The HotShot - Food Fun With Chris

The HotShot - Der Teufelskerl

This is a simple food that I first knew more than 30 years ago. In the restaurant where I had my first job ever in service, one could order a meal for the small hunger, and that was this. Burger on toast, gratinated with a thick cover of cheese and, that's the special, this crafted devil's sauce.
Preparing it's just as easy as cooking water. You can watch it in the video below. Have fun!

Seal of the week

Sunday 7 am

This shot sealed the entire week with an incredible kind of beauty.

Last Week's On-The-Go Shots

A tiny glimpse into what's came along these days.

Whisper On The Go

The Whisper Of Silence

Got silence in mind
And what does this tell me?
Words are answers, are closed rooms.
Silence opens the door to new adventures.
It all starts with listening.
Be quiet and move up to the state of awareness.
The stillness is questioning itself.
And it seems to happen out from the nothing
That answers appear.
All you ever questioned, is answering in a whisper.
You can get if you're careful and ready:
Pick it up, wherever you go.

The Ride - Between Heaven & Earth

How to make dreams come true? Working hard on it? Put every effort on it to get through the obstacles which sticking between you and your desire? Asking people to help, starting researches how others had made it and - all that stuff you got told it should work more or less?

Don’t know an all working answer on that. I got different experiences. Sometimes worked that one, some other times another thing. It seems to give no rule for this, no formula. And sometimes it happens after a while when you had stayed close to your dream and pictured it in your mind again and again with the brightest colors, and with all senses as co-workers, to get a pre-feeling of the event.

Maybe my ride between heaven and earth had been a result of the last method. Honestly, not a real method, a non-method, if to say so. But finally, there was the result I desired.

People wanna fly as long as humankind is existing, and so do I. There’s no secret or surprise about it. And to be honest, for me, the moment when a plane jumps off from the runway, losing the grip of asphalt under its wheels, has always been one of the exciting things I experienced and it is still. But that’s another thing.

What I dreamed about for a long time, was taking a ride on a helicopter. I had no idea what this would feel like. But I was curious and wanted to figure it out for myself. All I missed until that one special day was the right opportunity to make it real. To be honest, again, I never took steps to fulfill my desired dream. But as you know, and to repeat what’s been told above in other words, they say, if you stay close to your wishes and desires, they may become true.

What could be a better time to get lifted up into the blue summer sky than this amazing weekend filled with first appearances:

First time in Porto.

First time crossing the river Douro.

First time at the western Atlantic coast.

The first time “Franchesinha”, the special food from Porto.

And, last but not least, the first time in my life helicopter ride.

As you could read in the two formerly blogposts, the weekend was perfect. And so was the Sunday, when it came to entering the flight machine and lifting up into the deep blue above.

Even for that kind of language acrobat, how some people call me - is it all the other than easy to describe the feeling when the ride starts and you’re feeling weightless between heaven and earth. Which pol are you really closer to while riding helicopter? Surely, measured in meters the sky is farther away than that Heli can go up. But the feeling is no longer earthly at this time. I felt much closer to heaven.

See some views I took from above. I know quite well, that I’m not able to ignite the same feeling in you. But, believe me, it was an amazing and exciting experience!

Find below some pictures taken with the view down from the sky. If you’re clicking on the first photo, a kind of gallery will open to let you browse through the content more comfortable.

Video: How to prepare marinated stewed pepper

First time in my life I recorded a cooking video. Wow. This amazing vacation week has been truly a time of first shots. Hope you'll enjoy it. I can tell you for sure: The meal you will see get prepared in the little video is worth give it a shot.

Got This Bonfire-Feeling

Bonfire-Feeling

(To make it clear: We weren't allowed to get a fire running in the backyard of this lovely holiday house. But when the night came in, we were sitting around a table under a summer night sky and shared all one can share. Just like sitting around a bonfire to share stories.)

Sitting around the flickering flames. All eyes tired but open, because everyone is excited to get the whole stuff of the night. It’s a great feeling. It takes me back to my roots somewhere in time, somewhen far beyond that incredible horizon that is lying behind me.
Bonfire feeling.

In those days of my childhood, it was a privilege to be a part of such an event. I couldn’t await the night to come and when darkness, at last, was hiding the world we walked out to a special place. Someone had prepared it with a large stack of wood and another one used a spark to set in on fire. Shadows began to dance and the well-known surroundings by daylight became mysterious and scary. To make us all feel better, we shared stories. Some of them from storybooks, some of them from the life we lived and others again from fantasy. We pulled sausages on sticks and held it near the dancing flames to get ourselves a proper night meal. That was once …

But, as told before, on this night we had no bonfire. Anyway, the same feeling caught me as it did before in my younger days.
After a delicious barbecue, we sat around the table and were listening to the silence of the summer night. From time to time a single dog was barking at the waxing moon. Silent cats moved like around us like shadows, took a seat at the pool and watched themselves appearing on the water surface.
Someone started to share a story, a single picture from the past. The next followed and the next again. Little story-pieces like links of a chain to connect our thoughts and souls.

Sitting around a bonfire is not about getting a lonely feeling inside. It is about sharing. Sharing food and drinks, sharing stories and sharing a mind. It’s about, to be a part of something greater than yourself. And it doesn’t matter how many people are there with you. A bigger group is giving a bigger group-identity. But that’s not important. You can build a “WE” with only two people. What makes the difference is how you will approach the scene. Are you open-minded as well as open-hearted? That’s the point.

“Let’s have some music!” somebody said.
Great idea, songs are always welcome companions at a bonfire. All it took was that Bluetooth speaker on the table and a connected smartphone with a streaming service activated. I can’t remember who gave the first hint, but once started, one song followed by another for hours. Whenever an idea popped up in anybody’s mind they shared it and I added it to the playing list. I wished I had stored this special collection but I missed it out. But, if you like to do so, you can pick some examples of my all-time favorites from the following list:

Every single song is about thousands of stories. The first guy who shared his story with his song is the author of the lyrics. The next one and with this the first interpreter of it is the composer of the music. Once born into the world the song starts running his stories for every listener. Someday I read a quote that books and stories can be seen as mirrors and windows. What a nice idea! And, of course, it is the same with songs: They are working as mirrors and windows for everyone. And for everyone a little bit different. Nobody is seeing the same things in a mirror, like this guy next to him. And nobody is discovering the same things completely like his neighbor when looking outside a window.

Let's have songs and let's share stories! Let's get this Bonfire-Feeling! From time to time.

Porto - A Must See As I Now By Now

The Whole Story Within A Single Picture

Only one day has been enough. O no, don't misunderstand me. Not enough to discover this place. But it became clear within less than two hours that this precious little town is absolutely worth to see, to check, to know.
It gives me a feeling as shown in the picture above. The floating river under a wide and endless sky; a bridge to connect opposites; some free in the air whispering leaves and an incoming plane that rules the little story I had the luck to catch with the cam.
As you see, this little picture could tell the whole story of my first weekend in Porto. What more to say?

Sao Bento Train Station in Porto

First, we made it to Sao Bento train station in the heart of Porto. This impressive building from the beginning of the 20th century is breathing the charming nature that results from the well-done combination of ancient stuff together with modern times. The walls inside are filled with historical scenes made of the famous blue tiles here in Portugal. And, because it is a terminus which lanes leading directly into a tunnel when trains are leaving, it looks like that one could jump right into a time travel from here.

Time Tunnel?

Outside on the streets, the summer embraced the city and we followed our own steps without a plan or even a direction. When on vacation it doesn’t matter where you go to enjoy a place. What counts is, that you’re going. Eyes open, heart open. And each breath you're taking in should fill you up with the special smell and taste of the place you currently are.

Porto got its own hot spots, its special “must-seen-places” like every other place in the world. In the town at the Douro estuary, these are, to give some examples

• Luís I Bridge
• Clérigos Church + Clérigos Tower &, of course
• The Catedral Sé
• ...

But it is worth to keep the eyes open at every step you take. Not only that the town is partially grounded on hills and got its ups & downs. Sometimes a glimpse into a street or alley seems like a look into a gorge. And if you stay careful, you may discover one or the other precious pearl in the facades.

As human beings, we’re tending to compare things all the time. We’re comparing the present day with something we kept in mind about our past, or, maybe, we do it hard to ourselves with a possible future (the one that never comes, surely). We are comparing the things that appear right in front of us at the current time with those we remember and try to fit it in ready-made drawers. But that’s not possible always and often it makes no sense to try it. Every single moment is not repeatable, it’s particular and special. The only things that are repeating all the time are those in our minds.

For me, as a guy who felled in love with Lisbon, the Great Beauty, Porto is different, of course. This incomparable feeling, the well-known “Get Lost” I had again and again in the capital of Portugal, didn’t catch me in Porto. This might be for several reasons. I wasn’t alone at my walk. It took not hours after hours. Maybe that one never gets lost at the first approach to stay save in mind, stay aware of what is going to show up. (It’s a kind of limbic-thing, our reptile brain is looking for some dangerous things all the time.)

For me, Lisbon is always like a frenzy. I can’t get enough of it and have to take a dose of it from time to time. But this is a healthy addiction, of course. One of the kinds that won’t make you sick. Saying this, I think Porto is giving you a kick. It comes over you and refreshes you. And yes, given this, it is worth to see it. Not only once. And so I will come back. Maybe ...

Another first approach

Finally, today I will make it to Porto. For the first time ever since I came here to Lisbon 2 1/2 years ago.

Forecast

And, to be honest, I'm really excited.

I'll meet my German friends from Berlin. They're gonna pick me up later this day and together we will take the ride up to the north.

The best of this plan is:

- I got no plan.

- It's all not in my hand, I simply join the action and dive deep into this adventure.

But, to be honest, there are some suggestions in my mind. I think a wine tasting session would be great and I'm looking forward to trying my first ever Francesinha there, the "Little French", that bumps up one's belly and is named as the most delicious food from Porto.

See you!

When it's almost gone

When Summer bursts out to its fullest,

Is life as quiet as never before and after.

No question left open,

No answer unspoken.

Within this all embracing silence.

Can you hear, what you can't hear?

Is there a touch of what you never been touched?

Did you accomplished, what you could never imagine?

I'm asking myself, but sometimes,

This nobody who doesn't want to talk to me is not there.

I'm running in circles but only to see:

Circles will never close.

They're running round after round up or down the next level.

Where will we be, when the summer's gone?

Summer's almost gone ...