PORTA reflects the multifaceted reality of our lives, which on one extreme is rooted in the wonderful community and comforting consistency of Brooklyn where we live with our young families, and on the other, revels in the freedom and excitement provided by travel, exploration and new connections that drives and inspires us. It is the expression of ourselves, but also a reflection of so many around us, merging a grounded life with a wild, wonderful and far reaching world.
Travel Diary: Portugal
Travel Diary
Welcome to the PORTA travel series, where Francesca and I take you along for the ride as we head to Europe to source product for your table and home. Come with us as we introduce you to the makers, hotels, restaurants and museums that we find along the way. We have a lot of fun, and we hope by reading these that you do too!
Travel has always been at the heart of PORTA, allowing us to find, visit and work with makers from all over Europe who live and breathe their products, some employing skills that have been honed over many generations. It also plugs us into the vibes, the eats, the drinks, the history, the art, the friends that revitalize us. We are often asked how we find our makers and the answer is that we research - on the internet, looking at maps and inputing words of interest (olaria!), we ask friends, we ask favors, we ask makers to recommend other makers and then we zoom around a country to see what we can find on foot, by car, in trains and through the air.
Italy has monopolized the idea of La Dolce Vita, but we would say that each place has a little ‘je ne sais quoi’- and for us it all started in Portugal in October 2021 (just two hens pecking away) when PORTA was a mere twinkle in our eye. We couldn't have hoped for a more generous, beautiful and fruitful place to start. Here are some photos of our first travels and meetings and eatings, as well as products that we brought to life and are now part of PORTA that came from our first European wanderings. As you will see, it was filled with a lot of exuberance.
In Lisbon, we stayed in a beautiful apartment that was flooded by light in the day, close to the action at night and filled with treasures old and new.
Some of our favorite shops in Lisbon -Paris em Lisboa for all of your linen needs, Caza das Vellas Loreto candle store and workshop founded in 1789, A Vida Portuguesa which is a trove for products made in Portugal and finally Claus Porto, smells and packaging designs dating back to 1887 to invigorate your senses.
Making the rounds.
Producers! Producers! Producers!!
Food, pals and general exuberance - key here are Zé who came along for the ride to translate for us. He put up with our endless drives, giggles and a relentless schedule. The trip wouldn't have been the same without him leaping out of our car to introduce us and our yet-to-be brand to makers north, south, east and west. Also here is the brilliant Nat with the most beautiful smile of Dora Daar, and Armando of o-apartamento who couldn't have been more supportive of us and PORTA and generous in his connections on the ground.
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