Lisbon - Part 2

I had every intention of completing my Lisbon posts last week - where does the time go these days? and I'm sure it'll only go faster over the next few weeks. However having had a restless night I'm up, wrapped up in a thick dressing gown with a coffee and Chris Evans on the radio to complete part 2
Thursday saw us exploring Lisbon, wandering down through the cobbled streets

and stopping for a coffee here at Cafe Brasileira. It's one of the oldest coffee houses in Lisbon, and with the sun shining and street artists performing it was certainly a place I could have spent a couple of hours at.

A bronze statue of Fernando Pessoa, the Portugese poet sits outside, many tourists joined him at his table to have their picture taken whilst we were there.

But onwards and downwards in our case as we made our way to Praça do Comércio, passing a florists with flowers overflowing onto the pavement

and beautiful shop fronts

until we finally reached our destination - you can read about it's history here

After a wander round the square which is now surrounded with restaurants we carried as we were on our way to find a haberdashers mentioned in one of the guide books in our apartment. After leaving the square and walking for a few minutes we found not one but several shops in a row, all selling a huge selections of ribbons, buttons, cottons etc.

The shops had very small frontages but went back and back and back. As with often happens with me I get overwhelmed with all the goods inside and walk out without buying anything, but it was so nice to see shops like this as certainly round where I live there is a real lack of them. By now it was lunch time and we found a small cafe in a back street to sit outside and eat until the rain came!

After lunch we split up and whilst David and Angus went to explore the bars, Charlotte and I went to explore the shops. Re-grouping later we had an hour relaxing before hitting Barrio Alto's night life for food and drink. We started off in a bar called the Old Pharmacy

another wine bar with a huge amount of choice along with rather gorgeous 'nibbles'. 

At night it comes to life with the shelves being lit up with constantly changing colours

From there we wandered into a very small restaurant no bigger than a front room to have another meal of traditional Portuguese food.

We took the car up the west coast on Friday to check the beaches out for their suitability for surfing. We came across some pretty places with fabulous views.

It was warm enough to have lunch outside

 and afterwards a wander round Ericeira, a lovely place seaside town.

 Our final destination for the day was Sintra. It was quite late when we arrived and only had time for a short walk in the old town before we needed to get back to Lisbon, but here is a little flavour. Unfortunately the light was going and we didn't take many photos.

For us it was our final night so we chose to go back to the Old Pharmacy for pre-dinner drinks before we ate.

Although we were leaving the next day it wasn't till the evening so our plan was to go to the big 'flea market' know as Feira da Ladra - 'Thieves market' then have a late lunch before going to the airport early evening. We had intended to get the tram there but they were so busy we walked, a good move as it happened as we would have missed some of these sights.

The market was rather like a car boot sale and it's size meant you had to be very logical about how you walked round it to see it all.

being TinTin fans we just loved this suitcase

The following images are not ours as we were so busy looking at everything we forgot to take photographs.

 

You could get anything for the home somewhere there! On leaving we retraced our steps back to find somewhere to eat. 

We were very lucky as we had just finished when the heavens opened 

and we were forced to take shelter under the door canopy to finish the wine!

 We did get the tram back, a great experience - loved it!!

Unfortunately the rain didn't stop and this was the view from one of the shops we had to take shelter in after we had got off the tram.

 So thus ended our trip to Lisbon and although we didn't get inside the wedding venue (Charlotte and Angus did after we'd left and loved it and it is now provisionally booked for next September) we had a lovely few days and would certainly recommend it for a city break.

Till the next time xx

Lovely Lisbon - Part 1

We returned to a rather cold UK after our trip to Lisbon and after a week at home life @ number 6 has settled back down. I left you as we were about to embark on a trip to Lisbon to see the wedding venue that Charlotte and Angus had found. We were partly successful in that as we did get to see the outside and spent time in the area but unfortunately David and I we weren't able to see inside as it was occupied whilst we were there, but Charlotte and Angus went back after we left and had a full tour and loved it!!!
But to start at the beginning as we landed at Lisbon we were aware that an EasyJet plane had 'parked' right next to our plane and guessed rightly that it was the one Charlotte and Angus were on so we waited in the baggage collection area and surprised them. After collecting our hire car we had to negotiate the Lisbon roads - not the easiest, but David with the help of the satnav did an amazing job and although it took us up and down narrow one way streets. After doing some difficult maneuvering and then a 90degree turn (which due to narrowness and concrete bollards took a couple of forwards and backwards) we were finally on the Rua da Rosa in the Bairro Alto district of Lisbon, number 223 being our destination, and there it is to the right of the open door.

We at the very top, up 100 stairs - good exercise though. With all the streets in Bairro Alto first impressions are not great, graffiti everywhere and quite alot of peeling paint.

But at night the doors are open and the shutters taken down and the streets change completely.

But I divert, back to our arrival. As you might imagine with all the narrow one way streets there is no parking so it was a case of being dropped off and then David and Angus went off to find somewhere to park - an hour later they returned very much in need of a beer! Not a problem as we were in one of the major bar and restaurant areas of Lisbon. You can read more here We were spoilt for choice but the younger members of the party had done plenty of research and knew exactly where to take us. We first went to a bar with amazing lampshades

and then here

A really nice wine bar just  down the street from us where they had a very large selection of wines for us to try whilst we nibbled at a large platter of charcuterie. From there we walked down to the bottom of our street, crossed the road and went to Casa da India

It doesn't look much from the outside but was buzzing inside, with good value food (traditional Portugese despite what the name indicates) and even better value wine!

By the time we'd finished eating we were all flagging having been up so early so called it a day.

The following morning when we looked out of our bedroom window this is what we saw......

We planned to go and look for the wedding venue but first we had to find the car park which proved a bit of a problem as the neither David or Angus could quite remember where it was. On our way to find it we came across a viewing point.

Eventually after an hour with the help of the satnav and internet we found it - had we gone down our street and turned right instead of left, walked for 3-4 minutes we would have come to it! We were soon on our way out of Lisbon and on the road to Estoril, passing through there and on to Cascais by which time lunch was being mentioned.

Feeling much better for the food we explored the town which was delightful, here is a little flavour of it.

 We had other places on our itinerary for the day so carried on further west stopping to watch the waves 

Despite not being able to get into The Quinta (wedding venue) we did want to find it. I knew we were on the right road as I had spent time looking on google maps and using the 'yellow man' on street view to find exactly where it was and as we rounded a corner there it was! 

 Like many of the buildings in and around Lisbon the outside doesn't reflect how the inside looks and from what Charlotte has said that was very true here . It was disappointing to be there and not be able to get in but there you go - you win some, you loose some. Both Charlotte and Angus were keen to find the nearest beach and after driving for what seemed like an age down a lane we found it.

By now the sun was starting to set and it had turned a little chilly so we retraced our steps and made our way back to Lisbon hitting the awful evening traffic, and eventually finding the car park. 

An hour lounging on the bed catching up with emails and messages from family left behind and we were off out again to hit the bars and finally eating at another good value restaurant 

A busy but successful day.

Two 'W's' and a 'C'

I do feel I have neglected you all out there during these last few weeks so apologies for that. The reason is in the blog title - the first 'W' is for work, I have worked quite a lot of extra shifts to cover for my colleagues who have been away and it feels like October has just flown by, but next week it's my turn to go away
(more later on).
The second 'W' is for weddings and with two within a few weeks of each other next summer, momentum is gathering. We went wedding dress shopping last Saturday for Becky where she found two she 'loved' so I suggested that she arranged to go back with Charlotte when she arrived in a couple of days to see what she thought - a good move by me as you will see further on . The following day (Sunday) we all went up to Richmond, North Yorkshire to see the venue that she and Tom had chosen for their wedding. It was lovely, the views were stunning, here's a little taster

The accommodation in the eco-lodges will be perfect for all those who wish to stay 'on site' and some lovely B&B's in Richmond itself for other guests. So a tick for the venue and it was crossed off the 'to do' list.

Charlotte drove up from Cornwall on Monday so the wedding talk was non stop from then on. She had arranged for Becky to try on dresses in the  Harrogate Wedding Lounge. 

It was a really lovely experience, very informative with lots of laughing and guess what? ..... she found another dress that she loved only this time she loved it so much that it became 'The One' and we bought it!! hooray, one down, one to go! so another item crossed off the 'to do' list. We were going to carry on to another venue for Charlotte to have her turn to look but she decided that we'd had enough excitement for one day and we would go into Harrogate for lunch. The girls wanted to go to Betty's but the queues were so long that we abandoned that idea and found a really nice cafe down a side street (very near La Tasca for anyone who might like to go there) and had lunch there.

My 'C' is for crafting, I've two craft fairs coming up so have been really busy making stuff for them. I am beginning to feel that I'm getting on top of it and another couple of days should see most of it done. I bought some more wool with a voucher I had had for my birthday

and couldn't resist making some more flowers

 I've been recycling a hand embroidered tray cloth into lavender bags

 and pin cushions

making fabric birds for Christmas

They are now sewn and stuffed ready to hang.

I've completed the first of my two knitting bags (which I really want to keep for myself!)

and made gift tags, cards and twig stars for hanging. I've the tin can lanterns to punch holes in and trim up and marmalade to make so there is a light at the end of the tunnel, which is a good job because on Tuesday we fly out to Portugal with Charlotte and Angus to see their wedding venue! Really looking forward to that and spending time in Lisbon.
So with that I'll bid you goodbye and I promise not to leave you for so long next time, till then, bye xxx