Mysteries in the Fog: Quinta da Regaleira

If someone were to ask me: What is the Quinta da Regaleira? I’d have a really hard time coming up with a short answer. In fact, it can only really be summed up through multiple pictures and an entire blog post! So here it is.

The Quinta da Regaleira is basically a mansion and its surrounding grounds situated in the mountains above a village called Sintra, in Portugal.

I first heard about Sintra when reading something about J.K. Rowling. If I remember correctly, she was describing all the things that inspired her when creating the world of Harry Potter, and one of them was Sintra. I had no idea what Sintra would actually be like, but I knew that if it had inspired one of my favorite fictional worlds, then visiting it would be worth my while.

Since reading that article, I forgot about Sintra, but as Portugal rose in popularity over the last few years as the coolest, newest travel destination, I saw more and more images pop up into my Instagram and Pinterest feeds featuring this amazing, mysterious garden with moss-covered ponds and a deep, dark spiral staircase that descended into the earth but opened up to the sky. I found out later after doing some research that the place I had seen magical little glimpses of was in fact the Quinta da Regaleira (don’t ask me to pronounce that).

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Walking in a Winter Wonderland

Pardon me for the next few paragraphs as I channel the great Lorelai Gilmore and gush about how wonderful and magical snow is. Did you know that snow actually sparkles in the sunlight?! It honestly looks like it has glitter in it.

I can’t get over how much it transforms a landscape so completely. The entire world becomes a bright, light-filled, monochromatic wonderland, and a peaceful silence pervades the atmosphere. All sounds are slightly dampened, while the dry crunching sound from your boots in the snow is oddly amplified.

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Tiles & Tarts in Lisbon, Portugal

For the entire month of December, I was traveling, starting with Lisbon, Portugal.

When I was planning this trip to Europe many months ago, I asked around to see if anybody could come with me. I asked friends, family members, and my husband to come along, but nobody could get the time off from work, or they didn’t have the money. Not that I was necessarily desperate to have a travel partner, I just knew that it would be out of my comfort zone and I was a little nervous about that.

After Portugal, I’d be heading to Sintra, a town outside of Lisbon, then Paris, then Sweden.

I wasn’t really nervous for Paris, since I’m so familiar with the city, and I wasn’t nervous for Sweden, since I would be meeting my husband Erik there to spend Christmas with his family – but just the idea of leaving for another country all alone is a little scary, even if I have done it before. Also, this past year has been mostly about hibernating inside my house, so to get out of that zone so suddenly and intensely was a shock to my system. I cried on my way to the airport. My Uber driver noticed and handed me some tissues. When I touched down in Paris for an overnight “layover,” I could feel that I was on the verge of panicking, from exhaustion and being overwhelmed, but I was able to calm myself down by breathing, taking a quick shower, and focusing on the the task at hand: seeing my friend Laura from Ciao Amalfi! We had planned this reunion perfectly – I couldn’t get a direct flight to Lisbon, so I booked a connecting flight in Paris, and it just so happened that Laura would be in Paris at the same time! I was so tired that by the end of our apéro, I was having trouble keeping my eyes focused, but I’m so grateful I got to see her. We’ve only been in the same city at the same time about 4 times in the past 3 years that I’ve known her, but it feels like I see her all the time. She lives in Italy, so it’s been a long distance friendship from the beginning! And if you’re wondering how we met: we used to work together remotely for Paris Perfect. At our brief Paris meeting she gifted me one of my favorite teas from Mariage Frères, and I gifted her one of my Paris calendars that I designed last-minute for my Etsy shop (they’ve since sold out).

Wait a minute, HOLD UP – this blog post is supposed to be all about Lisbon! …Let’s get back to the subject!

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San Juan Capistrano | French Californian

San Juan Capistrano

You’ve probably figured out by now that my favorite thing to photograph is the world around me. But ever since I moved back to California, I’ve been lacking inspiration. The reason for that? I just don’t live in grand, historic Europe anymore! It’s no longer possible for me to simply wander the streets of Paris or other European cities, always finding something incredible to photograph. Instead, I have to seek out specific boutiques, restaurants or little pockets of charm, and bring myself to them via the congested and stressful freeways of Southern California. It’s been a challenge, since I have a bit of driving anxiety, but I find the the more I brave the roads, the less intimidated I feel. With every trip my anxiety levels drop a little.

I’ve been making an effort to explore locally, but a little while ago, I visited Balboa Island in Newport Beach, and was totally underwhelmed – apparently it’s a really popular place to visit, but aside from some cute houses and the original frozen banana stand that inspired the one in Arrested Development, I was left feeling completely unimpressed.

After that “failed” adventure (I left without having taken a single photograph because I found nothing inspiring), I was somewhat reluctant to explore again, but yesterday I was bored and restless and decided to revisit San Juan Capistrano on a whim, since it’s only 25 minutes away from home. The city is best known for its beautiful historic mission, which I visited earlier this year. This time, I wanted to see what else the city has to offer. Here’s what I found!

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Travel Diary: Tubingen, Germany | French Californian

Making Memories in Tübingen, Germany

Once upon a time, I traveled through the Black Forest region of Germany with my dear friend Katie. If you’re a long-time reader, you may remember our visit to Heidelberg and Freiburg, but there’s a third town we visited that I never actually talked about: Tübingen!

I was in the shower the other day, reminiscing about past travel memories – as one does in the shower – and remembered our comical adventure in Tübingen. It’s one of those travel experiences that was uncomfortable and anxiety-ridden in the moment, but turned into one of the best memories ever.

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Christmas in Paris | French Californian

Paris in December, Here I Come!

Guess what?

I booked a trip to Paris this December!!!

It will have been almost exactly one year since I was last in Europe and I’m very excited to go back. I honestly thought I would be content to stay put for at least a full year after moving across the world, but nope! My wanderlust crept back in almost as soon as we settled in and bought furniture.

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