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Choice of Magic

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May 30, 2020

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About Me

About Me

I am Cristina - a Lisbon based Romanian writer in love with Victorian novels, comfort food and foreign lands.

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Throwback to Paris in July, when I was living off Throwback to Paris in July, when I was living off macarons and white wine, buying more books than I could carry and was mistaken for a grave cleaner by a Jewish lady in Père Lachaise. And while I am now back to my Mediterranean diet, I am working on a post about food I love in Paris, which I hope to have out for you soon. Until then, care to share your favourite spot in Paris with me? ✨ #paris #france #visitparis #visitfrance #laduree #macaron #macarons #wanderlust #travel #instatravel #travelgram #romanian #streetstyle #travelblog #travelblogger #summer #colour #sunny #magictravels #choiceofmagictravels #ootd #portuguese #romanian
Sanditon by Jane Austen ⭐️ 6/10 ⭐️ In th Sanditon by Jane Austen ⭐️ 6/10 ⭐️ In the mids of a summer of travelling, I felt it essential to start re-sharing what I am reading these days. I´m all for light readings, and while I am aware that means different things for different people, I am a declared all time Jane Austen summer fan. This week I read Sanditon, an unfinished manuscript, that came packed with another two works of Austen in this beautiful sunny edition - Lady Susan (an epistolary work) and the fragment of The Watsons. And while I only gave it 3 stars out of five on Goodreads, it is only because of how it measures against my favourite Austen novels. Set at the beach-site resort of Sanditon, this is a delightfully funny account of a society of hypochondriacs and speculators betting on the healing powers of the sea. Which I entirely endorse as I am typing this from Portugal´s South coast. ☀️ 🍋 ⛱ #bookreview #ataleoftwoworlds #michelfaber #bookstoread #whattoreadnext #bookrec #personallibrary #bookfriends #bookdesires #bookphotography #bookaesthetic #bibliophile #booklover #bookpeople #bookish #BeautifulBooks #booksaremagic #bookworm #fortheloveofbooks #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #fiction #janeausten #summerofausten #sanditon #victoriannovel #austen #beachread
🇪🇸 Hola! Today we´re continuing our Spanish 🇪🇸 Hola! Today we´re continuing our Spanish tour (before running off to Paris tomorrow), with an easy recipe of the spicy Spanish sauce for patatas bravas - salsa de patata brava. Check it out below and on the blog!​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ Ingredients​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ an onion​​​​​​​​ two garlic cloves​​​​​​​​ a veggie Knorr cube​​​​​​​​ two tsp red pepper paste​​​​​​​​ a pinch of spicy (in sauce or grain, whatever you prefer)​​​​​​​​ two tbsp olive oil​​​​​​​​ a pinch of salt and pepper​​​​​​​​ 20g of flour​​​​​​​​ 230g water​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ Instructions​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ 1. Finely chop the onion and the garlic and fry them until golden in a pan with the olive oil, a pinch of salt and pepper.​​​​​​​​ 2. Add the red pepper paste and your pinch of spicy (I added a s few drops of spicy sauce) and stir until it incorporates with the rest.​​​​​​​​ 3. Add the flour to the whole mixture and stir until the onion absorbs it, then add 230g of hot water, stirring to ensure that the whole mixture is homogenous.​​​​​​​​ 4. Add the crumbled Knorr cube and bring to a boil/simmer at low heat. Let it simmer until the sauce reaches the desired consistency.​​​​​​​​ 5. Serve over hot patatas bravas, or mussels, or really anything else.​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ #homemade #foodporn #foodie #instafood #foodgram #nextbestfoodie #foodblogger #foodblog #foodphotography #foodstylingandphotography #foodstyling #choiceofmagic #mealprep #spanishfood #spanish #spain #patatasbravas #salsadepatatasbravas #spicy #spicyfood #recipesfromspain #tapas #spanishtapas #tapasdinner #spanishdinner #visitspain
Hiking through Cadaqués - Salvador Dali’s mythi Hiking through Cadaqués - Salvador Dali’s mythical city. More about where to stay, where to eat and what to do, now on choiceofmagic.com ✨ #costabrava #visitcostabrava #spain #espana #españa #visitspain #cadaques #salvadordali #cadaqués #dali #wanderlust #travel #instatravel #magictravels #choiceofmagictravels #travelgram #romanian #travelblog #guidetocadaques #guidetocostabrava #travelblogger #summer #colour #sunny #exotic #tropical #portuguese
Throwback to a week ago in downtown Cadaqués, whi Throwback to a week ago in downtown Cadaqués, which was sunny, hot and full of bougainvilleas. Now, while I am at my desk in cloudy Lisbon, the best I can do is to work on my "guidetoCostaBrava part I - Cadaqués, which I hope to share with you in a couple of days. I feel like these holidays have gotten my creative juices flowing and that I´ll be a bit more present over here now. And I must say, I am happy to be back here, Instagram fam. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #costabrava #visitcostabrava #spain #espana #visitspain #cadaques #salvadordali #dali #wanderlust #travel #instatravel #travelgram #romanian #streetstyle #travelblog #travelblogger #summer #colour #sunny #exotic #tropical #magictravels #choiceofmagictravels #ootd #portuguese #romanian
Hello. My name is Cristina and I cannot stop buyin Hello. My name is Cristina and I cannot stop buying books even though I have: ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1. no time to read them all 2. no place to store them all 3. no money to buy all the books I want to buy ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ (which is pretty much everything ever written with a few exceptions involving vampires, romances and overly descriptive and lyrical novels). What about you? Do you also love buying books? In paper form or e-books? Fiction or non-fiction? Tell me everything! 📚 ✨🌿 ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bookstoread #whattoreadnext #bookrecs #bookstack #personallibrary #bookfriends #bookdesires #bookphotography #bookaesthetic #bibliophile #booklover #bookpeople #bookish #BeautifulBooks #booksaremagic #bookworm #fortheloveofbooks #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #fiction #nonfiction #bookshelfporn #bookadditction
Açaí (/əˈsaɪ.iː/, Portuguese: [asaˈi] - a f Açaí (/əˈsaɪ.iː/, Portuguese: [asaˈi] - a fruit growing on the Euterpe oleracea palm in the Amazon, and miraculously appearing in more and more brunch places across Europe. Personally I am not crazy about it, but with the right toppings (today I added banana, strawberry, pitaya and granola), it can be quite nice. Oh, and it gives me all of them Brazilian vibes needed for me to start my Rio de Janeiro blog article. 🌴 ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ And you - açaí fan or not? ✨​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ #homemade #foodporn #foodie #instafood #foodgram #nextbestfoodie #foodblogger #foodblog #foodphotography #foodstylingandphotography #foodstyling #choiceofmagic #breakfast #mealprep #nutricious #healthyfood #healthybreakfast #brasil #brazil #açaí #açaíbowl #acai #acaibowl #brazilianfood #fruitbowl #tropicalbreakfast #exotic #exoticbreakfast
Personally, I love destroying the breakfast bowls Personally, I love destroying the breakfast bowls I carefully plated and then watching the videos of that process backwards. 🙈 Here’s today’s açaí bowl, to which I added banana, pitaya, straberries and granola. ✨🌴✨
7 Fun Things to Do in São Paulo is now online! 🏙☁️🌎​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ It’s been way too long since I wrote an article for the blog so this feels like such a big win to me! Even if I didn’t find São Paulo particularly beautiful (it kind of pales in comparison to Rio for me), I loved putting this list together, researching the history of the places I most liked and finding some totally unexpected twists to idyllic places (hinting at number 7 on the list 🤯). I hope you’ll like reading the article and referring back to it if you ever decide to visit São Paulo! And now that I’m back in the game, expect a recipe with one of the dishes I most loved in São Paulo. 🍳​​​​​​​​ Coming soon, on choiceofmagic.​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ ​​​​​​​​ #saopaulo #brazil #brasil #visitbrazil #visitsaopaulo #embudasartes #mercadão #becodobatman #avenidapaulista #jardimpaulista #bairroliberdade #wanderlust #travel #instatravel #travelgram #magicalbrazilseries #brazilseries #travelblog #travelblogger #summer #exotic #tropical #southamerica #magictravels #choiceofmagictravels #portuguese #romanian
They say São Paulo is a very grey city. To add to They say São Paulo is a very grey city. To add to that, I wouldn´t call it very beautiful either. But man, is it lively. There´s culture and art, and great music and excellent food, and it´s just so very much *in your face*. And if you look close enough, you´ll find plenty of colour. In the streets of Embu das Artes, in the fruits of the Mercadão, in the many graffities, or in the numerous paintings of the city´s museums. Now tell me - have you ever been? is it on your list? why or why not? ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #saopaulo #brazil #brasil #visitbrazil #visitsaopaulo #embudasartes #mercadão #becodobatman #wanderlust #travel #instatravel #travelgram #magicalbrazilseries #romanian #streetstyle #travelblog #travelblogger #summer #colour #colourfulsaopaulo #sunny #exotic #tropical #southamerica #magictravels #choiceofmagictravels #foodIlovedinSaoPaulo #reformation #ootd #portuguese
First Person Singular by Haruki Murakami⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⭐️ 6/10 ⭐️ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Let it be known that I have never rated a Murakami book this low. Despite that, I wouldn´t go as far as to say this is the worst book of his that I have read. I just didn´t really enjoy it much. As I was reading I kept feeling I am missing the point, and/or that I´ll see the bigger picture at one point. Neither happened. While the tone of voice is utterly Murakamian, something I very much enjoy, out of the eight stories in this book, only two stood out - Confessions of a Shinagawa Monkey and the First Person Singular. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Murakami´s short stories. But I think I, myself, will just stick to his novels instead.⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #bookreview #ataleoftwoworlds #michelfaber #bookstoread #whattoreadnext #bookrecs #bookstack #personallibrary #bookfriends #bookdesires #bookphotography #bookaesthetic #bibliophile #booklover #bookpeople #bookish #BeautifulBooks #booksaremagic #bookworm #fortheloveofbooks #booksofinstagram #readersofinstagram #bookstagram #fiction #murakami #harukimurakami #firstpersonsingular #japanese #japan #japaneseliterature
What are you cooking this Christmas? If you´re fe What are you cooking this Christmas? If you´re feeling uninspired, or just want to get creative, check out my latest recipe ->⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 🎄🦆Portuguese Duck Rice 🦆🎄⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Ingredients⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ (serves ten)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 600g rice⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1,5 kg duck chest⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 150g regular sausage + 150g black sausage⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 300g bacon⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 3 big onions⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1 garlic⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 300ml tomato sauce⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 400ml red wine⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ a tablespoon pepper grains⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ one teaspoon cloves⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ two bay leaves⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ salt and pepper⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1/2 litre olive oil⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Instructions⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 1. Add the duck, half of each sausage, and the bacon to a big pot. Add 300 ml of red wine and enough hot water to cover it fully. Add the bay leaves, clove and five cloves of garlic and pepper grains to it. Let it simmer for 1h. 2. After the meat is done, remove duck, sausages & bacon from the pot. Note: leave the water and spices in the pot, you´ll need it all for the rice. 3. Let the meat cool, and once cool start shredding the duck. Chop the sausage & the bacon into small pieces. 4. In another pot, chop the one onion, 5 cloves of garlic and add half of the previously cooked and chopped sausage and bacon. Fry until golden, add the rice and fry until slightly crispy (about 5 minutes), then start gradually adding the broth that the meat cooked in. Add it one cup of the time, continuously mixing, until the rice has cooked completely. Make sure the rice is not loose and has a more risotto like consistency. (continued in the comments)⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ #homemade #foodporn #foodie #instafood #foodgram #nextbestfoodie #foodblogger #foodblog #foodphotography #foodstylingandphotography #foodstyling #choiceofmagic #portuguese #portugal #portuguesefood #christmasdinner #portuguesechristmas #duckrice #arrozdepato #christmasmeal #masadecraciun #cinadecraciun #craciunfericit #merrychristmas #christmasfood #festivefood #festive

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June 29, 2022

7 Fun Things To Do in São Paulo

February 24, 2022

What I am currently reading

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