we made it to portugal – #128

Mariánské Lázně, Würzburg, Bonn, Namur, Paris, Amboise, the Dune du Pilat, San Sebastián, Bilbao, Galicia. Ten stops, and now, finally, Portugal.

When we crossed the border from Spain earlier today, Portugal greeted us with sunshine and 26 degrees (79°F). We're staying in Moledo, right up in the north, and the Atlantic starts 300 meters from our door. Right now there's a storm outside. We expected it, because Daniel, a FEWL reader from Porto, warned us a few weeks ago. (Thank you, Daniel. You were right :)

A quick update on our little print magazine. It has a proper name now: what you first heard about as Whereabouts is called From Europe with Love – Field Trip.

Every issue is about one area. No. 1 is Merano. No. 2 is Porto and the north of Portugal.

No. 1 ships on Wednesday. We wanted it out at the end of October, so thank you to everyone who already bought the series for your patience. It took more trips to paper shops and print shops than we planned, and we think it was worth it. The magazine has 32 pages, and it comes with a map and a postcard printed on Hammerschlag paper from a German paper mill.

Tomorrow morning, everyone who has the series gets access to the map below.

If you already bought it, you don't need to do anything. The map shows where we are right now, and all our recommendations, not only in the places the magazines are about but everywhere in between: Eat, Drink, Coffee (roasters included), Shop, See and Move. Highly subjective, of course. Something to look at while the post does its thing.

Five things from Europe, below.

If you’re new around here: Every week, I share 5 of the nicest products from Europe I’ve discovered in the past 7 days.

I scout, you explore.

With love 🌞
Jakob

P.S.: The Aterkiak print by Koloreka was the most-clicked product in last week's issue. The Tabouret Beaubourg by laurent badier came second.

P.P.S.: If you find something that belongs here (also if you made it yourself), send it.

The cream envelope from Bomo Art looks ordinary until you open it. The Budapest stationer lines it with its own illustrated wrapping paper, so the person opening it gets the balloons, dahlias or sailing map before they get to the card.

(With a few dozen envelopes of our own going out on Wednesday, I’ve been paying more attention to these things.)

I found this Assembli kit in a museum gift shop in Bilbao. You wrap cotton around little cardboard skeletons until you have three shaggy cows, each about eight centimeters long. Sina knits the most beautiful things for all of us (and for herself). I’m useless with two needles, but I think I could manage a cow.

(The same Dutch brand also makes paper hummingbirds with shiny coloured wings. Good for a kid’s birthday.)

KAWENTSMANN makes this stool in its own wood and metal workshops in Germany’s Münsterland. The seat is a three-centimeter slab of solid oak, and you can order the steel frame in any RAL color.

(It’s made to order and due in January, so think of it as a stool for the new year.)

Hubert Hilscher designed this Polish circus poster in 1970. It gives me Where the Wild Things Are vibes, which is probably why I’d give a leopard nearly a meter of wall space. Projekt 26, a London shop that specializes in Polish posters, sells the authorized reproduction in the Polish B1 format, 98.5 by 69 centimeters.

I saw these MONDO Freestyle headphones at Merci in Paris. The headband is smoky and see-through, and the ear pads come in gray and yellow so you can swap them yourself. They weigh 79 grams and get up to 22 hours of playtime.