Travel Dispatches: A Letter from Portugal

It’s hard to say where I most like to be when my exploring takes me abroad. I like being where I’m familiar—definitely Paris and its arrondissements where I like to walk through the markets and bistros. In Bologna, I walk the miles of arcades looking at the architecture stopping only for a bowl of pasta or chunk of Parmigiano Reggiano. In Barcelona with its Catalonian pulse, I love the doors and wrought iron. San Sebastian I love, if just for tapas of seafood. But now: Porto, the Alentejo, Guimaraes, for the life. The people, the Posadas, the food and the wine is simply wonderful. In Portugal, like Italy, it is hard to get a bad meal and the value is extraordinary.

Portugal’s slight lack of sophistication comes from an ease of self and not a lack of acumen. Two of the world’s Pritzker winning architects are from Portugal, and the Portuguese sense of design is understated, colorful and to the point. The streets of the old, historic areas are mind-blowingly old. The granite and limestone buildings, sculpture and follies are worn and patinaed over the centuries with buildings showing dates from the 12th century. Simple handcrafts resonate with your soul without a hint of kitsch.

Getting to Portugal is easy and inexpensive, and driving the new motorways provided by EU funds along with a GPS device makes driving incredibly easy. I’m putting Portugal on my regular itinerary, I have found things in my explorations to bring to Eye of the Day and there’s no question that I will need some time to come back and arrange.

Let me know if you want to go!

Brent

My Annual European Expedition

This year I did something different, not only did my wife Suzi accompany me but my daughter Daisy and her husband, Greg, came along for the first two weeks. As I get closer to looking for some sort of exit strategy I’ve been thinking of why not blending our business with theirs. For years the English have expanded their garden centers from being just plants, pots, soils and amenities into restaurants, outdoor sporting goods like fishing tackle, wine bars and other miscellaneous shopping. So, off we went (Daisy has experienced traveling and buying with me for years), to show them a firsthand experience of what it’s like to GO AND SEE.

In many ways food and drink is different in Europe than the USA but they are not always ahead of us. Sometimes, for example with beer and coffee, it’s our opinion they are way behind. Greg made this very clear to us as we tracked down cutting edge coffee providers in the major cities we visited. As he explained “third tier” coffee and how it is different from the typical, Starbucks type coffee. I was amazed at the differences.  Should Eye of the Day add a coffee machine?  What about a cafe?

From world class tapas in San Sebastián to crepes in Montparnasse or simple but classic Tortellini en Brodo from Bologna, what would the impact be on EOD’s future?  So many questions, so many calories so we walked and walked and looked and as you may already know, Eye of the Day is about authenticity, quality and real personal service.  How would this type of expansion affect us?  How would we approach such an idea? A lot of questions coupled with a lot of ideas.

Milan to Bolzano to Bologna

The number of food oriented businesses in Italian cities is extraordinary like most large cities.  Density equals bars, coffee shops, take-out, pizza, burgers everywhere in Europe and restaurant on restaurant. The key to being different beyond the norm is the atmosphere and the that have exterior space as comfortable as the inside have a much better chance to succeed, just look at your typical Paris bistro with its tables on the Rue. Sausage and beers in big steins in Bolzano on a large open piazza covered with a tent let in the sunshine but the environment could have been so much more. Throughout Italy it looked as though most restaurants had nowhere to go when it warms up in the Spring.

I hope that someday soon our goals come together and we can blend our passions into one exciting, vibrant and delicious venue. Eye of the Day, Garden Design Center with the Eye of the Day Cafe.  Stay tuned…

Photo Credits:

Creative Commons, French quarter patio dining by Janice Waltzer is licensed under CC BY 2.0
Creative Commons, Une pizzeria rustique by Stephane Mignon is licensed under CC BY 2.0

A Buyer’s Experience in Greece, Italy and France

Traveling from Rome to Athens is not at all stressful – fifteen minutes from the hotel to the airport, an easy check-in and a flight just a bit longer than Los Angeles to San Francisco.  The things that Rome and Athens share are lots of cars, noise, pollution and graffiti.  But they also share great food, tons of visual stimulation, and great history lessons with every step you take.

 I just want to walk by the Foro Romano time and time again or around the Plaka and look up at the Acropolis, especially at night.  Both cities look better at night when they light their past and allow the present to be hidden by darkness.  In Rome,  you walk by shop windows with merchandise you would never turn your head for at home, but the Italians really know how to dress a window.  And don’t even get me started on the great artichokes in Rome or the feta and yogurt in Greece.

As the buyer for Eye of the Day – Garden Design Center, taking care of business is quite an adventure. For three days we drove from suburb to suburb outside the center of Athens visiting shops, reclamation yards and places that you couldn’t say were either, looking for old garden accessories and singular items to be made into fountains.  We decided to call off our visit to the gypsy camp in Athens when we learned that it was too dangerous.  I know when to listen to good advice.  We did meet with the gypsy the next morning  in the center of the city and we bought most of his old copper pots for a bargain price.  Prices aren’t as low as I would like, but the Greeks and Italians are having a hard time dealing with their new economic reality.  One sector of business that seems to be booming is the spray paint business.  My sidekick, Joe Kalina has visited Athens dozens of times over the last thirty years and said sadly “It looks like a war zone these days”.

Now it is our job to load the truck onto the ferry for an overnight cruise to Ancona, Italy, from which we will drive to the Rocco factory in Siena and load the fifty exquisite old and antique Pithari that Kostas has found for us over the last two years.  Then we will be back in Rome the next day on our way to Paris for the Maison et Objet to see our French vendors and maybe find something new. The new items we are buying are expected back in United States in time for our 14th Annual “Getting Ready for Spring” sale which features major discounts on nearly every line and runs for almost a whole month from Feb. 13th to March 17th.