The Joy of Meeting the Family

Yesterday Ryan and I drove deep into the Alentejo region of Portugal. This amazingly beautiful corner of the country is home to the world’s primary supply of cork. Traveling for miles down country roads we passed acres upon acres of thriving cork forests. It made me think that the occasional cork tainted bottle of wine is well worth it to keep this incredibly eco-friendly and eco-important forest thriving. Cork is renewable, it is biodegradable, the forests sustain incredible wildlife, and many of these trees are over 500 years old. The alternative is plastic corks dumped in land fills and mines tearing up the earth for the metal screw caps. Hhmmm…

We drove to the Alentejo to visit the Rovisco Garcia Winery which is owned by one of the most well respected cork growers in the region. The winery is run by the charming Sophia. After a dream-like tour through her incredible property (we saw a hawk hunting snakes), we were treated to a sumptuous lunch at the family home. The moment we walked into the door, a 3 foot tall flurry of blond hair and ruffles came flying up to Ryan – attaching herself to his leg. We were quickly introduced to Sophia’s youngest daughter. After she stopped hugging Ryan, she ran up to me and asked with wide eyes, “Blah, Blah Blah Blah Blah?” I could tell it was a question because of the way her little voice rose at the end of the sentence. But other than that, I couldn’t understand a single word. Her grandmother quickly said to her in Portuguese, “Blah Blah Blah Blah. She does not speak Portuguese.” Very concerned, the little girl looked at me as if I was a kitten with a broken leg. Then she asked, “Blah Blah Blah, Portuguese?” And her grandma responded, “No. Blah Blah. No. She does not speak Portuguese.” The little girl took her little hand, wrapped it around my finger, and began pulling me down the hall – jabbering…in Portuguese…as we walked. Her grandma (who didn’t speak much English either) yelled down the hall after us, “The Bitch had puppies! She want you go see!”. So the little blond Portuguese girl and the tall blond American girl spent 20 minutes jabbering at each other in languages we couldn’t understand over a box of 6 puppies and The Bitch.

Visiting their home, tasting their wine, touring their property, and learning more about the Alentejo region of Portugal has been one of the greatest highlights of our trip so far.

Would you Go in Debt for $32 Million for a Dream?

I recently attended an event for a housewife who liked to bake cinnamon rolls. She turned her love of baking into the worldwide sensation Cinnabon.

In a recent interview, Francis Ford Coppola described the great depression he felt when he released a film that critics predicted would fail. Why? Because this film put Mr. Coppola personally in debt for $32 million. It is now considered one of the greatest war films of our time: Apocalypse Now.

As Ryan and I start our own business, these stories of risk and passion inspire me and give me strength to keep going. These people dare to follow their greatest dream, and they risk everything to do it!

Yesterday we met a family who lives another such story: The Patos. The father, Luis Pato, began making wine near Coimbra, Portugal over two decades ago. His relative success has grown his property and established him

as a great winemaker. But now his daughter Filipa Pato has started her own winery making some of the best white wines I’ve tasted thus far in Portugal. A recent mother, she and her Belgian husband are risking promising careers in Brussels to keep the wine tradition alive in their family.

Helen Keller once wrote, “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.” Who knows if she is right, but I am certainly tickled by people who live as if she is.

Old Ladies Rule the World!

Ryan and I are sipping white port and eating cookies in our simple waterfront guesthouse in the Portuguese beach town of Nazare . In addition to the lovely sunsets and picturesque whitewashed houses, this remarkable town has a delightful peculiarity. It is dominated by tiny old women dressed in knee-length petticoat skirts, knee socks and knitted wraps. In most cities old ladies are as sheepish as street kittens, but these women rule the streets! Instead of boys playing soccer, they take over the plaza to play a type of street ball. Petticoats fly as they take turns throwing a ball at an empty crate. Large groups gossip loudly as their husbands timidly smoke cigarettes. These women were the main street merchants selling dried fruit, nuts, fish, donuts…it was a festival of the best street food in the world! It all paired wonderfully with the crisp young white wine that is typical in the Portugal: vino verde. I liked these old women. They seem to say, “Men may think they rule the world, but we know who the real bosses are!”

Stiletto Heels, Fascism, and 1 Euro Beers

Ryan and I have moved south out of wine country to spend a night in Coimbra, the home of Portugal’s oldest university. The small medieval center is a steep maze of narrow cobblestone streets and stairways interrupted by miniature squares and ancient churches. The chaos cues you into the complete lack of city planning…that is until you reach the top of the hill and find yourself at a buzzing university. This impressive 700-year old university is a collection of palace-like buildings from the 1100s and imposing fascist monstrosities built by Portugal’s last dictator, Antonio Salazar.

This town reminds me why I loved going to university, why I love university towns, why I love university students, and why I wish I could still be one. Tradition requires Coimbra’s university students to wear black graduation-style gowns to class. As you walk through campus with these scholars, you feel like you’ve gone back in time. But just a quick look at the stiletto heels and tight red jeans sticking out of the bottom of the shapeless robes brings you back to 2009. Despite the seemingly conservative university, the surrounding streets remind you of the political and freethinking zeal of students. Graffiti denouncing the world’s evils (Nazis, fascism, intolerance, oppression of women, imperialism) decorate the buildings. Boisterous conversation and music blare from 2nd story windows – reminiscent of the nights I stayed up arguing politics and literature. Women carrying art canvases scurry down the street without make-up, shoes or bras while their guitar-toting male companions steal side glances at their cleavage. And of course, ancient watering holes filled with smokers drinking 1 euro beers…

I love the energy and non-conformity of universities. I love (and envy) how their days are filled with forming opinions, creating art, and making friends. And I love how, given the freedom to do so, students will test our societies’ boundaries and play with independent thought. And I love how you can ironically find the same “originality” and “non-conformity” in university towns around the world.

As Ryan and I sip our 1 euro beers, I promise to myself that this energy of inquiry, self-expression and non-conformity will penetrate the deepest pours of Elemental Importers. I may no longer be in university, but I can bring its spirit to the work I am doing now.