Tiles, tiles, tiles! Can you believe there is a whole museum devoted to them? It is situated on the east side of Lisbon, in an old convent, part of which is one of the most decorative churches I have seen. And yet it was unusual in that the highly ornate paintings and gold work looked a little out of place above the typical blue and while Portuguese tiles. But that is just my opinion.

There were displays of tiles from the 15th century to present day and several have given us inspiration for future quilt designs. Whilst in Lisbon, we have walked past many buildings decorated with outside wall tiles.  In this museum we could watch a video of the history of tile making in Portugal and it’s development over the centuries.

This afternoon we were taken the costume museum on the outskirts of Lisbon. This was situated in the 17th century palace of Angeja-Palmela. It was a delight to see costumes from this period to modern day in their original surroundings and without any glass! or other barriers. We could look closely at the buttons, fabrics, lace, embroidery and construction of the garments whilst wandering through vast baroque decorated rooms in the palace. 

I have included several photos in this blog and more can be seen as an album on my Facebook page – Karin Hellaby