Category: portugal

PRETTY THINGS: from Portugal

PRETTY THINGS portuguese design via au pays des merveilles

This blog post has been on my mind for so long, but it’s only now that I’ve found some time to actually finish it.  During my 5 month stay in Portugal (and the several trips I’ve made there ever since), I’ve discovered lots of Portuguese talent that I’ve been wanting to share with you, so here they are!

  1. Best Sunday Dress stands for everything I could possibly desire from a fashion brand: apart from working only with sustainable and ethical materials, they also aim at a sustainable design aesthetic by using simple lines and special details, resulting in items that are interesting and basic at the same time.  I own the runner shorts, made out of the softest recycled polyester and I wouldn’t mind adding more items from their line to my wardrobe.
  2. Wetheknot makes board shorts out of the textiles of broken umbrellas, resulting in unique items.  Also worth checking out: their limited edition backpacks out of quilted cotton.
  3. Raquel Castro and Francisco Vieira Martins, alias Alma Geméa (Portuguese for soul mate) designed this beautiful tea set for their product line ‘The Whistler’, named after one of the oldest cork oak trees of the world, which can be found in Alentejo.  The line beautifully mixes cork with ceramics and I’m absolutely in love with it.  Available here.
  4. Handmade Emílio Braga Notebook, with a cover made from vintage Portuguese wall paper and named after the founder of one of Lisbon’s best stationary shops which is now over a century old.  Available here.
  5.  Handceramics makes pan stands and coasters with prints inspired by the typical Portuguese tiles.  Available here.
  6.  Toyno is a collection of cardboard animals that are willing to hold your stuff for you, every one of them with their own personality.  Their office used to be located in my street in Lisbon and walking past it would always bring a smile to my face.
  7. White Tent is the brand of Russian-Portuguese duo Evgenia Tabakova and Pedro Noronha-Feio, which gives a lot of importance to sustainability and exploring new design concepts such as laser cutting, combined with a minimalist aesthetic.  Available on asos.
  8. I’ve already proved to you that Portugal has the most beautiful packaging, and this is yet another example: O Melhor shaving cream, after shave and soap by
    Confiança, a company founded in Braga in 1894.  Available here.

If you do happen to go to Portugal (Lisbon in particular) and you want to score some original Portuguese products, you should go to A Vida Portuguesa, Feira das Almas, Fabrica Features or LX factory, but you can read all about that (and more) in my Lisbon guide.

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WHERE TO GO IN LISBON

where to go in lisbon via au pays des merveilles

This is it, my ultimate guide to Lisbon!  (Finally, I’ve been back for over half a year from my five month erasmus in this wonderful city…) Every tip links back to the post(s) I orginally wrote about it or their website if I didn’t. I also added some places that I didn’t photograph, just to make sure you don’t miss out on anything.    If you’re wondering how a semi-local twenty-something spends her time in Lisbon, this is it!

(Oh and I appologise for my awful handwriting: I got myself a pen tablet to battle rsi and to save myself time from always writing things out on paper and scanning them, but obviously I still need some practice.  Hopefully soon you won’t be able to notice the difference between my handwriting on paper and with the tablet! )

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CINEMA LÁ EM BAIXO

cinema la em baixo, lisbon, via au pays des merveilles

One thing I was really looking forward to during my trip to Lisbon, was visiting the cinema on the rooftop again.  After I discovered this wonderful place, I made a habit of going every week to have a cheap vegetarian diner with a great view over the city, watch a free movie, catch up with my friends and meet new people.  Unfortunately school (and the cold weather) got in the way and by the end of my 5 months in Lisbon, it had been weeks, if not months, since the last time I was there, so this was definitely on my list when I came back to Lisbon for a week.  Unfortunately, the weekly event changed from cinema la em cima, on the rooftop of an apartment building, to cinema la em baixo, in RDA69.  (Here you can also get your bike repaired and on Sunday they serve delicious pizzas for only 2 euros.) Since it was way too hot to sit inside, we had our delicious meal on the streets.   Despite the change of location the atmosphere and the people are still amazing, and as usual I ran into some familiar faces.  Definitely a must-go if you’re ever in the city!  You can find more info about the cinema here.

cinema la em baixo, lisbon, via au pays des merveilles

cinema la em baixo, lisbon, via au pays des merveilles

cinema la em baixo, lisbon, via au pays des merveillesall photos by me

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JARDIM DA ESTRELA

jardim da estrela via au pays des merveilles

Because it was so hot while I was in Lisbon, I spent most of my days in the park or on the beach, reading, taking a nap or having a picnic with some friends.  These are some photos of an afternoon with my friend Lisa and her friends from faculty at Jardim da Estrela.   We brought the slack line and a guitar and enjoyed the beautiful park. (Including the crazy guy riding around on his bike with his stereo blasting…)  Going through these photos while I’m studying makes me miss these carefree days even more…

jardim da estrela via au pays des merveilles

jardim da estrela via au pays des merveilles

jardim da estrela via au pays des merveilles

all photos by me

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BACK IN LISBON

lisboa via au pays des merveilles

all photos taken with a diana f+ by me

My week in Lisbon was spent catching up with old friends while having lunch at a roof terrace, eating ice cream in the park and chilling and dancing at out jazz.  I enjoyed well known places that I missed and discovered new ones that popped up or even just by looking at the city with new eyes and paying more attention while wandering around.  I made a trip to the beautiful beach of Palmela to get some rest from the tourist flooded city and complained about the heat (40 degrees, yes) a lot.  As you can imagine, it was great to be back in the city that feels like my second home.  This wasn’t my last return for sure! (For those of you who are new to the blog, I lived in Lisbon for 5 months thanks to the erasmus program.  You can find my blogposts on my amazing time in Portugal here.)

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