Barcelona
May 24, 2009 at 12:40 am | In Spain, Travel | Leave a CommentI mean, how can someone get bored in Barcelona?
Sure, you have all the hot clubs/restaurants you can imagine but even if you don’t! You’ll never get bored. Just do what I do: grab a Caramel Machiatto at Starbucks and seat somewhere watching people passing by! It’s great fun 
The city is more than alive! It screams life from the top of its lungs and there’s always something happening, somewhere.
The wonderful ‘Ramblas’ are a complete frenzy of people, shouting and laughter. It’s just great. And of course, the beach. Nothing better than spending some quality time by the sea so please make sure you do that!! 
Things to avoid? Bad restaurants and bad ‘paelhas’. I mean, I had the most disappointing ‘paelha’ you can imagine. 
Another thing to avoid? Trying to understand Catalan. Bear in mind that Catalan is NOT regular Spanish!
Must do’s? DO visit the ‘Ramblas’ and please DO visit the market located in the lower part of the ‘Ramblas’. God, that market is the seafood/fruit/vegetables/meat paradise! It has absolutely everything and everything looks yummy yummy yummy!! Do visit the Gothic neighborhood too!
Another must do? Well, (they should pay me for saying this) if you can, have lunch/dinner at Ciudad Comdal, a restaurant located near Plaza Cataluña. Heaven!
Finally, do visit the Casa Batlló (from the famous architect – Gaudí).
What else… Well, it’s just that really! Yes, go have fun. Go clubbing, have some dinner out. I’m sure you’ll have great fun doing those things but hey!! biggest lesson? If you don’t have the funds to do that stuff it’s okkkkkkk…Barcelona is always fun…no matter what the heck you are doing! I mean, Really!!
Oh, and yes, it IS a bit overrated lol
Madrid & Toledo
February 28, 2009 at 5:16 pm | In Spain, Travel | 1 CommentTags: lordoftherings, madrid, medieval, medievaltown, medievalvillage, Spain, spaintravel, toledo, Travel, village
I simply do not remember when I went to Madrid. It’s been some months and I have been having so much work to do that I completely forgot to update my blog. But hey! Here’s my last entry on my vacations diary!!
Without wanting to sound posh, I really didn’t see anything special about Madrid, or Toledo for that matter. I’ve been in several places in Spain, but these two places are just plain boring. ORRR maybe I am biased. I mean, I’ve been visiting European cities for quite some time now and in my opinion, there’s a point when you start to find every single place the same. London looks like Paris and Paris looks like Lisbon. It’s boring!
Either way, the food is great in Spain, of course (you have to know THE restaurants though) and the culture is fascinating. Similiar to the portuguese one, that’s why I like it!
One advice only for those who are travelling to Spain. Watch out the cars because they will ran over you! Do not drive there because you will most defenitly crash! Do not expect politeness from most Spanish people (excepctions, surely!)
Although I haven’t went to a bull fight in Spain, don’t miss it! You should go and appreciate people’s cruelty!!! Boooooo.
What else? Oh, yes, good weather! Not in Madrid though, it’s damn cold in the winter!!
As to Toledo (which has been ruled by the spanish since 1085), it is an old old town. Nice and cozy with loads of tiny shops in. Toledo is a MUST go for the medieval and Lord of the Rings lovers, since you can buy all kinds of swords and merchandise replicas there!!
Remember that during siesta time the village becomes zombie village. No living soul can be spotted and you will have to wait for the siesta to end to continue your shopping. Major pain in the ass, I know!
It’s all for now…and let me tell you that since I’m pretty much fed up of Europe my last stop will be: New York City in June! Hooray for that!!
See you another time!
Royal Palace/Palacio Real
Can’t remember this, Sorry!!!!
The Crystal Palace, in El Retiro (a pseudo version of Central Park)
Random street in Toledo
A new post, at last.
November 9, 2008 at 12:27 am | In England, Travel | Leave a CommentTags: bath, england, greatbritain, hotsprings, roman, springs, UK
After many months without a new post (or a new trip, for that matter), I’m posting brand new pictures of my recent trip (actually, it was 5 hours ago – I know, I’m fast) to Bath
As far as we have been told Bath is the only city in England as expensive as London, which is quite weird actually. Or not ’cause you’ll soon realize, as you get there, that everything looks very posh. I mean, how often do you see a real estate agency selling houses for 1, 2, 3 million pounds? I guess that means something…:P
Andddddddd…Nicolas Cage has a summer house there, which might mean something too.
Anyway…I’m not in the mood for a history lecture but I can quickly tell you that Bath is known for it’s baths lolol How unpredictable! Well…the romans found hot springs there and since then the city has turned into a circus of people with back problems
I’ve been in Bath before and yes I can tell you it’s definitely in the Top 5 cities in England.
And I think that’s pretty much it!
See you next time, whenever that is In the meantime, enjoy les photos!
1st picture: The New Spa – See more
A Buddha gathering in Bombarral
September 27, 2008 at 10:22 pm | In Portugal, Travel | 1 CommentTags: berardo, bombarral, buda, buddha, buddhism, budismo, dalai, dalai lama, garden of peace, jardim da paz, joe, joe berardo, lama, loridos, paz, peace, portugal, quinta dos loridos
His holiness, the Dalai Lama, was supposed to inaugurate the first Oriental garden (and one of the biggest ones in the world) in Portugal, Bombarral (Quinta dos Loridos), but unfortunately he didn’t. (don’t know why – lost his number).
Joe Berardo (a portuguese millionaire. ps – joe is not a portuguese name…he’s just stupid) bought all the statues that came from several countries in Asia just to built what he calls ‘The Garden of Peace’ for everyone to enjoy freely.
Well, at least that…
The garden is indeed amazing and the statues overwhelm you with their height. They are still finishing it but it already takes you around one hour to see it all.
A minor detail: it’s amazing the ammount of rubbish and statues already broken that you can find in a place called ‘The Garden of Peace’ that even didn’t open yet!!! Shame…
Totaly worth it guys!!
Regaleira
September 27, 2008 at 9:58 pm | In Portugal, Travel | 1 CommentTags: lisbon, maçonaria, masonry, portugal, quinta, quinta da regaleira, regaleira, sintra
I’ve been there and done that.
Well, i did all of that now that I put my Indiana Jones hat on and lit a torch to enter the caves of Regaleira. I tried several times before with my phone’s light but it didn’t quite work. This time it did, but I got way too scared when I had to decide right or left at the end of the cave…1000 dollars answer? None of those, GO BACK! And so we did, me and Mariana
There’s not much to say about this place in Sintra (outskirts of Lisbon) ’cause I feel like I’ve visited it a 1000 times. Yes, there’s a lot to know about it but it’s just too complicated. Ok, I’ll try a sumary: masonry, occult, masonry.
Done!
Anywho, go there if you ever have the chance but PLEASE don’t ignore its history and don’t think of it as just another monument because it’s not just another one. It’s THE monument.
Pics below
Pictures: top to bottom – Palace, caves, initiation well, entrance to the caves (no, it’s not grass – water 
)
Pena Palace (Sintra.part II)
September 1, 2008 at 12:40 am | In Portugal, Travel | Leave a CommentTags: castelo, castle, lisboa, palace, palacio, pena, portugal, sintra
It’s difficult to show your own country to a foreigner. Among the thousands of cool places you think you know in your hometown you have to chose just 2 or 3 to show to your friend that came from England. Last week was downtown Lisbon, today it was Sintra, of course.
Of course because Sintra is especial. Especial for everybody, especial for those who like to eat, for those who like monuments, for nature and greenpeace freaks, for people interested in witchcraft (yes, Sintra is Also associated with that), for those who like tea or simply for those who just want to take a walk.
During summer time, or not, it’s always a pleasent place where you easily forget you’re just 20min away from the capital.
Anywho, nothing like experiecing it, so please, visit it! (Although I’m writing a different post for every monument in Sintra, (oh, by the way, this one is about the Pena Palace) they are all worth it. Visit them all!!)
Pena, or feather, Palace, as you wish, is the biggest palace in Sintra and was the first romantic Palace in Europe. The palace was built in 1836 by D. Fernando Coburgo-Gota (later king of Portugal), married to Queen Maria II.
As you can see by the pictures, its architecture is a true delight a mix of: 1) neo-gothic, 2) neo-manueline, 3) islamic and 4) neo-renaissance. Oh, and it stands on rocks 
Cool huh?
2nd picture – oui, it’s a fancy window See more
Monserrate Palace
August 26, 2008 at 11:21 pm | In Portugal, Travel | Leave a CommentTags: lisboa, monserrate, palace, palacio, palaciodemonserrate, portugal, sintra
…and I thought I knew every monument in Sintra…
guess what? This one was missing (yes, I will visit all the others soon, and yes, I will make posts about them soon too!), mainly because it is very well hidden into the forest. Or perhaps, just because I always thougth it wasn’t worth it of my visit, but hey!, I visited it today!
Sir Francis Cook was the owner of the Palace, back in 1863. The 2nd floor of the Palace is closed and there’s not much stuff to see inside but it’s totally worth it because of its unique architecture. Why? Well, because it looks like the Palace of a Maharaja and that is not usual, especially when you’re talking about a Palace located in Sintra – Portugal.
I know nothing about architecture but it looks very Indian/Maharaja/Sahara like to me!! I love it!
The gardens are also very beautiful and you can see there the first garden to be planted in Portugal
Enjoy the pics
pics – 1st garden to show: the first garden in Portugal. See more
Medieval Fair at Óbidos
July 21, 2008 at 12:34 am | In Portugal, Travel | Leave a CommentTags: fair, feira, feiramedieval, medieval, medievalfair, obidos, portugal
Weeeeeeeeeeee The annual mediavel fair at Óbidos, a tiny village that archeology dates back to 208BC, has arrived! In my opinion it is one the best medieval recriations that you can find in the country! And one of the biggest! I go there every year and it wasn’t an expection this year. Good as always, entertaining as always but above everything else, very very fun! After all, we all had to eat with wooden spoons (you know, knifes and forks wasn’t something that everybody had that time) or even with our own hands, like proper pigs! It’s a medieval fair, meaning: no napkins, no cokes, no pepsi, nothing! None of those fancy things we are used to nowadays.
Anyway, you can see the pics below
Irish culture in Portugal
July 21, 2008 at 12:12 am | In Portugal, Travel | 1 CommentTags: celtic, celticlegends, CL, concert, culture, dance, irish, irishculture, lisbon, lordofthedance, LOTD, riverdance, tapdance, tapdancing
Just a quick post about the so beautiful and interesting Irish culture. As you know, I’ve been in Ireland once and unfortunately I didn’t have the chance to see some tapdancing or anything typically Irish. Truth is, I’ve seen and experienced more Irish culture in Portugal than in Ireland, as weird as it might seem
I’ve watched Lord of the Dance some years ago in Pavilhão Atlântico and I’ve listened to some guys that usually play in an Irish bar near Cais do Sodré now and then, and yes, I really love it.
This month we had Celtic Legends stopping by Lisbon’s Casino to please the Portuguese folks one more time with the always mega entertaining Irish tapdance I’ve watched the show in the front row (which was awesome) and god, it was worth it! Honestly I prefer LOTD a thousand times but this amazing group of artists was also very good and always very communicative with the audience. Had a great time
Unfortunately I don’t have any pictures this time ’cause the bad guys didn’t let me But you can still watch some clips I found in youtube Enjoy!
P.S – I really hope I can see some kind of Irish music next time I stop in Ireland!
Inside the caves, no bats!
July 9, 2008 at 7:56 pm | In Portugal, Travel | 1 CommentTags: cave, caves, estalactite, estalagmite, fatima, gruta, grutas, portugal, stalactite, stalagmite
This was not the point of today’s trip. We drove around Portugal for 4 hours trying to find Serra d’aire but that turned out to be an impossible mission. You can imagine that 4 hours later we were (me and H.) very very fed up of all this driving and all we wanted was to go back.
However, we found this (Moeda Caves) and we could not not visit it They’re pretty cool (it’s just rocks but who cares?) and they date back to, well, god knows when. Yes, yes it’s worth it and inside the caves you can listen to chill out music which turned out to be a very very good combination
Stay tuned for the next trip, if we find the spot, of course.
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