us warm all the way back.
    Dinner is around Raday utca. We choose an Hungarian restaurant and, again, the food is delicious!
    Nothing better than to end up the day at a ruin bar a bit far away from home... well... it was actually a bar in the Jewish ghetto because Szimpla Bar was closed - second Christmas Day.    Read more

  • França

    Marseille

    October 7, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Marseille is wonderful! We spent most of our time around the Vieux Port. The MuCem, the Chateâu d’If, the Fort de Saint Jean and the Cathedral are all around and it is amazing to feel the perfect combination of modern and old buildings, the cruise boats in the big harbour and all the fancy surroundings with expensive shops and restaurants to receive the hundreds of tourists that leave the cruises everyday.
    As for us, we preferred going to the old harbour where seafood restaurants are lined and we could taste a specialty that seems awkward but it definitely works: fried mussels with french fries... delicious! Also a salad with cheese and meat that seems funny at first but is totally delish! And the rest of the afternoon, supposedly to know a bit more about the city, was to rush into nice places when the thunderstorm decided to play some tricks on us. A nice bar for a coffee, a réplica of the Galleries Lafayette, a nice biscuit shop and, last but not least, a soap shop to buy the famous Soap of Marseille! After all we really ended up soaked by the late afternoon rain before going to the airport... loved it all anyway!    Read more

  • França

    Arles - Avignon - Aix-en-Provence

    October 6, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Arles is a World Heritage city with a lot of Roman remains, namely a small colosseum and an amphitheater. The city is on the left bank of the river Rhône and there is a long promenade alongside. It was nice to eat in a small creperie in the city centre, feeling the flavour of ripe tomato, chèvre cheese and Provence olive oil to relax for a while. The day is beautiful and it’s difficult to see the autumn coming...
    Avignon, the city of the Popes, reminds me immensely of Évora. The city wall is huge and the old city spreads inside. From the Palais des Papes and the cathedral to its side to the bridge of Avignon - only half, by the way - all is very beautiful and well preserved. The view from the gardens is amazing.
    We end up the day in Aix-en-Provence. Maybe because my expectations were high the feeling of delusion also strikes me. The whole city is under construction and it is not so nice as I expected. Nevertheless, the city centre is pleasant enough to have dinner and go back to the country house we stayed in to spend the night.    Read more

  • França

    Carcassonne - Bézier - Montpellier

    October 6, 2018 in France ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    6.10.2018
    Carcassonne - Bézier - Montpellier

    After having breakfast with Zé and Luisa we went to the food market in the city centre of Carcassonne. I was never in France before. This is my first time but what the eyes can see and the nose can smell takes me back to the imaginary of Joanne Harris and her books about France. Although we’ve just had breakfast I feel like eating all the nuts and olives. The fruits and veggies were so fresh and the flowers incredibly beautiful and scented. Afterwards we went back to the Gare de Carcassonne, just to take a look at the Canal du Midi during the day. Throughout the day we passed by it many times and on Béziers we made long stop to visit the nine dams that are ready to get the boats up and down the canal. It is amazing that so many years ago they had the knowledge to build such a great art of engineering. The city centre of Béziers is also very nice with its catedral showing its grandiosity as a skyscraper of the past! But before getting there we still had time to go to the citadel of the castle in Carcassone with a short stop to taste the Cassoulet, which is like our “feijoada” in Portugal.
    In the evening Montpellier almost gets me crazy. It is not easy to park a car in French cities and when finally we can do it, because a car is leaving, but the driver gets mad at your position in the park and he decides to put the car back in the parking place and start shouting at me... then I caught myself shouting back and saying a bunch of “truths” to the man like: “Vous êtes trés gentile. C’est à cause de personnes comme vous que j’aime lá France!!!” It seemed that suddenly I could speak French!!! Eheheh! In the end he left and we had a perfect spot! Dinner was perfect too. The city centre of Marseille is very lively and the food was special! Once again, but under a heavy rain and crazy thunderstorm, we slept in the van in a place out of Montpellier called Carnon-Plage - a small stripe of land facing the salty lagoons and the Mediterranean Sea.    Read more

  • França

    Lloret del Mar - Figueres - Carcassone

    October 5, 2018 in Spain ⋅ ☀️ 24 °C

    After dinner in Praça Real in Barcelona and a stroll through La Rambla we headed to the ocean to sleep in the van, directly at the beach. The sound of the ocean is always the perfect song for deep sleep. The sun was shining when we got up and the Mediterranean was like a pond! Fishermen were around and some metres away was the picnic area where we had breakfast facing the deep blue of the sea. In Loret del Mar the beach was silent without children. Europe is back to school and only retired people spend relaxed holidays by the seaside. It was possible to take a nap after a short dip in the chilly water. Refreshing and beautiful with big fish swimming relaxed like around me but to cold to swim.
    But our target is Carcassone and after this relaxing hours, we decided to stop only at Figueres, the birthplace of Salvador Dalí. It was a small town with a surprisingly beautiful city centre full of art, as one should expect. The feeling of being near France strikes me for the first time when we get into a Patisserie and Spanish bocadillos mix with choux and nougat.
    Carcassone welcomes us at sunset and the castle is splendid at this time with this special light. Zé and Luisa are late because the TGV has a delay, so we take a stroll to the city centre where a lot of people are still having dinner. Carcassone is not an expensive city to have dinner out, as we will find out in other french cities. We end the day meeting them at the Gare de Carcassone and spend the rest of the evening with them.    Read more

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