A New Look for Spring!

With Spring in the air we have been doing some re-decorating.

We wallpapered one of the walls in our hallway and are absolutely in love with the result.

We got the paper from Scandinavian Wallpaper & Decor on Oxford Street in Mt Hawthorn, who have an amazing range of papers and murals which they import directly from Sweden.

Soaking up the Atmosphere

Sometimes it can be interesting just to stop and look around you when you are overseas.

A lady with her basket of sardines in Porto

An elderly gentleman taking stock in the busy centre of Istanbul

The pigeon feeding lady in central Istanbul

Time for Another Market

Winter markets can be a bit of a challenge.  It's not close to Easter or Christmas and it's often cold and wet, so shoppers have to be tempted by something special.

This time I'm hitting the Made on the Left market with a pop of yellow!

What's not to like about a splash of yellow on a chilly winter's day?

The market is on Sunday 28 July at the State Theatre in the City.  Put it in your diary now.

If you feel hungry in Istanbul......

Either head to a local street market where they sell wonderful fresh fruit and vegetables,

or head to a patisserie for a hit of sugar in the form of turkish delight or baklava drenched in local honey

Window Shopping

Whenever I visit a new place I love to just stroll around looking in shop windows and soaking up the atmosphere.

Lisbon is full of little gems, from the ultra modern to original 1930's

Portugal Part 1

I took so many photos on this trip that I can't possibly show you all of them, but rather an edited collection which I know will still make you want to visit Portugal.

These are some photos I took in Lisbon, where we spent the first three days of our trip.

Lisbon is built on a hill so it has lots of steep steps,

also lots of little alleyways and arches...

and roads barely wide enough for the tram.

The wider avenues have very intricate patterns in the cobblestones,

and the older houses are often decorated with beautiful tiles.

You can't visit Lisbon without checking out this sardine shop - all it sells are tins of beautifully packaged sardines!

Holiday Time!

I'm off on a trip to Portugal, Ireland and Istanbul so I will have lots of photos to share when I get back.