I'm building Nadoloni, an audio guide that doesn't try to tell you everything

Hi, I'm Anna. I'm based in Lisbon, where I research and write stories about the history, people and overlooked details that make places worth exploring.

I'm creating Nadoloni, a self-guided audio walking app in Lisbon.

Why I'm creating Nadoloni

I've been on guided tours where, after two hours of listening, I could barely remember anything.

There were dates, names of kings, architectural styles, construction periods, and renovations. By the time we reached the next building, the details from the previous one had already started to fade.

But sometimes a guide would mention something unexpected. A strange decision, an unusual custom, or a small detail about someone's life. That would stay with me. Weeks later, I might forget which century a church was built in, but I'd still remember that one story.

This observation became an important part of how I approached Nadoloni, the self-guided audio walking app I've been creating in Lisbon.

The hardest part is deciding what to leave out

Lisbon has centuries of history. Even a relatively ordinary building can lead you down several different paths of research.

When I research a location, I often find much more material than I can use. Some of it is fascinating, but a person standing in the street doesn't necessarily want to listen to a fifteen-minute lecture before moving on.

So I have to make choices.

I look for a detail that can carry the story. Something that gives the listener a reason to care about what happened there. Once I've found it, I build the audio around that detail and keep the historical context needed to understand it.

Sometimes that means leaving out information that took hours to research. Being interesting isn't always enough to earn a place in the final story.

Two ravens and a ship

One of my favourite examples comes from Lisbon's coat of arms.

It shows a ship with two ravens. You can see it above the entrance to Lisbon's City Hall, and the same symbol appears on buildings in Eduardo VII Park.

The birds are connected to a medieval legend about Saint Vincent, the city's patron saint.

According to the legend, ravens guarded his body after his death, protecting it from wild animals. Centuries later, when his remains were brought by ship to Lisbon, two ravens accompanied the vessel on its journey.

Once you know the story, you start noticing the ravens in places you'd previously walked past without a second glance.

This is the kind of experience I hope to create with Nadoloni. You hear something during a walk, and later, when you encounter the same detail elsewhere, you recognise it. Perhaps you'll even point it out to someone you're travelling with.

Building Nadoloni around those stories

I started Nadoloni with two walking routes: one through Lisbon's historic centre and another through Belém, exploring Portugal's Age of Discoveries.

The app combines original audio stories with ready-made routes and interactive maps. Visitors can listen at the places connected to each story and explore at their own pace.

It's available for iPhone, and the first five stories of each route are free to try.

You can find it at nadoloni.app/en/

I'd love to hear from other guides and tour creators:

What's one story you always include in your tours, even though it might seem like a minor detail in the broader history of a place?