Portugal travel tips and stories. Vacations ideas, cruises spa and resorts

Paula Rego Museum, is located just outside the Portuguese capital by the beaches of Cascais. The museum includes paintings and drawings by Portugal’s most acclaimed living artist. The museum is named after Paula Rego, who was born in Lisbon but has been living between Cascais and London since the 1970s. In the British capital she married artist Victor Willing and was appointed the first associate artist of England’s National Gallery. She’s also considered one of the best living painters in Britain, and her works can be seen in several museums around the world, from the British Museum in London to the MoMA in New York.

In Lisbon, you can see a couple of her art examples at the Berardo Museum and at the Modern Art Centre of the Gulbenkian Foundation, as well as in the Chiado Museum’s current exhibition “Modern Art in Portugal – From Amadeo to Paula Rego.” In the past, there have been retrospective exhibitions of her work in Madrid’s Reina Sofia Museum, Porto’s Serralves Museum, and at the Tate Britain.

Nowadays there is a permanent home for much of her art, with the upcoming museum housed in a brand-new building designed by the renowned architect Eduardo Souto Moura. It features two conical towers that bring to mind the famous gigantic chimneys of Sintra’s National Palace, while inside it will show a total of 121 works by the artist. The 750 square meters of space will also include an area for temporary exhibitions, a cafeteria, a bookshop, and an auditorium.

Casa no Geres is easy to love villa, located in Peneda-Geres National Park, along the Spanish border in northern Portugal, where the environment and its inviolability were crucial and the rules strict. The villa owns awesome beauty with its simple architecture, the openness of the views and the calm balance of the elements. The surrounding Nature has own way of being beautiful and this villa knows the secret.

At first glance the villa is quite unsuitable for its surroundings. From some angles the villa seems like an accident, some kind of disaster with transportation containers and building materials. One part of the villa is buried inside the hill, while another sticks out over the river.

Inside the villa is very spacious with huge windows, which makes 24/7 hours pure circulation of the air! The villa also has a cute kitchen overlooking the river, a stylish living room and two bedrooms, each with own suite bathroom. It’s prefect for families and friends vacations. The warmth and proper scale of the building become even clearer when the illuminated house is viewed at night. Casa no Geres is designed by Porto-based Correia/Ragazzi Aquitectos and it is a bold statement that hides nothing.

This Civic Centre is located in Custoias, Portugal, built in a central garden with imposing trees. It was even built a small structure near by it, the local public library.

 

The Civic Centre has two buildings- Cultural & Social. It intends through a multimedia zone in the first floor and leisure zone in the ground floor.

 

Colour play main part and its definition was influenced by Mark Pathko. There were used chromatic gradiations in grey scale on the outside and colour gradations on the inside.

 

The construction materials were chosen according to their ability to create uniform spaces and deduct detail and visual elements to the building. The exterior walls finishing are smooth, the windows are glued glass in stainless steel, custom made, which makes the frames disappear on the outside. Interior doors are made with the same plasterboard used in the walls and the floors have a concrete floor leveler that combines with the concrete ceiling.

 

The River Aquarium is located in Mora, Portugal. Settled in the Ecological Wild Park of Gameiro, the structure stands admist a field of cork and olive trees.

 

The building was devised as a compact and monolithic volume with a pitched shelter of thin white pre-cast concrete porticos with single spans of 33 metres, evoking the profile of the canonical Alentejo whitewash barns known as “montes”.

 

The Aquarium has reception, ticketing and shop, cafeteria, changing exhibits hall, documentation centre, research and education, live exhibits, multimedia and a small auditorium. Inside, the exhibition spaces tend to be dark, in order to minimize UV impact on the live exhibits and allow visitors an in-depth viewing of the aquariums.

 

The water for the building is taken from a well on the plot, pumped into a deposit and regenerated after use. In addition, areas for animal quarantine, food preparation, laboratories, staff facilities, and logistics complete the technical floor.

 

The Mora River Aquarium includes more than 500 live specimens and is expected to receive 200,000 visitors per year.

 

Oporto is a beautiful city in Portugal, just on 314km north of Lisabon and 304km south of La Coruna Spain. This city gave its name not only to port wine, but also to Portugal and its language. Oporto’s most interesting neighborhood is Ribeira. The narrow streets and balconied houses evoke Lisbon’s Alfama, though the quarter has its own distinctive character. Ribeira preserves the timeless quality of many of the old buildings and cobbled streets lining the riverbank.

Many travellers said that Oporto is an industrial city with some spectacular bridges, but there’s much to enjoy here. As the provincial capital and university seat, Oporto has its own artistic treasures.

The heart of Oporto is Avenida dos Aliados, with its parklike center where families sometimes go for a stroll. It’s bounded on the south by Praça General Humberto Delgado. Two major shopping streets lie on Praça de Liberdade: Rua dos Clérigos and Rua 31 de Janeiro. Rua Clérigos leads to the landmark Torre dos Clérigos, which some consider the symbol of Porto.

Oporto is also well serviced by a network of buses, trolleys, and trams.If you plan extensive touring in the area, a Passe Turístico is a good deal.

The Rossio Railway Station is a stunning structure set between Rossio Square and Restauradores Square in Lisbon, Portugal. The railway station was designed by the architect José Luís Monteiro. They integrated eight doors match the nine palatial windows and incredibly decorated clock tower located on the top of the facade.

Rossio station is a curiosity in that the platforms are some 30 metres above the main entrance. Services from here are all suburban trains to the tourist sights of Sintra via Queluz. The Rossio station has been recently renovated and was build in 1887. The boarding platform is now fasten to the Metro Station, which is with the nearest Metro station at Restauradores, (not with Rossio Metro).

The Pousada Flor da Rosa is a 15 th century restored castle, who raises up from the Portuguese inland overlooking the surrounding hills and countyside. The place has great experience of all the history and tradition and the building is an impressive ancient fortifaction.

The castle is fully furnishing with modern services and facilities, ensuring the well-being and comfort for those of you coming across.

Its interior is designed with an outstanding contemporary decor, giving a relaxing atmosphere to the place. The castle also has modern huge pool which is a perfect place to enjoy the warm sun and breeze.

All of this comes with gorgeous, rich landscapes and vegetation. The Pousada Flor da Rosa is ideal for those visitors searching for a truly historic experience in Europe. The place is located in the Alentejo region of Portugal which provides an array of outdoor activities in the closest locations.