Tag: thegatexperience

After-work drinks with views in Lisboa

@topolisboa

We know that every day on a business trip counts for two days’ work at home, which is why you will probably feel like winding down with a relaxing drink at the end of the day to help you recharge your batteries for whatever tomorrow may bring.

As you don’t have the time to enjoy a gentle wander around Lisbon, we have selected five rooftop bars that we are convinced will quickly help you to start feeling human again as you admire the best views over the city and at least get a panoramic idea of its charms.

Sky Bar

This cocktail bar near Avenida metro station plays great music and sweeping views over the river, the Castelo de São Jorge and the city centre.


@skybarlisboa

Park

Opposite the 25 de Abril bridge in the Bairro Alto neighbourhood is this bar in a rooftop garden on the sixth floor of a car park. A DJ provides the soundtrack to the spectacular views.


@parklisboa

Topo

It’s hard to know what this place’s most striking selling point is: the views of Castelo de São Jorge and the Elevador de Santa Justa (Santa Justa lift), their delicious petiscos (tapas) or the sunset…

We think your best bet is to enjoy them all at once!


@topolisboa

Bar terraço Santa Luzia

Here you’ll feel as though you are taking a stroll over the rooftops of Lisbon. It is nestled away in a corner of a park beside the Portas do Sol lookout point but never gets as busy!


@barterracosantaluzia

Memmo Alfama

Discover the delights of the Alfama district from way up above!
Sink into the eye-catching red chairs or lounge beside the matching pool!


@daisyloved

After a hard day’s work and a little time to get your breath back in one of these bars with such great views, head to the Gat Rossio hotel, where our 5-star beds are ready to offer you the perfect night’s sleep so that you can be on your best form again tomorrow.

Berlin from the heights

@ivobergphoto

Some say that a fear of heights is more about being scared you will throw yourself off than actually falling, and that vertigo is caused by being so strongly attracted to the depths before you that you feel an urge to jump.
That’s why people love going up to the highest point in any given city to enjoy a bird’s eye view from the very edge of a terrace above the abyss.
In Berlin, you would realize just how green the city is thanks to its extensive parks. You would also discover that it was built low to the ground, which makes the more modern skyscrapers stand out in stark contrast, and you would have the perfect panoramic view of the city’s most important buildings and monuments.
This post is about four places that are perfect for discovering Berlin from the heights. There is something for everyone, whether you love being perched on a ledge or prefer to sit at a more conservative table at a rooftop bar.

 

Zionskirche Tower

The Mitte district is home to a beautiful arched window through which you can enjoy a close-up view of the city without the city seeing you.

@loewe7

 

Klunkerkranich Rooftop Bar

Don’t miss watching the sun set over the rooftops of Berlin. Stay awhile afterwards – they serve food and fresh fruit juices and there is live music, too.

@klunkerkranich

 

Gasometer
Leave your fear of heights on terra firma and venture up 420 stairs. It is well worth the hike to take in the spectacular views of Berlin from 78 metres above ground.

@detleffoto

Apart from our selection of personal favourites, there are other places in Berlin that are renowned for their views over the city, such as the dome of Berlin Cathedral, the Berliner Fernsehturm TV tower, the Panoramapunkt viewpoint, the Siegessäule victory column and the Funkturm tower.
Oh, and don’t forget: there are great views of the city from Hotel Gat Point Charlie...

@Veradantas

Interview with photojournalist Monique Jaques

Last April, photojournalist Monique Jaques’ exhibition “Gaza Girls: growing up in the Gaza strip”, dressed up Lisbon’s streets with pictures. The photographer gave us some time before leaving the hotel to answer several questions posed by GatRooms’ team.

Monique Jaques is a Brazilian American photojournalist based in Istanbul, Turkey. Her work focuses on the representation of women through documentary-photography and video, while framing women’s stories differently. That is to say, portraying daily lifes of women in Gaza who sing, surf and who are figuring out how they want to grow up.

 

What did you aim to achieve with this work you are showing in Lisbon, “Gaza girls growing up in the Gaza strip”?

I first went to Gaza in 2012, just to cover the war and to see what was going on. And there were two things I realized with the images I was seeing as someone who was outside: they were all of violence and of men.

But, when I was there, I was also seeing different people living, like girls, and I felt this was not represented. So, I started this project to show that more things are happening in this place other than violence. For instance, girls are figuring out how they want to grow up and who they want to be.

What called your attention the most in Gaza?

This was something I saw that was not shown anywhere. And I did a lot of research! I just couldn’t find this sort of stories. So, I started talking to a lot of other girls and, at first, they didn’t understand what I was doing, they were saying they were not special nor unique.

First of all, everyone is special and everyone’s story deserves to be told and to be heard. These are daily lives and are very important. They finally got the sense when they saw the work, and they really responded to it and appreciated that I had been there for so long.

What is it in your images that breaks up more stereotypes about women in the Middle East?

I think, the fact of showing images of women in the Middle East that aren’t completely covered and sitting at home, is really important to everyone. When people think about the Middle East they often think at this one thing, and I am trying to show that it is not true: they surf, they sing, they have friends and they live lives that are very much like yours and mine, they just have a different religion.

There are many goals with the work I have been doing, but one of them is to create a greater understanding of what the Middle East is. I am trying to say that it is a very complicated place, where things are very different to our reality, but there are girls breaking up the boundaries, and surfing and doing all sort of things.

At what point did you decide to focus your work on representation of women?

I felt women are very underrepresented in the media, unfortunately a lot of storytellers are men and often they tell stories about men.

And you wanted to change the pattern.

Generally, I did a lot of stories about women that do things a little bit different. A lot of my work is about stories that aren’t heard in the news and things that aren’t been consumed all the time. It is about portraying things that are happening all the time and no one pays attention to it.

Vegetarian Lisbon

@nesuxi at PSI

According to HappyCow, an online directory of vegan and vegetarian restaurants and health food stores, Lisbon is Europe’s second most veg-friendly city. Their survey of European countries has revealed that the Portuguese capital comes second only to Amsterdam in terms of how easy it is to find dining options for vegans, vegetarians and flexitarians.

To make it easier for you to find just what you’re looking for, we have compiled our very own selection of plant-based restaurants that offer mouth-watering dinners, freshly-pressed juices, and delicious brunches, along with a little vegan secret…shhh!

The Food Temple transforms eating into a pleasurable experience that is bursting with colours and flavours – even more so if you make your meal a picnic on the stairs in the square outside during the warmer weather.


@lisboa.come

Make sure you leave room for dessert at Ao 26 Vegan Food Project!
It would be a crime to leave without trying this avocado lime cheesecake.

@soyvegana_jenny

Fragoleto has a little secret: their salted caramel, vanilla and hazelnut and chocolate ice creams are vegan-friendly, too!

@fragoleto

Treat yourself to a weekend brunch at Aloha Café
Their cuisine is influenced by macrobiotic nutrition, their bread is organic and all their desserts are sugar-free!

@Alohacafebio

Order a freshly-pressed fruit juice at the House of Wonders
and enjoy it on the best terrace in Cascais.

@house_of_wonders

In addition to the great choice of plant-based eateries in the city, many of the organic supermarkets – such as Miosótis or Purobio – have small cafés where they also serve food.

If you are looking for fresh, organic fruit and veg during your stay, take your pick between these municipal markets: Mercado da Ribeira, Mercado Biológico do Príncipe Real or Mercado de Campo de Ourique.

Don’t forget that Hotel Gat Rossio serves exquisite, freshly-squeezed fruit juices, too, so make your way down to the heart of the city and enjoy one on our exclusive terrace in the Baixa neighbourhood!

In the mood for colours – Berlin & Lisbon

The Hotel Gat Rossio presents the exhibition “In the mood for colours: Berlin & Lisbon”, work of Brazilian photographer Maria von Staa, which will run from 4th May through 29th June.

“Berlin brought me the consciousness of space, architecture and dimension. Lisbon made me get closer and focus on small fragments. I like to document unique moments of light, patterns and shadows that happen by chance. The subject could be texture, color or shape”. Behind these words of Maria von Staa, hides the intention of this exhibition that portrays how “beautiful and colorful the randomness of our everyday life can be”. The pictures are of Berlin and Lisbon, the two homes of the artist. 

The exhibit’s opening took place on Friday, 4 May 2018, at 18h30 at Hotel Gat Rossio (R. do Jardim do Regedor, 27).

    

Berlin’s alternative historical sites

At school, everyone learns about the events that shaped Germany, and particularly Berlin, during the last century: the Weimar Republic, the subsequent rise of National Socialism, and of course, Adolf Hitler. The rest, as they say, is history. Over time, the city of Berlin has grown and changed, but has always retained the essence of its most recent past.

In this post, we reveal four special, lesser-known spots in the German capital that have a great story to tell.

A haven for outspoken artists


@javier_hdez

Dead Chicken Alley is one of the city’s most colourful and alternative back streets, and is covered in lights, graffiti and bunting. However, behind the art, this bohemian street gallery is a reflection of the desire of a group of young artists called “The Dead Chickens” to express themselves freely shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. See if you can spot Banksy’s work!

An upside-down brothel

@rob1.me
As soon as you walk through the door at Madame Claude, you realise that this place literally turns the world on its head. The fact that the chairs, tables and lamps hang down from the ceiling is not the only striking feature of the bar: it used to be a brothel that was very popular with American soldiers after the Second World War.

A café with a history

@CafeEinsteinBerlin
Café Einstein is a Viennese-style coffee shop that serves the best Apfelstrudel in the city. This striking building, with its huge windows and elegant columns, has housed a sewing factory that survived both World Wars, a gambling den and even a Nazi agency.

A night in the roaring twenties

@Alberto Cabello / Flickr

Ballhaus Berlin is a dance hall that dates back to between the wars, and the glitz and glamour of the era are unmistakable in the music, décor and its Tischtelefonen, which were used at the time to ask whoever caught your eye for a spin around the dance floor. Are you ready for some retro-flirting?

Berlin is a city that is teeming with history, and the Hotel Gat Point Charlie has had its fair share of past adventures, too: during the Cold War, the building housed the Ministry for National Security, which employed more than 60,000 secret agents.