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Lisbon

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The top 5 things I miss the most about Portugal

September 4, 2013

I am not one to complain and spend my days sighing for the life I left back home in Portugal (otherwise, why would I have moved, right?) but there are always things that I feelare missing. During my latest visit the other week I thought I’d show them to you, in no particular order.

The bread 

Omg, how I miss the bread. Not that there aren’t nice breads in England but I have to say that the bread that can be found in Portugal is in general a lot better. (sorry!) My favourite is from Alentejo, a region in the South of Portugal and I think the best way to describe it would be that it is a sort of sour dough. When it’s freshly baked the outside crust is brown and crispy and the inside white and soft. It goes well with virtually everything – butter, cheese or  even dipped in good olive oil. Deliciousness!

 The light

The light has to be one of the main things I have been missing in the last 3 years. Not only because photos look a lot nicer when the light is bright but also because of my mood.  This past Winter was hard and long and my happiness levels were crumbling down – it was difficult not to feel crappy when it was cold and miserable for so long… I had never thought how the lack of direct sunlight would be affecting me so much until the Summer arrived and I had an immediate mood boost. Maybe I should get one of those special lamps to keep me perked up through the Winter.

The seafood and the hundreds of ways off cooking salted cod

I think the title says everything. We are a country by the sea with warm weather in the Summer -the best combination for having delicious meals al fresco of all sorts of grilled fish and seafood. Our national dish is also the salted cod and we really have a gazillion way of preparing it, from simply boiled to other more sophisticated and inventive ways with sauces, and side dishes. You really have to go there to try it! The photo above was one of my lunches, of grilled squid, which I never really have the opportunity of eating here.

The fantastic views all over Lisbon

 Not everywhere will have the same view as above but as the city sprawls over a few hills, you always have a different perspective wherever you are. This makes for a lot of beautiful views and there are a lot of view points with gardens and seating you can take advantage of, particularly in the Summer. The area of the country where I am is flat as a pancake and that makes for a fairly boring landscape sometimes. Maybe I’m too used to living in a hilly city, I don’t know.

Friends and Family

Last but not least, of course. I’ve been here for 3 years now and I am happy to report that I still have good and close friends back at home. You can see me and my friend in the above photo – we got the Saudade tattoo exactly one year before we took this photo on our trip to the beach. Distance means nothing when someone is close to your heart.

Stay tuned for the next and last post on my latest trip to Portugal – more adventures and outfits coming your way!

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Portugal Week part 1

September 2, 2013

With this post I inaugurate Portugal Week here on the blog. Last week I spent a few days in my home country and came back with loads of photos! So today I will be showing you what I did and wore on Saturday and Sunday.

Ready to go, on my hotel room at the airport. As soon as I arrived Mr D and I went for a walk around town, to see what is going on and what has changed. A lot has changed but most things are pretty much the same.

The cat with the hat.

A traditional grocery store in Bairro Alto. Most of the shelving is still the wooden original.

The typical cobble stone sidewalks. Very pretty to look at but terrible on footwear. Forget about heels!

The decorations from the typical Summer festivities are still up. they’re all very colourful, just the way I like it.

My travel attire: Primark skirt and headband, Hello Kitty tee that I don’t remember where I got it from, I’ve had it for too many years.

Saturday night I had a little get together with my friends and it was great. It was lovely to see everyone. I changed into something nicer and I wore a Topshop dress I bought from someone at work (I think it’s seconds), the flower crown is Primark, the sandals are from Topshop but they were thrifted on my trip to Sheffield. The lovely little necklace was a present from Mr D’s grandma and it is a Hershey’s Kiss.

The next day Mr D and I joined family and friends for a nice lunch in Sintra, at the Orixas Brazilian restaurant. I had never been there before and it was a nice surprise – the food was tasty, the desserts buffet amazing and the restaurant itself very interesting looking.

Fantastic Egyptian art tile panel in an old house. I’m not sure when the house was built though but it may be late 19th, early 20th century.

After lunch we made our way to Guincho beach as I haven’t been there in years and Mr D never visited before. As you can see in the photo, I am doing the Marilyn because it is sooooo windy. It is always windy there and that is why you can see people doing kite surfing or why there are windsurfing competitions regularly.

After our tour of Guincho and Cascais we were treated to cocktails at the Estoril Palacio Hotel, where my friends were staying. Mr D had the pina colada, I had the cosmo. So nice!

I couldn’t resist a photo in that fantastic huge mirror at the hotel restroom. It really is a beautiful old hotel, where royalty used to stay at. The dress I wore that day was from TK Maxx and the sunglasses are Pucci. The sandals are the same (I only took one pair of shoes with me, I know, unbelievable).

After we got back to Lisbon we joined friends for a meal at the illegal chinese restaurant in Mouraria. It never disappoints and as always had really nice food – tofu, prawns, pak choi… the works. After that we went to Santini for some gelato and I have to say it was the best I’ve had in a while. Santini had an ice cream shop in Estoril since I can remember (I just checked and it’s been there for 60 years) and was opened by an Italian man named Santini. Just before I left for England, they opened a shop right in the centre of Lisbon and finally I was able to pay them a visit and eat some deliciousness.

I had fig and cantaloupe flavourson a cone. Yum yum! After all this we just walked home and went to sleep.

I’m joining the party at Judith’s Hat Attack! Hope you have enjoyed the part one of my adventures in Portugal. Stay tuned for the visit to the flea market and other places!

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My 5 top places I’d love to go back to.

June 5, 2013

If you’ve been reading this page for long enough you know I am a huge fan of travelling. I enjoy going to new places but there are a few that have left a mark or the curiosity to know more about them. Here are my top 5 places I would love to go back to. Which are yours?

New York

So many memories, so many interesting places, so many things happening. It’s the city that never sleeps and where anything can happen. I like to go there to see my friends as much as possible, I wish I could go more often. It is also the city where Mr D and I got married and that also makes it extra special. It’s a very stylish city although very different from London, it has a more grown up style, the way I see it. I hope that the next time I go I don’t get caught up in a hurricane.

Lisbon

It’s my hometown. Although I am not very interested in living there at the moment, I always like going back to see my family and friends. Like I usually say, it sucks to live there but it’s really nice for a holiday. It’s a city with beautiful light, that is one of the things I miss the most here in grey and overcast England. You can go out and stay out until the wee hours of the night dancing. Dining out is also great- there’s always really good food and not too expensive. And did I mention my friends? It’s the best part! If you are visiting in the Summer don’t forget your sandals and light dresses, it gets really hot and not all places are blessed with AC.

Amsterdam

As some of you might remember, I went there last year to visit my friend Sofia. I didn’t stay for too long (it was just a couple of days) but I fell in love with the city. The streets and canals are beautiful and quaint, with so much history and details to look at (as well as a lot of extremely good looking men).  I also thought it was fascinating that everyone goes everywhere on bicycle. It was the perfect city to shop vintage, with a large variety of shops on offer and affordable prices. I might just go on Venere and start planning another visit sometime in the near future, I don’t think I’ve seen enough of it!

The Alps

I’ve been to the Alps twice, on skiing trips organized by the company I work for. I was lucky enough to work with friends and enjoyed spending time with them there, learning how to ski, taking in the breathtaking views and just frolicking in the snow. I don’t miss the fashions – the snow and the negative temperatures mean you have to wear bulky trousers and jackets but a lady knows when to adapt her style to the environment. I think the Alps made an impression on me not only because of the amazing landscapes but also because it’s where I learned how to ski – which was a real challenge for such an unfit person as me. But well worth it, I enjoyed every second of it and would love to go back.

Brighton

Apart from Lisbon, it is a place I might be going back to very soon. I loved the feel of the city, lots of beautiful architecture and people. Smaller than London, still has a lot of life and style to it, one of the places I could see myself living in. The pier area is quite picturesque and colourful and one can’t help feeling like a kid walking around the carousels and all the seaside attractions. I remember I had a great time walking around with  Victoria , one of my favourite bloggers. As it is further south, it gets a little more sun than where I live and that’s a winner in my book. There are a lot of stylish people around and it’s really refreshing to see what they wear. There are also a lot of quirky and vintage shops, you’ll have a hard time picking just one place to spend your £££.

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Tokyo Love

May 17, 2013

The last time I went to Lisbon I arranged to do a little visit to my friend Isabel, who runs a little shop called Amores de Tóquio (may be be translated as Tokyo Loves), near the flea market. She is the creative force behind it – every single object in the shop has been hand picked by Isabel, and the majority handmade by her own hands. I took some photos of the shop and some of the details (there are too many to show here, going in there is a real feast for the eyes!) as I think it’s the kind of thing my Blogland friends would like to see.

I’ve met Isabel for the first time through mutual friends and at the time she used to run stalls at craft fairs and I loved her stuff since the very beginning. I’m not surprised that the business grew as she is so very talented and the objects she produces are very pretty. She is clearly inspired by Japanese aesthetics and particularly origami, something I find myself drawn to.

Here I am with Isabel, in her shop. You can see the lovely hat I left with, handmade using Japanese fabric.

If you ever find yourselves in Lisbon, don’t forget to pay Isabel a visit and see what is new in the shop (it is one of the shops around the old fruit market, right in the centre of the flea market). You can always see what’s new online on the Facebook and blog pages.