Karin's Style Blog

In Lisbon we stayed in a flat in Alfama which was a really nice area. We found the flat through Lisbon-Holiday-Apartments, which I can recommend! It was quite last minute but everything worked out really well.

We visited the beautiful Museo Nacional do Azulejo in Lisbon. It told the history of the tile and the how to behind making tiles and it was set in a wonderful building with a courtyard restaurant.

The gift shop at the Castle of Sao Jorge were playing Divas do Fado when we visited and I liked it so much I bought it. When we entered the castle grounds there was more music played, this time by guitarist João Bastos, it added so much to the visit!

Thanks to Ana we found the best places to eat, drink and enjoy more delicious nata. Thanks Ana!

Our last Portugal day we spent in Sintra, a small town just 45 minutes from Lisbon. We visited the National Palace and I was quite taken with the beautiful old furniture, the tiled interiors, the amazingly painted ceilings and the light huge kitchen.

After the palace, we walked up to the Castelo dos Mouros - a nice walk and spectacular views from the castle.

Lisbon and Sintra are now added to my vacation pictures on flickr.

Here’s a nice fado sung by Amália Rodrigues.

Ever since reading a book by Portugese writer some 20 years ago I’ve known I had to travel to Portugal at some point. I don’t remember the name of the writer but the atmosphere, the light, the smells and the sounds that was created in the novel has etched themselves into my brain! And, finally I got to Porto and then on to Lisbon and Sintra and now I know I’ve got to go back again

When you know you cannot take almost anything back with you the antique shops and flee markets seems to be even more full of treasures. Here’s one we passed on our way to a port wine tasting. You could spend a day just tasting port at various port producers, we went to Taylor’s and got a free guided tour including tasting two of their ports while being entertained by a gorgeous Indian Peafowl who lived in their beautiful garden.

We stayed in Hotel Peninsular, close to the train station in Porto. Here’s the way to - almost - our room.

We walked up and down the narrow streets, took bus no 500 to the beach and walked the wonderful way back along the seaside, stopping for a pastel de nata once in a while. Some more Porto photos are now in my travel log.

Rébellion jardinière.

Don’t miss Coiffure pour dames at Artazart!

Donostia is the Basque word for San Sebastian, a beautiful city on the north coast of Spain, by the Bay if Biscay.

We walked and walked - up the mountain, down the mountain, through the old town, over the river, along the river, via the cathedral down to the beach - all the time in the rain. San Sebastian had the feel of a seaside resort from the early 1900, I was expecting this couple out of the water at any time.

The tapas on offer in the bars looked and tasted exquisite, apart from that we had a bit of bad luck and a bit of good luck when it came to restaurants. The good bit was a late lunch at Ttun Ttun on Calle San Jeronimo.

In front of the casino grew these wonderful trees, I believe they are called Tamarisk. They have like a magical air around them… I remember a Tamarisk from my childhood travels with my grand mother, we found one growing in Arild in the south of Sweden.

I’ll be adding Portugal pictures to the travel log on flickr over the weekend. There were so many beautiful things to see there so I’ll upload a little at a time. Until then!

We got hooked on inter railing last year and have just come back after three weeks in Paris, Portugal and Spain. Wow!
Our budget was rather tight but this year we spent more money on accommodation, partly because the youth hostels were fully booked and partly because it’s so restful having your own space with your own kitchen and bathroom. We stayed in rented apartments twice (Lisbon and Barcelona) and in Paris we were lucky enough to borrow the loveliest little flat ever (the photo above is larger here and here). The money we spent on accommodation was saved on cooking our own food rather than going out for meals. We spent lots of time browsing the wonderful markets and buying the finest groceries to very reasonable prices.

We found that although we had our inter rail tickets we spent more money on compulsory seat reservations than we did on last years trip in Eastern Europe. And just like last year, the German trains and their service was just the best, thank you Deutche Bahn!

I’ve uploaded my Paris pictures and put links to some really nice places to visit:

La Galerie Vegetale
The Collection
Le Petit Atelier de Paris (thank you Abigail!)
and Rue du Pont Louis-Philippe, lined with the greatest paper and stationary shops, like Kanea and Calligrane.

Adelyn is another Paris traveller (and many other destinations!), she seems to have some great tips.

Next stop on our journey was San Sebastian, a wonderful seaside town in the north of Spain. I’ll take you there on Tuesday. Until then - have a nice weekend!