lisboa

I've been accumulating photos and experiences like nobody's business recently, but have had literally NO time to blog them. So quickly, here's some more snaps from Lisbon. As I said before, my main impressions of the place were picturesque trams, crumbling but stunning tile work, and custard tarts to die for. Oh, and fish, fish, fish. I haven't eaten so well or so cheaply anywhere in recent memory. I also remembered that I love Portuguese (such a sexy sounding language). We stayed in a hostel in relatively working-class area of town, where glasses of wine could be had at 10am for 60 cents each and where late-night rambles led to tiny African bars, or hole-in-the-wall beer joints where the male clientele were singing along to Adele. We ate cod in all forms, eels and octopus and drank so much wine. There were monuments too, but frankly, when on holiday, I just like wandering the streets eating and drinking and snickering as optimistic locals try to pick up blonde American tourists who are SO much smarter than them.

Anyway, I'm late! Hopefully post again soon!




Riding the tram




best fish of my life!






graffiti of Portuguese poet Pessoa






mmmm, eating a pastel de nata late at night to soak up some of that wine...

beautiful pavements

So, I'm still not ready to talk about the birds that were eating my head, but here's an outfit from Lisbon. I went with a few friends last weekend, and it was my first time in Portugal. Lisbon's quite a grand old city, exuberant colonial architecture that looks like it's been falling down for at least a century, quaint little trams, and amazing food... but I'll share pictures of all that next time.

I borrowed this amazing Family Affairs jumper dress from my friend Anna, owner of the world's most enviable closet, and risked my ankles prancing around on the cobblestones. As I've mentioned before about Family Affairs, I really like that their designs are youthful and playful without being juvenile. Perfect for people like me, getting decidedly adult in years, but apparently not in lifestyle or maturity...

there's a special providence in the fall of a sparrow

There’s a special providence in the fall of a sparrow. If it be now, ’tis not to come. If it be not to come, it will be now. If it be not now, yet it will come—the readiness is all. Hamlet, Act 5, Scene 2

I'd stay and write more, maybe even make a real blog post, but my mental state the last couple of weeks is fairly well described by the photo above. If the birds eating my head were metaphorical rather than real, that is.

I'll be back soon!

cheddar gorge

I love the British countryside. Not getting to it, which tends to involve lots of traffic and hair-pin bends and no sidewalks, but once you're there, I love rambling across rocky fields, past families out with their dog and having picnics, enjoying the very inhospitable-ness of the landscape and climate. The day we went to Cheddar Gorge in Somerset was beautiful though, sunny and crisp.

It was originally meant to be a hike with other people, but a few mucky fields convinced us we didn't have the right shoes and should go get the car, which was a good plan, because the others got stuck somewhere and never made it to the gorge.









Clambering over rocks and being buffeted by the wind, before heading down to the village for a cream tea!

skip to my lou

I wore this for hanging out in Bristol on a Saturday... going for a big breakfast, skipping down the street past the murals, later taking my laptop out to work on the book, while stuffing myself with Portuguese custard tarts and tea.

The skirt and blouse are both new, both sales scores. I wasn't going to go anywhere near the stores, but I have a friend who's a bad influence (ahem, cough--Aga--cough cough). Anyway, it feels nice to have a little wardrobe revitalization, especially since winter doesn't seem to be going anywhere, boo hisss. The skirt is wool and cozy, and is perfectly squishy and great for spinning in. I've had the airplane pin for years, as I was a huge fan of vintage planes growing up.

the carnival of life

The night carnivals in Tenerife were fun and debauched, but the daytime ones were somehow even more fun. People of all ages in costume, roving groups of musicians and queens, grumpy children in costume accompanied by parents who seemed to be having a better time than they were (might have to do with the bottle of rum and coke stashed in the stroller, techno-dancing in the mean square... and all that was just Sunday!

We also ate well:


ridiculous portions of chorizo and barbecued ribs the first day sent Amandine and I straight back to our hotel for a siesta.


Papas al pobre kept me more or less coherent mid-party...


And I wanted, but didn't quite let myself have, a dulce de leche stuffed churro. Sooon....

On Saturday, we went to the neighboring town of La Laguna, which had pretty colonial architecture:




But yeah, it was all about the madness on Sunday. My favourite moment actually went unphotographed: as Amandine and I crossed the park near our hotel on Sunday morning, still bleary-eyed, one of those miniature park trains went by, absolutely bursting at the seams with drunken revelers from the night before. This was about 11 am, but they were still smiling, still singing, and still joking with bemused bystanders. I have no idea who was driving the train. Meanwhile...











I was Little Red Riding Hood in a headpiece made for my friend Anna by her grandmother when she was three years old!


Amandine making friends





And then we had a little nap in the park in the sunshine, and I trundled off to get my plane back to Barcelona


Adios Tenerife! See you next year! (Although next year, I'm kind of thinking Rio...)