My Birthday

So my first birthday celebrated away from home in this trip project was this week. Organized a simple event in a pub around the corner. It was nice to have some friends I knew before coming mingling with my new friends. Thank you guys!!!! :D

Zoo @ Night

In London there's a trend of organizing events in places that usually are closed at night, like museums, parks and in the case in the Zoo. Yes we went to a type of party inside the zoo, with tents of food and drinks, with entertaining shows, carousels and of course lots of animals.
Half of the people there were just for drinking and having a good time, but other half like we were also to visit the zoo and actually see the animals.
The problem was that the summer finished already in April (it would be a glorious event in a summer night) so it was raining cats and dogs while we were there. What saved us was the Butterfly House which was warm (that's why it was full) and dry. And it was fantastic inside, I've never seen so many butterflies together, and so big and beautiful.
They also had the so called Silent Disco. It's a disco where everyone uses headsets to hear the music so that they don't disturb animals. It is awesome to watch everyone dancing.. apparently in silence. :D
It was a great night that we need to repeat to watch the rest of the zoo...and party!!! :D

A view of the wet entrance

Poor guys, they were shivering

Ahh away from the rain

Please don't disturb

The Owl Butterfly - at a glance it really looks like one

It's a beetle's world

Silence Disco - Can you see everyone dancing silently? :D

Finished with a FireShow

Caribean Sound/ Bowjangles

Yesterday, we went for a late concert in RichMix venue. It's a non-profit cultural organization (http://www.richmix.org.uk/) that supports several forms of art. The artist, Anthony Joseph, is a multiskilled performer; he has edited three poetry books and recently has launched a new album in collaboration with his band, The Spams. The sound is contagious, frenetic, warm and happy. The lirics are his originals. A little sample: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dbmktuUmiY

At Guy's Hospital, every Wednesday, there is a live performance of invited artists. Today we andour Italian flatmates had the pleasure of listening and watching a string quartet - Bowjangles - that spent all the concert dancing, jumping and making funny with the audience, while playing the classics of Verdi, Vivaldi, Mozart... A very funny and original way of appreciating classic music. Go check their website for more info: http://www.google.co.uk/search?rlz=1C1SKPL_enGB414GB415&aq=f&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8&q=bowjangles#hl=en&sugexp=cmsp&pq=bowjangles&xhr=t&q=bowjangles+band&cp=15&pf=p&sclient=psy&rlz=1C1SKPL_enGB414GB415&source=hp&aq=0v&aqi=&aql=f&oq=bowjangles+band&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.&fp=7081beccf67db728&biw=1280&bih=737

Champions Irish Party

So last week it was Patrick Houlihan birthday party. He is the responsible for all social activities of Hospital Trust and he is a strong Irish character. He and his sons organized an Irish party in a bar and invited us to be there and also to receive the trophy you saw in the last post. It was a great night were we have some proper Irish music and chanting. Great night!!!

Me and Patrick

Me and Sara RiverDancing!!! 

The musicians using an bagpipe typical from Ireland

Party animals

Part of the team that won the Tournment

We are the Champions!!!!

So to balance the year horribilis of Benfica I decided to start winning some trophies in this direct football country and I've started with a Intra Hospital tournament.
The Guys and St Thomas trust has an activity department that organizes events, and one of them is football tournaments.
It was a high fought one decided on the penalties but my team survived to the last moment.
So for this year we are the...

Life in London

London is a city with 10 million people. More than that it's a city with people from all countries in the world. It's strength it's energy comes from all the dynamic a small world can have in a unique place.
Everything a person may like, any hobby, any faith, anything it's done in London. Somewhere for sure they are more people that thought on that and are numerous enough to organize and make it happen.

With this I will just give an example of my last days:

Thursday 9th - Pat Birthday with dart contest, Irish music concert and food and drinks
Wednesday 8th - Turkish dinner with friends in Mahmut's house (our former house)
Tuesday 7th - TV Comedy show live in BB studios with friends / Mexican dinner
Monday 6th - Squash with unknown Couchsurfers / Cinema to watch Senna
Sunday 5th - Paintball from 8am to 4pm in a huge space with 400!!! fighters / Invitation to a BBQ in a boat
Saturday 4th - Tennis with unknown Couchsurfers / Dinner in Portuguese neighborhood to watch match on TV
Friday 3th - Magic Night Show with friends
Thursday 2nd - Stand up Comedy previews for grand final
Wednesday 1st - Hospital football match / Farewell dinner in Putney restaurant
Before 5 days in Belgium

this weekend I'll be in Portugal and Monday will start with a Board Games night in a English Pub!!!!

I love London!!!

Holidays!

These last few days, I went to visit my country. I had my grandmother's birthday (95 years...we can never miss!) and I missed the sun, the people, the food...! Also, Sunday was election day and I had the ability to vote in such a critical time for my country.

The return is always good, although one feels some anxiety about what has changed during the absence. I was happy to know that my family is bigger than ever, some of my little cousins I couldn't even recognize! I also gathered my friends for a night out in Porto, with dinner in a typical northern restaurant - of course "bacalhau" couldn't be missing! - and the rally around the several bars and clubs in "Baixa". Oh, how my ears were delighted with good music!... Even though I need to confess: I was missing the agitation of London! Maybe I'm getting a new addiction - being a Londoner!

Here are some photos of my time spent in Portugal!

Magic and Comedy

These last days that Sara has been to Portugal I had the opportunity of trying one of the most common and deep in the culture of this city activity, The Comedy Show. And also an extra night of Magic Show.
Stand up comedy is everywhere here and because it has been a long time already the comedians are very diversified giving a very unpredictable experience.
The Show I went with our Italian neighbours and a Couchsurfer friend was http://www.crackcomedy.com/
 For the Magic night we had everything, a professional card gambler showing the cheating tecnics, and american magician with true comedy, a magic singer, a guy coming from matrix and at the end a tradicional magician. http://www.magicnight.co.uk/eventdetails.php?id_evt=32#
Great nights for..... 5 pounds and a drink!!
Great London!!

Brussels

This long weekend (bank holiday in the UK) we went to Brussels to visit our newly wedds friends!! Carrot and Vanessa!! And because it was a kind of a hen party other chaps from university joined us. We had reasonable good weather and we specially appreciated the great breakfasts that our hosts provided. We will miss them. Here are some shots from Brugge (a historical city that looks like a postcard) that we also visited and from our friends in Brussels. See u soon guys!!!