the_lisbon_connection blog

Why you should travel solo! 6 female travelers share their thoughts. | Hostelworld.com : The Best Solo Travel Tips for a Girl Travelling Alone In honour of International Women’s Day, we’ve compiled the best female solo travel bloggers to give you the best advice on how to travel the world

After watching Gone Girl , which I thought was one of the best movies of 2014, I was eager to investigate a bit on the author of the book,  Gillian Flynn ’s other work. So after being done with Paula Hawkins Girl on the Train , I dove into Sharp Objects and Dark Places . They are both very well written. Flynn's greatest gift seems to be creating deep and well developed characters. You can almost picture her scribbling on some paper an enormous amount of background story on each character she invents. In Dark Places she carefully takes us through the minds of several members of the Day family, focusing on the current life of disturbed Libby (the youngest daughter of the family who survived the massacre), and happenings on the fatidic day for Patty (the mother and head of the household) and Ben (the oldest brother and presumed killer).  For Patty and Ben the book evolves in a good pace, as in each chapter you find out yet another detail of their lives that helps put to...

Finally completed one of my wish list things to do! Visit the HP studios! As a true HP fan, from the very beginning I recommend it! Truly do! So here are some tips and suggestions if you are also planning to visit! Buying tickets and getting there You can get the tickets from the HP Studios official website. I recommend doing this as soon as you book your trip, because the only way into the studios is with a reservation and they do sell out. The visit is very well organized. Every 20 minutes or so they allow a group of about 50 people to go in. There is a first part with a film and then you are on your own to explore all of the set. This is good because it means there are no lines and waiting around. Bathrooms are all clean and food court was not packed (and we went on a Saturday).   To get there I recommend buying a package deal with entrance and returning bus ride to central London (from and to Victoria). I mean this because if you miss y...

Being a real fan of Jamie’s Italian style cuisine, and since it tends to be a tradition of mine going to his places wherever I go, I booked lunch at Jamie’s Italian in Covent Garden. However I messed up the places and we ended up at Union Jack. See two of his places are in Covent Garden but Union Jack is the one inside the actual market. When we got there the host said we had the wrong place because they didn’t take reservations. We however manage to get a table anyway and had a very pleasant lunch. I had a marguerita and my friends some sort of chicken curry specialty of Union Jack. Staff is nice and the buzz and location are simply fantastic. We ended up also being able to try Jamie’s Italian because we randomly found it a couple of days later. Also it will not let you down. Same style decoration and menu as any of the other Jamie Italians which however alike always have a personal touch of originality. Prices are as always average and the Chocolate Praline Pudding was do dye ...

Picture credit: www.cvilarpics.tumblr.com   This was my second time in the infamous Amsterdam . My first time there was in March 2013, and as we arrived the first thing anyone told us was “hey, welcome to the north pole. It’s the coldest month of March since 1920 something”. Jackpot! This time around was much better weather…not great if you consider that I am travelling from 30 degrees in Lisbon, but definitely better! So here are a few points on Amsterdam and Zaanse Schans the lovely place with the Windmills. Here are a few FAQ from my friends about Amsterdam: Public transport/trams On both trips I used the tram only three times. Twice to get to the hotel with the bags and another time to get a TerraVision bus stop to get to Brussels from a further part of town. I guess this depends on how much you enjoy walking and, where your hotel/hostal is. This time we were in Munk Hotel in Achtergracht Street and the other time I was near Leidseplein which was also...

Day 1 – Adventure begins! My friend Joana, who is quite a citizen of the world (having lived in São Paulo, Scotland, and New York in the past few years) is now living in Dublin! Since I went to visit her, there will be no reviews on where to stay - Joana is simply a fantastic host! In terms of Dublin and the nearby areas, there is plenty to discuss…and an urge to go again! First of all if you are travelling from Lisbon you can fly Air Lingus or/and Ryanair and have a cheap ticket if you avoid high season and book in advance. From the airport to central city just take the turquoise buses ( 10€ return). As I arrived a little bit after lunch hour, we grabbed some delicious sandwiches to go at a place smartly called Lunch and headed out to eat outside at Trinity College lawn fields, whereas most students were also soaking the fleeting sun. We spent the afternoon just walking around town with a little few shopping stops – check out Avoca, a very cool store with Irish made stuf...

Another art exhibition I truly recommend is Genesis from Sebastião Salgado.  "A love letter to the world" is how the Brazilian photographer sees his new work.  When you check out his exhibition, you will understand what he means. All black and white, his passionate shots are a mixture of very sudden captures and others where the world (and its inhabitants) just seem to be posing for the picture.  Salgado seems to have been everywhere, photographing simply nature in its pure state at the Amazonia jungle,  the glaciers, the grand canyon, the lost tribes - including the Zo'é which was only found 20 years ago in Brazil, and wild animals such as penguin communities or Uganda's last free gorillas. Yet, when you leave the exhibition you have a new perspective on how big our world is, and how many lost   paradises are still out there. I felt like grabbing my camera and just going out there to finish the work!