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The Food of Lisbon
I don’t usually do food posts, but I have to make an exception for Lisbon because wow, is Lisbon a great food destination. First you’ve got your pastries. Pastéis de nada – the famous Portugese custard tarts – are available around on street corner. But so are every other kind of pastry. If you visit…
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A Day Trip to Sintra, Portugal
On the weekend, we took a day trip to Sintra: a charming town just outside of Lisbon. Sintra is like the Hamptons of Portugal: it’s a great place for wealthy people to escape Lisbon’s summer heat. In certain historical periods, the royal family lived in Sintra year round. Our tour started in Pena Palace: the…
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The Art of Lisbon
From architecture to fashion to food, Lisbon is a city that deeply values aesthetics. Nowhere is that more apparent than its incredible art scene. Whereas an increasing number of major cities around the world have managed to expel their artists through gentrification, Lisbon (at least for now) still has plenty of original art shops, pop-up…
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Lisbon’s Castelo de S. Jorge
Last week, James and I arrived at our very last stop on this wild and wonderful journey. Which is Lisbon! I’ve been a bit negligent with the blog this week, in part because Lisbon is the sort of place where you just… be. And I don’t know how to write a post that’s like, “we…
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Hiking the “Royal Path” In Madeira
On Sunday, we embarked on our last hike in Madeira before moving on to Lisbon: the Caminho Real da Encumeada hike, or the royal path (PR12). Historically, this route was one of the only options for cutting through the mountains, and was used by royalty, landlords, and other important people. It’s also a fitting nickname…
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Hiking Madeira’s Caldeirão Verde Levada Trail
One of the many strange and beautiful things in Madeira are the levadas: channels that were originally created in the 15th century to transport water around the island. There are about 1400km of these levadas, many of which are now maintained as hiking trails. Have I mentioned that Madeira is an absolute hiker’s paradise? We…