Lisboa

travel

Travel – Darwin’s Cafe, Lisbon

August 3, 2015

This marks the last of my Lisbon blog posts, but it doesn’t mean it’s of any less importance. I’ve heard about this restaurant quite a few times before but for a variety of reasons, never got a chance to visit. This time there was such an opportunity, a nice family lunch, to eat good food, excellent wine and even better conversations.

What makes Darwin’s Cafe so special? There is, of course, the food, the quality and variety of the wine menu but also the fact that this restaurant is named after the English naturalist scientist Charles Darwin. Charles Darwin is better known for his theory on the evolution of the species and the choice of name isn’t anywhere near dictated by chance. You see, this restaurant is integrated on a much larger complex, that is dedicated to the research and advancement of Science, the Champalimaud Foundation.

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Top 5 things to do in Lisbon

April 25, 2014

I was asked to do a top 5 list of things about Lisbon, which is my hometown, so these are the ones I can recommend from my latest trip there. As you will see, I managed to do some of my favourite things: eat, drink and look at pretty things.

EAT AND DRINK AT A TASCA- All over the city

Eat at a tasca (a kind of cheap local restaurant) home cooked style meals for just a few euros. With a glass of Portuguese wine of course.

A GINGINHA – Rossio, in front of the National Theatre

Have a little glass of ginginha, a sweet liqueur made with cherries. It is sweet and very traditional – this particular shop in downtown Rossio, is fairly old, opened in 1840. Make sure you go there as the new owners of the building want to get rid of it and you might not get another chance if that goes ahead.

LUVARIA ULISSES – Rua do Carmo

Pay a visit to Luvaria Ulisses at Rua do Carmo (also downtown), a tiny little shop famous for its beautiful and well crafted gloves. This shop opened in 1925 and still conserves its original charm, as you can see in the photos.

SANTINI ICE CREAM – Rua do Carmo

A few meters up from Luvaria Ulisses you will find Santini, an ice cream shop where you can buy italian style gelato in a variety of flavours. Unmissable!

EMBAIXADA – Principe Real

Visit Embaixada in Principe Real, a small luxe shopping centre inside an old 19th century palace, with Portuguese brands and handpicked designs. Even if you don’t want to spend money, the whole architecture and original decorations are worth a visit and there’s plenty of original shoes and clothes to look at too. I’ve recently shared some pictures about one of the shops there, Shoes Closet.

These are my top finds from my latest trip and I’m sure I’ll have more the next time I come over. Which one is your favourite in this batch?

*This post has been made in collaboration with Giff Gaff.
**Drink responsibly!

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What I wore in Lisbon

April 16, 2014

Some of it, anyway. After a while it got a bit boring to take outfit photos in a hurry because it was raining or the light was too crappy… I thought I should relax and not think about it instead. Here’s the few I did register.

As you can see, we got totally caught up in the rain. I am drenched and huffing and puffing too, as climbing the stairs up to the 6th floor is no easy business. Details: Green cardigan – Zara, Dress – sample, c/o Dorothy Perkins (from the vouchercodes.co.uk event), Necklace– c/o Name the Necklace, Shoes – Matalan , Nail Wraps – Machesa Fashion for L’Oreal

I bought this jumper because Mr D’s grandparents back in the US have an adorable hairy chihuahua named Lovey. I miss them so it helps me remind me of them. Details: Cardigan – Zara, Skirt – Monki (swap with Lili), Hairy Chihuahua Sweat – H&M, Glitter shoes – Springfield, Hair Bow– Matalan

The light was fading fast on this one, even the details came out awful, but I have to show you my Star Wars tee. I just love it. Details: Green cardigan – Zara, Star Wars Tunic – H&M, Leggings – Tezenis (I had to pick them up in a hurry when I realized I couldn’t bend without showing my arse to the world haha), Necklace– c/o Name the Necklace, Shoes – Matalan.

Bonus: my very first video. Just some outtakes of Mr D and I walking around, the rain and some more rain. The music is by The Japanese Girl and you can download the whole album for free.

Which one is your favourite?

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Happy Anniversary – 3 years!

April 11, 2014

For the first time in our lives, Mr D and I spent our wedding anniversary in the same country and better still, in the city where it all started, Lisbon.

We didn’t do all that much for our anniversary, just stayed home for a long time avoiding the rain, for the most part. But it was very nice to just sit around with no place to be and no stress, just hanging out. As we still don’t live together because of paperwork, just spending some time together not doing anything is a luxury.

Mr D cooked for me, which is something I always miss and almost demanded for. After we left the house we headed to Miradouro das Portas do Sol, one of the many viewpoints of Lisbon. There was a particular motive for this – it is close to home and one of the places that we had heard are now bearing love lockers. Lisbonites can’t put love lockers on the bridge and have to make do with the viewpoints. We put in ours and despite not being on a bridge, I still think it’s a nice place to be, overlooking the river. We hope to leave a few more lockers scattered around the world now!

For the rest of the day we just walked around holding hands, dined at the vegetarian restaurant Terra and went to Pavilhao Chines for cocktails where the nice waiter snapped a quick photo of us with my phone.

3 years of marriage, after we’ve know each other for a couple of years before. 3 years might not seem like much but in our situation feels like an eternity. the 3 year mark is also very important as from now on we can start applying for visas and passports as spouses. Hopefully by the end of this year we can both stay legally in the same country.

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Lisbon Street Art

April 2, 2014

Lisbon Street Art

Lisbon is one of the European cities that are worth visiting just for the street art alone. The amount of good quality murals can be astounding and well worth seeing. Every time I go back there I come back with a bunch of new stuff to look at. These were taken mostly along the river and at LX Factory. Enjoy!

Favourite places in Lisbon