Restaurant week began in NY in 1992.  It was a marketing event, launched to boost restaurant traffic after the peak of fashion week.  It was a success which then spurred Restaurant Weeks, in many cities around the world.

Today it is a common practice in the most attractive cities in the world on all five continents. …
Lisbon and Porto are now participating in this event.  For all of the participating restaurants, guests can enjoy an excellent meal for only 20 Euros, of which one Euro goes to several charities.

Delicious wine was flowing at Via Graca

Each participating restaurant offers its “restaurant week” menu.  Some of Lisbon’s most prominent, and upscale restaurants take part in this joyous event, including  The Paparrucha, Faz Figura, Via Graça Eleven, Altis Belém, and Tagide.  We enjoyed an evening in one of Lisbon’s nicest restaurants with a great view of the whole city, called Via Graca…

Dinner at Via Graca with beautiful views of Lisbon

One can discover new restaurants, special dishes and solidarity simultaneously.
The following website provides the list of all participating restaurants.  It is only in Portuguese, so have fun….

http://www.sabordoano.com/nm_quemsomos.php?id=337

Bon appétit / approveito Bom!

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Carnival in Lisbon 2014

Carnival (often spelled Carnaval) is a festive season which occurs immediately before Lent. Carnival involves a wide variety of public celebrations, children dressing up in great costumes and adults partaking in some wild parties that go on for days… It is a mix between a circus, a coming together of different people from different worlds, and just a huge celebration. People often dress up or masquerade during the celebrations, as a means of showing that they are allowing the positive spirits take them to a different world.

This event turns Lisbon into a week long Party with people coming from all around the world to partake

Carnival is a very colorful fiesta and lightens up Lisbon for days

Next year, make sure to plan a trip to Lisbon to partake in this wonderful event.

Glenn Cooper
www.rentals-lisbon.com

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Laurel Luxury consists of the two top floors of this beautiful Lisbon townhouse in the Bairro Alto

Bairro Alto apartment rental. This project took the greater part of the entire renovation of the building since it involved installing a second bathroom on the top floor…..

…and the creation of a private rooftop terrace with views of Lisbon’s wonderful skyline…

Laurel Luxury’s roof top terrace provides sweeping views of Lisbon’s unique skyline

We are sure you will love Lisbon and welcome you in our Laurel Townhouse for your next trip to Portugal.  Please contact us with any questions you have while planning your trip.

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Sintra; Lisbon’s Royal Mountain village where the nobles got away from the Summer heat

Sintra is a great day trip out of Lisbon.  It is a short drive or train ride and the idyllic mountain village houses many Portuguese palaces and monuments and beautiful views in every direction.  Sintra .  In addition to the Sintra Mountains and Sintra-Cascais Nature Park, the parishes of the town of Sintra are dotted by royal retreats, estates, castles and buildings from the 8th-9th century, in addition to many buildings completed between the 15th and 19th century, including the Castelo dos Mouros, the Pena National Palace and the Sintra National Palace, resulting in its classification by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 1995. (Wikipedia).

Sintra’s Pena Palace is one of Portugal’s most spectacular Castles

The palace stands on the top of a hill above the town of Sintra, and it can be easily seen from Lisbon and much of its metropolitan area. It is a national monument and constitutes one of the major expressions of 19th-century Romanticism in the world. (Wikipedia).  It resembles a castle out of Disneyland and has a lengthy history with many different epics of constructions and additions coming from many different architectural backgrounds.

The palace stands on the top of a hill above the town of Sintra.

We had reserved for HIGH Tea at 4:00 pm at the Tivoli Palacio de Seteais, one of the most beautiful hotels around Lisbon.

Tivoli Palace’s high tea included a full buffet, scones and cream, and a wide variety of local tidbits.

This was one of the most outstanding afternoon tea’s I’ve had in a long time.  Great Vinho Verde (local sparkling wine), a wide variety of tea tidbits (scones, cream and locally made jellies), as well as local Portuguese dishes.  Our group (a Frenchie, ex Londoner, and ex New Yorker) all found something delicious to sink our teeth into…..

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Altis Belem Brunch was outstanding

We met at the Altis Spa hotel in Belem (a small historic village next to Lisbon, which is full of pretty places, cultural events, museums, and the world famous Pasteis de Belem (Portugal’s delicious custard cakes which are now imported to Paris for a discerning few….).  They offered clients a beautiful contemporary setting, waterfront, with a delicious, very hearty BRUNCH, including sparking wine, fresh orange juice, and a large variety of dishes to choose from.

We stumbled away from the Altis at around 3:30 and walked over to Belem’s famous modern art museum, the Berardo Collection at the Cultural center.  They have a number of constant exhibits and a few exhibits that are only there for a short while.  We decided to walk through a few of the current ones…

Berardo expo on art in advertising in the past century

This excellent exhibit illustrated advertising for the past 100 years and included many of our favorite brands (Campbell’s soup, Colgate toothpaste, various airlines, beauty products, etc.).  The tongue in cheek campaigns were quite funny too.  This one was my favorite…

Modern art can be a hoot.

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The Curia Palace is one of Portugal’s most beautiful Palaces and a ‘Jewel of the Golden 20’s Art Nouveau era.’

It is a truly beautiful Palace and the region is equally inviting.  We enjoyed great food there as well, and everything was very good value.  Their spa was closed for repairs, so they offered us access to their sister hotel, an equally beautiful palace hotel located in Coimbra, Portugal’s largest University city.  The Quinta das Lagrimas was breathtaking, and the spa made for a great Saturday afternoon break from the activity…

Quinta das Lágrimas (Portuguese pronunciation: [ˈkĩtɐ dɐʒ ˈlaɡɾimɐʃ]) is an estate in Coimbra, Portugal

One of the large trees located on Lagrima’s property

Bamboo gardens to rival those found in Japanese villages

The Quinta das Lagrimas is known in Portugal for their Zen Day spa, known as the Bamboo Spa, named taken from the Bamboo forest located behind the Palace.  The spa was a wonderful break and the staff were all very attentive to our group.  Definitely worth a trip.  They suggested we go to another find in Coimbra for dinner before heading back to the Curia Palace.

High up in the hills of Coimbra in the University neighborhood, a great idea was born.  Using a large open space on the back side of the Museum Nacional Machado de Castro with a large terrace that flows over all of Coimbra’s sky line, this great trendy restaurant was created called LOGGIA.  The food and service were both excellent, and the views were very unique…..

Coimbra’s Loggia restaurant with sweeping views of Coimbra’s University and surrounding skyline…

We managed to purchase the Azulejo tiles on Sunday morning on the way back to Lisbon.  All in all a great weekend….

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Laurel Lover’s Hideaway is discretely located on the ground floor of this beautiful Lisbon townhouse

This is the first of three beautiful apartments we will be offering our guests, all part of our Novo de Loureiro (New Laurel Street) townhouse.  The pretty pastel pink facade is quintessential Lisbonesque.  The entire building is being renovated floor by floor in order to combine the beautiful surroundings with very comfortable and trendy interiors.  The process is moving along quickly, despite the huge undertaking we had to accomplish.  Imagine what the ground floor looked like when we first received the keys….

Pre-GC (Before Glenn got his team of qualified workers started on the Laurel Townhouse renovation)

The ground floor Laurel Lover’s Hideway moved quicker than expected.  We only had to redo the electricity and plumbing, install a new bathroom and kitchen and give the entire apartment a full head to toe painting….

Contemporary furnishings are perfect for this Lisbon Hideaway

As always, our apartments all have cable tv, and high speed WiFi, top quality sleeper sofas in the living area, and top quality queen size beds to ensure our guests a great night’s sleep.

Queen size beds are standard in our Laurel Townhouse in all apartments

Although a fan of contemporary decor and style, I still appreciate some of the unique historic designs we find in many European settings.  Portugal is famous for it’s beautiful, bright and colorful Azulejo tiles.  These tiles include Moor and Asian influences through the centuries and add a nice touch to a modern setting as well.

Portuguese Azulejo tiles have been discretely sprinkled through the apartment.

Our first apartment is ready for rentals and we will shortly be adding on two more beautiful apartments including the first floor two bedroom/two bathroom unit, and the duplex located on the top two floors of our Laurel Hideaway townhouse.  Coming soon…..

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Bottled Luso natural spring water

One day I decided to ask the waiter where this Luso water came from.  I was in store for a tale of the origins of Portuguese spring water, and a town which has one of the best reputations as a piece of Portuguese paradise, LUSO….

The prefix Luso- indicates a relation to the Lusitania, Portugal or the Portuguese people.  The word is derived from Lusitania, the Latin name for what would be modern Portugal. Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river.

Beautiful Luso Portugal, a quaint spa town located 2 hours north of Lisbon

The town of Luso, Portugal was formed in the 11th century. During the 1800s, the hot springs of the village of Luso became known throughout Portugal due to their healing properties. Soon after, spa resorts were developed, and tourists came flocking into town during the summer months.  We enjoyed a morning in the Termas do Luso, their spa facility.  It was a wonderful experience and one of the best massages I have had in a long time…Currently, Luso spring water is being marketed as one of the best in Portugal.

Bussaco Palace in the Bussaco forest high up in the hills overlooking Luso

Driving up a small windy mountain road out of Luso, we arrived in Buçaco, one of Portugal’s antique royal spots, where the king Luis I had his hunting lodge.   The Palace Hotel do Buçaco is located in this spot, the mountain range of Serra do Buçaco.  The Palace of Buçaco was built between 1888 and 1907.  It was designed as a Romantic palace in Neo-Manueline style, evoking the 16th-century architectural style that characterised the peak of the Portuguese Age of Discovery. The Buçaco Palace is inspired in iconic Manueline buildings like the Jerónimos Monastery and the Belém Tower, both located in Lisbon.

A weekend in this Palace was an experience, not to be missed.  Beautiful setting, great food and a chance to stay in a place that was truly part of Portugal’s history…

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We decided to drive down, and chose to take the quickest route, the A2 highway which goes directly from Lisbon down to Faro, the main city on the Algarve Coast.

Map of Portugal’s A2 highway from Lisbon to Faro

It was an easy 2 1/2 hour drive straight South until we ended up at our destination Lagos.  Our villa was located on the coast and had beautiful water views.

Lagos Algarve views on the Atlantic Ocean

The Algarve has something for everybody.  There are honky tonk towns with lots of activity and night life going on all night (i.e. Abufeira, Faro) as well as calmer destinations aimed more at those looking for a quiet getaway in a beautiful setting (i.e. Lagos, Vilamoura).  Fun for everybody is assured.  Since you are on the Atlantic ocean coast, the beaches are among the nicest you can find in Europe and let the environment remains calm and very quaint….

Boat ride along the Lagos coastline to visit the Aquamarine Grottos

We chose to do an afternoon boat ride that began in Lagos, and went along the southern coastline to Sagres.  It was a very fun journey on which we met a number of English and German friends.  Sangria was flowing and they had a great barbecue lunch included as well.  The visit to the Aquamarine grottos was a wonderful experience and we were all able to try some diving as well.  I preferred the Sangria to the diving so I maintained my status as a spectator on this journey.

The town of Lagos is a very pretty ‘typical’ Algarve towns.  Whitewashed walls, Portuguese ‘Calcada’ tiled streets, and lots of attention to detail as it was constructed are all still there today.  Even modern artwork has been added to the setting in a very discrete manner.

Modern artwork in Lagos Portugal

We had brunch in a small cafe in the center of Lagos with water views and side views of a number of interesting items, including the modern piece of artwork.  Quite charming.  We then decided to head back to Lisbon via some of the smaller, ‘less traveled’ roads.  We had a few surprises in store for us including the small replica of Lisbon’s Vasco de Gama bridge which links Lisbon to the southern routes…

Algarve southern coast bridge

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After living in Paris for many years, I ended up (as most people do) taking for granted all of the great things Paris has to offer.  Beautiful landmarks, historic sites, fun neighborhoods and great restaurants are everywhere to be in found in the City of Light.

Our ‘tourist weekend’ had to begin with a run over to the world famous Eiffel Tower.  Of course we weren’t alone and there were thousands of others who had the same agenda.  A sunny day and blue skies are rare for Paris so we were lucky.  From there we headed over to the Champs Elysees…

We took a quick metro ride up to l’Etoile, the head of Paris’ Champs Elysees avenue and the Arc de Triomphe.  This traffic circle has more accidents each year than any spot in France.  Insurance won’t even completely cover a collision on this traffic circle as a result….  Luckily nobody was hurt in our group and we headed to the Pompidou center for a little culture….

The Roy Lichtenstein exposition at the Pompidou Center was in full bloom.  Completely packed and a lot to see and learn about this Pop Art guru’s life and career.  He was quite prolific and the exhibit was extensive.  We then had a quick lunch on the roof top restaurant of the Pompidou Center, called Le Georges, which was a great break from the sight seeing.  On our way back home we even had a fun surprise, French politics…..

While crossing the Marais district heading to Ile Saint Louis, two of Paris’ most unconventional and liberal, free-sprited neighborhoods, we stumbled onto the French Communist party’s office.  A bit surprising in this neck of the woods.  It was quiet with not much activity going on.  Maybe on Monday business will pick up….

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