Hi,
We started off the day as we have everyday with an introduction from Bonnie Levine who is an AJF board member from New Jersey who organized the trip. She gives us the outline of the day and keeps us on schedule as best as she can. She and Yvonne are a great team and I am having a wonderful time not having any responsibility for doing anything. Thanks to those two.
Our first stop of the day is Reverso Gallery which has been around for a few decades and shows not only Portuguese but also other European jewelers. The galley is beautiful and there is a very tasteful choice of work. This of course caused a buying frenzy in the group.
Paula Crespo on the right is the owner
Charle's favorite piece
Lined up to pay
These are traditional Portuguese custard tarts. They are everywhere and the gallery served them to us
There is tile work on many of the buildings here. Very colorful and beautiful
The streets are narrow and hard to drive on especially for our bus
On to Galeria Tereza Seabra. She is the 'mother of jewelry in Portugal'. She is a maker, teacher, and gallerist. She has done it all and helps all the younger ones today.
Entrance to the gallery
Another smaller frenzy ensues but the edge was taken off at the first stop so not as crazy.
On to lunch in an old monastery now turned into a beer hall called Cervejaria Trindade. There seem to be a lot of old monasteries here. If she can be believed our travel guide on the first day said that all the poor families in Portugal had to send the first born to sea and the next into the monastery. So there were lots of nunneries too. I doubt the story is completely true but there must be some reason there are so many.
Our table
On the way in we passed this display
The sidewalks here are all limestone and most of them have some kind of pattern
The we went on to an artists studio. Teresa Milheiro was an artist I had met before but of course didn't realize she was Portuguese. The articulated creatures on the left are really amazing but she did everything you see in the other image too plus other things I didn't photograph. She makes a lot of work and has some very strong ideas.
And finally to wrap up the day we stopped at an antique shop where my old friend Kadri Malk from Estonia had set up some work. It was a beautiful shop and the show was filled with work of hers I had seen before or was small and affordable.
Then I came back to the hotel at around 4 and went for a swim followed by a martini and Caesar salad. Perfect end to a perfect day.
That's all folks.
xox,
Susan
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