Ten photos that remind me why I have to go back to Portugal...

I hadn't even intended to visit Portugal, but after bumbling up through Morocco and along the South of Spain, that was where I ended up. I only had a few days and never made it out of the cities, Faro, Lisbon and Porto, but that was enough to convince me that I need to return- and soon!

Lisbon particularly has some incredible (and enormous) street art, partly thanks to the Crono project, which encourages artists to turn the walls of abandoned buildings into masterpieces.

The artists-
Above- Gêmeos (to the left) and BLU
Below- Sam3 (to the left) and Ericailcane

If you're interested you can read more about the Crono project- http://cargocollective.com/Crono 

As much as I approve of this relatively new street art, nobody could ever have accused Portugal's cities of needing to brighten up. These tiles, known as Azulejo, have been keeping the streets colourful since the 15th century (according to Wikipedia). 

These tiles seem to adorn even the dingiest of corners, making the backstreets beautiful with a quirky charm that had me wandering aimlessly for hours.

The buildings themselves are pretty impressive too. 

  

Above- Rossio Railway Station, Lisbon                                                           Above- Porto                            

Below- Commerce Square, Lisbon        

Finally, this is the view from the river bank in Porto at night- I think it speaks for itself. 

Have you ever been to Portugal? Where would you recommend I try next?

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The Street Art of Stokes Croft, Bristol

As part of my usual expedition to catch up with as many of my favorite people as possible while I'm in England, I headed down to Bristol for New Years Eve to see my friends Sam and Steve and the rest of their motley crew I associate with festivals, raves and long days of doing very little.

By the afternoon of the Second of January, I'd finally recovered enough to remember where I was and have a little explore...

This is Stokes Croft: Bristol's alternative cultural heart and home to a bohemian selection of squatters, hipsters and others who seem to enjoy a distinctly higher annual drug intake than elsewhere in the country. If you want to find street-art, Stokes Croft is the place to look.

"The Mild Mild West..."

Unless you're walking around with your eyes closed, it is pretty hard to miss this Banksy from Jamaica Street Junction.

According to the fountain of knowledge that is Wikipedia, it's been here for over twenty years, but had to have some restoration work after some idiot decided to smear red paint over it in 2009. It's looking pretty good again now though.









You'd think that a Banksy would be the highlight of my discoveries, but ever since I found him on the internet a year or so ago, my favourite street artist has always been Phlegm. His intricate black and white drawings have the mystical quality of characters from a fantasy novel and here, imposed on top of this red Tsunami, create a striking, but essentially playful mural. I love how he has used stilts to stop their feet getting wet and what is that bird doing?!


At this point I could have left Stokes Croft pretty happy with my afternoon's discoveries, but everywhere I turned there was more...

These two, on opposite sides of a small side street, are particularly fantastic... The expression on that elephant's face is excellent.

There seems to be a bit of a thing about telephone boxes...

The best way to find unusual pieces of street art that aren't immediately visible from the main street is to wander aimlessly down random alleyways until you find one that looks promising. 

Found this guy hiding in a corner...

So that is Stokes Croft. If you're in the area be sure to have a look for yourself as these walls get covered over fairly regularly and you're bound to find something new. 

Melbourne, its Street Art and why it would be cool to live there…

We were lucky enough to have friends to stay with in Melbourne. Although I hadn’t seen Karl since I was fifteen, and had never even met his wife Sarah, they took our unpredictable plans in their stride and made us feel at home even when we arrived a whole day early and probably not smelling too fresh. It was amazing to have some nice food, a comfy bed and two whole nights sleep without needing to worry if we were going to be turfed out at any moment (hopefully we weren’t irritating enough to drive them to that!).

Karl and Sarah's house

...and some parrots in their garden

Once we’d recuperated a little, Dan and I were keen to explore. Melbourne is a quirky city and everything from the architecture to the art on the streets seems to have been designed to make you look twice. There was a projector right by the railway station which played funny short films to the square below, a forest of tiny Christmas trees and so much reflective glass in the buildings that the city seemed blue.

There are some interesting sculptures, a lot of which are very small and often hidden in places you wouldn't expect to find them...

Others, like this strange beast by the river, you can't miss...

A lady stopped to explain to us that the sculpture below represents the scroll upon which thousands of women signed a petition to be allowed the vote. 

Even more common throughout Melbourne is the colourful graffiti which adorns every blank wall outside of the Central Business District. A lot of it is the classic scribbled tags and scrawled penises of bored teenagers, but amongst those are some fantastic murals. We found a lot of these on and around Smith Street, which seems to be Melbourne’s answer to London’s Camden. It's also the place to go if you want a cheap bite to eat. N. Lee Bakery had the most reasonable food we’ve found since arriving in Australia.

Smith street is home to the country's most exciting toilet- according to Dan, it sings to you on the inside!

Also a variety of space men...

There seem to be a lot of fish...

...and even a whale!

Something strange is hiding in almost every street corner.

Aside from its quirky nature, Melbourne is very open and green. It seems to be more space to breath than most other cities and I'm looking forward to returning once we have finished hitchhiking along the Great Ocean Road.