buttons abroad lisboa: elevador de santa justa and MNAC- museu do chiado

It's Thursday, and Thursdays are for travel, which means its time for a Buttons Abroad post. If your not a fan of museums then you may want to click here and see Sita twirling around instead.

Lisbon is a very hilly place. The Santa Justa Elevator is basically a lift that connects the lower streets with a higher street, and has somehow become a tourist attraction. We had read many warnings regarding pickpockets in Lisbon, especially with regards to the elevator and the notorious Tram 28, so we decided to go bright and early to avoid the crowds. And it was rather a good thing we did because we only had to wait for a few minutes before we went up.

At the top there are pleasant views over Rossio square to your left, Baixa district and down towards the River Tagus to your right, and over the Alfama district in front. If you buy a travelcard/daypass with the Carris bus company you can ride the lift for free with the pass. However once you get to the top you have to pay an extra Euro I believe to climb the stairs to the very top.

Both of us definitely enjoy history and ancient art in like we were talking about last week. Modern art to be honest (and rememeber this is our opinion) is not really our cup of tea. However post the Santa Justa Elevator which took all of 10 minutes. We had a few hours to kill, as it was a Sunday and none of the shops had yet open plus it was in the area so we wondered the narrowed streets holding our big paper map like typical tourists until we stumbled upon Museu National de Arte Contemporanea (Museu do Chiado).

But to our surprise it was rather interesting. The exhibition  (which will be running until 28/10/12) was on the art deco period in Portugal from 1912 to 1960. The exhibition was divided across 4-5 sections beginning with the origins of art-deco and followings it's journey through the years. There were examples of sculptures, drawings as well advertising and magazine covers. The works of Almada Negreiros, Eduardo Viana and António Soares was heavily featured in the exhibitions. To conclude the exhibition provided a great insight into the Portuguese art deco period. Definitely worth a wonder if this is something that interests you.

Upon leaving the museum we spent the rest of the day having a wonder around the baixa/chiado area, which was full of shops and cafes. We even managed to get a picture with the bronze Fernando Pessoa (1888-1935) statue! He is a famous poet and writer and in his honour they built the statue outside the cafe which he visited regularly. The architecture in the area is great. Shops and houses are built in the pombaline style, post the 1755 earthquake (Great Lisbon earthquake).

Sita & Radha xoxo 

buttons abroad lisboa: museu calouste gulbenkian and street art

The Calouste Gulbenkian museum must be one of the most popular museums in Portugal. It houses the collection of Calouste Gulbenkina, one of the world's wealthiest business men of the 20th century. He was also an art lover and collector. His collection is considered to be one of the most greatest private collections in the world. The museum showcases this vast collection. 

The Museum is split into two sections, the first comprising of classical and oriental art. On display there were pieces from ancient egypt, greek vases, beautiful persian rugs, and then also porcelain pieces from japan and china. The second section is dedicated to European art, and here you have smaller sections of paintings,  sculptures, beautifully crafted furniture and also collection of works by René Lalique, which consist of some absolutely stunning pieces of jewellery. 

The museum is surrounded by gardens, and it is definitely worth taking a stroll, and there are many nice spots to sit and read a book or have a picnic. There are also some modern pieces of art in the gardens, like the spray painted caravan in the picture. 

Whilst on the subject of art, we saw so many fabulous examples of street art! We had to share some of our favourites with you guys. 

To conclude the museum is a definite place to visit if you are an art enthusiast. 

We hope you enjoyed this post, we'll back next Thursday with the next Buttons Abroad post :) If you missed last weeks post you can click here. 

Sita & Radha xoxo 

buttons abroad lisboa: belem

Hello everyone! Buttons Abroad was initially started off by Sita to tell you about her New Zealand trip, which was paused so we could tell you about our trip to Lisbon. However we seemed to have had a pause during the whole month of September, so what we're going to do is just carry on from where we left off. We'll finish off the Lisbon trip and then we'll rewind back to NZ! If your anything like Sita on holiday you take like a gazillion photos and then it takes a long time to go through them and pick out some to share, so apologies for the delay.

If you want to catch up on our last post and remind yourself where we left off then click here before you continue.

Belem is probably Lisbon's most historical area, it is abundant in monuments which all date from the age of discovery. If you like architecture (which we both do) then your going to love Belem. The main points of interest are Jeronimos Monastery, Padrão dos Descobrimentos (monument to the discoveries) and Belem Tower. There are also numerous museums and ajuda palace nearby. 

Jeronimos Monastery must be one of the most famous monuments in Portugal and its easy to see why. It is one of the most magnificent piece of architectural work that we have seen. The design is in the manueline style. There is a church which is free to visit but for the rest of the monastery there is a entrance fee, we think it is worth paying the entrance fee and seeing the monastery from the inside. The workmanship is truly beautiful, each carving so intricate and detailed. 

Within the monastery is the Archaeology Museum (separate entrance fee) which we did visit. Just to give you some context, we love visiting museums, especially the museums in London, so this is what we're comparing against. This museum is rather small, there were around 4-5 displays, which were quite interesting. However it is not a museum that blows you away. So unless you are itching to go, we would give it a miss. 

Across the road there's a lovely garden and fountains. Then across the road again you'll find the Padrão dos Descobrimentos, which sits on the bank of the Tagus river. The monument contains figures on both sides (different on each side) off famous Portuguese explorers/figures during the age of discovery we believe. Although don't ask us to name any of them! 

When your at the monument you have some nice views over the Tagus river and can see the April the 25th bridge and Belem Tower. You can walk down to Belem tower or you can hope on the tram. 

So Belem Tower was our next stop. The tower is another example of the Portuguese manueline style. It dates back to the 16th century and was built as a coastal defence system. There are four levels if we remember correctly! Offering views over the Tagus River and the surrounding Belem area. I think we lived in Portugal it would definitely be a nice place to go, find a spot to sit, relax, enjoy the view and read a book! 

So to conclude if you go to Lisbon, we think Belem is definitely worth a visit! Hope you found this useful! 

Sita & Radha xoxo

buttons abroad lisbon: alfama district

Hello everyone! To continue on from day one in Lisbon, the second day of our trip we explored the Alfama district. We started of in Praca do Comercio, which is a pretty square with a monument in the centre, i'm not quite sure who the monument is off, so if anyone knows then do let us know! We found that Lisbon was full of lots of squares with monuments, which was rather nice. At the end of the square is the River Tagus, and you can see the 25th of April bridge and the jesus christ monument on the other side.

From there we decided to tackle the Alfama district on foot. If your not a walking person then the other option is via the notorious tram 28. A lot of literature on Lisbon warns you regarding the pick pockets on this tram and this was one of the reason's we decided to avoid taking the tram. The other being the Alfama district is one of Lisbon's oldest quarters, made up of postcard perfect white houses with orange roofs, on hilly narrowed cobblestoned streets, and the ideal way to explore, we thought anyway, was via foot.

We walked uphill towards St Georges castle, which sits high up in the hills, overlooking the city. On our journey we stopped off at various viewpoints or miradouro in portuguese, which offer stunning views over the city and river. We also stopped off and browsed in little touristy shops that are dotted around the castle. On the way up we came across Lisbon cathedral, which is beautiful building both from the outside and inside, and definitely worth a look in. 

One of the great things about exploring on foot is that you always discover hidden gems. One of the places we discovered was a terrace of a restaurant that we can't remember the name off! Well the restaurant used used part of the terrace for outdoor seating and the rest was free. We visited on many occasions during our trip and there was only ever a few other people there, mostly locals. This was one of our favourite places to sit for a while and enjoy the view, if you look up you can see St George's castle, to your left you can see the Tagus river, 25th of April bridge, jesus christ monument, the cathedral, and over the Alfama district and in front you have views over the city, and the best bit was it wasn't overcrowded with tourists. 

If you want to find the terrace then you need to go onto Rua da Madelena, you can get onto this street from Praca da Figuera which is one of the main squares (next to Rossio square),  if you find the tram stop for tram 12 and then walk straight ahead of you (away from the square) and then take the second right you will get onto Rua da Madelena, walk down this street as if your going towards the river, and on your left, not on the street but a little way in, you will see a supermarket called Pingo Doce, you want to head into the supermarket and  find the lift, take the lift to the top level, come out and to your left you will see the restaurant walk towards the restaurant and you will see the terrace on your left just past the lift.

We actually found the terrace from wondering around the streets near the castle, and then saw that there was a lift, thought we would take it down to see where it went, discovered the supermarket, decided to buy some ice cream, went back up to the terrace and enjoyed our icecreams with a nice view. If anyone knows the place we are talking about then please share details with us in the comments!

If you are keen to take a tram, there is another tram that goes up into the Alfama district, it's tram 12, we took this one just to experience a tram ride through those narrow hilly streets!

We hope you found this helpful and we'll be back next week with more pictures and stories from Lisbon!

Sita & Radha xoxo

buttons abroad lisbon day 1

Hi Everyone! You may recall that we went on holiday to Lisbon during July, we have finally had a chance to go through the pictures, so we shall start sharing then with you!

Our first day commenced by waking up around 4am in the morning in order to get to the airport for our early flight. Suffice to say we mostly slept through the journey!

Once we arrived in Lisbon the first thing to hit us was the heat (after getting out of the air-conditioned airport of course!) It was so nice to step out into the sunshine, seeing as at that time it was constantly raining in England!

We decided to take the aerobus service to the hotel. The ticket is very well priced at only 3.50 euros, in addition you are able to use the ticket for 24 hours. There are three separate lines, going into the city centre, oriente (which is the Parque-das-Nacoes area) and  the third going to the financial district. They have a leaflet with a list of hotels and which stop you will need to get off at, and the stops are called out, so its easy enough to get off at the right stop.

The hotel we stayed at was the Hotel Miraparque, this is located near Marques de Pombal square, we got to the hotel two hours before the check in time, however they were nice enough to get our rooms ready for us early.

After freshening up with headed back out to explore, we decided to make use of the bus passes, and headed back to the airport and took the bus to the Parque-das-Nacoes area. After getting of the bus, cross a couple of roads, walk through the metro station area, and you'll come out on the other side and opposite, you'll find the Vasco Da Gama shopping centre.

Obviously we could not resist having a look in the shops, but surprisingly nothing was bought! If you head towards the end of the shopping centre and come out the other side, and head towards the river you can see the Vasco Da Gama bridge (the longest bridge in Europe).

This is also where the cable cars are located, you can see Radha in the picture above carefully manoeuvering herself along the walkway alongside the river. (In my defence there was a loud creaking sound as we walked over so was scared I'd fall in!)

The cable cars cost four euros to go one way, we decided to go only one way, but you can come back to where you started if you want. To be honest having sat on the cable cars we would not recommend them, you basically see what you see if you just walk along the river, there are no spectacular views.

After getting off the cable cars we walked through some gardens, to get back to the shopping centre and make our way back to the hotel on the bus.

The Parque-das-Nacoes area is also where the aquarium and casino are located, if that's something your interested in visiting.

We hope you found this useful. more pictures to come soon!

Sita & Radha xoxo

ola lisboa!!!

Hi Guys! Hope your all well! We went away to sunny Lisbon for the week! Here's a sneak peek...more pictures and details of what we got up to in upcoming posts :)

Sita and Radha xoxo 

buttons abroad: rotorua day 3

On our third and final day in Rotorua we visited Te Puia, a Maori cultural centre. We went on a guided tour with a knowledgeable tour guide who shared with us stories about the Maori legends and gods. There are carving and weaving schools located in the centre, which displayed some beautiful craftsmanship. 


Also within the centre is a kiwi house, where you can see New Zealand's national bird, the kiwi, in a nocturnal environment. 


The centre is located within the Te Whakarewarewa Thermal Valley, where you can find the the Pohutu Geyser, which is the largest active Geyser in New Zealand. Rotorua was definitely not short on geothermal activity! 


At the end of our tour we watched a Maori Cultural show, which included watching a performance of the traditional haka dance, and of course they get you to join in!

We had a thoroughly enjoyable day and it was a great learning experience. A trip to New Zealand isn't complete with out experiencing some Maori culture.

Sita xoxo

buttons abroad: rotorua day 2

The second day in Rotorua started of horsetrekking with paradise valley ventures. At the end of the day it was a horse ride, i'm sure you could do this anywhere in the world, so if you enjoy horseriding and you have some time to spare consider this. Otherwise there are plenty of other things to see and do, which you can't see or do anywhere else.  

Followed by an afternoon hike in the waimangu volcanic valley. The valley is another area of geothermal activity. The views are absolutely spectacular. The pictures above don't do it justice, the place was one of the most amazing places in the world that I  have visited. I have honestly never seen anything like it. I would definitely recommend a visit :) 
 
I shall be back next week to share with you what I got up to on day 3 :) 
 
Sita xoxo

buttons abroad: adventure weekend in rotorua part 1

During our stay in Tauranga a few of us went to Rotorua for bit if an adventure long weekend. It was a wet weekend but seeing as all of us were from the UK we were use to the rain and we didn't let it stop us from having fun. 

Day 1

We started off early in the morning. We took the local bus service and our first stop was the Skyline Rotorua. We bought the skyline combo package so we got a gondola ride, 5 luge rides and 1 skyswing ride. We took the Gondala ride up to the top (to get to the luges you have to take the gondola ride) . At the top we stopped off to take a ride on the sky swing. Following the swing we had our luge rides which I have to say were really fun! The inner racer came out of me from somewhere! 

Once we were done with the luge rides we hopped back on to the bus and our next stop was agroventures. There are five activities available at agroventures and different package deals available, we decided to go for the triple bypass package. The three activities we chose to do were: 

1. Freefall xtreme

This is basically a wind tunnel. The free flight experience was amazing and I would definitely recommend to give this a go at least once to get the experience!  They have a large viewing area so your friends can watch and take pictures. It is rather funny to watch other people! 

2. Swoop

For this ride you need 2-3 people, your all put into like a sack thing. Then they slowly rise you up to a height of 40m, this is probably the scariest part because it makes you more nervous! Once you reach the height one of the assistants will give the signal and one of you, (in our case it was me) has to pull the cord which releases you and you fall close to the ground and swing right across, and then swing back and forth a couple of times. This was definitely the ride I enjoyed most. I preferred this to the sky swing earlier on in the day so if your only brave enough to try one, go for the Swoop! 

3.Shweeb

This is the world's one and only shweeb. So I would definitely give this a go if your there...even if it is just to say that you have been on it! In this ride your placed in a cycling pod which is linked to overhead rails, so instead of cycling on the ground your cycling on overhead rails...a future concept? who knows! Two Shweebs run at the same time so you get to race your mate which is good fun. You do 3 laps around the track and it is actually quite tiring, yours quads get a little bit of a workout. The ride is probably not for someone who is claustrophobic because your cooped up in your little pod! 

Last but not least we stopped off at Hells Gate. Rotorua is famous for its geothermal activity. Anybody who has visited will know what I mean when I say as soon as you enter the city you get a waft of sulphury smell and it never really goes away. A visit to Rotorua would not be complete without a visit to a geothermal park. Its completely different to any other experience, I felt like I was on the moon or something! Hells gates also houses kakahi falls, which is the largest hot waterfall in the southern hemisphere. 

Enjoy the pictures and come back next week to find out what we got up to on Day 2! 

Sita xoxo 

Skyline Rotorua

Riding up on the Gondola

The Sky Swing 

Freefall Xtreme 

Swoop

Shweeb 

Hells Gate

Kakahi falls 

Hells Gate 

Hells Gate

Hells Gate 

buttons abroad: mount maunganui and the hot pools

Hello Everyone! Seeing as I stayed in Tauranga for the majority of my stay and I was also working whilst I was there, rather than tell you about every single day I'll give you the highlights.

One of my favourite hikes was Mount Maunganui, there were different routes to the top and we explored most of them. Once the top was reached there were amazing 360 degree views. Definitely worth the effort!

At the base of the mount there were hot water salt pools. There were different pools with water of different temperature's so you could take your pick. There was nothing like a nice soak to rejuvenate your muscles after a hike to the top!

Enjoy your day and I'll see you soon!

Sita xoxo