It's almost Christmas...in the kitchen...Santas and cookies.

I usually don't do much for Christmas in terms of decorations (tree, crib...) or crafts. I always find a suitable place for my little collection of Santas.

My mother loves making cakes and cookies. She made a new kind of cookies some days ago.

She created these nice stars. I still haven't tasted them.

She also made 100, or maybe some more muffins for a birthday of one of her friends.

This is my mother's Santa. She saw it in a shop long ago and she told me how beautiful it was. So I decided to buy it as a Christmas gift for her. Ok...Merry Christmas dear readers!

A day trip to Innsbruck.

Some days ago I went back to Innsbruck with a group as a day trip. We spent some hours at DEZ shopping mall. It is a bunch of buildings with around 140 shops. It is located some miles from Innsbruck.

After 2. 15 p. m. we headed to Innsbruck where we were let free to explore the city for three hours; more or less. I re visited the cathedral and had a cappuccino at Cafe Munding; an old and popular coffee shop.

After my cappuccino I strolled a bit along Maria Theresien Strasse. This long street is bordered with lots of shops, restaurants and cafes.

There are various beautiful old buildings on Maria Theresien Strasse.

I also walked under the porticoes in the old core of the city.

There are lots of shops and cafes under these porticoes.

This is the one of the main sights of Innsbruck;  The  Golden Roof. I enjoyed much this day trip, but I went home very tired. I walked too much!!!

A holiday in Lisbon...day trips, cakes and more.

I had a nice VT meeting with Teresa Gama. She took me to a cafe for a coffee and some pasteis de Belèm.

Then we went to see the Palacio de Marquès de Bombal. Well, only the gardens of that palace are opened to visitors.

Teresa.

When I am in Lisbon I usually  visit Cascais. It is a nice sea side town.

Cascais.

Sintra.

The National Palace, or Paco Real is one of the highlights in Sintra. There is also a Moorish castle in ruin and another (fairytale) castle; the Pena Palace.

My mother on the staircase of the palace.

Artnis is a beautiful shop in Sintra. Here they sell textilies, children clothes, soaps and various other items.

Here's the famous pasteis de Belèm. They are custard tarts (sprinkled with cinnamon or sugar...if you like.)

This is a piece of cake. I had it in Lisbon; at confectionery Suica at Rossio. It was very good.

I re visited Leiria after a short trip to Fatima. I have to take my mother there every time I go to Lisbon. I didn't like much Leiria this time. Probably because it wasn't sunny. The castle of Leiria is really beautiful.

Here's my mother. We had a very good cake in a cafe in Leiria after our stroll.

A holiday in Lisbon...after several years.

Lisbon was built on seven hills (like Rome.) It has several look out points called miradouros. You can enjoy various areas of the city from these. Here you see part of the Miradouro de Santa Luzia.

This pic was taken at the Miradouro de Sao Pedro de Alcantara. You can spot the castle and part of the lower city from here.

Don't throw away your old car! recycle it!

Rossio is one of the main square in lower Lisbon. It is surrounded by several shops, cafes and restaurants.

This is part of the Jardim (garden) da Estrela.

Bandstand at the Jardim da Estrela.

The Monastery of Jeronimos. It is located in Belèm; a suburb of Lisbon. The church and cloister were built in the XVI century. Vasco da Gama and other famous people are buried inside this church.

The cloister has two storeys. It is very large.

I visited de Coaches Museum.Here you can see lots of carriages belonged to royal and noble people.

...to be continued.

A VT meeting in Bassano del Grappa (IT).

Santi; VTer Redang came back to northern Italy, so it was a good  opportunity to meet him. We agreed to meet in Bassano del Grappa. This is a nice town not OriettaIT) for a meeting. I invited to this meeting my friend Patrizia (VT member WXWXR) If you don't know what VT is please see; www.virtualtourist.com

One of the highlight of Bassano del Grappa is this bridge which crosses the Brenta river. In the late 1500 it was designed by Andrea Palladio; a famous Italian architect. Already in the 1200 a bridge existed on that place. Later it collapsed various times and after its destruction in the WWII war it was rebuilt according the original plan of Palladio.

The weather wasn't fine. It rained almost all day.

After lunch we had coffee (or something else; herbal tea or a soft drink) at a beautiful cafe. Here's Orietta.

Here's Dave (VT member painterdave).

This is part of the town hall with a loggia and the clock.

We went inside the oldest bakery in Bassano, because one of us liked to buy some bread.

Four of us on the bridge. The fifth; Orietta was taking the pic.

I don't know why somebody wanted to take a pic on this road.

These are Orietta's shoes.