Tag Archives: Travel Notebook

Centre of Portugal: Beautiful Hiking in Serra da Estrela

Posted on September 14, 2015 | Leave a comment

Central Plateau of Serra da Estrela

The road is pretty long,

two-hour drive from Casa da Cisterna to the natural park of Serra da Estrela, the largest protected area of Portugal: 101 000 hectares including a chain of mountains with a rare flora and fauna. And the highest top of Portugal that culminates at 1993 meters.

Today program: 19km (about 6 hours) of an easy mountain walk from the central plateau of the Estrela (classified as a biogenetic reserve) to Casa das Penhas Douras Hotel e Spa.

Arriving at the car park, the set looks like a military base straight out of a movie about the Cold War (photo montage above). Very quickly we find ourselves on a trail and there I finally realize how much the view is absolutely stunning (photo below)! Let the adventure begin ; ))

Lagoons!

Even in the mountains, I need to see water, lol! Depending on the altitude, the landscape changes. At the beginning very steep, the landscape offers an impressive panorama on the glacial valleys (dating from 20,000 years), lagoons and granite rock formations. And further down, the scenery turns into green pastures. But water is everywhere, sometimes you can walk on a kind of waterlogged foam.

Carnivorous plants?

Photo above: a butterfly is trapped. I wouldn’t have seen, if an emeritus hiker had not showed us the “creatures” … Actually I expected larger plants. I am really not a naturalistic (lol), I love the space, silence and beauty of the landscape in the “big picture” …

A spectacular setting, by far my most beautiful and inspiring hiking of this short trip in the Center of Portugal, although I liked the natural reserve of Faia Brava too. Enjoy!

Informations

Visit Portugal, TCP/ARPT Centro de Portugal, TAP, A2Z Adventures, Historical Villages

Related posts: DESTINATIONS & HOW TO PREPARE YOUR TRAVEL

Many thanks for this beautiful invitation to Visit Portugal, TCP/ARPT Centro de Portugal et TAP. Thanks to our guide, Manuel Franco too. As always these are my opinions.

Departure to Croatia: Pozdrav Zagreb, Hi Zagreb!

Posted on March 23, 2015 | Leave a comment

Pozdrav Zagreb

Hello Zagreb! A few days before visiting Opatija, I arrived in the Croatian capital that I did not know: yes, my first time in Croatia!

Very very curious and eager to discover this new destination. Like everyone else, I had in mind some pictures of Dubrovnik, but absolutely none of Zagreb, Opatija and Krk that I will visit too …

I landed at the small airport of Zagreb at 6 p.m (picture1). In the car that leads me to the hotel, I am very impressed with the cleanliness of the streets, not a paper, nothing! A kind of European Japan, with plenty of green spaces. It’s spotless everywhere, awsome! The night is dark when I get to my hotel.

The Esplanade Zagreb

The hotel is a palace built in 1925 to accommodate the passengers of the Orient Express from Paris to Istanbul. It sounds very Agatha Christie, doesn’t it? I really enjoy these kind of old palaces, haunted by famous people. Josephine Baker and Woodie Allen stayed here and so many others too! Upon the entry, you can feel the glamour (pictures 3, 4 & 5).

The decoration is inspired by the Art Deco, with lots of marble, gilding, chandeliers and giant mirrors. I really like the atmosphere of the lobby and before checking my room (post to come), I quickly shot these pictures. Last picture: the carpeted corridors leading to the rooms. If you follow this blog, you know how much I’m obsessed with the hotel carpet! Lol! To be continued …

Informations

Zagreb Tourist Board & www.visitcroatia.be.

Discover my whole trip in the CROATIA page. ENJOY! I was hosted by the Office National Croate du Tourisme and of course all my opinions are mine.

Related posts : DESTINATIONS & HOTEL REVIEWS

Japan: Learning Japanese in Tokyo Subway

Posted on February 1, 2014 | Leave a comment

TOKYO CITY GUIDE : TRANSPORTATION

Following many of your emails, here’s an updating of my Tokyo posts : check out this useful city guide to help you prepare your trip (in a very Mademoiselle Le K’s way, lol)! Let’s start with the famous chiketatsu (subway): here are some pictures to give you the mood (lol) …

The Chiketatsu is THE safest and cheapest way to move in Tokyo.

Don’t panic, indications and station names are translated in English! It is a world with huge stations where several companies officiate on different metro routes (wide range of prices, lol).

And for the more active, you can even learn Japanese … on the wharf, decrypting the ideograms (and their phonetic) sticked on graphic cars (photo below).

I revised verbs before the train leaves.

Time is precious. Once in the train, I will be sleeply between stations like every Tokyo people. Sat, stand-up, young and old, women, children, salary men or hypesters: everybody falls sleeping!

Lulled by the sweet female voice that dis-tinc-ly announces the next station, I could improve my pronunciation, “Shin-ju-ku, Shin-ju-ku“, “Taka-dano-baba” (I love it!). Not to mention in the endless corridors, I practised the classics: “leftO“, “rightO!”! Tokyo forever …