Garden pond at the Gardens of the National (Royal) Palace of Queluz, Sintra - Portugal.

An arch across the Spree, close to the Schleusenbrücke, Berlin - Germany.

[originally posted on Feb 4th, 2008]

Category: A CLOSE LOOK

Tavira, Algarve - Portugal

[originally posted on Feb 2nd, 2008]

Category: THE COASTAL LAND

- of uncertain origin (Roman? Medieval?), the bridge crosses the Arade River, has five arches (were there six of them originally?) and is built in stone fitted masonry - the typical reddish Silves' sandstone. The piers are protected by cutwaters (pointed elements on the pier-bases, to cut the wave chock and to ease the water flow) which enhance the bridge's image of stability and robustness.

The two Plane trees (Platanus sp) on the left side of the picture are actually on the right edge of the river - a good example of how trees can help defining a landscape.

[originally posted on Feb 2nd, 2008]

Category: THE HERITAGE

(Montalegre means "Cheerful Mount")

The so called Barroso Land (Terra Barrosã or País Barrosão) is named after the Barroso Mountain, quite close to the Peneda-Gerês National Park, in the portuguese province of Trás-os-Montes ("Behind-the-Mounts").

[originally posted on Feb 1st, 2008]

Category: MOUNTS AND VALLEYS

- was built by the end of the XIX century, bombed in 1945 and restored in 1947. Since then, it has turned around non-stop ... at 0.75 metres per second (one metre is about 3.3 feet).

Das Wiener Riesenrad is located in the Prater Park, has 15 wagons and 61 metres (200 feet) diameter. Vienna - Austria

[originally posted on Jan 31st, 2008]

Category: PARKS AND GARDENS

- All the flowers are beautiful - said the Bronze Boy.
- But there are flowers that aren't quite flowers - said the gladiolus.
- All the flowers are flowers - answered the Bronze Boy very angry.
(free translation from Sophia de Mello Breyner Andresen, O Rapaz de Bronze, The Bronze Boy)

From the left to the right: top, Ceiba (syn Chorisia) speciosa and Berberis x spaethii; bottom, Narcissus sp and Viburnum tinus.

[originally posted on Jan 30th, 2008]

Category: QUARTERS

From the CONVENTION ON THE RIGHTS OF THE CHILD:

(Proclaimed and adopted by the United Nations, on November 20th 1989. Effective in the portuguese law since October 21st 1990)

"States Parties shall take all appropriate legislative, administrative, social and educational measures to protect the child from all forms of physical or mental violence, injury or abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment or exploitation including sexual abuse [...]." (excerpt, Article 19 §1.)

Flowers of Brachychiton acerifolium, Esterculiaceae family, mid Jun - Botanical Garden of the National Museum of Natural History, Lisbon.

NOTE: Portuguese criminal court of law suspended the punishment of people charged of sexual abuses on children (in 2004 - 147 guilty as charged, 61 in prison, 86 free).

[originally posted on Jan 28th, 2008]

Category: UNIVERSAL TEXTS

Because today there is a commemoration ceremony by UNESCO for the International Day of Commemoration in Memory of the Victims of the Holocaust (January 27th).

Keiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtniskirche, Berlin - Germany

[originally posted on Jan 28th, 2008]

Category: THE CITY

Parede, Cascais - Portugal

[originally posted on Jan 27th, 2008]

Category: LOOSE LEAVES

A few images from urban parks in Europe:

Copenhagen - Denmark

Santiago de Compostela (Saint James of Compostela) - Spain

Nearby London - England

London - England

The urban parks are privileged areas for leisure and for different formal and informal sports activities, which is quite healthier than the exercises in gyms but not yet very common in Portugal.

Sportsmen from abroad have already complained about the lack of adequate practice areas in open air, away from traffic, pollution and urban noise.

We just have a great climat for plants to grow fast and for people to leisure and sport in the open air, but our government chooses to promote gyms instead of parks... (The portuguese government has recently lowered the gyms' VAT).

[originally posted on Jan 27th, 2008]

Category: PARKS AND GARDENS

Estoril, Cascais - Portugal

[originally posted on Jan 26th, 2008]

Category: THE ARCHITECTURE

Limestone and running water - Quinta das Lágrimas, Coimbra - Portugal

Granite and running water - Santa Maria das Júnias Monastery, Montalegre, Peneda-Gerês National Park - Portugal

[originally posted on Jan 25th, 2008]

Category: THE WATER

I SAY HOUSES CONSIST OF WINDOWS.

Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Window Dictatorship and Window Rights, 1990

The «Hundertwasser Haus», Vienna - Austria - an apartments building conceived by Friedensreich Hundertwasser (1928-2000), an Austrian painter and multifaceted artist, with his very own and controversial philosophy, specially because of his Mould Manifesto (1958, with 1959 and 1964 addenda), against the rationalism in Architecture.

Traditionally known as the «Hundertwasser Haus», this building is nowadays sometimes referred to as the «Hundertwasser-Krawina Haus», therefore including the name of the Austrian architect Joseph Krawina, who worked with Hundertwasser during the building construction (1983-1986).

[originally posted on Jan 24th, 2008]

Category: THE ARCHITECTURE

- at the Botanic Garden of the Natural History National Museum (Lisbon University), widely known as the College of Sciences' Botanic Garden.

"A botanic garden is obviously more than just a garden. The being botanic indicates that the plants growing in it, more than just being beautiful and providing a pleasant environment, have necessarily other usefulnesses, such as teaching, investigation and conservation of the vegatation's genetic heritage."

Free translation from Professor Fernando Catarino (who was the Director of this Botanical Garden for twenty years), A Importância dos Jardins Botânicos, The Importance of Botanical Gardens.

[originally posted on Jan 23rd, 2008]

Category: PARKS AND GARDENS

Cascais, Portugal

[originally posted on Jan 23rd, 2008]

More images in my A WONDERFUL WORLD:

Category: LOOSE LEAVES

From the United Nations Environment Program (environment for development), the

Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (adopted and proclaimed at Stockholm - Sweden, June 1972)

In Portugal, the Environment Bases Law (Lei de Bases do Ambiente), law nº 11/87, April 7th, in accordance with the Constitution of the Republic, states as follows:

"The environmental policy aims to optimize and guarantee the continuity of the natural resources' utilization, both in quality and quantity, as the basic presumption towards a self sustainable development." (Article 2. §2)

[originaly posted on Jan 22nd, 2008]

Category: UNIVERSAL TEXTS

A very small town (vila) in the "By-the-Tagus-land" (Ribatejo), on the right bank of the Tagus River, a few kilometers North to the town of Vila Franca de Xira.

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When the Tagus is in flood, this land is submerged - several people have to use boats to go inside and come outside their homes. There's notice of people who lost all they've had, because the running waters took it all away...

And it is specifically nearby Castanheira do Ribatejo, on some of the most fertile soils to be found in Portugal and right in the middle of the Tagus maximum flood plain - with our Government's agreement and approval - that a huge construction is nowadays being prepared: the so called North Lisbon Logistical Platform (Plataforma Logística de Lisboa Norte), a major project now in progress, occupying an area of 100 hectares, extendable to 150 (one hectare is about 2.5 acres).

This location has been chosen by the Portuguese Government, ignoring the existing environmental and territorial legislation, such as the National Agricultural Reserve, the National Ecological Reserve, the Municipality Directive Plan of Vila Franca de Xira (Plano Director Municipal) and the Lisbon Metropolitan Regional Territory Plan (Plano Regional de Ordenamento do Território da Área Metropolitana de Lisboa) - as per the Cabinet Resolution (Resolução do Conselho de Ministros) nº 13/2007, January 24th.

Oh yes:

- the lettuces are in the supermarket; therefore, there's no need to preserve our fertile soils; and

- the trucks can easily move on a boat; therefore, they can quite well be driven in flooded areas.

RIDICULOUS, ISN'T IT?

There has been a public discussion by the time of the Environmental Impact Study for this Platform and the better known environmental national association has then issued a public well founded statement against this project. On the other hand, this location for the Platform was based on the idea of the new Lisbon International Airport being built nearby - there was an argument of a "national potencial interest", which is no longer valid, as the new airport is now to be on the opposite bank of the Tagus.

But nevertheless, a few days ago, the portuguese Environment Minister has officially approved the Platform location and construction at Castanheira do Ribatejo - and the environmental and local civic associations have immediately issued a new public statement against it!

[originally posted on Jan 22nd, 2008]

Category: MOUNTS AND VALLEYS

The Narrowleaf Ash and the Almond Tree are already in blossom.

(Narrowleaf Ash - Fraxinus anfustifolia. Oleaceae family)

(Almond Tree - Prunus amygdalus, syn Prunus dulcis. Rosaceae family)

Mid January - Parede, Cascais, Portugal

[originally posted on Jan 20th, 2008]

Category: THE TREE

in the Historical Centre of Toledo, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain.

"The idea of creating an international movement for protecting heritage emerged after World War I. [...] The event that aroused particular international concern was the decision to build the Aswan High Dam in Egypt, which would have flooded the valley containing the Abu Simbel temples, a treasure of ancient Egyptian civilization. [...] Consequently, UNESCO initiated, with the help of the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), the preparation of a draft convention on the protection of cultural heritage. [...]
The Convention concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage was adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO on 16 November 1972."
(From the UNESCO World Heritage Website - The World Heritage Convention/Brief History)

[originally posted on Jan 20th, 2008]

Category: THE HERITAGE

The latitude, the light and the water.

From top to bottom (that means from the North to the South): Berlin (Botanical Garden) and Potsdam (Sans Souci), in Germany; S. Pedro do Sul (Vouga River) and Silves (Arade River), in Portugal.

[originally posted on Jan 18th, 2008]

Category: QUARTERS

- ASSOCIATED BUT NOT LIMITED.

Along the coastal centre and southern lands of Portugal, Maritime - or Cluster - pines (Pinus pinaster, Pinaceae family) and Cork oaks (Quercus suber,  Fagaceae family) are frequently found together. This is how the ground looks like underneath them. Near Palmela, Portugal.

[originally posted on Jan 17th, 2008]

Category: THE TREE

in the Lotus bertholetii "explosive" full bloom.

(Family: Leguminosae. Here by the end of May, Sobreda Garden Centre - Centro de Jardinagem da Sobreda - Almada, Portugal).

[originally posted on Jan 16th, 2008]

Category: FLORA AND VEGETATION

(Christians Kirke, Christiansbro - Copenhagen, Denmark)

(On the left, the Deutsches Historisches Museum. On the right, Friedrichswerdersch Kirche's reflection - Berlin, Germany)

[originally posted on Jan 15th, 2008]

Category: THE ARCHITECTURE 

(Close to the New Palace - Neues Palais)

(Nearby the Roman Baths - Römische Bäder)

«SANS SOUCI» Park - Potsdam, Germany. Sans Souci means without concern.

[originally posted on Jan 14th, 2008]

Category: PARKS AND GARDENS

... Still speaking about dolphins, here is an animated gif from Sergei Cartoons.

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.

[originally posted on Jan 13th, 2008]

Category: OTHER IMAGES

was 2007, but has been extended to 2008.

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"Since Aristoteles, the dolphins have always fascinated men. To many people, they represent the Earth's heart and soul.

[...]

More than twenty years ago, the roazes-corvineiros (local common name for Bottle-nosed dolphins) were usually seen by travellers sailing across the Tagus River from and to Lisbon. As years went by, and because of the increasing use and pollution of these waters, the dolphins have disappeared.
[...]
The last remaining coastal waters dolphins in Portugal are found in the Sado River estuary and its surroundings."
(Translated from Portuguese - Stefan Harzen & Barbara Brunnick, O Roaz-corvineiro do Estuário do Sado, Portugal, 1995).

The roaz-corvineiro of Sado River (Tursiops truncatus) watched durind a visit to the estuary, on "Hiate de Setúbal" bord.
The "Hiate de Setúbal" is a faithful reply of this river traditional boats (called hiates) and was built by the Clube Naval Setubalense (1993-94); it represented the Municipality of Setúbal at the Lisbon Expo'98 and has been participating in international traditional boats meetings - see picture of sailing "Hiate de Setúbal".

The Sado Estuary Natural Reserve (Reserva Natural do Estuário do Sado) was defined as Protected Land under the portuguese law in 1980. It is now included - since 1996 - in the Ramsar Convention List (Wetlands of International Importance) and - since 1997/99 - in the Natura 2000 Network.

"The most devastating threat upon the Sado River dolphins is environmental pollution. [...] No matter if it is commercial or private garbage, chemical discharges, high temperatures, loud noise, pesticids or toxic gases, all of this is pollution. [...]
The threats upon the Sado Estuary are very serious and deserve an immediate attention. The dolphins are not the only ones in danger."
(idem, ibidem)

The European Environment Agency, in its fourth assessment on "Europe's Environment" (Belgrade, October 2007 - the first assessment on this theme is from 1995), under chapter 5, Marine and Coastal Environment, considers that "The overall picture in 2007 has hardly changed from that in 1995".

And it's rather awkward not to find a single reference to this dolphin community in the official site of the Biodiversity and Natural Conservation Institute (Instituto da Conservação da Natureza e da Biodiversidade)!

[originally posted on Jan 12th, 2008]

Category: THE COASTAL LAND

- from the United Nations Charter,
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (*)
(adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations General Assembly, December 10th, 1948)

(*) Included in the Portuguese law (Diário da República) nº 57/78, March 9th.

[originally posted on Jan 10th, 2008]

Category: UNIVERSAL TEXTS

[...] and couldn't almost listen to that vegetable heart's all gratefulness:
- Thank you, Lady Rain...
(adapted translation from Brasilian - José Mauro de Vasconcelos, Rosinha Minha Canoa)

[originally posted on Jan 7th, 2008]

Category: THE WATER

... IS NOT THE SAME THING AS EUROPE'S WEST (OR FAR WEST?) COAST (*):

- It is more colourful and diversified, more truthful and exuberant, more real and less technologic.

1- On the cliff top, North of Peniche.
2- Limestone at Portinho da Areia do Sul, Peniche.
3- Fossilized dune at Magoito, Sintra - Protected Land, Sintra-Cascais Natural Park (Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais).

4- Nearby Raso Cape, Cascais - Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.
5- The beach at S. Pedro do Estoril, Cascais.
6- Sardão Cape, Odemira - Protected Land, Vicentina Coast and Alentejo Southwestern Land Natural Park (Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina).

(*) NOTE: "Portugal, Europe's West Coast" is the main title for an appetising campaign conducted by the Portuguese Government.

[originally posted at Jan 7th, 2008]

Category: THE COASTAL LAND

(Estoril, Cascais - Portugal)

[originally posted on Jan 7th, 2008]

Category: THE ARCHITECTURE 

(The original portuguese post starts with an excerpt from a Fernando Pessoa's poem, that unfortunately I cannot translate).

A Portuguese Navy effective vessel since April 1998 (after complete restoration for the Lisbon Expo'98), the Frigate is considered the World eighth oldest war ship and belongs to the Navy Museum (Museu de Marinha in Lisbon).
These pictures were taken when it was docked at Alcântara on the Tagus River - Lisbon, Portugal - before its masts were locked down, for... (security? protection?) reasons.
Nowadays, and since December 2007, the frigate is docked at Cacilhas, also on the Tagus River - Almada - to be restored and equipped/prepared to become a floating museum.

LET'S APPLAUD THE ALMADA MUNICIPALITY (Câmara Municipal de Almada)!

[originally posted on Jan 5th, 2008]

Category: THE HERITAGE

Castro Marim surroundings - Algarve, Portugal.

Protected Land - Salt Marches Natural Reserve - Reserva Natural Sapal de Castro Marim e Vila Real de Santo António.

This was the first Natural Reserve defined in the portuguese continental territory, under the law (Decreto) nº 162/75, March 27th.

[originally posted on Jan 4th, 2008]

Category: MOUNTS AND VALLEYS

among the most beautiful ones I remember seeing.

Common name in Portuguese: Pinheiro Manso. Protected tree under the law (Diário da República) nº 178/90, August 3rd. The information panel is about to be absorbed by the trunk growth, and the tree will be seriously damaged if they don't fast move it away.

(S. João do Estoril - Cascais, Portugal)

[originally posted on Jan 4th, 2008]

Category: THE TREE

The only one that doesn't fly away when I get out onto my balcony...

(Passer domesticus on Celtis australis)

[originally posted on Jan 3rd, 2008]

Category: QUARTERS

of Lysichiton americanum (Yellow skunk cabbage - I don't know of any portuguese common name for it).

(Family: Araceae. Berlin Botanical Garden, mid April - Germany)

[originally posted on Jan 3rd, 2008]

Category: FLORA AND VEGETATION

... HAS BEEN STOLEN FROM HERE:

(Gardens of the Estói Palace, nearby Faro - Algarve, Portugal. The construction is from the eighteenth century, with later alterations. Historical Heritage defined as Public Interest Building under the law (Decreto) nº 129/77, September 27th. This definition includes palace, gardens, fountains and statues.)

Other statues and pieces of ceramic tiles (Azulejos) have recently been broken and taken away... Does anybody know where they are? Where they've gone to? - Please contact the national or local authorities!

[originally posted on Jan 3rd, 2008]

Category: THE HERITAGE

have considerably delayed this project and other ones too.

[originally posted on Jan 3rd, 2008]

Category: LOOSE LEAVES

Under the Berne Convention, any work that has been created after January 1st, 1978, is automatically protected by copyright, from the moment of its creation until 70 years after its author's death.

For anonymous or pseudonymous works, the duration of copyright will be 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever occurs first.

This is a free translation of my portuguese photoblog - A Imagem da Paisagem.
Unfortunately, my English is far from being as good as my Portuguese. Therefore, A Imagem da Paisagem is somehow better than The Landscape Image, also because some of the portuguese posts' inserted links are not found in english. So if you understand a bit of portuguese, then A Imagem da Paisagem is definitively a better choice...
As I'm starting with The Landscape Image, A Imagem da Paisagem has already 48 posts and some of them are easy to translate, whereas a few others are really difficult. That means The Landscape Image will be a bit behind it for a while, but I hope to catch up with it quite quickly. I can only say I'll do my best!