The older you get, the better you get – unless you’re a banana

Uriah Heep | Sometimes dreams come true

(Para ler este post em português: Galinha velha é que dá bom caldo) 

In the southern Netherlands, close to the Belgium border, there is the enchanting little town of Bergen op Zoom, a city that hosts one of the last Medieval Gates remaining in the country. But the reason why I included this village of such a picturesque name on my travel plans was much more special than that:

The man who sleeps with dogs wakes up with fleas

A Jerk, Skid Row, The Fox, Brazilians, a Cassino…

(Para ler este post em Português: Galo que acompanha pato morre afogado)

April 13th, 2013. What does London city have to offer to a rocker on a Saturday night??? I will tell you: much more than one could imagine…! You never know how the night is gonna end…

I started the evening attending to a Skid Row gig. Even though I’ve never been a big fan of these guys I decided to give them a chance, and went to see them live at O2 Islington. And I’m glad I did it!!

The early bird catches the worm

Rival Sons rockin’ London

(Para ler este post em Português: O pássaro madrugador é o que come a minhoca)

April 09th, 2013. Wow, for me this was not just ‘one more rock’n’roll night’ – this was the night I went to see Rival Sons playing live!! For those who have never heard about them, Rival Sons is a band from Long Beach, California, and although they count with less than 5 years of existence they have already attracted a lot of attention from critics and audiences, and they have even been quoted as ‘the new Led Zeppelin’. In order to verify if there was some exaggeration in this statement I decided to check out the band personally… What a tough life…!! 😛

Good things come to those who wait

Steve Harris British Lion

(Para ler este post em Português: Quem espera sempre alcança)

March 26, a Tuesday night – it’s time to rock! Tonight Steve Harris (Iron Maiden’s bassist) is going to play with his new side project British Lion for the first time in London! And I have a ticket!!! 😀

I arrived at the venue – O2 Academy Islington – by 7pm. The venue is located in the inside of N1 Shopping Centre and because I was following google maps directions I walked all around the place until I reached the dock entrance, at the back of the building. When I got there I saw a man standing outside the building smoking in front of a service door, wearing short trousers and a beanie, and it passed through my mind that this guy could be one of the crew members….

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

The Intrepid Fox of Soho

(Para ler este post em Português: Nem só de pão vive o homem)

Last Friday I was looking for a pub with live music (preferably free of charge) to hang out with my friend Jim and after a research on Songkick I discovered that a local hair metal band called Damn Dice would be playing that night. Before taking the final decision we checked out on YouTube and we found out that the band seemed to be quite good although not outstanding. The aspect of this evening that worth a highlight indeed is the venue: The Intrepid Fox.

The Intrepid Fox @Soho

Pool table upstairs @The Intrepid Fox

The Intrepid Fox is an alternative rock’n’roll joint situated in Soho area. It’s a two-story building with its main bar and lounge space located at the ground floor and upstairs there is the stage and also a pool table. The place has a terrific atmosphere and it’s “beautifully” decorated with gargoyles, skeletons, posters and everything else that makes headbangers feel at home…

A burnt child dreads the fire

Meeting with a Voodoo Man @London Tube

(Para ler este post em Português: Gato escaldado tem medo de água fria)

It’s a freezing Sunday morning in London – expecting snow late tonight. So there’s not much to do, I was planning to go to Brick Lane but it won’t be very fun with this cold weather… Well I assume there’ll be another chance.

During this first week in London I haven’t done very much to be honest, but nonetheless it’s been an interesting week…

On Wednesday I met Jim here at the house and we drank scotch together till late night.

The sleeping shrimp is washed away by the wave

Lost in the Night with Jack The Ripper

(Para ler este post em Português: Camarão que dorme a onda leva)

Yes UFO will be playing in London tonight and guess who was invited to attend to their gig?????

Me, Myself and I!!!!

I got a cab to the venue (Differently from what I thought it would be it’s very very difficult to find a cab in the streets of London. This is not New York. 😛 You need to call them and then they’ll come to you. But it happens that I don’t have a phone……)

Anyway… I got a cab and successfully got to the venue. My name indeed was on the VIP guests list!! Unbelievable! Please do NOT wake me up cause I’m sure I’m just dreaming…

As usual I bought myself a double scotch and went to the front of the stage. I don’t wanna miss a thing…

The gig was awesome but unfortunately for me I wasn’t able to move much. Something happened with my backbone/ neck (probably because of the stream of cold air I took when I was walking naked around my neighborhood earlier this day) and I had this terrible pain that kept me from moving my head up. 

After the gig I met with the band again backstage. And I couldn’t believe when Phil Mogg walked to me saying ‘Hey Claudia look, I have your signed album covers here with me. Apparently I took them by mistake on the other night. They were in my pocket all the time!‘

Better lose the saddle than the horse

BIRMINGHAM ROCK’N’ROOOLLL ALL NIGHT LONG

(Para ler este post em Português: Vão-se os anéis mas ficam os dedos)

After having a long sleep (finally) and a good hot shower I went for a walk to see Birmingham. I ate my first meal in two days (appetizers and airplane food don’t count) in a French restaurant. Steak with fries and crème brûlée for dessert. The steak was a little tough which made me wonder if I was eating horse meat but the crème was delicious and that was enough for me. Next I found a Starbucks where I ordered a double expresso. That’s all I needed! Now I’m ready to rock! Cause I’ve a ticket for UFO gig tonight!! 😀

The venue was less than 2 miles away from my hotel so I decided to walk. The city looks marvelous at night time! When I got there the opening band was still on stage and they had a full house. I went to the bar to warm my soul with a scotch and stood there watching other people trying to understand how to order my drink.

Slow and steady wins the race

Last Call to Worldwide Trip!!

(Para ler este post em Português: Devagar se vai ao longe)

Now that my travel day is coming closer suddenly I find myself immersed in my ‘last-call-to-worldwide-trip’ to-do list:

Now that I’m on my knees I must pray

A 40.000 Miles Journey

(Para ler este post em Português: Ajoelhei vou ter que rezar)

And finally everything I was longing for happened this week (I said ‘this week’ but I’m actually referring to Jan 12th that is when this blog was originally posted in my native language Portuguese). Ok. One thing is to dream and to make plans for the things you’d like to happen, and another different one is when your dreams begin to materialize.

My original plan for the holidays season was to lock myself alone at home and focus on doing researches for my trip. But it all went wrong!!!

Summer Festivals

(Para ler este post em Português: Festivais de Verão na Europa)

Want to enhance your next vacation?

I think it’s now time to stop with the cheap talk and go ahead with the actual purpose of this blog. From now on I’ll alternate posts regarding rock, travel, kung fu, learning abroad programs, planning, and everything else needed to plan my trip (or yours I hope)!

Some of my friends are so excited with my travel plans that they just can’t help giving me new ideas (thx Guan Gong really strong ones) for this blog! I’ve already listed in my head five topics to research and write about in my next posts… I hope they are going to be helpful for you all – or at least I wish they become pleasant readings in case you and me don’t have anything in common…!

Another day my friend Cristiane from IBM came to me with a newspaper containing an article about Music Festivals that commonly happen in Europe during (their) Summer, I’ll start with this great subject!

What if you could incorporate to your next vacation the unique experience of watching some of your favorite bands playing live in a BIG festival huh?

I’ve made a research on the web and picked a few that seemed to be the most interesting ones according to my tastes – I’ve listed a some of them below:

Though I haven’t found anything scheduled for 2013 yet looking at 2012 calendar I can predict that there’ll be dozens of Rock Festivals going on during my travel year!

And please don’t be sad if there’s nothing in my top picks for you, there’s a lot more happening to suit all tastes! If you want further and complete information from the electronic scene to the pop music and passing through jazz I found this amazing website with EVERYTHING related to music festivals – even better not only regarding Europe but both US and Canada too.

Just go for http://www.musicfestivaljunkies.com/festival-guide/europe-festivals/ and have fun!!!

Destinations

(Para ler este post em Português: Pra Onde?)

One year, the globe. But where to go?!?

Since I’ll have to do some engineering learning during the trip it’ll be necessary to STAY in some cities for a while and not only just “wander” around the globe.

How would you pick 3 or 4 cities among all the 191 (according to ONU’s list) existing countries ??

My “headquarters” must be relevant regarding civil engineering, music, language, Kung Fu and my “family mystery” (to understand these topics you’ll have to read my previous post) and also be well located, so that I would be able to travel from these headquarters and visit more and more places.

I want to divide my time between Europe because of its cultural influence over this side of the world where I grew up regarding architecture, music, food and arts
and Asia because of all of its history, culture, technology, natural beauties and (of course) martial arts.

I chose (a) Venetia from Italy because it’s where my grandfather came from, (b) London from UK for of its relevance regarding the rock’n’roll scene, (c) Shanghai or Beijing from China because of its great construction technologies and (d) Foshan cause it’s currently the heart of my Kung Fu form Choy Li Fut.

“Choy Li Fut is the most effective system that I’ve seen for fighting more than one person. [It] is one of the most difficult styles to attack and defend against. Choy Li Fut is the only style [of kung fu] that traveled to Thailand to fight the Thai boxers and hadn’t lost.” –Bruce Lee”

… and in case I get enough time for that, (e) SanFran/ CA (which is my favorite magical city from US) will be my last destination before coming back home…

Engineering, Kung Fu & Rock’n’Roll

(Para ler este post em Português: Engenharia, Kung Fu & Rock’n’Roll)

What is this trip about???

First important thing about this adventure is to establish what are my main interests. They will guide the trip, based on them I will decide when and where to go.

1- MUSIC. I love rock. And blues. Folk. Jazz… And all the other good stuff beyond that. I enjoy discovering new sounds, rhythms, bands, relaxing music, loud music, great lyrics, beautiful voices, singing, screaming, dancing, shaking, partying… My plan is to watch my favorite bands doing their small gigs and to look for new and undiscovered bands too.

2- KUNG FU. Hey I need to say that I’m not a violent person ok? 9 years ago, in a time of my life when everything had gone wrong, I was depressed, unemployed, unhappy, and broken… After several years of a solid career working in big construction projects I was fooled by the man I was engaged to and he left me with a half million debt.
Back to my parents’ home I had nothing to do. Economy was terrible for civil engineers and I couldn’t find a job. Then one day I decided to take Kung Fu classes. My father thought I had gone crazy! What kind of person would begin practicing martial arts at the age of 27?!? Someone a little bit crazy… But I was soooo sad, had nothing left to do… Why not to give it a shot? I started slowly, two times a week only, just a regular grasshopper. But it made me feel so good and balanced that I couldn’t stop… Now back to present I’m a black belt who practices KF 6 times a week and has a few vitories and medals to show…
Always remember that a thousand miles journey begins with a single step, as says the Chinese, and nothing is impossible when you believe your dreams and work really hard!

3- FAMILY MISTERIES. There is a misterious story about my grandpa… Some years ago I was in a relationship with an Italian guy, who lives in my neighborhood. One night there was a big storm that got us stuck inside the condominium starving so we decided to join my parents for a pizza. While we were waiting for the delivery boy to arrive with our food my mom brought us a letter written by my gran grandfather to my grandfather in the 30s. My boyfriend translated it for us… In that letter my gran grandfather said that “everyone was a little sad in my grandfather’s marriage but also that that was the right thing to do…”
Wait… What?!? That was BEFORE my grandfather met my grandmother!!!
We always knew that something wrong had happened for my grandfather to leave Italy without ever coming back… But did he marry another woman before grandma?!? And is it possible that I have an unknown uncle or perhaps an aunt???
These are just suppositions… Which I want to investigate…

4- ENGINEERING.This is what I HAVE to do to justify the license at IBM. I love civil engineering and never thought about doing something different with my life since I was 17, but at the same time it’s difficult to decide what kind of specific knowledge can I get from a trip like this.
New technologies? Smart buildings? Project management? Planning? Structures? I’m not sure yet. There are so many options!
I’ll develop this theme later after doing some researches…

5- LANGUAGE. Language is something that had always interested me. I grew up among books, it’s something I earned from my mother.
At home my family commonly chose a book instead of a TV show. And as a teenager I used to exchange letters with my close friends to update the news instead of giving them a call.
I like speaking English. It would be great if I could be fluent in Italian. Maybe some French, why not? And perhaps a little Mandarin too… haha…

I’ve listed here only 5 of my guidance interests, but there’s still much much more: tastes, culture, people, food, nature, views… What are yours?

I’m looking forward to all the amazing things I’ll be able to learn worldwide…
Follow me and I’ll show you!