Portugal Sneak Peek with River Island
This post is sponsored by River Island. All my opinions are my own.
The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind - from plane flights, to trains, to boats, and more, Portugal has been an absolute dream - but an exhausting one. I promise a full, detailed Portugal Travel Guide is in the works, but in the meantime, I wanted to give you a sneak peak at some of the fashion from the trip! Throughout my Portugal adventure, I partnered with one of my go-to brands, River Island, to showcase some of my favorite pieces. As you know, I am always drawn to fun patterns and colorful palettes, and this trip was no different. Portugal’s vivid and colorful history is reflected in such an overtly visually way - through its cobblestone streets and tiled buildings! Making bold choices and pattern mixing completely complimented the locations we explored. Every shot created we wanted to integrate a playful story, whether it be through our surroundings or the clothes. River Island was the perfect brand to do this with.One of the coolest things about Portugal was that each city we explored had something totally different to offer us. Porto has it’s famous Port Vineyards - which unfortunately we never had time to go explore (BUT I did get a taste of the Port). Lisbon and its surrounding cities offer stunning castles and architecture, and the Southern Algarve coast boasts endless beaches and beautiful landscape. It was truly magical to be able to shoot in such a wide variety of locations.
The photos above were taken in Lisbon's Commerce square. The area is constantly bustling with people trying to get to and from work, hopping on and off the local trolleys, and of course tourists taking in the beauty of the spot. I loved pairing my pale yellow River Island suit with this backdrop. It's hard to tell in these photos specifically, but the buildings in the square are a bright canary yellow that totally pops against the light stone of the other architecture.
The city of Porto is located in northern Portugal. Jordan and I decided to take traveling into our own hands for this by renting a car and driving from Lisbon to Porto. It was one of the best decisions we made on the trip! Getting around was surprisingly so easy (granted we did get an automatic car). Renting a car gave us the freedom to travel to places outside the city that aren't normally seen by the average tourist. This also allowed us to change plans on the fly! In our original itinerary, we had every intention to visit a small town between Lisbon and Porto, called Aveiro, but while we were in Lisbon we heard about an incredible palace and decided to switch it up. BEST DECISION EVER. It was by far one of my favorite places in Portugal.Porto the city is located on a river, which runs through the town. Between running from our last location and catching our sunset boat tour, I was able to fuel up on essential nutrients... ice cream. Why is it that Europe does food better? Their ice cream is BOMB, and of course makes the perfect image for National Ice Cream Day.
Above, I'm wearing River Island's Yellow Stripe Twist Tie Front Maxi Dress and paired it with pops of red in my accessories. These colors appeared everywhere throughout Porto, from buildings, to restaurants, to boats on the river.
Our final stop in Portugal was the castle town of Sintra. Located about an hour outside of Lisbon, this small town boasts a multitude of beautiful castles high in the mountains. The craziest thing about this location was the bizarre weather! It's considered a micro climate, which makes the temperature and overall weather completely different than the rest of Portugal. We experienced intense fog and crazy winds at times where we couldn't even see the city below us! The crazy weather made our experience tough, but very mystical!
You might have noticed... I love coordinating sets. How can you beat them? The answer: you can't.
When I dreamed up my favorite shot in Sintra, it was the one above. Capturing the beauty of Pena Palace while looking over the stunning country that is Portugal was my goal. To enhance my vision, I wanted to pick out the perfect outfit to compliment this feeling. Enter Coordinating Sets and River Island. I love how the color of this set magically matched the walls of this particular spot. It was meant to be!That's all for now, my friends. I hope this gives you a little taste for what's to come!! And there's so much more to come...xo, Quigs