Back to Scandinavia

Not long after my trip to Finland I went all the way up to Scandinavia again. This time the destination was Oslo in Norway, another country which I had never set foot in. It was mostly a matter of opportunity and timing: a friend was travelling there in that weekend and was still looking for a travelling partner. After checking the price of the tickets, which were amazingly cheap (the train to Faro was more expensive than the flight to Oslo), I didn't need to do much more thinking before hopping on the plane.

Unfortunately that was the last I heard of cheap stuff: everything in Oslo is crazy expensive. Still, Norwegians earn more than enough to afford it so it should be a nice place to live. The city itself is full of colour, not like the usual dull streets of gray buildings you see everywhere. It also features quite its share of green and the whole city seems nature friendly somehow.

Speaking of friendly, Norwegians are quite friendly as well, and always willing to help and/or give directions. They also speak perfect English which is useful if, like myself, your Norwegian is limited to a couple of pickup lines and some other random and ackward words. Unfortunately, there's no way you'll be able to guess the pronunciation of any Norwegian name through its spelling, which hinders your chances of getting useful answers. It allows us to play a funny game though; when riding on the bus/metro try listenning to the names of the stations and match them to the corresponding spelling. I warn you: it's a losing game (until you get the first one, that is).

Having heard quite a lot about the 'Nordic functional design' I was quite curious about the hotel. I wasn't disappointed: the lobby and restaurant were cozy and inviting and it didn't look cheap at all. (Well, it was only "cheap" in Norwegian terms). The room itself was a paradigmatic case of functionality: though quite small, it somehow managed to feature 2 beds, a desk, a sofa and 2 plasma TVs. Much more "functionality" than what I am used to see in larger rooms. The staff was quite nice, and it was rather funny when they mistook us for an Italian couple since neither of us was Italian. Neither are we a couple for that matter. Breakfast at the restaurant was amazing, and so was dinner (scary prices though). City center is around 7minutes by bus. In case you ever go there I can vividly recommend the PS Hotell in Oslo.

In terms of sightseeing, Oslo is a very interesting city with lots of things to see. Way too big to see in 3 days, even for a long distance runner such as myself. With the Oslo Pass you can travel anywhere and go into (almost) all of the museums for a very good price. I'd definately recommend not missing


• Frognerparken (in the picture). Featuring hundreds of statues from one of the famous sculpture Vigeland this park is a perfect merge of natural and man-made beauty.
• Aker Brygge. The harbour area is one fo the most beautiful areas in the city. You have a nice view over to the fjords, as well as Akershus Castle. The city hall must have made its arquitect really proud, and inside you can appreciate beautiful works of art. Don't forget to look out of the windows oveer to Aker Brygge's plaza and the fjords. Close by you can find other buildings of interest, both in social and arquitectural terms: the parliament, the national theatre, the university and the royal palace. You can also see some buildings still under re-construction; a painful reminder of the events in 2011, when a lone terrorist tried to assassinate the prime minister before inflicting the massacre in Utoya.
• Akershus Castle. You can visit some of the interior rooms which are still being used in oficial meetings and important events. The castle seems to fit with its surrounding environment marvellously well for such a massive and purposeful structure. Inside the gardens and its surroundings you can find some monuments to the deceased over the two world wars.
• Bygdoy. Often referred to as Oslo's museum Peninsula due to the large number of museums you can find in there it is a must for any traveller. Even though you can get there by bus, I'd recommend taking the ferry since the trip is much more pleasant, with Aker Brygge over one side of the (small) ship and the fjords to the next. I've visited the Norwegian Folk Museum, the Polar Ship Fram Museum, the Kon Tiki Museum and the Viking Boats Museum and I really can't pick one as the best. They were also quite original: not the usual stuff you see in a place like that. There are many more probably worth a stop, but time really is precious if you're staying in Oslo for only three days.
• Opera House. The building has a very peculiar detail: the ceiling is not flat such that, from the outside, you can walk all the way to the top of the building for a nice view. On your way back, make sure to walk by the new office buildings next to the railways: they're trully impressive and a clear sign of Norway's blooming economy. I was fortunate enough to have one of my friends working at the DNB bank and so I was able to see it from the inside. Whatever you end up doing in your life, no doubt you'd love working in a place like that.
• Holmenkollen Ski Jump. Even for one who loves skiing as much as myself, the height of this jump is too scary to have any desire of ever trying it. Still, you can go all the way for an amazing view and visit the ski museum while you're at it. If you can afford it, it should be nice to use the new slide apparatus from the top to the bottom.
• Nobel Peace Center. Perhaps not one of the city's most popular attractions, the center is definately worth a visit. I spent around one hour in there and it was clearly too little. Besides historical perspectives and information on all laureates with the Nobel Peace Prize, the museum also manages to display a modern appeal by having extremely up to date exhibitions and high-tech looking human-machine interfaces. 

What more can I say... Norwegian food is great (healthy and tasty, perfect combination) as long as you can afford it. Norwegian women are stunning so keep your eyes open.

All in all it was a great trip and I still managed to visit some friends who were kind enough to host (and feed!) me for a night. Hopefully I'll come back to Oslo someday for some more in-depth sightseeing.


Filipe Baptista de Morais

Promiscuidade

Há pouco tempo li nas notícias que o Tribunal de Execução de Penas de Lisboa negou liberdade condicional a Vale e Azevedo por, entre outras razões, evidar dar uma “sensação de impunidade, o que comunitariamente é intolerável”. Podem ler a notícia completa aqui.

Ora eu não vou estar aqui a debater se o senhor devia ou não estar preso, já que não tenho nem conhecimento do caso nem competência para o julgar. Sinto no entanto que a razão apontada pelo tribunal para a decisão totalmente inaceitável. Citando o despacho do tribunal, a eventual libertação do ex-dirigente benfiquista tornaria “frustradas as expectativas de comunidade” e “daria uma sensação de impunidade, o que comunitariamente é intolerável”. Basicamente, o que o tribunal está a dizer é que a opinião popular e os julgamentos de rua têm uma palavra a dizer sobre as suas decisões. Isto é, a meu ver, gravíssimo, e espanta-me que nenhuma das notícia que tenha lido sobre o assunto tenha pegado no assunto.

Penso ainda que é um sinal de um problema maior que assola este país (mundo?): a promiscuidade de cargos e poderes. Parece que qualquer pessoa com um cargo com responsabilidade se sente incaçapaz de se limitar ao exercício as funções que lhe competem, sentindo-se obrigado a opinar sobre tudo e mais alguma coisa. Temos assim padres a fazer política, políticos a fazer filosofia e fantasia, jornalistas a fazer um pouco de tudo e sabe-se lá o mais quê. Faz-me lembrar aquelas instituições bancárias que usam figuras conhecidas do mundo do futebol para publicitar os seus produtos.

Agora, uma coisa é opiniar sem autoridade ou conhecimento. Outra é tomar decisões com base em razões erradas ou com poderes que não nos pertencem. Espero sinceramente que tudo não passe de uma infeliz questão de semântica. Mas duvido.


Filipe Baptista de Morais

Lisboa Não É A Cidade Perfeita

Há poucos dias assisti ao concerto dos Deolinda no Coliseu de Lisboa. A vocalista apresentou-se com um visual muito diferente àquele que nos habituou ( já foi a terceira vez que os apanhei ao vivo ), descartando os habituais "vestidos de aldeia" por algo mais clássico. Eventualmente directrizes do novo produtor, ou consequência do recente crescimento internacional. Seja como for é inegávle que o enfoque continua na música, não se podendo confundir os Deolinda com as inúmeras bandas que vivem da sensualidade da vocalista.

Para além das excelentes e Portuguesas melodias (fruto dos talentosos instrumentistas) e da voz de fadista da vocalista (reconheça-se ou não o fado nas suas músicas) há ainda que dar mérito às letras, que do romance ao retrato social são sempre inspiradas e relevantes, não sendo apenas palavras escolhidas pelo seu som bonito. Divertidas perspectivas femininas, retratos da mentalidade tuga ou histórias de amor, é possível encontrar um pouco de tudo nas suas letras. É daí que canções como Pois Foi, Eu Não Sei Falar Amor ou A Problemática Colocação De Um Mastro têm espaço para nascer.

Não pude deixar de estranhar o facto de não cantarem Parva Que Sou, que é actualmente das suas canções mais populares e com receção mais efusiva do público. Na altura ocorreu-me que provavelmente pretendiam afastar-se um pouco do tumulto gerado em volta dessa canção, que já muitas vezes vem sendo utilizada como símbolo de uma tal revolução para acontecer. Creio que os Deolinda sentem que a sua canção está a ser mal interpretada e e explorada para fins com os quais não se identificam. Uma curta entrevista aos membros da banda que li posteriormente veio corroborar esta tese.

Como já vem sendo hábito nos concertos a que assisto, os artista decidiram não cantar uma canções que mais esperava ouvir. Neste caso falo de (Ainda Bem Que) Lisboa Não É A Cidade Perfeita. Sendo o concerto na cidade capital, fiquei de facto espantado por a omitirem no repertório.

Lisboa pode não ser a cidade perfeita. mas também não é má de todo. Foi já considerada como o melhor destino turístico para 2013, e não podemos atribuir o galardão unicamente aos baixos preços praticados em solo Português. É inegável que a cidade tem um encanto próprio muito especial. Recentemente decidi (voltar a) ser turista na minha própria cidade, de modo a re-descobrir os seus atractivos. Comecei por visitar o Castelo de São Jorge e, comparando com outros pontos turísticos de cidade que visitei recentemente (Bruges/Gent/Antuérpia/Bruxelas, Helsínquia, Oslo ) devo dizer que não lhes fica a dever. Fica a promessa de lá voltar ao pôr do solo, que deve ser realmente espectacular. Entretanto há muito mais para ver, mas tem faltado tempo... mas farei os possíveis para não cair num Movimento Perpétuo Associativo.


Filipe Baptista de Morais

Corrida do 1º de Maio

Competion Name: Corrida do 1º de Maio
Length: 15Km
Data: 1st of May 2013
Minimum Goal: - 1h 15m
Personal Challenge: -1h 00m
Time Record in Similar Competitions: ?
Power Song: ?

Usually I don't time myself in distances other than 10, 21 or 42 Km so I was not entirely sure what my best time was for this kind of race. Still, a couple of exciting 10Km competitions are drawing near and so I wanted to test myself towards that end, thus the challenging time objective. Though I was unable to beat it, I finished the race well ahead of my minimum goal, crossing the line in 1h 05m 17s.

I underestimated the Portuguese weather, and took the awfully wrong decision to being my jacket for this race. I can't help but feel that I could have done better if wearing something cooler. I also underestimated the slopes of Lisbon, and as such the last part of the race (5Km uphill) went much worse than expected. Apart from that everything went smooth and I can't think of anything to single out about the organisation of the event.

And Justice For All

The other day I was watching this football match when a couple of players started arguing. The referee was pretty far and looking somewhere else but, when he did notice the situation, his resolution was fast: to present both of them with the yellow card. This reminded me of the typical kindergarden/primary school teacher who, when confronted with two arguing/fighting kids, often decides to ground them both.

This is indeed the typical behaviour of adults when dealing with children or, if it is not, then maybe I was just really unlucky during my childhood. I still remember that often, when kids caught in this situation tried to explain what started the fights, the only reply they would get would be "I don't care, you're grounded!". It's funny that our attitude towards children in this matter violates some ground principles of our law system. For instance every defendant is entitled to explain his acts, besides the even more famous innocent until proven guilty principle. It is not uncommon for a bullied child to be punished for being involved in skirmishes. This should be totally unacceptable.

Another thing I remember vividly is how teachers apply global punishments for particular infractions. A whole class may have to stay longer in the classroom, or miss some interesting schooltrip, due to one single student's misbehaviour. This is, in my opinion, awfully misdirected education. There is nothing more revolting and angering for a child than to be punished for something they didn't do. Worst of all, the enforcer is totally aware of their innocence, yet still finds it ok to go ahead with it. Moreover, children who misbehave badly tend to be less receptive to their colleagues "suffering". It is thus not likely that they will change their behaviour out of compassion for their poor fellow students who get punished for no reason.

If we want our children to form good ideals of fairness and justice, then perhaps we should rethink our attitude towards them altogether.


Filipe Baptista de Morais

Cute yet dangerous

The newspaper Metro published this very interesting news on March 22nd, entitled "São lindos e ainda salvam o planeta", meaning They're beautiful and, on top of that, they save the planet. It basicly applauds the new environmentalists' trend to use cute and fluffy animais to raise people's awareness and help them  protect the environment in several ways.

You don't really need a degree in psychology to assertain that this is a good idea (in the sense that it will work). Nobody cares about some ugly bush or spider, but by all means please save the dolphins and the koalas! In fact I've already written about this issue previously in 2010, in the post "Who Cares?". Curiously enough, that post also emerged has a response to a news from Metro. Now that I think of it, I believe those were the only two times I've seen the term fluffy being used in a newspaper.

What I want to talk about now is not that irrational concern for cute species, but rather how using those images to make people more interventive may not be as harmless as it might seem at first glance.

I'd like to start by going a bit against the generally accepted theory that it's big corporate interests, in all their greed, that are destroying the planet while we all, in our best of intentions, stand powerless against them. There are many flaws to this reasoning. First, we should never forget that these big mean corporations are ultimately working for us. Sure, we all hate oil companies and how they're careless in their handling of oil and so on. But we also get furious when fuel prices rise. Or when clothes get more expensive. We all like to act as if protecting the environment is effortless and comes with loads of advantages and no cost. But, be sure of it, protecting the environment can be very expensive sometimes. As an example, I remember this time when a professor of mine was talking about this project he'd worked on, to install some power lines in Portugal. They had this (cheap) project to make the connection through air cables but then some environment protection organisation stood against it by arguing that it would be harmful for this local bat population. The court decided in their favour, and the cables had to be installed underground. This change made the whole project cost ten times more and of course it's us, consumers, who are paying for it. Another example could be Portugal's heavy investment in renewable energies over the last years, usually loved by the crowd. Thing is, it seems that, were we not to be using any renewable energies at all, our electricity bill would be 30% cheaper. That's a huge cost, when all hell runs loose after each few percents increase. Mind that I'm not defending that we shouldn't care about the bats or using renewable energies; I'm just saying we also need to be aware of the costs of doing so.

Another critic to that line of thinking is that, nowadays, we're far from powerless. Besides changing our habits towards more environment friendly ones, we can also fight those big mean companies through public journalism, by divulging their acts. In fact, internet has made bad publicity so poweful that it's precisely the bigger companies that are most likely to make big contributions and gestures towards environment protection. Of course one can question their motives, but the result is the same.

Back to the initial theme, those fluffy animais are dangerous because they make us blind to the downsides of their (over?) protection. Of course, as the Metro news reported, they're mostly used for higher purposes, such as saving their uglier brothers and sisters. Yet this means that we're somewhat being tricked and manipulated into helping a cause. And if the purpose of any action is ill-defined or hidden, how are we supposed to make just and informed decisions? As I've already tried to demonstrate, going as green as possible might not always be the right decision.

Some might claim that environmentalists are reasonable people with good intentions and so will use this "new" persuasion technique with care, parsiomony and responsibility. Still, as we all know, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Moreover, focusiing all important decision making in some enlightened few is both dangerous (everyone is wrong sometimes) and dictatorship like.

Other possible argument in defense of this behaviour is that our consumer habits and lifestyles have led us so far from being green that, even if we turn the meter as far as we can on the other direction, we still wouldn't be too green. Perhaps. Problem is, in all arguments, it's the most fanatic who make the most noise.

In the end, I guess we'll have to hope that reason and good sense will prevail over sensacionalism, both amonst environmentalists and ourselves.


Filipe Baptista de Morais

It's in Belgium

A couple of weeks ago I travelled to Belgium for a long weekend. Now, Belgium is quite a small country so it’s amazing the amount of stuff you can do in four days. In terms of prices, things are quite expensive (for Portuguese standards); staying over at a friend’s ensured the trip remained within budged.

Food is pretty good in Belgium, with the ever-present exception of coffee. Still, Belgian waffles and chocolate certainly help overcome that. Especially when you put them together. There’s also beer for every taste, so it’s (almost) impossible not to enjoy one.

It’s hard to judge the weather from a four days sample, but I hear it’s quite awful. Can’t really complain though, since it never rained during my stay (though it snowed quite a lot). Nevertheless, the sun does not seem to shine the same way it does in Portugal. Yep, you should definitely come here.

In what regards Belgian people, I’m afraid I didn’t find them very friendly. Helpful, certainly, but not really friendly. Could have been just a stream of bad luck though.

Despite not having a government for quite some time, things appear to run pretty smooth in Belgium. Of course when you come from Portugal every other place seems to display military-like organization. I recall using this software tool for train travels planning, available at their public transports’ (which are quite cheap by the way) website. I loved it so much that I made some nice comments about it to my Belgian friends. Of course 15 minutes after that I was boarding the wrong train, which ultimately led to my arrival in Brussels two hours after schedule and forced me to take a cab. Irony’s a bitch. I first thought I’d messed up somehow (I really didn’t want to blame that neat software tool), but I happened to meet some nice Czech women (psychologists attending some international conference, though they seemed more interested in partying) who had made exactly the same mistake. Guess I should thank the most nice and helpful (and gorgeous) ticket lady, for sorting everything out and letting me ride back to Leuven when the train was not supposed to be carrying passengers anymore.

Having given my overall impression on  Belgium, I’ll now write a few lines about each city/town that I’ve visited, in chronological order.

Antwerp. I wasn’t really sure what to expect from Antwerp, since opinions seemed to diverge a lot. Now I can testify that it’s definitely worth seeing. The city pulses with movement and has this very modern appeal, while retaining some old beautiful buildings and its famous Cathedral of Our Lady. The city park (Stradspark), is also very pretty as is the square featuring the city hall and the statue of Brabo, founder of Antwerp. The area near the harbour is a must, and no tourist should pass by the MAS museum without going in. 1€ is all it takes to get access to eleven floors dedicated to an equal number of different and interesting themes, as well as a panoramic view over the city. Not far from it there’s a memorial to the deceased in both World Wars. Right next to it the sharp eyed reader will find a lovers’ heart (kinda like a lovers’ bridge, but instead of a bridged you have a heart). Most unfortunately,  I didn’t have time to visit the castle, also along the coast line. You’ll also find an amazingly high number of gay couples (mostly men) in Antwerp. Which, if you take into account that Antwerpian women are quite beautiful, should make it some kind of paradise for straight single men: odds are the city’s full of gorgeous and lonely women!

Leuven. I’d never heard great things about Leuven, so I only went there in order to visit a handful of friends.  True enough, the city lacks touristic attractions at level with the others’. Still, Leuven has this distinct and particular appeal. Perhaps because it’s mostly a students’ town, one really does feel “right” in there. The bars area is pretty nice, and it features the longest (combined) balcony in Europe. Though I did not have time to go there since it’s in the outskirts, the area around the faculty of biological engineering seemed quite nice. Bikes (and people riding them) all over the place also help establish that cozy feeling of belonging.

Bruges (It’s in Belgium). Just a few days before departing to Belgium I saw this movie, “In Bruges”,

since I’d heard it portrayed the city rather well. I must say it’s a pretty good movie, so I’d definitely recommend it whether you’re planning on actually going there or not. It’s funny that, while the entire movie seems to be a tribute to the city, the main character utterly hates it. In fact, when seriously wounded and in risk of dying, his thoughts are “Fuck man, maybe that’s what hell is… the entire rest of eternity spent in fucking Bruges! And I really really hoped I wouldn’t die…”. Despite the character’s thoughts, Bruges is quite the thing. Everything seems so beautiful and from another world, like time stopped in there centuries ago. It’s amazing how cars seem so out of place in there. I guess the best advice I can give to future travelers is to simply walk around and, if possible, get lost in there. Just make sure to go up the Belfry; the long, narrow (and I do mean NARROW) stairs are a lot of trouble, but the view is astonishing. We were lucky enough to be presented with this eerie mist, making it all seem some kind of fairytale. Exactly as in the movie! Animal lovers will certainly be in awe with the swans all over the water courses. It does live up to the designation “Venice of the North”, even it only features one canal. They say Bruges is really beautiful at night, but unfortunately we had to move on before sunset.

Gent. The city is quite similar to Bruges in its medieval look. In terms of interiors it may even be prettier: it features plenty of beautiful churches to see. It also had more canals than Bruges. Still, something's missing... perhaps that eerie mist that makes everything look so surreal. The castle is a real wonder, and you can climb all the way up and walk along the wals: you'll be rewarded with quite the view. It also has a Belfry, but I didn't go up that one. 

Tervuren. It's a really small town just outside Brussels. I didn't really go into the town, just the Royal Museum for Central Africa which is its main attraction. The weather didn't allow us to walk along its gardens, but the palace itself is quite pretty. Inside, you can learn a lot about Central Africa, Congo in particular. It has replicas of many of the existing wild life. It's also a great place to find different kinds of souvenirs.

Brussels. I must say I was very disappointed with something in Brussels... it's really hard to find someone who speaks (proper) English! I'd always been told that Brussels was an international city, the heart and capital of Europe, so that was definitely a turndown. Apart from that, I really liked the capital of Belgium The Grànd Place is amazing: you don't really know where to look since there are interesting buildings all around. The comic strips painted on the facades make a perfect excuse for walking all around the city; you can get a map with their positions and try to find and photograph them all. Sightseeing turns into some kind of amusing quest! It took me around six hours (I only had a short lunch break, but it was snowing heavily so that slowed me down) and still I missed some of them. The city parks are beautiful when covered with snow. The Manneken Pis, often used as a symbol of the city, was rather disappointing, even though I'd already been warned. It's funny how something can disappoint us, despite the fact that we're already expecting to be disappointed. Guess one can't truly expect to be let down... By the way, did you know there are two other pissing statues in Brussels, portrating a girls and a dog?  You can find chocolate shops all over the place; there's the big brands (Leonidas, Cote d'Or, etc... ) , of course, but I found it far more interesting to stumble into these small artisan shops and buy, say, a chocolate train. Finally, I'd definitely recomment visiting the Parlamentarium, the visitors' centre for the European Parliament. You'll need some time though: I spent around two hours in there and still half of it was left unseen.

Filipe Baptista de Morais