Lisboa. October, 16th-20th.

we have a new love and its name is Lisboa.
we had just 4 days to explore the city and of course we did not see everything we wanna see, but it is a good reason to pay another visit. it was my first time in Portugal, so i can't give any advice as an expert. i'm sharing a list of what impressed us about the city instead, along with some analogue shots.
enjoy a ride through this vibrant, nostalgic, decadent, colorful, capricious, relaxed and tangled town. 

collage of azulejos. which one is your favorite?

11 things we love about Lisboa

l. the azulejos
i think you've already figured it out from the pictures! it was something that i was longing to see, and i wasn't disappointed at all. they are poems, of various shapes and colors, that give style and personality to the old houses. i'd spend hours photographing them. and oops, i did.

2. the food is incredibly good
we had eleven meals in Lisboa and it has been a great experience, every time. good food at good price, this is one of the best things that can happen while travelling. i bet they have a special way to marinate the meat before grilling, because churrasco was delicious. and i ate the best pork ribs ever.

arco de Rua Augusta | elevador de Santa Justa

3. tram 28
an absolutely non-touristic service, but an actual means of transport used by locals, that has become a must in every Lisbon trip. why? because it is charming and vintage looking; it makes an adorable sound; drivers are an endless source of anecdotes and tips; it takes you to the most interesting places of the town; sometimes it is scary as a merry-go-round {when you know that you're not going to crash, but are still worried} when it passes through the narrowest and steepest streets; you can observe the daily lisbon-life; it is relatively cheap. why relatively? one-way ticket costs 2,85 €, which is not cheap, but the daily Viva Viagem card costs 6€ and it's valid  for unlimited trips on tram, bus and metro lines for 24h. 
n.b. taxis are (relatively) cheap, too. 

miraduro de Santa Luzia

stairs

4. free art

there are some museums with free-entrance, like the Museu do Design e da Moda and the Museu Colecção Berardo. and, on sunday morning, all Lisbon museums are free entry. isn't that wonderful?

5. drinks are good, too!

porto, ginjinha (com!), sangria, coffee. portugueses have good taste when it comes to drinks, too. 

doors | left: mosteiro dos Jerónimos | right: the front door of our airbnb's charming flat 

Rossio

they said goodbyes at the door and now she watches him going

6. pasteis de nata in Belem
we're talking about food again. street food, to be precise. pasteis de nata are delicious pastries filled with custard. they can be found in every bakeries of Lisboa, but eating them at the fabrica dos pasteis de Belem  {founded in 1837, next to the mosteiro do Jeronimos}alone is worth the trip.

7. changeable weather
the city is moody. sometimes she's punding and puffy clouds thicken over the Tejo. 10 minutes later it's raining. 15 minutes later the sky is so blue you want to sing.
unpredictable and whimsical, like a girl.

castelo de São Jorge

near the miraduro de Santa Luzia

8. the language

 i consider portuguese as the language that taught me to love foreign languages. i was seventeen, i had been studying english for years, but i used it just at school, i had never taken a trip alone, never had the need to actually use a foreign language to understand or be understood. then i spent one month in Brazil, discovering the beauty of meeting and getting to know a different culture. 

of course, the Portugal's portuguese is very different, but hearing that was music to my hears. 

street in Alfama

9. lively people, streets, cafès
it may sounds as a cliché, but people are actually nice. even if they don't speak english, they know the universal language of smiles and gestural expressiveness. or maybe we have just been lucky.
the city is teeming with life, but still relaxed and informal. it seems a beautiful place to live.

10. different neighborhoods with different souls
Belem, Graça, Alfama, Estrela, Castelo, Chiado, Bairro Alto, Baixa, Rossio, Alcântara: every neighborhood we visited has its own personality. explore and understand them is a challenge! 

mosteiro dos Jerónimos. i love the light on this one.

11. similarities with Italy

yes, we travel to see something different. but sometimes is funny to see something that is, in certain ways, familiar. many features of Lisboa reminded us of Italy. old people gathering at the bar, playing cards or watching football, the omnipresent coffee (espresso), a capital city built  on seven hills, the glorious history, lots of churches and greengrocers, hanging laundry. have you noticed other?

vespa 42L2 {marco insisted on showing this one}. we saw many vespas, and just one lambretta. unfortunately, it was too dark to take a picture of the lambretta, but we were lucky enough to meet the owner, a lovely girl who speaks perfect italian. we chatted for a while but didn't exchange contacts. too bad. 

playing cards

marco and azulejos

address book
this is lisbon hostel | rua da costa do castelo 63 (entrance from escadinhas marquês ponte de lima 1)
cozy hostel in Castelo, friendly atmosphere. clean and quiet. amazing terrace. we loved our breakfast with a view on the rooftops!

airbnb flat in Estrela | travessa peixeira
a cute flat in a quiet neighborhood, well connected, on the tram 28's route. clean, nice price, lovely details. our hosts were the kindest!
{there is a beautiful bookshop nearby, called Palavra de Viajante, that sells travel -and travel related- books}

a vida portugesa | rua anchieta, 11
best shop in town. make sure to buy your souvenirs here.

fabrica dos pasteis de Belem | rua de Belém 84-92 Belém
see point 6.

churrasco da Graça | largo da Graca 45
see point 2. delicious churrasco.

museu Nacional do Azulejos | rua da madre de deus, 4
beautiful museum to learn more about this art form

mosteiro dos Jeronimos | praça do império
stunning. UNESCO wolrd heritage site. make sure not to miss it.

taberna ideal | rua da esperança 112
loved it. delicious sangria, vintage hints, eclectic menù, super kind staff. the don't accept credit cards.

museu Colecção Berardo | praça do império
huge art collection that covers the entire 20th century. free entry, free wifi, ok to take pictures. wow!

lx factory | rua rodrigues faria 103
pure creativity. hip place with cozy cafes and restaurants, nice shops in a former textile factory. sunday market from 11am.

fragoleto | rua da prata 61
creative ice cream flavors. try the one with goat milk.

street musicians in largo do Carmo

{nikon em + kodak color plus 200 | fujicolor 200}
to see some other pictures, visit i diari della lambretta's facebook page or my flickr.

autumn. to - do list

"autumn is a second spring

when every leaf is a flower"

it's been years since autumn meant a new school year and fresh beginning to me. but still, i think it's always the right time to make a to do list, with all the sweet and cozy thing i'm looking forward to do. {first of all, my lisbon trip! any suggestions?}

during the last month i didn't take any analogue photographs, so now i'm sharing a few mobile shot from my daily life lately.

small treasure

vineyards work

tea & chocolate time

while drawing the list, my soundtrack was the new lullatone EP "falling for autumn", have you listened to it yet?

slovenian roadtrip. August, 16th-18th

after our osmize tour, marco and i spent the night in Trieste, to be back on the road the next morning, headed to Ljubljana. it was our very first time abroad by lambretta, and seeing the state line sign was thrilling!

practical info  

if your are coming from italy like us, and willing to do a roadtrip abroad by lambretta/vespa/scooter 125 hp or less, you can not use the regular driving license (patente B) like in italy. you need a motorcycle license (patente A). 

i must admit that i didn't know much about Slovenia before this trip. the few things that used to come into my mind were pointed steeples, a language written with so many "J", and caves. as soon as we crossed the border i realized that i was oblivious to the most obvious feature of Slovenia: over half of the territory is covered by forest, it's the heaven of the outdoorsy life. i could feel the chill on my arms and the mossy smell in the air, crossing woods, large cultivated fields and rural villages all the way until the capital city.

practical info 

Slovenia is famous for its efficient highway network {one of the few things i knew}. in order to have access to the motorway you have to buy the vinjeta, a toll-sticker that represents a subscription, which can be annual (95 euros for cars, 47,50 for motorcycles), montlhy (30 euros for cars, 25 for motorcycles) or weekly (15 euros for cars, 7,50 for motorcycles). so, motorcycles, cars, and most of the campers (less of 3,5 t) do not need to stop at the road toll every time they enter the motorway. the vinjeta can be purchased at gas stations. 

one of the outcomes of the vinjeta system is that motorways are usually busier than normal roads. as far as i've seen, i'm glad we have taken the normal road: it's not just cheaper. it was quiet, no traffic at all, and very scenic: ideal for a roadtrip, i highly recommend it.

coming from Trieste, shortly after the slovenian state line, the village of Lipica is worth a stop.  it's known for the Lipica stud farm, where lipizzan horses are bred. the road passes by large lawns, bordered by white fences, that match the light color of the horses. they appear like a fairytale vision.

the outstanding Postojnska jama {Postojna cave} could be a perfect second stop, and for the most romantic there is the Predjamski grad {Predjama castle} just 9 km away.

once in Ljubljana, we settled at Ljubljana Resort camping, a nice and cheap accomodation. the city center is close, but not in a walking distance, so it can be reached by bus or by bike. the camping has a convenient bike rental service. 
the city is not like i imagined it at all. Ljubljana is very european. the bridges on the water and the bicycles make it look like Amsterdam, the stylish cafès remind me of Vienna. people hang out along the river banks, chat loudly on the tables outside the restaurants. Ljubljana made me instantly feel relaxed, at ease. it felt like summer. my sundresses and sandals met its dragons and art nouveau buildings, and they get along. 

some highlights from our days:

• shopping in Stari trg and Gallusovo nabrežje {check Sisi shop for home decor and accessories, and Spin vinyl for secondhand records}
• a walk (and a nap) in park Tivoli
• buying local products at the farmer's market in Vodnikov trg
• listening to some jazz at Gajo Jazz Club
• a lunch with the university crowd at Skriti kot
• a couple of margaritas at Joe Pena's 
• sweet treats: macarons at Lolita and cakes at Zvezda

as you know, i have a soft spot for street food. the local delicacy is called burek, a pastry made of phyllo dough, filled with meat or cheese {i saw a pizza burek, too, but i did not try it}, good for a tasty snack or a super quick lunch. 

Ljubljana is a little city, and it's something that i really like. moving only a few km from the center, you are already in the open countryside, or in the middle of a forest.

the last stop of our roadtrip was lake Bled, a place surrounded by mountains, with a small island right in the middle of the water. the lake shores were crowded, but all the loudness could be left behind, by jumping on a pletna {traditional row boat}.

i bet this place look even more magical during the cold season, early morning, with the island all wrapped up in mist. it's a good excuse to come back again, don't you think?

{nikon f-801 + fuji superia 200}