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just life one second everyday

one second everyday — june 2018

june began in the azores and then jumped back home, just in time to see the parents arrive with the trunk full of cherries and other delights from their little farm. it’s high season now and you can definitely feel it in town, buzzing with festivities and tourists.

the days were filled mostly with work and our own mundane tasks… but for once, i’m sort of glad. the less excitement a month has in it, the more we can catch our breath and take stock. the first half of the year was demanding on many levels, and now more than ever, i feel the need to take it easy and carve the space to research, learn and advance other projects, to plan secretly and without respite.

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in iceland

walking on history XV: Epine GY 7

on march 13 1948, a british trawler was wrecked near djúpalónssandur beach in iceland, but because of the bad weather, it was impossible to reach the ship to rescue the crew. 14 people died that day, one washed ashore still alive, and four were rescued when the tide finally turned, by throwing a line from the nearby cliffs to the mast, and using a rescue seat to bring those sailors back to safety.

70 years later and the twisted iron is still strewn around the beach, a powerful memorial to this accident.

ps — also, this 99% invisible episode, which links to readtheplaque.com, a wonderful compendium of interesting places.

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analogue wednesdays roll4roll

analogue wednesday #149

coffee shops and christmas decorations double-exposed with timm, on R4R-32.

Categories
geek just life

kill doctor lucky

we started enjoying playing board games with friends around the time we turned 30, i think… there’s something about the quietness of an evening in that just suits us. if you’ve stayed over at our house for a few days, then it’s probably guaranteed that we’ve played a game with you at some point after a meal. and of all the games we own, kill doctor lucky has been a staple for a few years.

the free version (in a photocopied prototype) was given to us by dear friends who heard about it through kickstarter. we liked it so much that we used to carry those bits of photocopied paper around with us to evenings with other friends! :D

the game’s premise is simple: your goal is to kill doctor lucky, an old man who lives in his mansion. but doctor lucky is (as his name implies) rather lucky and thus not at all easy to kill. so you end up chasing him around his house, going from room to room, foiling other participant’s murder attempts (or not!) until eventually his luck runs out and you manage to kill him. it takes a bit of explaining to get things going, but in the end, one trial run is enough to get everyone excited and up to speed.

after a few years of playing the photocopied version, we finally caved in and bough the proper game, which is filled with witty ways to kill the doctor. it continues to make us happy, even after all this time.

does your home have a favorite board game too? :)

Categories
foooood in azores in portugal

what we ate in terceira

my tasting memory is quickly fading, so it’s time to do one of these food recaps again!


the gastronomic pride and joy of the island is alcatra, a beef stew that is slowly cooked in a clay pot for hours. some prefer the top bits of the pot (which are drier) and some prefer to grab their meat from the depths of it, where the pieces are moist, drenched in sauce and falling off the bone. they tasted equally great to me, and we ended up having it several times around the island.

i’m a fan of charcuterie, and the island’s chouriço (smoked sausage) and morcela (blood sausage) were divine. especially the morcela…

…goodness!

friends invited us for lapas (limpets), a type of sea snails found in azores. we gave them a go, and they were surprisingly delicious! drenched in garlic and lemon, they pop right off their shell.

quinta dos açores is a meat & dairy business (there are more cows than inhabitants in terceira!), with a side gig of restaurant & ice-cream parlor. the design of the place is refreshingly modern and the dishes are great too. :)

more charcuterie and the island’s inhame (taro), a sort of sweet potato that is served steamed.

now and then you could sense the influence of the american base looming nearby — pizza and fried chicken were never very far, as well as mountain dew and other drinks. we even saw fanta grape in a supermarket!

in between hikes, we took a detour to queijo vaquinha to try their cheese platter. the cheeses were good, but the bread was amazing! and of course, we drowned it all with kima, the fizzy drink from azores that comes in pineapple or passionfruit flavors.

what about dessert? sadly, i forgot to take some proper photos of all the delicious d. amélias we had, a mini cake quite similar to broas de mel, but somehow better and more delicate, as the regal name would imply.

but i did take a photo of the island’s cornucópias. these almond cones filled with egg cream were were amazing… but i’m glad we tasted them only on the last day because boy, that was heavy. they’re small, but probably pack enough calories in them for the whole day! :D

and i think that covers it! it was a good trip all around, filled with awe and discovery, and i only wish we could have stayed a bit longer to go on exploring. i guess that’s our cue to come back again soon!