Lined with 23k Gold Leaf, this speckled quail egg necklace casts a warm glow from within. Pendant hangs from 18 inch 14 karat gold chain. Made from actual Japanese Quail eggs, they vary slightly in color and size - approximately 1 inch. The entire shell has been coated in plastic for strength.

i'm incapable of not blogging about food. food is delicious. sometimes in portugal the food is delicious. other times, not so much. take my dinner two nights ago, explained to be "skewered turkey with peppers & onions." sounds tasty, right? hm. what if by "skewered turkey" they really meant dark, duck-like lardy meat and by "onions" they meant "slices of ambiguous animal fat that look like onion slices"? it took some pensive, thorough mastication before i realized that no, my onions were not peculiarly greasy and fibrous. cue five hour stomach ache, writhing and contemplating which receptacle i might vomit in if need be. lucky for my hostel owner, the bed-side crystal dolphin bowl remains sparkling clean.

last night i ate microwaveable squid. also, maybe not the best idea. as for wine, vinho verde! it is specific to northern portugal, fruity, fresh, and intended to be drunk within a year. and ah, sobremesa. you might think you can't go wrong with pastries, but the portuguese LOVE them their eggs, and many are too egg-heavy for me to even stomach i.e. bright yellow yolk-fest 2012. there is one, however, that changed my life. the pastel de belém, sweet baby jesus:



there are two other types of food here that i'd sell my first born for when famished. first, the octopus (polvo), straight up with olive oil, lemon, and parsley. i have become a serious octopus freak, and i'm not afraid to admit it. next, a portuguese sausage called alheira. alheira was originally invented by jews as a way to avoid the portuguese inquisition. since jews were not allowed to eat pork, it made them incredibly identifiable because they did not prepare and smoke the sausages in smokehouses. thus, they invented this faux sausage in which they replaced the pork with various other meats such as veal, chicken, turkey, duck, and/or rabbit, and then mixed it with bread. in these parts, you can still find alheira, usually served with potatoes, and sometimes an egg (surprise surprise). its flavor and consistency is like nothing else i have ever tried.

in love with banksy.

inspired by the prevalence of graffiti art in lisbon & porto, i have become obsessed. i'm especially smitten with large scale stencils. these vibrant tags which have defaced nearly every beautifully aged building in town, are abundant on both concrete and tile. while i'm not quite sure if the locals find this to be art or vandalism (i myself am not keen on the idea of destroying the already lovely hand-painted tiles) many of them are incredible, and oft times witty.




it is indeed conflicting because while i completely understand the desire to preserve history, the pieces can be undeniably charming and therefore all the more shocking given their surroundings. but why not? the streets are alive. just as i see bare skin as the perfect canvas to adorn oneself with tattoos, blank concrete walls are just begging for some character.

mute.

rachel freire.

oooooh.

Phillip Tournaire