We made our own way to Fatima's apartment, which was on a busy pedestrianised street not far from Sao Bento station. Fatima met us at the apartment to show us around and give us the keys. She left a folder of information including a map with some of her favourite places to eat, drink and shop marked on it, which I thought was a nice touch. Another nice touch was the bottle of Mateus Rose in the fridge!

The apartment was clean and bright and beautifully decorated. I loved the pictures and china swallows on the wall. The air con was really good as it was pretty hot when we visited. The balcony was a nice addition and we spent some time eating our dinner (and people watching!) on it.

The only downside to the stay (and this is not something that Fatima could do anything about) was the noise. We arrived on a Saturday and that night as we tried to sleep, we heard loud live music from a bar down the street. We also heard a lot of people noise in the early hours of the morning - I can only assume this was at club throwing out time, and people were making their way back to their apartments!

Overall though we had a great time - the apartment is beautiful and well located and Fatima was a great host.