Silvia, The Traveler And Storyteller

Have you guys also noticed during these covid times that there are way more crazy people in this world than we could possibly imagine? And I don't mean that positive I-don't-give-a-fuck-crazy-tantrums that everyone needs every once in a while. I'm talking about a constant state of craziness leading one to believe in conspiracy theories no matter how unreasonable they may sound. Sometimes I imagine that whoever is the "mastermind" behind all those fake news just wants to check how much further he can push in terms of absurdity. Maybe he wakes up every morning and tries to make up something so absurd that at some point even the most ignorant person will figure out that’s bullshit. Then every day he gets frustrated by realizing that he has not yet reached the maximum absurdity level: thousands still seem to have believed in today's fake news, just like yesterday's and the day before yesterday’s... Please don't think I am solely talking about the US, oh no! There are people willing to believe all types of BS everywhere in the world: I see the same pattern in the country where I was born and all around its South American neighbors. I also see plenty of them in what I once believed was a more well-cultivated old continent where I now live and which I learnt to love as my own. This is why it makes me sad and most of all worried about the scary amount of those (naive?) folks this pandemic has unveiled. I never thought they were so many. Before, I thought they were just a distant minority. But now I see how close to me they are. Last week I met some acquaintances who would not vaccinate their kids against polio because their doctor said there are more kids getting polio from the vaccine than from the environment (WTF???!!!). For months now, some of my relatives have become blind supporters of Bolsonaro and think that covid is just a hoax... It is depressing that this fake reality seems to be turning into the reality to a fast-growing number of people.  This picture was taken last summer in Northern Germany. I thought it’s amusing that this bridge seems to be leading to nowhere. 
. #travel #travelphotography #germany #travelling #storyteller #corona #writing #stories (at Schönberger Strand, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CG0XlnGB8cn/?igshid=ukr3vr0mnkyp

My dearest Brazil, yesterday I heard you lost over 100,000 souls. 100,000 precious pieces that will never be able to be replaced. And you are still bleeding, immensely. If I could I would give you a warm hug, a loving kiss, I would try soothe you and to treat your wounds. I would also try to help you get rid of all those parasites such as corruption, ignorance and the worst administration a country could have. As I cannot hold your grandiosity in my arms, I pray and hope that one day, after all this trauma is gone, you will be again that joyful and beautiful country you used to be.   Know that I miss you so much. You hold an huge portion of my heart in the form of a mother, a sister, a niece and so many other important family members and friends. I fear for them too.  Please hang it in there. Meanwhile I have the pictures I took during the last times I visited you. They comfort me a little, like this one I took at Ibirapuera Park in São Paulo. You know, I grew up playing there on sunny days just like the one above. .
. #coronavirus #travelphotography #saopaulo #brazil #ibirapuera #water #sky #stories #home #mourning #southamerica #writing #traveling #park #storytelling #storyteller #wattpad #writer (at São Paulo, Brazil) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDrsrfXBsCo/?igshid=udkir00wk8kd

My thoughts go out to all Lebanese people suffering the consequences of that horrible accident. I can’t imagine how much more pain it has added to an already impoverished country suffering from a deep economic hardship. When I saw that huge mushroom coming out of the explosion it could not but remind me of another painful episode, which took place exactly 75 years ago many miles away from Beirut: the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. Hiroshima has always been very present in my life for as long as I can remember. My ancestors immigrated from that city to Brazil more than a century ago and many years before the horrors of WWII. I grew up listening to my maternal grandmother telling me all about the city where she lived most of her childhood. It has always fascinated me how her memories of those years spent in Japan were so fresh even after many decades of leaving the country. This is the reason why, even though I have never been to Hiroshima, I feel like I know it so well.  My great-grandparents were already living in São Paulo in 1945 and many of their 12 kids had already been born Brazilians, nevertheless they felt like somebody had taken a part of their hearts away when they heard about what had happened to the city they still called home. I can’t imagine the anxiety they must have felt not knowing if their families and friends were still alive. Or the helplessness of being so far away without the means of helping or even saying goodbye.  Years went by and my ancestors moved on. Due to lack of money, they never returned to Japan, but that scar of seeing their beloved Hiroshima destroyed never really healed. I guess the huge Lebanese community in Brazil must be feeling the same right now.   I have no pic from Japan nor Lebanon, so I decided to post this picture taken last winter here in Germany, near to where I live.   .
. #travel #hiroshima #lebanon #travelling #travelgram #viaje #forest #nature #stories #vacation #reading #shortstories #tourism #tourist #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #germany #germans (at Husberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CDjkkQBBA5f/?igshid=1x78lvh7o8brh

Mental illness is cruel. It takes away a chunk of our souls and as if it weren’t enough it also sucks an incredible amount of mental and physical energy from the people closest to us. This is one of the many messages of one of the best books I’ve read this year: A Tale of Love and Darkness by the brilliant Israeli Amos Oz.  ***SPOILER ALERT*** The book talks about many other things too: all the suffering the Jewish people have been facing for thousands of years. People without a “home” is more vulnerable to abuses. The creation of the state of Israel. The sweet narration by the Author of his childhood memories. The first time he falls in love. The difficulties of being an introspective and only child. The small pleasures of a kid’s life such as eating ice cream. He also has the courage of admitting, thorough a lot of sarcasm and humor, that his people and society are also not perfect. But from all things, the one which most touched me was the evolution of his mother’s depression over time. She bravely fought for years against anti-semitism, chauvinism and oppression, only to find out in the end that her greatest enemy was none of those. I can’t imagine how much that woman must have suffered living with an illness, in a time when very little was known about it. An illness that until these days is surrounded by tabus and prejudice. An illness that not only brings much pain but also shame and guilt to its victims. An illness that can kill if not suddenly and on purpose, also little by little as the sufferer withers day after day sometimes without even noticing.  By the end of the book I cried, not only for his mother, but also for himself for only the ones who are or have been in their shoes know how much it hurts. P.S. @mariadecesari , have you finished this one? .
. #amosoz #books #book #goodreads #bookworm #biography #autobiography #stories #writer #reading #bookrecommendations #israel #bookstagram #storytelling #storyteller (at Husberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CByRgoZhdmK/?igshid=1scmslnmy32f6

Some people come to this world with the clear mission of changing it. For most of them it becomes evident while they are still alive like Mandela or Gandhi. For others, unfortunately, life is the sacrifice required from them to provide this change.  I wonder how George Floyd would have reacted if one week before his murder he had been able to preview the day of his death and the weeks following that. I can only guess, of course, but at first I would say he would feel very scared of his imminent passing. Then he would get mad with the way he was judged and treated because of the color of his skin. Mad that even the moment of his own death was full of humiliation. By realising he lost his life due to 20 Dollars, he would get sad. He would think “20 bucks? Really? Is it what I’m worth?” and he would cry. But, suddenly, he would see dozens of people, which in a matter of hours become millions watching the shocking video of his death. George would then be able to see them all getting truly mad and heartbroken by all that violence. He would be surprised to see that thousands cannot help but go out to the streets to protest, even in the middle of the most aggressive pandemic since the early 1900s. He would also be able to see that behind those Covid-19 masks there are not only African-Americans but a huge number of white people, as well as Latins, Asians, people from different religions and cultures shouting out against racism. He would also see those protests reaching places as far as London, São Paulo and Tokyo.    How would he have felt after seeing all that? Maybe, after realising the profound impact of his death, he would feel relief to notice that his life, after all, was worth so much more than just 20 bucks. That his life was in fact priceless.  .
. #travel #travelblogger #travelling #writer #stories #vacation #wanderlust #opinion #trip #monument #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #stopviolence #stopracism #unitedstates #washingtondc (at Washington D.C.) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBbbfprhJSA/?igshid=1cgq0ik26qsmt

Watching the devastation of the Amazon and of the Atlantic rain forests makes me wanna puke, even in a time when electing the most sickening event of the past 2 weeks faces a major competition. 
People who know me will say I was never the “tree hugger” type. Nothing against them, but it is just not who I am. However, it does not mean that I, as most of the Brazilians do not feel we have the duty to take care of our forests. The vast majority of us, even the poorest, acknowledges how important it is. And nowadays we all know the 2 greatest enemies of the Brazilian rich ecosystems: Jair Bolsonaro, our President and Ricardo Salles, an environmental criminal, ironically vested into the role of Brazilian Environment Minister. The latter was the one caught on camera telling the president and his team that “we have to take advantage that all the media is focusing on this pandemic in order to try passing all necessary legislation (in favor of deforestation) by the bunch”.
Brazilians incredulously watched that video in revolt. Believe me, we are mad. All the Brazilians I know are mad. Individuals, Non-Profit Orgs, journalists, political parties and prosecutors are trying day and night to fight those Brazilian assholes in power. Despite the poverty, the unemployment, the tiredness, the 615,000 infected people and the 35,000 covid deaths, we are still trying hard to keep the resistance against all the wrongs, which became even more evident during this pandemic.
The picture above was taken in the state of Bahia, at Praia do Forte. This region is an important hub for sea turtles who come every year to lay their eggs (always at the same beach where they were born themselves). Ricardo Salles is also trying to stop all projects aimed to protect this area.
. . #travel #travelphotography #environment #travelling #travelgram #rainforest #stories #vacation #wanderlust #sea #beach #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #brazil #savetheamazon #atlanticrainforest #amazonia #bahia 
(at Praia do Forte, Bahia) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBGWPFEBHvg/?igshid=rrpf7s5vk9h6

Today, no stories, no memories, no pictures. Let’s focus on a much more important subject in the hope things may change. #blackouttuesday #stopracism #blacklivesmatter #change (at Husberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/CA8ATL5hW0-/?igshid=975gd8lf1bf0

What happened to George Floyd brought me memories of 1992. I was then a teenager when the riots took place after the officers who beat Rodney King almost killing him were acquitted in Los Angeles. I had just come back from an exchange program in the US 6 months before. I was lucky to be placed in the house of a rich Dutch family in the Silicon Valley, where I just saw beautiful things, met rich kids and had such fun that when I flew back home to Brazil I cried every single day for the next 6 months. My parents always gave me the best life a child could have in a country like Brazil in terms of education and affection. But I had been so spoiled in California that I could not even recognise all the flaws the US, just like any other country, also have. Brazil was just the poor, chaotic place I didn’t want to be. Back to Sao Paulo, I was a pain in the ass to all my Brazilian friends and family who patiently waited until that phase passed. Remembering that now, I can see what the immense demonstration of love their patience represented. Then, one day in 1992 I turned on my TV in São Paulo and I saw the 1991 video of cops beating Rodney King over and over again. I was shocked by all that violence very similar to what favelas in Brazil still often witness nowadays. 
28 years have passed and after having studied, worked and lived in the US, I still love the country, but I am not that clueless teenager anymore. I have seen the ghettos in Chicago, the segregation, the poverty and more recently how the country has been facing the pandemic. I have seen George Floyd’s death and the behavior of the US conservative government. Then I compare all that with Brazil: its racism, the favelas, a conservative government, which lies with such ease and tend to the authoritarianism, the thousands of corona deaths (which could have been avoided if it weren’t for an unprepared health system), a president who seems to think it is ok for all those people to die since most of them are poor and black… Then I realize how foolish I have been one day to have thought that the US and Brazil were so different from each other. 
. . . . . . . . . #storyteller #writer #timessquare #newyork #people #travel (at Times Square, New York City) https://www.instagram.com/p/CA5zDLzh1H4/?igshid=75xl780ke51g

I wish a great  MOTHER’S DAY to all the moms in the world. A special thanks to my mom who is in complete isolation in São Paulo and thousands of miles away from Northern Germany, where I am. This could be much more emotionally difficult if it were not for our amazing technological devices, which allow us to talk to her multiple times a day. When all this corona shit started hitting Europe and weeks before it hit Brazil, we all decided that it would be safer if my mom would stay in complete isolation at her apartment in São Paulo. She thought it sucked especially not to be able to meet, hold and kiss her little granddaughter, which is the thing she loves the most (both the kid and hugging and kissing her) but her survival instincts were flashing red lights all over her brain for a very simple reason: she has asthma for as long as she can remember. Plus she is almost 70. From day one on, she has been extremely resilient. She orders much of her groceries. She is lucky to have a very reliable produce supplier who brings very high quality fresh stuff right to her door. When Tuesday comes, she has it all prepared: her mask, the mask for the delivery boy, her disinfecting spray, her googles and her gloves. The delivery boy likes to get a mask every time he delivers there because in a poor country like Brazil, it is not easy to get one for free.  So the other day, my mom decided to also give him a pair of gloves. His next delivery was coincidently down that same street to my sister’s place. My brother-in-law went to the building’s entrance to pick up the things just to find the young man with a mask and his new gloves on. The boy said: “Look! I’ve got it all from your mother-in-law! Cool right?”. For him, it seemed to have been the best tip ever!  This picture was taken NOT in Portugal, but in São Paulo, Brazil. This little Cafe has the best Pastéis de Nata I’ve ever tried in my life and on the day I took this picture (last year) my mom was with me! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. #sweet #food #mothersday #sweets #foodporn #pastry #pasteldenata #stories #wanderlust #writing #writer #trip #family #storytelling #story #isolation #stayhome (at São Paulo, Brazil) https://www.instagram.com/p/CABNvhdBzjN/?igshid=tuxzvtte4v1e

There is somebody I love who believes Corona is a hoax and It’s tearing me apart. He is someone who I’ve always loved almost as much as my dad, with whom I grew up with and who taught me a lot about unconditional love and generosity.  He and his wife live in Brazil, are retired, have NO private health insurance and are over 60 years old. They are not rich but also not poor. THEY ARE ABLE TO STAY HOME! The wife, has a self immune illness being at high doses of immunosuppressants. Despite that they BOTH prefer to believe that all the news, pictures and measures around the world are too dramatic. That everything is just a way governments found to steal money from the people by buying medical supplies at inflated prices. Yes, corruption may even be happening in many places, but it is just one tiny consequence of the real catastrophe going on right now.  We have all tried to alert them of how serious it is. I have, several times. Out of despair I called their daughter who lives far away only to hear from her: “There’s nothing more I can do, I am already preparing myself psychologically that I will lose one or both of them”. Then I hang up and started getting furious. Yes, I know it’s their opinion and that I am judging them. I am judging their unbelievable selfishness towards the front line workers out there working under incredible pressure. I am judging them for the total disregard of all the efforts millions are making by staying home. I am also judging how reckless it is to be a potential spreader of a disease killing thousands daily. Most of all, I feel hurt by their lack of consideration for all the love I invest in them. The pic above was taken last fall in Manchester, very early in the morning. I can imagine that its streets are probably empty only with the essential workers around, just like in this photo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
. #travel #travelphotography #feelings #writing #shortstories #stories #cities #writer #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #uk #england #photo #color #colors (at Manchester, United Kingdom) https://www.instagram.com/p/B_77lUgjWQS/?igshid=1bl0qk1rietth

“I try so hard to save the lives of the people coming to my hospital, with all my strength, because I know that person is the love of someone else out there: a father, a mother, a husband, a wife, a son…” These were the words of a Brazilian doctor fighting on the front line against the corona. His words touched me deep down on my soul. This past weeks have been even more difficult for me as the pandemic is spreading with scary speed within my country and fellow citizens. Every time I see the Brazilian news I wanna cry as much as when the virus started killing thousands in Europe, where I live. But for me, of course, there is a personal factor in Brazil: the country where I was born and raised, the country where my beloved family still lives, the country with millions always trying to survive hunger, poverty, lack of potable water, or simply the next day. Most of you must know what I mean: we are all aware of the many flaws our countries have but there is an unconditional affection we have for their culture, their people, their food, their language, and even their flaws. To make matters worse we have an irresponsible asshole as a President. He was yesterday enquired about the fact that Brazil has reached more than 5.000 deaths and responded “So what? What can I do about it?”. This same asshole who has said that the Covid-19 is nothing more than a “little flu” and that social distancing is non-sense. I cannot but ask myself: does he even have a soul? But then, at the same time I see a man like the doctor I mentioned in the first paragraph of this post and I thank the universe that there are people like him all over the world, despite the simultaneous existence of assholes like Jair Bolsonaro, the Brazilian President. PS: the pic above was taken some years ago in João Pessoa, State of Paraíba, Brazil. . 
#memories 
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. #travelphotography #family #friends #quarantine #coronavirus #friendship #stories #friends #depression #wanderlust #writersofinstagram #writing #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #photooftheday #beach #sunset (at João Pessoa, Brazil)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_m0R_FhvaD/?igshid=10eb9u3wxitnt

Just the idea of passing corona to another and being responsible for someone else’s death freaks me out, in fact more than the idea of getting corona myself, which of course would already suck big time! So I really don’t get why some people who are no essential workers still insist to socialize. Look, I know there is huge mass of poverty in the world including the country where I was born and raised and I recognize the huge privilege I have being able to stay home without the risk of not having to offer my kids what to eat. But those ARE NOT the people I am talking about here.   Everyday I see in the news groups of people in parks in Germany or in England. Or the 70 American spring breakers who thought it would be super cool to fly to Mexico for the weekend, more than half of which tested positive once they got back home. Or the several Italian Mayors having to go online and scold people for not respecting the self isolation rules. Or the irresponsible attitude of the president of my Brazil saying that “it is no more than a little flu” in a nationally broadcast speech. Don’t they see what is going on? Don’t they know that there are more than 1,2 million people already infected that we know of (and many more we still don’t know about). Haven’t they heard of all the 66,000 people who have succumbed to this virus? Sadly they do know about all that, but they have chosen to ignore that behind each one of those victims there is a family mourning at this exact moment.  In my last post I gave some examples of solidarity. But this time I decided to talk about the lack thereof, which we can also often find. Luckily these cases are a minority. The picture above was taken in Spain last year, another country very close to my heart and with thousands still dying every week.  . #travel . . #travelphotography #travelblogger #travelgram #viaje #instatravel #stories #vacation #turismo #wanderlust #tourism #tourist #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #photooftheday #spain #barcelona #solidarity #corona #sculpture #jesus #españa (at Barcelona, Spain) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-mViewhhbo/?igshid=kifkms59fjvk

“It is as if Mother Nature had grounded us for being so naughty” I saw this but I can’t remember where. I found it an interesting perspective of what is happening to us all. Especially after having seen how the canals in Venice are crystal clear with fish and dolphins swimming around. Or after reading about how pollution levels have dropped massively in the cities where people are self-isolating or by simply looking at the sky out of my own window. But the cost is so high and getting higher by the minute not only for all the lives lost but also for its collateral damage: mourning, distress, anxiety, depression and the impossibility to show love by means of a simple hug, a kiss or even a handshake.  But humans have also a huge resilience capacity. Huge is also their capacity to come up with other ways to demonstrate love: the Italian retired elderly doctor who decides to join a hospital to help fighting the virus; all the young neighbours offering help to their older counterparts without even knowing them, the countless voluntary workers all over the favelas of Rio de Janeiro, trying to help society’s most marginalised, the Syrian refugee family in São Paulo donating meals to the ones in need. And these are just a few examples in a sea of empathy, generosity and hope.     This picture was taken some days ago in the rural area of Northern Germany, only some meters away from where I live. We can still leave our houses for fresh air. Since our surroundings have more cows and sheeps than people, my husband and I have no problem keeping the distance from others. The small difference however is the weather, always so gloomy and rainy in this part of Europe seems to have cleared up, surprising us with many glorious sunny days but also reminding us that we cannot enjoy it as we would normally do with loved ones. Maybe Mother Nature has indeed grounded us…   . #travel . . #travelphotography #travelblogger #travelling #travelgram #viaje #instatravel #stories #vacation #turismo #wanderlust #tourism #tourist #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #photooftheday #germany #northerngermany #schleswigholstein #sunshine #nature #countryside #corona (at Husberg, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-ewah8hPxn/?igshid=1jnrttkgnprqc

I would like to hear from you guys how are you coping with the self-isolation. My husband and I are able to stay at home and we recognize the luxury it represents. Especially when we see all the heroic crowd of Docs, Nurses, Cashiers, Trash Collectors, Police Officers and many other flesh and blood professionals, who also have home and families waiting for them. But we understand that right now staying home is the best we can, although it can be frustrating not being able to help more. We only leave the house to go grocery shopping once a week not only for us but for my in-laws as well. We also only do that during the supermarket last opening hour when it’s emptier. Every time, we try to buy a little something to the employees and cashiers of the store we normally go, just as a “thank you” for their work. Last time I bought them a box of my fave chocolate. We then leave the groceries of my husband’s parents in front of their door, ring the bell just to say hello from the outside. It is kinda sad but we still consider ourselves lucky.  As of this moment more than 7.500 people have already died in Italy. For this reason, I chose again a picture of Italy taken last year in Bologna. And by looking at this picture, the glorious sun reflecting against the amazing Santo Stefano Cathedral, the blue sky one can only find in that country, the piazzas full of people and joy, I realize how many of my best memories were from Italy. I miss it so badly and I hope with all my heart that all this nightmare ends soon. . #travel . . #travelphotography #travelblogger #travelling #travelgram #viaje #instatravel #stories #vacation #turismo #wanderlust #tourism #tourist #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #holiday #photooftheday #italy #italia #bologna #church #cathedral #sunshine (at Bologna, Italy) https://www.instagram.com/p/B-M1ZWdBmzj/?igshid=zpk0ntm4chhv

“Basically, for the first time in history, I can save my life and potentially someone else’s too by being a piece of shit laying on the couch all day watching netflix and playing videogames.” I am quoting this genius statement, which viktorVHS wrote on Reddit some days ago. In times of fear, humour may be the only thing left to us mortals. And let me tell you: mortal is how I have been feeling during the past weeks! Despite the funny tone of the above quote, there is nothing truer about it. I would even add that by staying home, I will be saving my life and probably the life of many others. Today I decide to pick a picture of Italy, nowadays the most affected country after china with 21,257 cases and 1,441 deaths and still counting. But I wanted a picture that reminded us of the beauty of that amazing country with its magnificent monuments and jolly people, its delicious food and wine, just to mention a few of its talents. I hope we all can freely and fearlessly fly there and to many other places again soon. I hope that everybody in the world who got this fucking virus recover well and gets healthy soon. I hope everybody be conscious of how important it is to stop contagion NOW. If you still think it is “just the flu” or that it only “affects old people” please try to inform yourself better and read the thousands of testimonials available on the web of people in Italy who lost their loved ones and were not even able to attend their funeral. Just as a starter I would suggest the testimonial of Christina Higgins, an American living in Bergamo (https://www.facebook.com/cristina.higgins.7/posts/10157623212885189). 
So, yes please stay calm, but also please stay healthy, and most important please stay home. . 
#travel
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. #travelphotography #travelblogger #travelling #travelgram #viaje #stories #vacation #wanderlust #tourism #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #holiday #photooftheday #italy #corona #europe #staystrong #stayhealthy #coronavirus #poppi #castle (at Castello di Poppi)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9wgsb7Kblz/?igshid=1cf6gp9x4ihjj

Today’s post features an “American” account, which made it to my top 10 favorite soon after we started following each other. Drew and Tam (@oopswrongturntravel) are from California. I fell in love with the Golden State when I was 15 and lived there as an exchange student. By the end of the period, I did not want to go back home and when I got to São Paulo, I was depressed for an entire year. Despite my love for California, I surprisingly have no decent picture of that region, reason why I am posting New York as a proxy… This is Park Avenue, where I worked for years. Back to Drew and Tam: what do I know about them? They are both teachers who love traveling. Recently, I realized that most of their posts are written by Tam, as well as all the very thoughtful and graceful comments to the posts of other fellow Instagrammers. As one can see by their pictures, they are especially fond of Safaris in Africa, which always makes me so jealous of how close they get to those amazing animals. They have a Dalmatian, Holly, a rescue dog, which they adopted years ago. Holly seems to have been quite mistreated in the past but now was lucky enough to have found this loving family. Why are they among my top 10? Well, their pictures are simply breathtaking. Sometimes, I have the impression I can hear those lions roar! If it weren’t enough, by what Tam writes in her post and her comments to other’s posts it is easy to see the sensitive and delicate person behind those words. As you may have noticed, I am now devoting an entire post to each one of my next 8 faves. Reason: in my last post, where I talked about @crazyfamilytravellers and @mariadecesari I felt extremely restricted by the Instagram’s word limit. There was so much more I wanted to say but could not! . 
#travel
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. #travelphotography #travelblogger #travelling #travelgram #instatravel #stories #vacation #wanderlust #tourist #trip #traveling #traveler #storytelling #storyteller #writer #unitedstates #newyork #friends #friendship (at New York, New York)
https://www.instagram.com/p/B9NOxPYqLYh/?igshid=eg88g7w2t05i

Picking up from where my last post left off, today I will start presenting some of my top 10 fave Followers. In order to illustrate this, I have chosen a picture taken in Faenza, Italy, in one of the most impressive pastry shops I’ve ever seen. Just like all the cakes and pudins above, the people below are really sweet, each one in their own special way. • 1. @crazyfamilytravellers I actually “met” Johnny and his family on Tumblr (not Tinder, T-u-m-b-l-r !), but our “friendship” grew stronger on Instagram where I am more active. What do I know about them: they have a super cool blog (crazyfamilytravellers.blogspot.com) where they post travel tips, specially with kids. They are from Greece from where they always post their paradisiac beaches, mountains and towns. Why are they among my top 10? It is amazing that they are not afraid of traveling everywhere with their kids (two of which twins, about 6 years old). I really admire that since through their trips Johnny and his wife are shaping the personality and education of their kids in the most positive way.  • 2. @mariadecesari Maria is an extremely well-educated and well-cultivated lady from Rimini. What do I know about her: she writes in English with great ease, especially for her generation. I actually don’t really know her age, but in one of our conversations she gave this little hint that in the Post-2nd World War she was a teen. She has a son who plays the French Horn and must be super good at it as he is always on tour. This is great as she always posts pictures of his amazing trips and gets to know the world through his eyes. Why is she among my top 10? The fact that I love her country helps, but is not the main reason. You can have very deep discussions with her about poetry, literature, movies and all that in the very restricting Instagram “comments area”. As I always fly to Italy, sometimes I feel like sending her a message saying I’m coming to Rimini for a coffee to me her in person. But then I get afraid that she will get scared thinking I am a stalker and just block me from her account, taking away her amazing comments to my posts! . #travel #food #followers #friendship #friends #italy (at Faenza) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8_6sT4I25P/?igshid=svncolyy7trt