Simotto’s first takeover

Olá everyone! It’s Simay writing :)

I took over E’s blog to tell you guys about my trip to Lisbon. 

Portugal and Morocco has been in my top 5 dream places to visit and I can finally cross one of them from my list. Early morning on Monday the 27th my plane left Beuvais airport and I arrived to Lisbon in the afternoon. It was over 20 degrees and the forecast showed it seemed to stay for the rest of my trip as well. Sofia, my friend/host whom I met in Milan thanks to my precious friend Anil when they were studying Fashion Design together at Naba, explained to me, in details, all l I had to do to get to her place. She explained it as if it would be really complicated for me to figure it out on my own. She is absolutely adorable for being such a good friend. When I got to the metro station, I laughed. After living in Paris, I have the feeling that I won’t ever be easily lost anywhere since after moving here has made me see everywhere else way smaller and way less complicated. On the transportation map of Lisbon, there were only 3 colors which represents the 3 main lines and I only had to change once to get to Picoas, where she lives. For the readers who has not visited Paris yet, I would like to leave this experience for you to discover on your own first. J

Our day started with warm hugs, a long chat, a yummy salad made by Sofia, and Louis the cat watching us from the couch while we catch up. The weather was too great to spend the rest of the afternoon inside so we started our stroll with discovering the gems of the city.

Day 1

First impression: PASTELS, PASTELS, PASTELS!

Sightseeing in Lisbon gives me life, truly. On our way down to the center, all the buildings I saw had these cute little tiles and were colored all in pastel colors. The more we walked, the more I saw how similar Lisbon and Istanbul are. It’s most photographed city attractions, the trams, the coast and the bridge view, the warmth of it’s people, and strange enough; even some of the street food we have tasted reminded me so much of my city.

When we got to the center, Sofia showed me this place her uncle owns and the place that has not yet been discovered by many tourists. It therefore still protects it’s magic and remains being a hidden treasure. From outside I couldn’t really see what was waiting for me, and the minute we entered from the big, wooden door I saw why it was on my top 5 places to visit in the first place. I only make this face when I’m absolutely fascinated by something, and that moment was one of those rare moments I made “the face”. It was just so beautiful. The floor we entered was a Moroccon "temple-looking" kind of place with it’s truly inspiring interior design. Upstairs was an old, French inspiration decorated ball room with vintage chairs, a painted ceiling and chandeliers. Turns out, the old ball room is now the restaurant part of the place. Lisboners actually dine and wine there and it’s one of the prettiest places I have ever seen in my life!

The rest of the day we tried different types of food for surprisingly cheap prices (5 different pastries for 1,20 euros), tried out some delicious fish with melted cheese in it, walked through the main square while enjoying the sun and observing different shops. Didn’t forget to take pictures of the famous transportation tuk tuk’s and the city’s precious trams either. She later on took me to a beautiful place called Love Pension which is this Le Comptoir Generale looking, old Speakeasy cafe/bar and after walking through the coast we ended our day chilling where all the young Lisboners drink and gather with their friends while watching the city from above. 

Sofia caught me "in action" while strolling. Instagram post in the making :)

Day 2

The Gardens!

Sofia dedicated this day to show me the city’s most beautiful gardens and it’s known concept stores. From above, the city looks like it’s only filled with pretty houses but then I discovered It has beautiful gardens as well, waiting to be discovered. First stop was the “Jardim Calouste Gulbenkian”, a beautiful place where you walk with the ducks, feed the fish, enjoy palm tree views and have this tropical walks which most likely lead you somewhere more fascinating than your previous step.

Introducing you to Diogo the Mega

After walking around and discovering beautiful sights with Sofia and Diogo, Diogo is Sofia’s best friend who joined us later this day. We stopped at O Prego da Peixaria for lunch. The place turned out to be one of the most "Instagramable" lunch places in Lisbon and you’ll see why.

Our third stop was the famous concept store which is interesting because I first met this “Concept Store” term in Paris with Colette and Merci, and later on Istanbul has embraced these stores too, but I was about to see one in Lisbon and that was exciting. Concept stores usually have changing themes and changing collections, but this one, according to what she said, have had the same decoration for ages and it all looked as if it was the entrance of a museum. Beautiful interior design, a smaller category selection than what a person would expect from a concept store but a feast for the eyes.

At night we accompanied Diogo to Redbull’s live radio event happening in town and I met some designers/ designers-to-be, DJ’s, PR people and more inspiring people who are clearly good at what they’re doing or most importantly; love what they’re doing.

Here is one of them, Kenzo, wearing the suit he has designed for himself.

Day 3

Vibrant, Vibrant, Vibrant!

More happy colors! People who knows me would say that, recently, I’m more of a  black & white, nude colors kinda girl. But as many other things, my choice of colors often change depending on my mood as well. Today, after visiting the Alfama and  the Graca districts, which looks almost exactly the same as the Balat area in Istanbul, I fell in love with vibrant colors again. The city has now shown me it’s true colors and it couldn’t have looked any more beautiful. I got to observe it’s local people better as we were far away from the city center (far away, meaning 30 mins away by walk in Lisbon). I took closer shots of it’s beautiful tiles, spent some alone time Diogo the Mega (who has now become a good friend of mine) and tried this ridiculously delicious dessert called “Sweet Rolls”. You can get them at the train station “Terreiro do Paco”.

Before we met Sofia again, to go to one of the most known bakeries, called “Pasteis de Belem”, we went to the “Doll Hospital” which was one of the creepiest places ever. A place filled with parts of different kinds of dolls to repair the broken ones that customers bring in. A hospital for dolls. Dolls stare at you from the inside of an old closet and the next thing you see is a haunted house with dancing Barbie doll’s on top of it . It was so creepy that I ended up liking it somehow. A must visit!

At night, we wanted to celebrate all the good times we had during these 3 days and have our last drink on a rooftop at the “LX Factory”. It is an old factory, now an open space for artists, stores, all kinds of cool cafe’s, and bars.

the bookshop and the the best chocolatier in town - Landeau

During the entire trip I looked for a vintage store to buy one single item to bring back to Paris from Lisbon and have it on me. Luckily, before we left the place, I found this cute little vintage shop and got myself a pair of retro earrings and a headband.

I have to thank Sofia and Diogo for making this trip so wonderful (more wonderful than you read here). And thank my E, for letting me share my experiences with you on his blog. He manages to show me love all the time and show interest to my never-ending stories. I truly appreciate that.

And last, thank you all for going through my journey with me. Keep your eyes on the blog, we will meet again soon!

S.