Alessia Floria

Whether it’s for its mind-blowing natural landscapes or its incredible history, traditions and customs, I’ve never known of someone who has been there and doesn’t dream to go back. In 2018, we decided to visit Iceland as the second of a tour that, first, led us to Helsinki, Stockholm and Oslo, and then to disclose the astonishing beauty of the remote Icelandic island. We spent a day visiting the charming Reykjavik and then took off on a road trip to the discovery of the south-western part of Iceland. We had a wonderful time wandering around its brightly coloured little streets and squares, browsing its quirky shops searching for the perfect volcanic lava souvenir and admiring its mind-blowing natural landscape.

(“Mosteiro dos Jerónimos”) is the former 16-century Monastery of St. Mary of Belém built near the Tagus river during the Age of Discoveries to honour the explorer, Vasco da Gama, as he and his crew spent their last night in Belém before setting sail down the African coast to India in 1498. The monastery has a two-story cloister with breathtaking columns, each one differently carved with coils of rope, sea monsters, coral, and other sea motifs, evocative of that time of world exploration at sea. The western portal depicts to the left, protected by St. Jerome, the statue of King Manuel, which is said to be a realistic portrait, and to the right is that of Queen Mary, his wife, protected by St. John the Baptist. You can buy a combined ticket valid for both the monastery cloister and the Belém Tower for 12€/14$, or the cloister, the Belém Tower and the National Archaeological Museum for 16€/19$.

Is Lisbon next on your bucket list of places to go as soon as COVID-19 measures will be withdrawn? If you answered in the affirmative, you don’t wanna miss this article! As usual, I’ll answer some of the most frequently asked questions about Lisbon, first, and then I’ll be sharing with you what we visited in Lisbon in 2 days, making amazing memories that will last a lifetime. Disclaimer: While writing this article, at some point, I had to choose between cutting a lot of useful info to make it shorter or keeping the useful info but splitting it into two parts.

Are you passionate about Viking culture and folklore and want to see for yourself what is left in Norwegian contemporary society? As it will go through some of the most frequently asked questions about Oslo, first, and then expose into details on how my husband and I spent 2 amazing days in Oslo and what we saw. It started in Helsinki, then Stockholm and finally Oslo (we skipped Copenhagen, but we are already planning to pay a visit to the Danish capital as soon as possible). Later in this article, I will share with you a list of what to see in Oslo in 2 days to help you get the most of it, as we did, but for now, let’s start with some questions you likely have about Oslo and some useful information.