Lisbon. Get yourself started.

I have been in Lisbon in September for one week. And let me tell 'ya I had a jolly good time.

First of all, if you visit Lisbon in the summer beware of the constant heat or the real nice weather. The time you step out of the airport you should have your sun glasses ready. If you go by bus to the city center take line 44 or 745. You pay 1.75 € for a single ride, whereas you pay 3.50€ in the aerobus. You can buy your ticket from the bus driver and don't be shy, most of Lisbon's people you'll get in touch with can speak English. A friend told me that is because they get all their TV-series only in English with Portuguese subtitles.

If you plan on using public transport you can either buy your ticket from the bus or tram driver, which has the disadvantage that you should always have some change at hand or you get yourself a 7 colinas card with the option zapping at a cost of 0.50€. Thus you can load for example 10€ on your card and get around Lisbon using tram, bus, metro or even train. You only have to validate your card at the entrance of each vehicle. You can get the card at the tourist information at the airport or at each ticket autmomat in metro entrances. For me charging the card once with 15€ was more than enough for my one-week stay. Although I challenged myself, walking up and down the city's steep hills. But hey, even the old Lisboetas can do it, so I can do it, too. And it makes for perfect muscles in ass and legs. Also necessary to know is that when you wait at a stop you have to indicate the driver you want to get on. So stretch out one arm or otherwise the driver will not hesitate and somewhat coolly drives by. And if you have trouble reading a timetable. The number in a circle means that a bus or whatever is coming by every "circled number" minutes (this is at least different from German timetables).

For people who have never been to Lisbon before I wholeheartedly recommend a Lisbon Walker Tour (clicky clicky). They have fantastic guides who know to give a lively tour and tell funny anecdotes. I joined the Lisbon Revelation Tour with Inès, a friendly and knowledgeable tour guide. She showed us around town about three hours including a ride on the Santa Justa Lift and a ride in the famous Number 28 tram. As a student I only had to pay 10€, whereas a normal adult ticket costs 15€. Tours start at Praca do Comercio nearly everyday (check the timetable at their site) at 10 o'clock. You can get free maps of the city at every tourist information. But you can't miss Praca do Comercio it is next to the river Tejo, in the heart of the city.

I plan on two more posts about Lisbon. One about the top five things I did in Lisbon like Europe's biggest aquarium and a post about trips out of town like swimming in the Atlantic Ocean.

If you plan a trip to Lisbon ...

As you might know, I'm going to visit Lisbon in September. While I prepared my trip, I thought it was very difficult to find some decent sites, which provide some insider tips or the really lovely sights only known to locals. I decided to put a list of official sites and private blogs together, which to me were very helpful.

I already jotted down some notes in my beloved Lisboa city notebook. I for sure want to check out the Pasteis de Belem, some kind of pastry filled with custard and the Oceanario, the biggest oceanarium in Europe.

For more information check out those sites:

1. Visit Lisboa - is an official site about everything Lisbon, certified by Turismo de Lisboa.

2. The Lisbon Connection - a Lisbon guide from the inside, provides awesome tips about an alternative Lisbon.

3. Spotted by Locals Lisbon - offers reviews of famous sights and places in Lisbon by people who live in the city.

4. In Love with Lisbon - a very personal view on all things Lisbon has to offer.

5. This article from delicious days - delicious days is an awarded food blog and author Nicky shares the most beatuiful and delicious spots she visited during her stay.


BTW has anybody read Nighttrain to Lisbon by Pascal Mercier? Have you enjoyed it? I am considering it as accompanied reading during my stay.

Lisbon Calling!

I finally decided. I decided to go on vacation to Lisbon, the capital of Portugal in September. Of course the Great Thinker is coming with me.

As you might know I'm a city traveler. Last year I spent one week in London and had a series of posts about my adventures there. The year before I went to Paris and did a post about Paris for Book Lovers and Gourmands, which is still the most read post I have ever done.

What can I say, I don't care much for mountains or beaches, although this time I will have the city, the mountains (or hills) and the beaches at the Atlantic coast. Lisbon has it all. And for a special treat it has my friend Anna. Anna lives in Lisbon now, with her boyfriend Tiago. I hope they will show us all the great places one has to go, whether it is for culture, nightlife or shopping.

But of course I won't leave it all to them. I love planning ahead, deciding what to visit. It's what I do, the Great Thinker leaves it all to me.

First of all I rely on the most handy and beautiful notebook I can think of. The Moleskine City Planner Lisboa. It provides space for personal notes, places to visit and addresses. A map of the city and the metro is included as well. I have one for Paris and London, too. It helps to keep track of my adventures during the stay and give away the most precise recommendations, when I am back.

Second most important thing, a travel guide. But of course not any travel guide. I have a fancy for the National Geographic city guides. It's a German series and I own one for Paris and London as well. They never disappointed me. I like their concept because it's neat. The city is divided in the most important neighborhoods and includes recommendations on what to see in one day in the particular neighborhood as well as trips to the surroundings of the city. I hope the Lisbon guide will stand up to the standard I already experienced in the other two.

As always I would be delighted to hear your opinion! Have you ever been to Lisbon? Would you want to go? What is a must do? Do you want more posts in preparation for the trip, like where am I going to stay, or is it easy to learn the language (Because I try and nope, they don't speak Spanish.)?

London Impressions no. 5

This is how it works. I'd like to write a travel journal about my vacation in London but as it is already over and I had no permanent Internet access there I'm going to write them like a memoir. Every day (since Thursday) I'll post on my impressions of the day exactly one week ago. All in all I will have six posts on my travels. I hope you'll like it although it is mainly of personal value as I'd like to preserve my experiences.

One week ago...

I wanted to visit the Tower of London. And that is exactly what I did then. Entrance queues on a Monday morning were small contrary to all I have heard of those queues. A Monday morning is as well a good pick as the Tower opens at 10 am instead of 9 am which gives you one more hour to beat the queues which weren't there. Oh well, I see in the summer with loads of tourist like myself pouring in the city those could become really long. Enough about queues. After we payed the voluntary donation which is included in the entrance fee and passed the security check of our bags we saw a group led by a yeoman warder starting off. As we wanted to participate in a tour ourselves we went with them. We got to know many things of which most were not as cruel as one always thinks when thinking about the Tower of London.

Yeoman Warder Tour

I'm going to share a little of what I learned that day. In the Tower only seven people have been executed, to whom belonged Anne Boleyn for example as executuins in the Tower were a privilege as it did not took place in public like all the other executions outside the Tower on Tower Hill. Torture is also not a practice which was prominent in England. Quintessence is that the Tower is not as bloody as always believed. But never the less it is a very historical place and made me want to find out more about that time.

View at Tower Bridge from inside the Tower

After the Tower experience we actually wanted to see St. Paul's cathedral to climb it and enjoy the view over London, but as soon as we left the Tower there was rain keeping us company. So we decided to take the bus line no. 15 and ride until it's end and back to St. Paul's. Route 15 is one of only two routes where still the old double decker buses are operating. As we got out at St. Paul's station it still was raining and so we decided to not go inside as it would have cost us £ 12.50 each.

We decided for the Museum of London instead (admission free) and got there at 3.30 pm. We were lucky as the museum announced a tour through the Medieval Galleries at 4 pm. We joined in and got to know about the early London, when everybody lived in wooden houses, later black death and the construction of St. Paul's, later the big fire in 1666 and the reformation under King Henry VIII. The dark ages were not as dark for me anymore. Unfortunately we had only one more hour when the tour ended to have a look at the rest of this fantastic museum. It was my favorite one on the whole vacation and I need to go back and spend a little more time there.

In the evening we went to have dinner in the gbk, the gourmet burger kitchen on Westbourne Grove. As it is New Zealand cuisine, they also served Kiwi burger, which of course did not contain Kiwi birds but was the special burger there. Very delicious! Be sure to take some fries with it and have a L&P soda. Cheers!

London Impressions no. 4

This is how it works. I'd like to write a travel journal about my vacation in London but as it is already over and I had no permanent Internet access there I'm going to write them like a memoir. Every day (since Thursday) I'll post on my impressions of the day exactly one week ago. All in all I will have six posts on my travels. I hope you'll like it although it is mainly of personal value as I'd like to preserve my experiences.

One week ago...

I woke up on a sunny Sunday and it was finally time visit Greenwich. After breakfast we left for Embankment where Thames Clipper's River Boat Service has one of it's stations. We paid £ 7.10 each to go to and back Greenwich. This is a price which we achieved due to our travel-cards from Transport for London. It is really useful for tourists as we got a seven day travel card for zones 1 and 2, which cover central London (our hotel was located inside those zones) for £ 25.80. When in possession of a travel card one gets 30% off for all Thames Clipper services. Boats to Greenwich leave I think every half hour and the ride takes you about forty minutes. I enjoyed it very much as one can see very many famous sights from the water like London Eye.

London Eye

Spend a morning of maritime history!

When we arrived in Greenwich one of the first sights to see is the tea clipper Cutty Sark but unfortunately there was no chance to see it for us as it is currently reconstructed due to a fire. Next stop is the Old Royal Naval College, designed by Christopher Wren who nearly built all famous and old London building. ;) A must see is the Painted Hall, one of the prettiest dining halls in the world.

After that we headed for the National Maritime Museum, where you can see Nelson's uniform. This he wore at the battle of Trafalgar, when a fatal musket ball hit his left shoulder, where the uniform still shows the hole. We got a good impression on maritime history and shipping and left hungry. The museum includes a nice café where we grabbed some delicious coffee and pain au chocolat, which we ate together with our lunch in the park behind the museum in front of the hill where the Royal Observatory is located. A beautiful landscape where many families spent they day having a pick-nick and other outdoor activities.

View from the hill in Greenwich Park, behind me the Royal Observatory and in front the National Maritime museum and the park where we had lunch.

We spent our afternoon exploring time and space in the Royal Observatory, where the biggest highlight is for sure the prime meridian. There you can stand with one foot each in the east and west hemispheres! Really impressive I also found the astronomy route. It offered many hands on science spots to learn about space, e.g gravity, black holes and supernovas.

We left the Observatory for the town of Greenwich itself, which is small and pleasant. We discovered Greenwich market before it closed (every day at 5.30 pm). How fantastic: loads of stalls and artisan people selling their handmade stuff. We saw paintings, paper crafts, hats, t-shirts and so on. I couldn't resist and bought a quilted bag, which is just lovely.

My new bag!

We traveled home by boat and river again, where I recognized the impact of the tides on Thames river for the first time. Amazing! In the morning there has been nearly no water compared to the situation in the afternoon.

In the evening I had some great plans. I wanted to see the grand finale of the Mayor's Thames Festival, one of I think two fireworks which are displayed on the Thames each year. We had some nice Lebanese food on Queensway and headed for Embankment again to stand on the bridge and have good view. The firework started about 9.45 pm and lasted at least 15 minutes. What a great show. Even Londoners next to me were thrilled and let out Ooohhss!, Ahhs! and Wows!

When I think about it today it was probably the best day I had in London!

London Impressions no. 3

This is how it works. I'd like to write a travel journal about my vacation in London but as it is already over and I had no permanent Internet access there I'm going to write them like a memoir. Every day from Thursday I'm going to post on my impressions of the day exactly one week ago. All in all I will have six posts on my travels. I hope you'll like it although it is mainly of personal value as I'd like to preserve my experiences.

One week ago ...

I woke up in a London hotel room and again was rewarded with sunshine. Our plan for today included a visit to the British Museum. Admission to most London museums is free but they kindly ask for a donation of three to five £ if you liked the exhibition.

Meal deal for £ 2.

But first we went to get lunch at a Tesco express which we planned to eat after the expanded tour through the museum. Tesco offers a meal deal, which includes either sandwiches, wraps or pasta salad with a little bag of fresh fruit and something to drink like a small bottle of water or orange juice for all in all only £ 2.

Lionhunt in the Assyrian Galleries

As the British museum is too big to get all of it we decided for Egyptian sculpture (room no. 4), the Middle East including Assyrian works (rooms no. 6 to 10) and the Greece Panthenon (room no. 18) on the ground floor. On the upper floor we visited Ancient Egypt (room no. 61 to 66) with exhibits like mummies and grave goods. I saw a little boy who told his mommy that he doesn't want to go on as he found it scary. Little sweetheart! All in all a very satisfying tour.

Next we went to Covent Garden. I love this place! On a Saturday afternoon it is crowded with people and street artists like magicians, acrobats and jugglers to name a few. Most of the artists try to make a living with their shows there and ask for a little money. They are really kind and funny and like to interact with their audience. If you don't like that be sure to stand a little in the back. :)



The guy on the photo juggled with some balls and an apple while driving this huge unicycle. The grand finale was him eating the apple while juggling with it and two knives, really fascinating.

We spent some time strolling around Covent Garden and at some point also came across London's China Town. It only covers about four streets but there is some Chinese architecture and restaurant and shops all over the place. Something I have never experienced before is that one ethnic group takes possession of an area like this. Great! On the photo below you can see one of the gate entrances to the China Town streets and somewhere on it my company. :)



We had dinner in a British restaurant called Stockpot which is located at 18 Old Compton Street. I started with leek and potato soup and then had grilled salmon steak with salad and roast potatoes. I promise I did not pay more than £ 10 for the food and a coke. When we came out a nightly hustle and bustle was going on in this neighborhood. We spent some time watching it and then went back to the hotel.

London Impression no.2

This is how it works. I'd like to write a travel journal about my vacation in London but as it is already over and I had no permanent Internet access there I'm going to write them like a memoir. Every day from Thursday I'm going to post on my impressions of the day exactly one week ago. All in all I will have six posts on my travels. I hope you'll like it although it is mainly of personal value as I'd like to preserve my experiences.

One week ago ...

Me in my hotel room

I woke up in my hotel room. I stayed one week in the Umi Hotel in the lovely Notting Hill/Bayswater area. It is a 3 star budget hotel and tries to offer best available rates combined with best available service. Before I booked there of course I read a lot of reviews of which some were lovely and some were cruel. My company left the decision on the hotel all on me but also all the responsibility. I desperately hoped I made the right decision. And I did. Okay the double bed room was small but it had all I needed: a bed, a closet, a desk and a small (maybe tiny) bath. The bed was extra comfortable and I slept heavenly unlike at home, where the mattress is actually to hard for my taste.

After breakfast we left for Portobello Road market which is located of course on Portobello Road, only a ten to fifteen minutes walk from the hotel. Every day stall holders sell different things like fresh fruit, antiques, furniture, jewelery and fashion there. But also many shops established there to provide good service for example the Hummingbird Bakery which sells adorable little cup cakes for not as adorable prices but oh well it's London it's not supposed to be cheap. And they taste as delicious as they smell. The Tea and Coffee Plant serves some great coffee which goes fine with the cupcakes. Alice's is also worth to mention, it's like an antique curiosity shop which harbors real treasures.

Alice's on Portobello Road

Finally we made our way to Notting Hill Gate station and came across a used book store! YAY! A place I would have liked to never leave again. It had many books I always wanted to read but couldn't get in my library, as my library doesn't offer a good variety of English books. I was in heaven and would have loved the book shelfs in this shop to materialize in my flat at home. I bought only two books as I considered I would have to carry them all day long. I got Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier (not even in German available in my library) and In the Woods by Tana French (also not available in my library).

We headed for the Science Museum (admission free) as my company is a science crack and needed a little input. I was happy I could offer him that. I thought the Historical Medicine gallery to be extremely exciting. I did like to feel a little anxious at sight of antique surgery tools or disgusted by drawings of infectious diseases. I also liked the Launchpad although this is more or less for children where you can have your hands down on science yourself like producing waves or see yourself in a heat camera. The place has been a little overcrowded though.

When the museum closed we decided to visit Harrods which is really close to the museums (Science, Natural History and Victoria & Albert). We went inside and were stunned by all the luxury although we had expected it. It is like visiting the KaDeWe in Berlin, which can be compared to Harrods as it is the biggest department store on the European continent. We visited the Pet Halls and had a look at sweet little puppies and kittens for about 1000 pound per animal. Wow! We got our dinner in the Harrods Food Halls and went back to the hotel as our feet needed a rest.

London Impressions no.1

This is how it works. I'd like to write a travel journal about my vacation in London but as it is already over and I had no permanent Internet access there I'm going to write them like a memoir. Every day from today I'm going to post on my impressions of the day exactly one week ago. I hope you'll like it although it is mainly of personal value as I'd like to preserve my experiences.

One week ago ...

I woke up in my hotel room and almost feared to open the curtains. The reason for that for sure lies in the uncertainty of English weather. Two days ago the weather forecast predicted rain for my whole stay. But as I was an obedient child all year long I deserved a little sun and that is what I got.

I didn't expect much for breakfast but as the hotel runs it's own coffee shop especially my fair trade coffee was very good. Could I have asked for more?

Buckingham Palace

My company and me decided on one of the most famous and important sights to see first, we decided for Buckingham Palace. Somewhere I read about it lovingly referred to as Buck Home. Maybe the Queen likes to call it that? I would have loved to see the Changing of the Guard but this ceremony is only carried out at 11 am every second day and unfortunately Thursday was no such day. Actually it was possible to go inside Buckingham Palace as the State Rooms are open to public for August and most of September when the Queen is in her summer residence. I decided against it to use the nice weather outside and of course to save a small fortune. Me and my company strolled through St. James Park where I planned to feed the ducks but forgot to take bread or biscuits with me. Luckily not all tourists were as careless as I was.

We continued our walk to Trafalgar Square crowded with people and traffic past Downing Street which is actually a dead-end street and heavily guarded by security and a huge gate. When one fine car accompanied by another loaded with security left this street I felt invited to imagine that this may have been the Prime Minister. Who knows?

View at Parliament from park behind it

We walked by the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and Westminster Abbey where all important royal ceremonies are held, such as weddings and things. We had a picnic right behind the Parliament as there is a little park next to the Thames. Suddenly the clouds broke loose and Londoners all over the place changed their sun glasses for their umbrellas. Luckily I was prepared too. We took the tube from Westminster to Mansion House (because Blackfriars is closed until late 2011) to walk over Jubilee Bridge which is a bridge only for pedestrians. On the other side Tate Modern daily opens it's doors to fans of modern art. Admission is free as in most London museums. Actually I can not say I'm a fan of modern art as in general I'm an amateur in art things. But I enjoy looking at pictures or sculptures and trying to find what the artist possibly wants to express or just what I think the piece of art is meaning to me. More than once I got a feeling that a certain work meant nothing at all. Today I still remember some famous artists and works I have seen that day such as Summertime by Jackson Pollock, The Kiss by Auguste Rodin and Water-Lilies by Claude Monet.

Tate Modern

After the art lesson I felt so worn out for all the walking and staying around all day I needed to get a rest in my hotel room. Later I craved for some Italian food for dinner and we went to a restaurant on Queensway near our hotel in the Notting Hill/Bayswater region. The food was fabulous and the prices reasonable although we had to wait for our pizza for more than thirty minutes but as the wine was good too I didn't care that much. Later I recognized that this restaurant actually belonged to a chain of Italian restaurants which is called Bella Italia and is spread all over London.

After a short walk for exploration reasons in our neighborhood we went back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep.

London is calling me!

Hey guys,
its this time of year! You wonder which time I think of? I think of the time in the year I do my vacation. Last year I have been to Paris. And this year I finally want to visit London. I actually already have been to London but not as an adult. This time I'm going with my boyfriend and we have planned (yes, I admit that I have planned) loads of entertaining and cultural activities!

I'm off tomorrow and will be back next week and hopefully have some nice pictures for you!

Happy reading!
Sabrina

Paris (in July) for Book Lovers and Gourmands

by Sabrina

Paris in July has started in it's first week, hosted by Tamara and Karen.

Last September I visited Paris. I thought it would be nice to share my favorite boulangeries and bookish places with you.

Books along the Seine: In antique, a little shakily green boxes on top of the quay walls of the Seine is the place where the bouquinistes pile their treasures. One can find antique books, post cards, cartoons and pressings on Rive Gauche between Quai Turnelle and Quai Malaquais. I found quite some beautiful postcards to take home for souvenir. I wanted to do a collage with them when I returned home, but unfortunately didn't take the time to do it yet.

After the visit of the Louvre I did a little shopping in the 1er Arrondissement. I found a very exquisite bakery on 33 rue Danielle Casanova, Paris 1er. It's name is Eric Kayser, who is an artisan boulanger and besides the ones in Paris also has shops in Tokyo, Dakar and other international locations. I bought some baguette which tasted just fabulous.

On the same day I stumbled over a very nice bookshop. It's a librairie anglaise called Galignani on 224 rue de Rivoli, Paris 1er. It is a book shop for English literature and I liked the atmosphere. Book lovers all over the place browsing for new purchases. And I loved the ladders which led to the tops of the very high bookshelves. In the back the shop had a stair and something like a balcony filled as well with bookshelves. Has anyone seen this in real life before?

When I did a walk through the old Marais I passed a very good bakery, the Maison Hilaire on 11 rue de Saint Antoine, Paris 4e. They had very fine pastries and cakes for sale. I couldn't resist and went in to buy something very delicious I can't remember the name of. But it was sweet and had berries on it.

Last but not least I loved the very tiny and not glamorous but therefore authentic and cozy bakery on 42 rue Jacob in Saint Germain des Prés. On my very first day I visited it and bought Pain au Chocolat and Clafoutis. I tried my French on the very nice owner Catherine Prud'Hon Maillard which she acknowledged with a very nice: "Trés bon, mademoiselle." I felt like in heaven. I had a break in a very tiny park next to the Église St Germain des Prés where I ate up all those little deliciousnesses.