Praia do Leca, Portugal

Will someone please save this beach pavillion! It was designed by Alvaro Siza in the 1950s in Praia do Leca a seaside town outside of Porto Portugal. It is exquisite, the photos don't do it justice. The large concrete swimming pools are set into the ocean and the bathhouse is nestled in the rocks on the shoreline. The oxidized copper roof melts into the sea as the waves crash over the pools. It is sublime, discreet architecture that needs to be restored.

Serralves Museum Porto

Lest you all think I am a traditionalist, here is the Serralves Museum in Porto Portugal. The building was designed by Alvaro Siza, the Pritzker Prize winning architect. The white stucco building is incredibly elegant with a minimum of detail, just space and shape. Even the signage made from cut out plywood is thoughtfully executed.The gardens are quite lovely in a very minimalist manner. The parterre garden is from the original 1920s house on the property.

The Palace of Queluz, Portugal

Finally, I am getting back to my posts--you'll have to excuse the pictures on their side until I figure that glitch out.. Just outside of Lisbon, Portugal is the royal Palace of Queluz often called the Versailles of Portugal, it is really more of a small summer palace for those of you/us who want to be precise (just as BA is not the Paris of South America--trust me). It is incredibly pretty but sort of run down, you sort of wish there was a conservancy that would start to renovate the buildings and work on the gardens. However, as with most of the Portugal that we (that's Kendell at the edge of the fountain) saw, it is not gentrifed and that is a big plus.

Cascais, Portugal

It's freezing here in Bridgehampton so I'm going back to October and our trip to Portugal (more posts from this trip to come). Here are some shots from Cascais a charming seaside resort about half an hour outside of Lisbon. It has its ticky tacky side, and lots of new development but still worth visiting especially as it begins to get warmer there. At the far edge of town there is a cool little boutique hotel called the Farol Design Hotel, that might be worth staying at and is certainly a perfect spot for a sunset drink at the oceanside bar.