Artwork – Travels with Ali

~ Lisbon Adventures – Day of Disasters ~

My last day in Lisbon was full of disasters. Starting early in the morning, I set off before breakfast to join a bus tour to Sintra. I had booked this previously while up at the castle. The sky was black, occasionally lit up by bolts of lightening accompanied by enormous claps of thunder. I arrived in plenty of time at the hotel named. After 15 minutes my spidey sense kicked in. I went inside and asked the concierge if they would kindly phone the number on my ticket. (Only data on my esim). I found out quickly that I had been booked the day before, but the wrong date was on my ticket.

It was suggested by now that I take an uber across town to see if I could catch the bus before it departed. I finally arrived at the correct place but watched all four buses leave. I stood at the roadside trying to wave them down, dripping wet. Beyond belief by now and hungry (hangry I should say) I went into the tour office. Anyway to finish off, the lovely girl in there booked me on another tour in the afternoon. I did lose some money but really did not have the patience or energy to trek back up to Sao Jorge Castle for a refund.

As wet as it was I had a good walk along the Avenue da Liberdade. This glorious boulevard is modeled after Champs-Elysees. Many luxury boutiques line this street along with five star hotels and restaurants.

So onto Sintra for an afternoon visit to the National Palace of Sintra. The tour was meant to include Cascais and Estoril, but due to the torrential rain we only had a brief stop in Cascais.

Looking up at the National Palace of Pena through the mist.

Capturing the reflections of the balustrade on the wet tiles.

I loved the ornate ceilings inside the Palace, each room had its own story to tell.

**The coats of arms of the Portuguese royal family**

**The Galleys Room, depicting galleys from various countries**

**The Mermaid Room or Room of the Sirens**

This ceiling dates from the 17th century and is within a geometric framework of wooden red and green beams.

The Swan Room ceiling, a masterpiece of gilded woodwork and painted panels. It is decorated with 27 painted swans. A number believed to be the age of the Infanta Isabel of Portugal when she became engaged. Each swan wears a crown around its neck.

The above two photos show the ceiling of the Magpie Room. There are 136 painted magpies, each holding a red rose in its claw, and a motto “Por bem” – For Honour in its beak. The magpies are said to represent the ladies-in-waiting of the court, gossiping about King John I kissing a lady-in-waiting. Source: Sintra Palace.

Just one example of the fabulous azulejo tiles on display in the palace. Such amazing scenes depicted throughout this room.

“Only the illustrious deserve to be painted” – Francisco de Hollanda

I thoroughly enjoyed my short time in Sintra. It is such a quaint town. Despite the rain I’m happy I managed to see some of it.

All’s well that ends well as the saying goes. And that is the end of my sojourn in Lisbon. More adventures await as we travel to Faro tomorrow.

🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷 🔷

~ Hong Kong – Arts and Flowers ~

The annual flower show was on while we were in Hong Kong recently and when we arrived we were ushered in promptly through the free gate. There are some benefits to being a senior! The crowds were out in force, bus tours from old people’s homes and also school tours. People waited patiently in line to have a photo in front of the spectacular displays.

The theme for 2024 was “Floral Joy Around Town” and attracted more than 200 exhibits from local and mainland horticultural societies. The colourful Angelonia was the feature flower.

“Flowers don’t tell, they show.” – Stephanie Skeem

It was held in Victoria Park, named after Queen Victoria.

The sheer variety of flowers was overwhelming. Some were so intricate and would have taken hours to put together.

There were classic designs and fun exhibits. Something for everyone to admire.

The Art of Ikenobo

“Though we pursue an economic value in life, it is in admiring beauty and creating things that we enrich the ground of our mind.” – Senno

The art of Ikenobo dates back to the 15th Century and was founded by the Buddhist Monk Senno. Japanese people like to give deeper meaning to flower arranging and prefer them upright rather than casually placed.

There is an elegance and simplicity to these designs that bely the hard work that goes into creating them.

After leaving here we went back across the harbour and walked along the sea front to our hotel. On the way we noticed yet another new shopping mall and popped in for a look around. We were astounded by the sheer size of it, not just that but the fabulous art works on display, not something you would normally find in a shopping centre. Of course there were the normal high end designer shops and high class restaurants but I think most people were there to have a look at everything else on display. We were wondering how these shops make any money because most were empty.

K11 Musea

Sculpture Garden on the 6th floor

Looking up inside K11

This is a place I will definitely be going back to because I realise we missed so much of the fantastic artwork. It won’t be to shop for sure!

Goodbye March, hello April

Linking to Second Wind Leisure for Urban
Natalie for PPAC

~ Hong Kong Gallery ~ Sculptures and Artwork

Continuing with my photos of Hong Kong. Hong Kong Airport is a place where you can easily while away an hour or two, there’s always something different on display. As we were walking towards our gate I noticed several new sculptures that caught my eye. I would have like to linger longer on these but it was nearly time for boarding. I’ve had some fun editing these and framing them with Ribbet, a photo editing website.

Buzzing with Excitement –
Artist – Man Fung-yi

“The group of artworks themselves own an interactive energy which can energize the place with laughter, vigor and warmth”

Raise Me High I
Artist – Li Wei-han Rosanna

“Kite flying can be seen as a journey in the sky, a way to go free. It brings joy and excitement and endows with boundless imagination” – Li Wei-han Rosanna

**Raise Me High II**
**Artist – Li Wei-han Rosanna**

“An airplane window that obscures the view with stainless-steel origami mirrors and a dichroic glass. As passengers look out the window, they become part of the illusions”

“Abstractly shaped artwork with a collage of colourful mosaic tiles. The back is copper plate. Passengers are encouraged when looking to relax their minds and forget about their troubles before they go on their wonderful journey”

About to Board
Artist – Li Wei-han Rosanna

“Whether it is a journey heading home or out to the exotic, travelling is often marked by moments of wait longing and yearning. Upon reaching the destination, it is the sense of relief mingled with joy and fulfilment that makes travelling an exciting adventure”

I have taken the liberty of copying the words with some editing that accompanied these wonderful works of art. Studying them definitely made the wait for boarding thought-provoking and diverting.

Linking to Natalie’s PPAC

~ Hello Hong Kong, It’s Been So Long ~

Finally after three long years we are back in Hong Kong. But first a brief stopover in Singapore. We had so many hoops and hurdles to jump through and over to get here and I’ve never filled out so many forms and scanned so many QR codes.

We flew Scoot to Singapore and then Singapore Airlines to Hong Kong. In January we said never again would we fly Scoot! Seems like we have memories like goldfish. When we arrived at Perth Airport the checkin line was huge and could see that the flight would not depart as scheduled. The plane finally left at 10.15 pm, 45 minutes late. Arriving in Singapore at 3.15 am I didn’t realise that we had to fill out an immigration card online! I have to say that I was very impressed with my dear hubby who actually managed to do his on the phone. We eventually got into bed at 4.30 am. Luckily our flight wasn’t until 1pm the next day so we managed a few hours sleep.

We stayed at Yotel Hotel located just outside Terminal 1 for convenience. It turned out to be a very expensive few hours sleep in a damp and mouldy room the size of a shoebox.

I wasn’t expecting anything large as I had seen photos and reviews, but this was smaller than a cabin on a ship. It was overpriced and needed a good refurbishment.

Someone who is confused or unclear about a situation
Image from Sushi restaurant
Christmas Decoration
Christmas display

After not much sleep I was definitely “blur sotong”.

It would be easy to spend a few days just in the terminals at Singapore airport. If we had been there longer I would liked to have walked around the huge fountain and waterfall.

Hong Kong – Day 0

Our first day in Hong Kong is classified as Day 0 and when we arrived at the airport, we were whisked away for a PCR test. I can’t imagine that there is any unemployment in Hong Kong judging by the amount of people there telling you which way to go. Maybe people can’t read or follow signs so you are herded onto elevators and walkways to the appropriate places. It was all very efficient and we were in our hotel by 6.45 pm. We ordered room service, no other choice, which we will have to do for the next two nights.

The view from our room on the 19th Floor

Day 1

After a fairly good night’s sleep we had breakfast (or I did) in the room and then headed out to the Immigration Department.

**A grey day from our window. Looking out towards Kowloon**

One of the reasons we are here is to renew our HK ID cards, very important to Anthony to maintain having lived in Hong Kong for 45 years before emigrating to Australia. This was a fairly easy process and we were finished within 30 minutes. We walked into Central from Wanchai which was around a 20 minute walk.

Everywhere is now fully decorated for Christmas and with the weather being fairly cool, it was starting to feel a lot like Christmas.

**Christmas displays inside and outside every shopping mall**

Picking up a takeaway lunch we headed up Battery Path to the park outside St. Joseph’s Cathedral. Not too cold to sit outside and eat.

Even though this is an urban jungle there are many small parks around surrounded by towering Banyan Trees.

Everywhere you look there is art and it’s all free! Such incredible sculptures and murals are found on walls and outside buildings.

There’s no better way of seeing Hong Kong than riding on the top of the tram, even better if you can get a seat at the front.

Anthony has been in his element all day, in a bit of a daze really. It’s been a stop start kind of day with him pausing all the time to look in all the shops. For me it’s a fantastic photograph opportunity, and I hope to be posting more in the next few days.

Such a contrast between the old and the new buildings. It’s hard to believe that there are people living in the apartment building above. Anthony pointed out that they are also likely to be paying a high rent as it’s bang in the middle of Central.

At the end of the day I had walked 13,000 steps, time for us to head back to the hotel. After a quick rest for Anthony he has headed back out again for another walk around the shops, for me I’m going to have dinner without him.

Hong Kong is a special place for both of us as this is where we met. I was on a two month working holiday and met him after five weeks and the rest as they say is history!

I hope you’ve enjoyed the first day back with me