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Britain

Tate Modern: não dá para não ir

4 October 2009 by Eneida Leave a Comment

Festa abertura – Tate Modern
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5 razões por que eu adoro :
1. A sala da turbina impressiona com qualquer instalação
2. A coleção permanente inclui obras dos principais pintores ocidentais do século XX
3. É grátis
4. O bar/restaurante localizado no sétimo andar oferece uma vista maravilhosa do rio Tâmisa e da Catedral St.Paul
5. O Steve participou do projeto de iluminação do prédio na festa de abertura da galeria em 2000

Dica de passeio:
No píer em frente à Tate Modern (Bankside pier), pegue este charmoso barco Tate-to-Tate – cujas bolinhas foram idealizadas pelo artista inglês Damien Hirst – e vá até a galeria Tate Britain apreciando os cartões postais de Londres a partir de uma nova perspectiva. O barco é super confortável e tem uma lanchonete.
O serviço interligando as duas galerias funciona das 10:00 às 17:00 horas, em intervalos de 40 minutos, e o trajeto é percorrido em 20 minutos. O bilhete pode ser adquirido na bilheteria da galeria ou no próprio barco por ₤5,00 (com travelcard ₤3,35).

Da Tate Modern para a Tate Britain

Tate Modern:
Bankside, Londres
Aberta de domingo à quinta-feira de 10:00 às 18:00
Sexta-feira e sábado de 10:00 às 22:00
Para ver outras dicas de Londres, visite nosso novo blogue, Londres para Principiantes.
Estação de metrô mais próxima: Southwark

Filed Under: Britain, Londres, Museus, News, Passeios, Transporte Tagged With: Arte, Barco, Londres, Museus, passeios, transporte

Queijo bom não é só a França que tem!

21 September 2009 by Eneida Leave a Comment

As pessoas se admiram quando o Steve diz que sente falta dos queijos da Inglaterra. Como assim, tem queijo bom na Inglaterra?

Claro que tem! Vou falar de dois tipos de queijo inglês, que acredito serem os mais conhecidos:
Cheddar, sem dúvida é o queijo mais popular e o mais consumido na Inglaterra. O nome Cheddar refere-se ao local onde o queijo era originalmente estocado: as cavernas de Cheddar em Sommerset.  Hoje em dia, é um queijo produzido mundialmente, e até o McDonalds tem sua versão – mas que nem de longe se assemelha ao Cheddar inglês.  E olha que nunca experimentei um com a denominação West Country Farmhouse Cheddar , que é reservada aos queijos artesanais,  produzidos no West Country, aquela ponta sudoeste da Inglaterra.
O Cheddar é um queijo forte, com gosto pungente, tem textura firme mas que se desmancha na boca. Normalmente é amarelo claro, mas alguns são tingidos em tons mais fortes. É vendido com diferentes períodos de maturação, desde o mild (queijo mais jovem) até o extra mature (mais de um ano de maturação). Normalmente, quanto mais maduro, mais forte é o queijo.  Se você nunca experimentou, não sabe o que está perdendo…
O Stilton é um queijo azul, com aquela textura cremosa como a do Roquefort ou Gorgonzolla. É um queijo feito de leite integral que passa por um processo de maturação de 4 a 6 meses. Como o melhor Stilton é produzido com o leite do verão, ele chega às lojas a partir de setembro e é vendido até o Natal. Aliás, não falta um Stilton no Natal de uma família inglesa. É um queijo para ser servido depois do jantar, normalmente acompanhado de um bom vinho do porto.
Sendo marca registrada (PDO – Designação de origem protegida), o verdadeiro Stilton só pode ser fabricado no centro da Inglaterra, em Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.
Onde comprar:
Qualquer supermercado vende bons queijos. Mas é muito mais interessante conhecer uma loja especializada na venda de queijo (Cheesemonger’s). A Neal’s Yard Dairy tem duas lojas no centro, de fácil acesso para o turista: uma no Borough Market e uma em Covent Garden. Os queijos ficam expostos em prateleiras de madeira, e é possível experimentar os diferentes tipos. Os atendentes estão preparados para responder às dúvidas e aconselhar quanto ao melhor produto para a ocasião. Endereços:
17 Shorts Gardens  –  WC2 – Covent Garden
6 Park Street  – SE1  – Borough Market
Para quem prefere um pouco mais de tradição, a Paxton and Whitfield comercializa queijos desde 1797, com loja no mesmo local há mais de cem anos. Endereço:
93 Jermyn Street  – SW1
Metrô – Piccadilly Circus
Para ver mais dicas sobre Londres, visite nosso outro blogue, Londres para Principiantes.

Filed Under: Britain, Comida, Lojas, Londres, Portugues Tagged With: Comida, compras, mercados, queijo

The 10 things I miss most from the UK

18 September 2009 by Steve Leave a Comment

Whilst Brazil is a great place to live with many many positives, unsurprisingly, there are a number of things I miss from the UK.  Some of these are trivial, others less so, but after 4 years, and still missing them, I guess they must have some significance.  So here they are in no specific order.
Friends and Family
I think the reason for this is clear, so I wont say more.
Cricket and Rugby
Why cricket and rugby and not football?  I guess the answer is obvious – Brazilians (not all but most) love football so there is plenty to watch on TV, normally including 3 or 4 matches from the English Premier League each week.  However, it is impossible to watch cricket here.  I have to follow it on the internet, but thanks to Test Match Special on the radio via the internet, I was able to follow our re-taking of The Ashes!  A pity the one day series has been so bad.
Unlike cricket, there is some rugby on TV and Belo Horizonte even has its own team.  I found this out when I taught the club’s president for a while.  The TV has European club rugby matches on, but they are usually recorded and, therefore, not so interesting when you know the results.  It is also possible, on cable TV, to watch the French Six Nations matches, but only the French games.  Shame it has to be the French!

An old English beer

Warm beer

Who remembers Skol from the UK?  Well, here it is perhaps the most popular beer – enough said?  Seriously, Brazilian Skol is much better than our version, but virtually all the beers here are lagers/pilsners.  Whilst I like them, sometimes I really crave a draught 6X, London Pride, Old Speckled Hen or one of our delicious real ales.  It is possible to buy cans of some of these, but they are expensive and who likes canned beer?  There is a local German bar that serves draught Guinness which goes somewhat to soothing those pangs.
Television, especially the BBC
I still struggle with understanding Portuguese properly, so long for decent TV.  Yes, we get the US sitcoms, CNN and BBC World, but this isn’t the same as television in the UK.  Even when I was young and living in California, I missed British TV.  I guess it is cultural, but the American shows just don’t hit the spot.
By the way, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the BBC, BBC World is not the same. Sure it is the same company, but if I were to give the BBC in the UK 9 out of 10, I would give BBC World 1 out of 10!  Fortunately, I’ve recently discovered a way to watch the BBC.
Strong mature cheddar cheese
This is perhaps the one thing I miss the most.  Sure there is nice cheese here.  You can get most European cheeses, but the thing Brazilians call cheddar is the tasteless version that can be found in the USA.  If anyone ever visits, please bring me some!

A traditional British cheddar cheese

Other foods
As a very fussy eater, I can honestly say that Brazilian food is excellent.  I don’t like everything, but that goes for the UK as well.  However, the things I miss the most, in no particular order, are curry, Branston Pickle, Fish and Chips, Horseraddish sauce, Bovril, McVities Plain(Dark) Chocolate Digestives,and English mustard.   Who notices a bit of a pattern?  Yes, I like spicy, flavourful food and Brazilians tend to prefer plainer tastes such as rice and beans.
Seasons
In Belo Horizonte there aren’t any ‘real’ seasons.  Sure there is the rainy season and the dry season. but the temperatures never get really cold, the trees don’t lose their leaves, the length of the day doesn’t change much.  Sometimes, I long for some cool weather but not the dreary, sunless winter months of Britain.
Cheap computers and components
Although it is possible to buy almost anything electrical in Brazil, the things are usually very expensive.  For example, I just bought an Apple iPhone and the cost of it (with a similar package to one in the UK) was approximately double. I paid R$1449 (roughly £490) for the mid-range one. This isn’t just for Apple products, but is particularly applicable for electronics companies who don’t have factories in Brazil or other South American countries.
Although I mention an expensive product, the same applies to laptops, desktops, video cards etc from other suppliers such as Dell and HP.
Outdoor activities

A view of Belo Horizonte from a road leading to one of the most affluent suburbs, Belvedere

Why outdoor activities when the weather is so much better than the UK?  The answer to this depends on the activity in question.

First, I like walking in the countryside and even around towns or cities.  Where we live in Belo Horizonte, it isn’t easy to walk for two principal reasons: security and topography.  Even though I haven’t personally witnessed any serious crime in Brazil, some of my students tell very unpleasant stories.  It is therefore considered unwise to walk in many areas both in and outside of the city.
The second reason is the topography.  Belo Horizonte (beautiful horizon is the translation) is a very hilly city.  So to walk anywhere here means, almost certainly, scaling small mountains which is good exercise but not quite the pleasant stroll that I prefer.  Of course this is specific to where we live.
The second outdoor activity I miss is gardening (please don’t laugh for those who saw my garden in Kingston).  As most people choose to live in flats, there is little chance to garden.  We have a small herb garden on our balcony, but this doesn’t count as the balcony is enclosed in glass.  We are thinking about buying a house in the future mainly for this reason.
Lastly, and yes I’ve started to struggle to think of 10 things, is:
Public transport
People in the UK, and I was one, complain about the public transport being late, dirty and many other things.  In Brazilian cities, the only significant public transport is buses.  These get really busy and hot apparently because they don’t have air-conditioning.  I say apparently because I’ve never actually tried them yet.  Imagine being on a bus full of people, some who may have been labouring all day, in direct sun with temperatures in the shade in the mid-thirties centigrade.  Suddenly, the British trains, tubes and buses don’t seem so bad.  The UK has an established public transport system, perhaps with room for improvement, but, in Brazil, there is little option other than using a car for those who can afford one.
Concluding, there isn’t so much missing in Brazil. Most things can be found with some effort, but there are those few things that I shall always miss.  Thankfully, the UK isn’t so far away.
In the future …

  • The 10 things I don’t miss about England
  • The best things in Brazil
  • The things I’d change in Brazil if I was President

Filed Under: Brazil, Britain Tagged With: beer, Belo Horizonte, food, sport, television, transport

Primrose Hill – um parque com vista para Londres

11 September 2009 by Eneida Leave a Comment

O que o filósofo político Engels, o chef-celebridade Jamie Oliver, a modelo Kate Moss e a poetisa Sylvia Plath têm em comum? Bem, segundo consta, todos  moraram em Primrose Hill.

Urban village

Primrose Hill é um bairro localizado no norte de Londres, a menos de 3 km do centro da cidade. Parte do distrito de Camden, é considerado uma “village” urbana, ou seja, uma charmosa área residencial com ar de interior. Em Londres, há várias villages, mas Primrose Hill se destaca e é ainda hoje endereço de várias pessoas ligadas às artes e à mídia.
Como fica em um ponto alto da cidade, é possível avistar todos os cartões postais de Londres a partir do parque de Primrose Hill, sem ter de pagar por isso.
A melhor maneira de chegar até lá é fazer uma caminhada muito agradável pelo Regent’s Canal e depois pelas ruas do bairro, até o parque. Pegue a linha Northern (preta) do metrô e desça na estação de Camdem Town. De lá, suba a avenida (Camden High Street) e vire à esquerda no Canal. Caminhe acompanhando o canal até chegar a um viaduto, com saída para Primrose Hill. Ao subir as escadas, você estará na Avenida Gloucester, já no bairro.
Siga o mapa abaixo ou simplesmente passeie pelas ruas até chegar à área verde. Na Regent’s Park Road, há várias lojas, cafés e restaurantes. Se o tempo estiver bom, compre um sanduíche e faça um picnic no parque apreciando as pessoas e a linda vista.
Para voltar, pegue o metrô na estação Chalk Farm (linha Northern), a 5 minutos do parque.
Veja outras dicas de Londres no nosso blogue Londres para Principiantes.
Mapa de Primrose Hill

Filed Under: Bairros, Britain, Londres, Parques, Portugues Tagged With: Bairros, Londres, parque, passeios, primrose hill

London’s Public Transport Transporte em Londres: uma introdução

30 August 2009 by Steve Leave a Comment

One of the questions I’m often asked is “What is the metro like in London?”

First, there are several public transport systems in London, most of which are now managed by the city council. There is the London Underground, which Londoners call the “The Tube”, and it has 12 separate lines. The tube network is mainly in the north half of the city because of London’s geology. This system starts operating at around 5:30am and runs until about 12:30am seven days a week. The trains depart central London stations at about 2-3 minute intervals during peak times, and 7-8 minute intervals in off-peak times. Contrary to general opinion, much of the Tube is above ground, particularly away from the central zones. See the tube map.
There are also plenty of London buses, including the famous red double-deckers. Their routes extend across the whole of London and operate for similar hours to the tube. However, there are also night buses. These night buses run along similar routes to some of the day buses but have a reduced frequency. You can get on a night bus from about midnight in central London and take it to your neighbourhood in the suburbs.
Additionally, there are also river buses in central London, but they aren’t generally used by Londoners.
Finally, and definitely not least importantly, there is the National Rail network or over-ground train system. This is operated by many different companies and the trains depart from many central London terminus stations like Waterloo, King’s Cross, St Pancreas, Victoria and Paddington.
The southern half of London is mainly served by this overland network rather than the Tube. Therefore, if you look at the famous Tube map, don’t be fooled into thinking this is the complete ‘train’ network. There are in fact, probably, twice as many stations with the other 50% appearing on the ‘London Connections’ map.
To use this network, you can buy single tickets to go from place to place, or you can buy daily, weekly or monthly tickets or even an oyster card from any of the stations or other points of sale such as newsagents. The cost of travel depends on how far you travel. The entire network is divided into 6 principal zones. These zones are arranged as concentric ‘circles’ around the centre of London. All you need to do is buy a ticket for the zones you want to travel to and from (and any zones you pass through en-route).

To navigate on the Tube is very easy. Each line is colour coded. On the map, the stations where you can change from one line to another are shown as a circle, the non-interchange stations are shown as a ‘tag’. The direction of travel is shown on the front of each train and on signs on each platform. Additionally, it is important to know your north, south, east and west despite the fact that the platforms are labelled as northbound, southbound, eastbound or westbound. To find your way round, you simple follow the colours of the lines/signs and have a general idea if you need to go north or south.
I hope this brief introduction of getting about in London is helpful.
For further information: Transport for London
Pictures: Wikipedia and Guardian.co.ukUma das perguntas que sempre me fazem é “Como é o metrô em Londres?”

Para começar, há vários sistemas de transporte público em Londres, a maioria deles gerenciada pela prefeitura da cidade. Há o famoso metrô “London Underground”, que os londrinos chamam de “The Tube”, com 12 linhas separadas. A rede do Tube está localizada principalmente na parte norte da cidade devido à geologia de Londres. O sistema começa a operar às 5:30 da manhã e funciona até aproximadamente 00:30, sete dias por semana. Os trens partem das estações centrais de Londres a cada 2 ou 3 minutos durante os horários de pico, e em intervalos de 7 a 8 minutos nos outros horários. Ao contrário do que muitos pensam, grande parte do Tube não é subterrânea, principalmente nas áreas afastadas do centro da cidade. Veja o mapa do metrô.

Londres conta também com um sistema de ônibus: entre eles, os famosos double-deckers (ônibus de dois andares) vermelhos. As rotas se estendem por toda a cidade, e o horário de funcionamento é semelhante ao do metrô. A diferença é que existem os ônibus noturnos. Os ônibus noturnos mantêm rotas similares às de alguns ônibus diurnos, mas a frequência é menor. É possível pegar um ônibus noturno no centro de Londres a partir de meia-noite para ir aos bairros nos subúrbios.
Existem também ônibus-barco no centro de Londres, mas eles quase não são usados pelos londrinos.
E por último, mas com certeza não menos importante, há a Rede Nacional de ferrovias ou sistema de trens de superfície. Esses trens são operados por diferentes empresas e partem dos diversos terminais ferroviários de Londres como Waterloo, King’s Cross, St. Pancreas, Victoria e Paddington. A parte de Londres situada ao sul é servida principalmente por este sistema de trens de superfície e não pelo Tube. Sendo assim, não pense que a rede de “trens” que você vê no famoso mapa do metrô está completa. Na verdade, deve haver pelo menos o dobro de estações e essas outras 50% aparecem no mapa de conexões chamado “London Connections”.


Para usar todos esses tipos de transporte, você pode adquirir passagens únicas para ir de um lugar ao outro, ou pode adquirir passes diários, semanais ou mensais, ou o seu Oyster card. Eles podem ser comprados em qualquer estação ou outros pontos de venda como bancas de revistas. O custo da viagem depende da distância. A rede completa é divida em 6 zonas principais. Essas zonas são “círculos” concêntricos ao redor do centro de Londres. Você só precisa adquirir o bilhete válido para as zonas em que você quer se deslocar (e aquelas que estiverem no caminho).
É muito fácil usar o Tube. Cada linha tem uma cor diferente. No mapa, as estações em que você pode trocar de uma linha para outra são mostradas com um círculo, e as estações em que a troca não é possível não têm o círculo. O sentido da viagem é mostrado na frente de cada trem, e também aparece na plataforma. É importante saber em que sentido você quer ir (norte, sul, leste ou oeste), mas há indicação nas plataformas juntamente com os nomes das estações. Você verá “northbound” (para o norte), “southbound” (para o sul) “eastbound” (para o leste) ou “westbound” (para o oeste). Para achar seu trem, você deve seguir a cor ou o nome da linha que deseja tomar e saber mais ou menos se quer ir para o norte ou sul, leste ou oeste.
Espero que essa breve introdução ao transporte em Londres seja útil.
Fotos: Wikipedia e Guardian.co.uk

Filed Under: Britain, English, Holidays, London, Londres, Portugues, Transporte Tagged With: Holiday, London, Londres, metrô, The Tube, transporte

1and1.co.uk – A rant

25 August 2009 by Steve Leave a Comment

When I updated my website I moved the hosting from 1and1.co.uk to a Brazilian host and I wanted to cancel my hosting package but not domain registration.  No big deal you’d think.  However, they have not allowed me to cancel my contract due to extremely poorly devised systems, in my opinion.
The situation
I normally pay by credit card.  However for separate non-related reasons, the registered credit card was no longer valid.  Originally, I chose not to update paymenr details until I had a guarantee I would not be charged.  I then wrote requesting cancellation and I was repeatedly (over a period of over 2 weeks) sent the same email with instructions on ‘how’ to do this.     
The problem
As per the instructions, I navigated to a page to change my package.  I selected the option I wanted, and hit the continue button.  This directed me to a page asking me to update payment details.  However, I don’t have a credit card with a UK address.  I have various credit cards, both English and Brazilian, but 1 and 1’s system would not accept the address.  I have phoned and emailed on numerous occasions.  On one occasion on the phone, I was told that 17th August was a holiday in England and to call back later…  The real reason was the time of the call!  I’ve sent screenshots documenting the problem
After a long phone call earlier today being forwarded 3 times to the ‘billing’ department (This is whom I thought I was speaking to), I eventually discovered the answer.
The solution
There is no solution.  It is a Catch 22.  You can’t cancel unless you ‘pay’.  I can’t ‘pay’ because they refuse to accept perfectly valid credit cards because their inane error checking doesn’t allow me to enter my address.  Even the person I spoke to was unable to do anything.  She was using the same system that I was.  How idiotic is that?
My advice
Stay clear of 1 and 1.  They are cheap, but I’ve never had much success with them.  I’m still waiting for answers to various questions I’ve posed over the years. 
 
Has anyone else had similar experiences?  
If anyone from 1 and 1 reads this, I would love to discuss this more, but it is impossible to get through the defensive barrier erroneously called the ‘help desk’.  This a very much abridged account.

Filed Under: Britain Tagged With: internet hosting

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