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Best Things to Do in Lisbon

Travel Tips - Shelia - February 18, 2014

Lisbon is a lovely city that yearly draws in hordes of tourists. Visitors to the city enjoy its wonderful Manueline architecture and the intriguing tradition of Fado music that fills the city’s air. Many of the best features of Lisbon are of everyday occurrence such as the pleasant yearly temperature, friendly people, and the wonderful cafe culture. Visitors enjoy greatly discovering Lisbon’s great neighborhoods such as the seafront Belem district. A few of the best things to do in Lisbon include:

Tram 28

Travelers in the know, know to take Tram 28 it which has become an attraction of sorts in of itself. Just a tram that carries local residents this tram by its route through the Alfama district past city squares and Se Catheedral and finally concluding at St George Castle gives a splendid opening view of the city. Many travelers actually suggest using this tram for its initial track up many steep hills, then walking back as to explore the neighborhoods it passes by.

alfamaAlfama

While riding Tram 28 you will head through the lovely Alfama neighborhoods of Lisbon. Dating back to Portugal’s period with the Moors, Alfama is categorized by narrow streets, interesting boutiques, Fado Clubs, and tourist sites like Se Cathedral and St George’s Castle. This area has fantastic shopping and a second to none cafe cultures set up along its often hilly streets. Coming to Alfama is a chance to see the origins of the city’s aesthetic and also to take the chance to do some great people watching. A trip to Lisbon would not be complete without a nice chunk of time spent here during your trip.

Belem

Competing with the Alfama district for their charming facades and enjoyable urban essences is the Belem district of Lisbon. Located 5 miles from the center of the city, Belem is a seaside neighborhood that also has some of Lisbon’s most important and iconic monuments. Housed in the district are the Belem Tower, Jeronimos Monastery, the Museu de Arte Antiga but to name a few. In order to get to Belem a recommendation, for a scenic journey, is to take tram 15 which takes around 30 minutes from the city center.

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Best Free Thing to Do in San Francisco

Lazy Destinations - Shelia - January 7, 2014

Haight-Ashbury_4742If you want to be in San Francisco and not spend money, which is hard as it has become one of the US’s most expensive cities, the answer is simple head down to Haight Ashbury to wander around. Once the epicentre of the hippy movement, Haight Ashbury still provides much diversion for visitors to the city as it doesn’t cost anything to enjoy its parks and green spaces. If you have a few dollars or you’re just an avid window shopper you can also do some great shopping down in this district too. After you have done that just zone into the areas great architecture too.

Parks of Haight-Ashbury

There are several great parks in near succession to each other in Haight Ashbury. The two that are most often enjoyed are Buena Vista Park – which is canvassed by sun in the summer and offers breathtaking views of the bay and Golden Gate Bridge, and Golden Gate Park, a massive park that stretches from Haight Ashbury all the way down to the Pacific Ocean. If you’re hanging around Haight Ashbury be sure to spend at least a little time in and around hippy hill which is easy to hear, see and smell from the sounds of rhythmic drums and the notable aromatic smoke that emits from it and forms small hazy clouds above it. There’s always plenty of free things to do while in the park.

Haight Ashbury Architecture

One of the calling cards of Haight Asbury has long been the Victorian style architecture built from brick. One of the best examples of this is the Red Vic – which is a bed and breakfast, slash museum. Wandering ever so slightly up the street and you can find the Victorian style former home of the entire Grateful Dead at 710 Ashbury. This was the residence that housed the band and the varied and ever changing “friends” who stayed there too. Wandering the streets of Haight Ashbury is free and promises to be a very pleasing aesthetic experience.

Shopping in Haight-Ashbury

Haight Ashbury is a well known shopping locale and is famous for having several independent shops that specialize in various alternative items. Even if you don’t want to spend money just looking around, window shopping, and people watching will make it well worth your while to wander around the various shops. If you are at all a lover of books make sure to wander and read a little in the famous City Lights Book Store, which was a centre of the beat and hippy movements in its day.

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The Fashionista’s Guide to Rome

Lazy Destinations, Travel Tips - Shelia - September 17, 2013

Rome is one of the world’s most fantastic cities for art, culture, history and cuisine, but it seems like Milan gets all the fashion attention in Italy. Well, if you find yourself in Rome, rest assured that there is plenty of outstanding shopping for the fashion-forward traveller. Follow this guide for the best of high fashion in Rome.

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The Spanish Steps: In Rome, much of the luxury designer shopping is arranged in a three pronged formation called the Trident (made up of the streets Via del Corso, Via del Babuino and Via Ripetta – all of which lead to the Piazza del Popolo.) For the high-fashion-minded shopper, it’s straight to Via del Babuina where you will find the flagship stores of many of the world’s top brands. Check out the little connecting side streets to peruse independent shops that carry high quality merchandise and are famous for their window displays. You may be dodging tourists, but this part of town is definitely ground zero for the world’s finest fashion.

Piazza Navona and the Pantheon: This part of town is familiar to tourists because the streets are lined with towering monuments of the ancient world and Renaissance churches, but between these cultural tourist magnets the intrepid shopper can find unique small boutique shops that carry an eclectic array of fashions and accessories next to vintage shops, antiques stores and book sellers. Don’t miss SBU, Rome’s hippest jeans shop on Via di San Pantaleo.

Campo de’ Fiori: This bustling square hosts a fresh produce market every morning and in the evenings the nightlife is hopping. For shoppers this district offers small craft shops tucked into narrow Medieval streets – browse the furniture designers, antique shops, ceramics stores, and quirky housewares. You will also find hidden gems like Borini, a women’s shoe store that offers a huge range of high quality leather shoes for unthinkable discounts (just don’t be put off by its unassuming appearance).

Fashion Week: Even though it’s not as fashion-famous as Milan, Rome still has a pretty influential bi-annual fashion week called Alta Moda Alta Roma. The old and well-established (and some new) fashion houses of Italy take this as an opportunity to connect with international talent and opportunities while buyers, celebrities, journalists and socialites look on for the next season’s trends. Even if you can’t get a seat by the runway for a designer show, the city will be alive with fashion, designers and taste-makers, so go style hunting around the city and see which style icons and avant garde fashions you can find.

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