Slow → articles tagged with portugal

Rosa et Al

Before we travelled to Porto at the beginning of last May it had been 8 years since we visited the beautiful city on the North-West coast of Portugal. Over the last few years we have visited its big brother - and one of our favorite cities period - Lisbon and the beautiful South of the country several times, but a little over two months ago we decided it was time to revisit the city located along the Douro river estuary and name giver to the most famous Portugese export product: port wine. And what a difference it was from earlier experiences. First of all the city appeared to be much cleaner and felt more fresh, we were able to find better places to eat its incredible cuisine, and compared to last time we were able to find more appealing places to stay. The wonderful Rosa Et Al is one of them, in which we truly enjoyed our stay in beautiful Porto. [ Continue reading ]

Casas Caiadas

The Casas Caiadas or 'Whitewashed Houses' project, is an extraordinary new rural tourist estate in the Arraiolos region, north of Évora, which recently was brought to our attention. The project which opened its doors at the beginning 2015, consists of three independent houses plus a support house, fully restored from a core of old water mills, in the heart of the Alentejo region. The young couple behind Casas Caiadas, Paula and Mario, found in this piece of Alentejo surrounded by centennial olive trees, stone walls and menhirs, the ideal place to restore the traditional whitewashed houses and share its beauty with people from all over the world. They found in architect Luís Pereira Miguel the right partner for the project, which after it was finished in October of last year, has been acknowledged nationally and internationally: having been nominated for the Vasco Vilalva Award, attributed by Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian; and has been published in the book 'Portuguese Restored Houses'. [ Continue reading ]

Casas na Areia

What started as the creation of a weekend house of architect Manuel Aires Mateus ended as one of the most beautiful retreats we have seen in a long time, named Casas na Areia, located one hour south of Lisbon, in Comporta, Portugal. The beautiful region is known for the magnificent white sandy beaches, the wine, fresh fish, the rice paddies and the pine trees. It's integrated on the natural reserve of river Sado, home to a great variety of wild life such as flamingos, storks and dolphins, but also one of the best places in Portugal for bird watching, with 100 different species to be seen in just 1 day. Next to this, the design of Casas Na Areia is simply mind-blowing, making it the perfect place to forget about everything and find peace of mind. [ Continue reading ]

Palácio Ramalhete

We truly love the city of Lisbon and during our previous stays, without a doubt, we have found our trusted home away from home, but recently another beautiful option was brought to our attention. Located in one of Lisbon’s most charming neighborhoods; Janelas Verdes, the hotel named Palácio Ramalhete is an amazing example of 18th century Portuguese architecture, where all original features have been preserved to maintain its timeless romantic charm. Because of the caring and thorough renovation, the eye pleasing hotel offers tradition combined with the comfort and modern luxuries to make ones stay as pleasant as possible. [ Continue reading ]

Serrote Sky Chart

We like everything the lovely Portuguese company Serrote produces, from their special notebooks to the crate with a selection of blue and white products they released last year, and with their latest addition to their catalogue they have created yet again another elegant and beautiful product which we love. Last month Nuno Neves and Susana Viela of Serrote presented the truly beautiful Sky Chart. It is an interpretive map of the night sky, where you can find the constellations and major stars visible from the Northern Hemisphere, throughout the year. The star Polaris, in the constellation Ursa Minor, is in the center of the chart. As this star is aligned with the axis of rotation of the earth passing through the poles, it remains motionless in the sky during the night, while the other stars appear to rotate around it. [ Continue reading ]

Crate Serrote

We love the latest additions to the beautiful collection of Lisbon-based Serrote. Expanding their horizon beyond just notebooks, the company introduces Crate Serrote: a wooden crate filled with ten blue and white products  by Portuguese manufactures, especially made for this box. Included in the box, but also available separately, Serrote also introduces a new notebook and a new notepad. The Starry Notebook is a notebook for those who like to watch the movement of the stars and draw lines in the sky. And the Celestial Notepad is a notepad with 144 pages of four different tones, interleaved with each other, which reproduces the colors of the sky. [ Continue reading ]

Lisbon

We already wrote about the lovely bed and breakfast Casa da Diná in Alentejo’s countryside, close to the beautiful beaches of the southwest Portuguese coast. For 6 days we enjoyed this amazing place, rolling hills covered with colourful flowers and wonderful desolated beaches (note, during the summer the beaches are not so desolated anymore and there are no more flowers on the hills - but it definitely still is an amazing place!)
After 6 days we moved to Lisbon and were welcomed by Maria and her team at the Baixa House. [ Continue reading ]

Serrote Soap Notebook

Lisbon-based couple Nuno Neves and Susana Viela of Serrote make limited-edition notebooks for connoisseurs and collectors of typographical gems. Printed on vintage Heidelberg presses, their graphic design is inspired by items from popular Portuguese culture such as tablecloths found at traditional luncheonettes and the shape of traditional biscuits. They also make special editions of notebooks experimenting with designs and materials, using their craft to the fullest.  [ Continue reading ]

Walter Rosso & Casa da Diná

Last few days we stayed in Alentejo's countryside, close to the beautiful beaches of the southwest Portuguese coast, at Casa da Diná. A bed & breakfast run by the Portuguese and Uruguayan couple Dina Medeiros and Walter Betbeder Rosso. Traveled the world themselves they decided to set home at Malavado and combine Walter's atelier with this lovely bed & breakfast of four double rooms, a delicious homemade breakfast and now and then a dinner to share Dina's love for Portuguese cuisine.

While enjoying this lovely place, we got inspired by the works of Walter and his atelier. The beautiful earth-toned palette, the geometrical forms, simplicity and cubist style in contrast to his palettes incorporated in this world of simplicity. [ Continue reading ]

Mi Casa en Lisboa

When we left Mi Casa en Lisboa last March, I knew we’d come back. Last weekend we did and it really felt like coming home. We arrived early in the morning to visit the flea market Feira da Ladra in the Graça Alfalma neighborhood and after a warm welcome by… [ Continue reading ]

Lisbon

Lisbon was amazing! We arrived on a friday night and first thing we mentioned was the calm and quiet ambience of this city. The green balconies packed with beautiful plants didn’t suffered from the 4 months without rain. The only sound that seeped through the open windows of our apartment… [ Continue reading ]