H10 Duque de Louie, Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal July 15-18, 2015

H10 Duque de Louie, Hotel in Lisbon, Portugal July 15-18, 2015

So, I ran out of room describing Lisbon so

I am making a separate post for this hotel.

H10 has only been open since March. I found them on a search engine and was very happy with my stay.

They paid great attention to detail and the prices

were very reasonable for what you got.

First of all, here is my room. Isn't it lovely?

It is almost a straight shoot to downtown where the town square is and walking down there, you pass the shopping district.

There is a breakfast that you can pay for and the food was wonderful.

I had risotto with mushrooms and parmesan cheese

and lime mousse with white chocolate

for dessert

 

I had room service the first night to try to get started on downloading my pictures to start getting caught up with my blog. It has taken me 2 weeks and I am almost done!

Here is a picture of the lobby, 

 and the dining room/restaurant manager.

I was also able to take pictures of the people

at the front desk.

I would definitely stay here again when coming back to Lisbon.

Lisbon, Portugal - The Tile Capital of the (my?) World, July 15 - 18, 2015

 Lisbon, Portugal - The Tile Capital of the (my?) World, July 15 - 18, homes,

So, I have been to Spain before, and more specifically, the Alhambra with the Moorish influence but I have to say, I saw a heck of a lot of tile here in Lisbon, but don't let me get ahead of myself.

To start out in Lisbon, I have been on a boat for 9 days and so my first afternoon and evening, I took it easy. Well, I had about 1,000 pictures to download and wanted to contact those people that I couldn't communicate with while I was on the cruise, so I took care of business. The next day I was ready to go.

I had a nice breakfast at my hotel H10 Duque de Louie, and walked over to the hop-on hop-off bus. We got just a couple of miles down the road, and a couple of get-off stops, and there was an accident right in front of us on a 2 lane road. One lane each direction. I could tell this was going to take a while and since I didn't really have time to waste, I decided to catch a taxi back to the town center and maybe take the on-off bus in the other direction.

Well, when I got to the town center, I walked around a little and saw some tuk-tuks. They are motorcycle steering with 2 wheels on the back to carry passengers. I asked one of the guys who ran a tuk-tuk, what the arrangement was as far as services and we struck up a deal and we were off. And, boy, was I glad that I did. The tuk-tuks, because they are small, can get in and out of everywhere, they can climb hills, they can go on narrow streets, and they can be easily parked.

 My driver was Cristiano. Cristiano is an engineering student and it is summer break so this is his summer job. He said he is really enjoying it and having fun.

First he drove me up to the top of the hill to see the view.

It is spectacular.

There were side streets everywhere that had streamers hanging over the middle of the street.

I asked Cristiano what that was. There was a special festival a little while back and the streamers are still up. He said that the streets are so packed during this festival that you can hardly move and people stay up most of the night partying.

As we moved on, we found an arts and crafts fair near the top of one hill.  Some of the proceeds were going to The Boy Scouts so I bought a couple of trinkets.

Then I noticed, in souvenir shop windows, that there were some kind of fish, some kind of chicken and swallows. So, there are 3 stories.

The fish represent sardines which I guess are very common here. It is common to have sardines on a sandwich.

The chicken story is about a man of royal blood who was going to be executed and he said, if the cock crows 3 times then I won't be executed. So, they didn't kill him.  The swallows, well, I didn't find out what they represented but a vendor told me that it is common to see several swallows hanging on a wall in homes around here.

Another interesting thing that I really like that they have here is lots of tile. It's everywhere!

It's on the outside of

In the parks, in the plazas. It is all over the place here. I love it!

I also love all the beautiful architecture that is found in cathedrals, government buildings and private homes and museums.

 

See the flag poles for the Expo that was here in 1998?

they still use trolley cars (I love that!)

 

There are several beautiful parks here, the tile museum, which I will cover in a separate blog, wall art, the Expo, tiled glass recycle bins and so much more that I'd like to share but I am out of room.

 

Lisbon was wonderful!

Sochi, Russia & The Olympic Village - July 13, 2015

Sochi, Russia & The Olympic Village - July 13, 2015

Sochi, Russia - Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that I would be here at Sochi, Russia. I had a friend, back home, who would update me, as it was happening, what her friend who was in the Olympics here, was doing. And now it is me who is here! Not doing the Olympics though.

Sochi actually has the 2nd largest beachfront in the world. A lot of Russians vacation here.

Actually, during the morning we visited 

Dendrary Botanical Gardens. This man, FM Zorin, decided that he wanted to create a beautiful botanical garden so he became rich so that he could. He became a famous writer. That is how he build his wealth.

Back then, when they wanted to produce a bronze statue, they would prepare the mold, and pour it and quickly produce it this way. I believe this was a statue of Zorin's wife.

Also, the urns around here were produced in that way. 

We were shown rubber trees and told about their history and use. I think she said they don't start producing rubber for 30 years!

The owner, brought in Italian cypress. Look how tall they are!

Also, he had an assortment of palm trees. We were told that palm trees are very hearty and can live almost anywhere.

Here is a beautiful gazebo that he created for his wife. 

We walked by his house that was on the property.

I was distracted by the poster showing the museum that was now housed on the property.




There is a funicular that takes you to the top of the botanical gardens if you wish to ride it up there. Our guide tells us that being out in nature and enjoying oneself is a concept that Stalin felt was very important. Apartments were small because the people should only go to their apartments to rest. The other times the people should be out and about enjoying their world.

Then we went out to the Olympic Park. The name of this town, which is just a few miles from Sochi, is Adler.

We arrive at the train station where you park the buses

then take a small train to the actual park.

As we enter the Olympic Park, we see that there are many pavilions there that are still in use. Also, there is a center grounds where all the Olympic flags fly.

They built a large hotel and amusement park

right by the Olympic park grounds.

 There were bicycles to ride around the park

if you choose to do so.

The Olympics here have 3 mascots - the tiger, the rabbit and the bear. These are statues but there are live characters walking around and you can have your picture taken

with them if you would like.

Now it's lunchtime and we go to these beautiful grounds that are used for weddings and special events.

We have a delicious lunch of fresh bread, cheese and herbs. Also a wonderful soup and wine.

Walking back to the bus I see a giant eagle perched on the shoulder of a man. He offers a photo for 2 euros. I also saw this at the botanical gardens. There was a woman with a large parrot and sleuth on her shoulder. I missed that photo opportunity and this time, I didn't want to miss it.

Look at the size of that thing! And he seems so tame! Impressive!

Then we go to the downtown area of Sochi.  We walk down the major shopping area. Our guide says the real estate here is expensive. I look at the types of shops here in Sochi.

There is an electronics store with cell phones,

a dress shop,

a shop that looks like it sells surf boards,

advertisements for a cabaret and a Van Gogh exhibit

and an advertisement for what looks like a t.v. show.

I see giant posters on the side of buildings advertising

 the hockey team. 

There are beer stands were you can order

and carry off a glass of beer.

I see these square pictures of flowers that are placed on the diagonal - 3 of them together, as a civic decoration.

 I see a MacDonald's.

I see the local circus which I hear is very popular.

Also, the guide talks about how important playing fields are to participate in sports and shows us one.

I see a local sushi bar

and a florist shop.

There is a blue and white character, who I am not familiar with, that is posing with children. They are having their picture taken with him. 

As we taxi out of port, I say thank you and goodbye to Sochi - the Olympic Village.