I dedicate this album to my dearest friend Sheila. I hope these flowers will be a nice anticipation of Spring for her, in her rough Winter. I hope you enjoy, Sheila:))))

These are a few shot of birds that I have taken last Friday in one of my usual walks near the river.

I took these shots when I was making one of my usual walks in Seixal Bay.

Cabo Da Roca, also called Focinho Da Roca (Roca Snout), is the most western point of continental Europe. It lies on the Atlantic coast of Lisboa district, about 40 km distant from Lisbon. Known to the Romans as Promontorium Magnum, the cape is a narrow granite cliff, forming the western end of the Sintra Mountains.
Not only the cliffs must be admired in Cabo da Roca. The special characteristics of the soil originated unique vegetation which is part of Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
I invite you to cover with me the narrow tracks and to dive into this gorgeous Nature! Smell the flowers!

Cabo da Roca (Cape Roca) is the most western point of mainland Europe (and of mainland Portugal). The Romans called it "Promontorium Magnum".
The cliff rises out of the ocean to approximately 140 metres above sea level.
The cape is a popular tourist attraction.
Our great poet Luís de Camões defined Cabo da Roca as the place "where the land ends and the sea begins" (in Portuguese: "Onde a terra acaba e o mar começa").
I hope you enjoy the album.

In the last two years I hadn't seen them in this part of Tejo (Tagus) river. But, this year, it seems that they decided to come back and stay for a while.

This time, there were about a hundred of them! They usually stay in the middle of the river, where they feel safe...
But this time a bunch of them came rather near me.
I hope they stay with us a few more days:)

These photos were taken with my new Fuji Finepix S8000fd.

These photos were taken in the same day than the ones in the previous album. Still enjoying the beautiful light, reflections and clouds on the river...

The sky was full of clouds and it seemed that it would begin to rain at any instant, but only after a few hours, when I was already on the way to my car, a few drops began to fall.

These are some shots of birds that I made in Tejo river, Amora - Portugal. Not really great shots because it was the second photo session with my new camera and these lenses zoom is very poor... But I love to watch the birds and try to capture them:) This place is about 10 minutes driving from my house.

Trying some dusk and night shots...

A few shots I took near Tejo river, in Amora... It's a very nice place to relax, watching birds and walk with my puppie:)

Some of these are not good shots, I know! I'm not used to this kind of camera and I think I made several mistakes on this first session:))) I'll be grateful for all the critics and helpful hints!

The most important festival in Tomar, Portugal is the Festa dos Tabuleiros (Festival of the Trays) also called Festa do Espírito Santo (the Holy Ghost festivities) that takes place every four years, in July.

Some more photos of Nina:)

Ourense (Spanish: Orense; Galician: Ourense) is a city in northwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Ourense in Galicia.
The ancient city of Auria (latin name, it comes from the gold... In Portuguese and Galician, ouro means gold) is located on both banks of the Minho (Miño) River in the south-central part of Galicia, at an elevation of 128 m above sea level.
The city has a microclimate that brings abundant rainfall and allows for verdant vegetation on the nearby hills. Winters are mild with lows rarely falling below zero degrees Celsius. Because of the location in the river valley summers can be quite hot, often equalling temperatures of Andalusia. Many local families have apartments on the coast (Vigo is only an hour away by car) where they can escape the heat of July and August.

The river divides a rather industrial western suburb, which contains the railroad station, from the main town. Three highway and one railroad bridge cross the river in addition to the famous Roman Bridge, which is now closed to vehicle traffic.

These are photos taken in a two days trip a few days ago...

I want to present you my new puppy girl, Nina, and her little brothers. These photos were taken last week, when she was still in her Mom's house. Now, since yesterday, she's already living with me:)

A "few" more photos that I took in Lisbon Oceanary... Most of them are not good photos, due to several reasons: it's difficult to capture the fish through the thick glasses and the water; the aquariums are, in most cases, rather dark and we can't use the flash to not disturbe the animals living there; and they are always moving, some of them really fast:) Anyway, I hope that you enjoy seeing all these odd and beautiful creatures.

I took these photos in Lisbon Oceanary, while trying to get a good one to the Fish contest:)

After our visit to the castle, it's time to begin the descending to the village, and from there to the cars, saying goodbye to this beautiful and special place.

Me and my friends continue in our steep ascent to the old castle of Monsanto. The desire of contemplating the view from above, helps us to beat the difficulties of the passage.

Monsanto is built in granite. The village is considered, since 1938, the most Portuguese village of Portugal.

The village can be sighted in the hillside of a great scarped rise, assigned the Cabeço de Monsanto (Mons Sanctus).
In the highest point its peak reaches the 758 meters.

The human presence in this local date since the paleolithic period. Archaeology tells us that the place was inhabited by the Romans, in the base of the hill. There are also vestiges of the passage of Arabs and Visigods.

The Moors would be defeated by D. Afonso Henriques, the first king of Portugal and, in 1165, the place of Monsanto was donated to the Order of the Templar Knights that, under the orientation of D. Gualdim Pais, ordered the construction of the Castle of Monsanto.

Along the years, the castle has been rebuilt a few times, because it suffered important damages caused by the attacks of enemy troops.

The last attack was in the XVIII century. The Duke of Berwik besieges Monsanto, but the Portuguese army commanded by the Marquis of Mina defeats the invader in the difficult scarps that raise to the Castle.

A serious accident in the XIX century destroyed the Medieval Castle, due to the explosion of the ammunition warehouse.

These are photos that I have submitted in several Fotki contests.

With the purpose of respecting the principle of anonymous entries, this album doesn't contain photos submitted to the current contests. Only photos from ended contests.

Continuing my stroll in old Lisbon...

Bairro Alto is a typical zone of Lisbon with narrow cobbled streets, secular houses and small traditional commerce.

Constructed, more or less, in octogonal plan, in ends of the XVI century, Bairro Alto is one of most colorful zones in Lisbon. Since long ago, it is the most known zone of Lisbon night, with innumerable bars, restaurants and Fado houses.

This quarter, one of most intellectual of the capital, frequented and inhabited by journalists, writers and students, was also place of sailors taverns, places of bad reputation and prostitution.

It was not a place recommended to "decent" people until a few years ago.

However, now it became a fashion going to Bairro Alto, specially at night, and a lot of new bars, discos and even known stylists have set there.

Unfortunately, many of the youngsters who enjoy going there at night doesn't know how to behave, and we can notice that, specially in the walls...

I hope that drastic measures will be taken, soon, to prevent this situation to continue. In spite of it, I hope that you enjoy this album, because it portraies a very unique aspect of our Lisbon and also a very uncommon architectural style.

Some shots I took in Lisbon downtown when I was trying to take a good one to the City Life contest...

Photos taken during the passage of Tejo river from Cacilhas, in the South edge, to Lisbon, in a sunny afternoon.

This album is dedicated to my lovely friend Sheila (Sheila Ann). Just to transmit her some Spring warmth:)

After a few hours of stormy weather, the sun was beginning to show again. The place is Riviera Maya, Mexico.

This has been the day when I got the worst weather during my vacation, last year. I had never got so wet in my life! Even so, I still enjoyed a few hours of sun and a lot of swimming, after my walk. It was Winter in Mexico, but in Riviera Maya we were with temperatures always above 34C... Not many words about these images, I hope you enjoy them!

Some photos I took during a walk in Seixal Bay, at sunset.

I was passing by a wall covered with these beautiful flowers and I had to capture them...

Crato became an important village in the History of Portugal when the Order of the Hospital received from D. Sancho II (King Sancho II), in 1232, vast territories in the region of the Alto Alentejo. Around 1350, after the Battle of Salado, the headquarters of the Order had already been transferred to Crato and the village lived a long period of prestige and prosperity. However, in 1662, a Spanish army invaded the zone and pillaged and set fire to the village, which never more would come to recoup the old glory.

Some thistles I captured near my house.

Cyclamens love cool places and shade. Therefore, as Spring is arriving, my Cyclamens are offering to me their last flowers of this season...

These shots were taken in the natural reserve of Castillo de Las Guardas, at 58 Km from Seville, Andalucia, Spain. It's a huge area, with about thousand wild animals. Not exactly a safary, but a good way for contacting with beautiful animals without seeing them behind bars. I know this album is rahter big, but I have been shooting for a few hours......

I took these shots last Saturday, when I was trapped in a traffic jam, before entering the bridge 25 de Abril, when I was coming back from Lisbon. The night was falling...The Águas Livres Aqueduct (Portuguese: Aqueduto das Águas Livres), is an historic aqueduct in the city of Lisbon, Portugal. It is one of the most remarkable examples of 18th-century Portuguese engineering. The main course of the aqueduct covers 18 km, but the whole network of canals extends through 58 km.

This album contains several photos that I took in several occasions in Lisbon. Some of them were still taken with my old Enigma 1.3.

Now we are going to have fun! Will cross the lake by air! It's Tirolesa time!

Tankah is a beautiful natural area where, besides seeing the beautiful flora and fauna, we can have a lot of fun. The landscape is, at same time, rough and beautiful.

Album Description: Cobá, ("waters stirred by the wind") is one of the most important archaeological sites in Yucatan Peninsula. Located in the state of Quintana Roo, and built in the Classic Period (600-900 A.D.), it was a very large city spread over 80 square kilometers.

Continuing to explore the surroundings...

This is a vacation album, without pretensions in terms of photography, (even because I've spent much more time inside water than shooting). These are some photos I took, in the first day, around the resort and the beach in front of it.