This time a year ago: Independence Day @ San Francisco

It's hard to believe but a year as already passed since I first arrived in San Francisco.

Even though I did not write anything on the 30th of June, the actual day that I left Portugal, I spent most of the week thinking that it's been a year. I remember that at the time I was really happy to be able to be in the US for the 4th of July, because I know that it is an important date for the Americans. Unfortunately, due to heavy fog (what a surprise fog in San Francisco...) at the end of the day we were not able to see the fireworks. However, during the day we went visiting the outskirts of San Francisco and went to Muir Woods National Park to see some Redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens).

Here are some of the photos that I took at the time:

Crossing the Golden Gate Birdge for the first time. (You can actually see how heavy the fog was that morning...)

First time stepping on a beach at the Pacific Ocean.

Just something I found curious.

Some of the great views surrounding San Francisco.

A fallen redwood, showing the actual age of the tree, it was born in ~989A.D. and fell in 1930.
Several important dates are marked.

Actually, the July 4th is also a holiday in my hometown. :)

Golden Gate Bridge by Night

Golden Gate Bridge
(08 11 08)

A very unusual Holiday Season

Through out my twenty something years of life there as been a constant in my Holiday Season: my younger sister... This is the first Christmas that we have not spent together. It's, for a lack of a better word, utterly strange.

In spite of not having spent this holiday season with my family, things were not as bad as I had expected them to be. :) It did not have the feeling of Christmas, but it was not as depressing has it might have been. Maybe because I was able to talk through the day with all my family, and I was even able to see some of them using this fantastic invention called Internet. Since I was able to talk to them things were less difficult. This was really important for me, since I strongly believe that Christmas is the season to be with your family.

Considering the distance to Portugal, we were still able to maintain a few traditions, namely eating a bit of bacalhau (codfish) and some traditional sweets (rabanadas and sonhos de abóbora).

But what was really unusual was the 25th of December... After having eaten some lamb with 3 of my friends, we decided to go ice skating... It was fun!! (I'm still able to feel the aches through out my body from the 1h30 we spent in the ice rink...) Never in my live I would have guessed that I would go ice skating on December 25th...

Macy's store @ Union Square were the Ice Rink is located

Our feet, ready to take the ice ;P

The Christmas Tree at one of the ends of the Ice Rink.

PS - I only fell once and I wasn't skating, I was standing "still" try to do balance my self in one leg (doing aviões)...

I know I'm 6 days late but...

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!! :)

May2008 be filled with lots of wonderful experiences, allowing you all to take a step further in your development and growth has human beings :P