Things are not always as they seem
3__Carolina Parrinha Co-founder of softrocks Ericeira, Portugal
Things are not always as they seem
Read nowWhat is this area anyway?
Ever evolving never final
Places Spaces Art Books Fun True Food True Wine and Birds
area is an ever evolving roadmap. I am here to share and celebrate good places, people, experiences, ideas, products, concepts and arts. Mostly it’s about true food+wine, places+spaces, art+books, fun+joy. Ah, and about birds.
You can purchase related products in my webshop and discover curated locations on my map. I also love to learn what fuels others and share my takeways with you in my worldmaking stories.
Why do I do this? Because I'm incredibly curious! Discovering new things and understanding what’s behind them enriches my life so much. And I thought it might enrich yours, too.
Moods + quotes that feel like area
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Sœurs Fromagerie ode to raw milk and sisterhood On a recent trip through Belgium, I spent a few days wandering different cities – one of them Brussels – where I stumbled upon a super nice place that stayed with me: In the heart of Ixelles, on the lively Rue Lesbroussart, I discovered a shop that feels more like a small ritual than a store. Sœurs, (“sisters”), is the most amazing cheese shop run by Hélène and Lara Milan – two sisters with Lebanese roots and lives shaped by film, gastronomy, and long conversations around food. The concept is simple but rich: cheeses sourced from Belgia …
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The Missing Room by Carroccera GUESTS IN NATURE The Missing Room chooses to exist without walls or a ceiling. It’s a place for all to share, where nature is the main inhabitant and visitors become respectful guests. A series of abstract forms, centered around fire and water, reimagine primal human rituals: resting, eating, cleansing, and conversing. Guests cook over an open fire, another bathes in a heated tub, while maybe a cow drinks nearby—all under the open sky. The space invites to rethink existing notions of domesticity, allowing visitors to set their own …
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THE CRATER The most beautiful tennis court in the world. All 📸 by César Béjar The Cabo Sports Complex, designed by Taller Héctor Barroso, is a sports facility located in Baja California Sur, Mexico, serving as venue for the Mexican Tennis Open, part of the ATP Tour 500. Thecomplex sits on a cacti-dotted site near the beach. Architect Héctor Barroso emphasized the importance of understanding the landscape, aiming to create architecture that remains silent within its context, resting amid the extraordinary natural spectacle offered by nature. „Given the combination of uses, the ar …
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Functional unwinding
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This time for you – a very nice coffee bar from Zurich: This place, formerly known as DRAFT. Fashion Concept Store, has evolved into a community-driven space and a neighborhood gathering spot in Zurich Seefeld. Owner Tobias Nagele tested the idea in the summer of 2023 with a portable coffee cart in front of the store. Soon after, he teamed up with Felix Rocha, an experienced manager and barista. By chance, the architectural duo RDZ Studio, Ida Héritier and Konrad Roslak, came across the coffee cart on their morning walks. Inspired by the concept, they joined the project, shaping the d …
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To celebrate the release of their new collection of modern wines, Weingut Schätzel embarked on a Nordic trip, starting at the Faroe Islands and ending in Copenhagen, at a private dining table above the pulsating Kødbyens Fiskebaren. At this very table, the most exciting wine from the new collection made its debut: 16-23 Reh – the first wine of its own category. It is made from the best grapes Schätzel collected over the last eight vintages from their most beloved slopes in Pettenthal. It combines magical wine techniques: autolysis from Champagne, flor aging from Jura, and complex vinta …
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The team has moved away from monoculture to revitalize the vineyards. Herbs and vegetables grow between the vines. Drones assist in spraying biodynamic preparations, and fewer heavy machines compact the soil. Just last week, they planted trees in the vineyards to create shade and conserve water. Nine different tree species now stand among the vines—among them service tree, black walnut, wild pear, French maple, and willow. This approach, known as Vitiforest, will help them navigate climate change in the years to come. The first trees are now growing in Hipping and Ölberg, both classif …
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The mission of Kommune3000 is to share and spread knowledge about regenerative farming and sustainable entrepreneurship with as many people as possible. Their education program attracts people from all over the world to Nierstein, whether for an internship or an apprenticeship. Each apprentice takes on responsibility for both an agricultural and a business-related project during their training. This could be composting, organizing a vineyard festival, growing vegetables, or hosting pop-up dining concepts. They also share in the profits of these joint ventures. The next vineyard festi …
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You need to know this place, these people, their wine, and everything else they are doing: My friends – Jule Eichblatt and Kai Schätzel – run Weingut Schätzel and Kommune3000 in Nierstein am Rhein, near Frankfurt. This place is not only a Weingut that is several hundred years old but also a place where everyone is looking several hundred years into the future. Kai took over the family Weingut in 2008, Jule joined full-time in 2022, and together they started Kommune3000 to shape the future of winemaking and farming. Since then, Jule and Kai have been transforming their farming approach …
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Sepiat storm petrels special features: – Has a very distinctive nasal call, especially in breeding colonies – Uses the wind very efficiently for energy-saving flight
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Sepiat storm petrels are part of the larger Procellariidae family, which includes other seabirds like shearwaters, petrels, and albatrosses. While they belong to the same general group, they are not as closely related to albatrosses as some other storm petrels, such as the larger species within their own family. However, they share some common features, like their oceanic lifestyle and similar flight patterns, which makes them seem somewhat related.
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More about Bien de Altura https://biendealturavinos.com/ https://www.instagram.com/biendealtura/
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More about Envinate: https://www.instagram.com/envinatewine/
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NO INTERVENTION WINE FROM GRAN CANARIA IKEWEN Carmelo Peña Santana, a native of the Canary Islands, gained experience in Chile, the Douro, and Bierzo before returning to Gran Canaria to start his own project, Bien de Altura. His mission: reviving abandoned vineyards, respecting the land through organic and biodynamic farming, and crafting wines that truly express their origins. In the cellar, everything is done by hand—native yeasts, manual de-stemming, minimal S02, and long, gentle macerations. No clarification or filtration, and every step, from harvest to bottling, is carried out m …
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NO INTERVENTION WINE FROM TENERIFE Envínate (which means something like „wine-yourself“) was founded by Laura Ramos, Jose Martínez, Roberto Santana, and Alfonso Torrente. The four friends met while studying oenology at Miguel Hernández University in Alicante. Their wines come from single vineyards in some of Spain’s most historic wine regions, helping to bring places like Ribeira Sacra and the Canary Islands back into the spotlight. Right now there are four different projects under the Envínate umbrella: Lousas by Alfonso Torrente in Ribeira Sacra, Táganan by Roberto Santana in Tenerif …
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body and mind at ease
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Today I’d love to share one of my favorite places ever (probably because I am longing so much for light after the last month): @casa.costa_tenerife 🌊This place just gives me so much peace. (Body and mind at ease.) It‘s about the views, the colours and the light. The two holiday homes Casacosta and Casacosta Nextdoor are located off the beaten path, far away from the usual tourist spots, in the coastal village of El Poris, in southeastern Tenerife. Casacosta is a modernist villa from the late 1970s, lovingly restored by their Antwerp-based owners. Originally transformed into a holida …
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##Intro As one of my best friends, Malte, spends more and more of his time in Porto, Portugal, I keep getting introduced to a variety of super nice and interesting small brands and stores he comes across. One of them is Softrock. Malte discovered Softrock at one of his favorite spots in Porto: Out to Lunch (but more on that another time). Softrock is a family-run project that emerged from a collaboration between João Parrinha, a multidisciplinary artist and product designer, and his daughter, Carolina Parrinha, the brand’s artistic director. Recently, Carolina’s sister Laura Parrinha …
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The Fouta Djallon is a natural and cultural mountainous area located in central guinea, which is unanimously recognized as «the water tower of west africa», with reference to the many international rivers which have their origin there. However, it is subject to multiple delineations. Fouta Djallon is a powerful name which immediately invoke Guinea’s topography. However, although it is a recognisable and a well-known natural entity, there is no precise geographical definition for Fouta Djallon (Orange 1990). There are currently several geographic definitions, with its actual definition …
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Crispy Jackfruit Wings on West African Peanut Sauce (Mafe Tigga) by Foutah Djallon https://www.instagram.com/foutah.djallon/ The jackfruit wings are marinated in vegan buttermilk, coated with crispy cornflakes, and fried until golden brown. Perfectly paired with traditional West African peanut sauce. Veggie Wings: 2 cans young jackfruit, drained 250 ml plant-based milk 1 tbsp lemon juice 200 g unsweetened cornflakes, crushed 1 tsp sweet paprika powder 1 tsp ginger powder 1 tsp salt Oil for frying Peanut Sauce: 3 tbsp olive oil 2 onions, diced 1 piece of ginger, diced 1 tbsp tomato …
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nspiration for your cooking game: @foutah.djallon I love this journey through West Africa by authors Mamadou Oury Baldé, Eva Behringer, and Carla Behringer with 77 delicious recipes from Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone & Togo. From crispy fried cassava balls and baked plantains to hearty Guinean Maffè Tiga and creamy Thiacry with mango purée, the book offers a mix of authentic family recipes and fresh twists inspired by West Africa’s bold flavors. Plus, there’s a handy ingredient glossary …
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See all those houses in the making: https://solo-houses.com/houses/
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Blown away by @solo.houses with @venta.daubert organic winery and open-air Solo Sculpture Trail „Solo Houses is an immersive architectural destination beside the natural park of Puertos de Tortosa-Beceite in Matarraña, two hours south of Barcelona. Widely considered as some of the most extraordinary homes in the world, Solo Houses are rental houses designed by architects at the avant-garde of the field embedded in a 200-ha natural setting. An ongoing development, Solo Houses constitutes a collection of holiday homes that redefine architectural experience in dialogue with the majesti …
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In the real futures we seek to build, on Earth or elsewhere, those in control must resist the temptation to reproduce their assumptions about the “nature” of society and follow the lead of what people actually do and want, especially of those who would remake the relationship between nature and society from the bottom up. The oppressive edifice of naturalized social facts must be chipped away, one moment at a time.
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Future Days 2025 @futuredays.io Lisbon, Portugal 30 April, 1 – 2 May, 2025 A festival for futures and systemic thinkers, innovation-seekers, creatives, purpose-driven organizations and policy-makers to collectively create the futures of urban lives, equitable societies through and beyond technology. „Incubated at the transformative design agency With-Company, Future Days was born with the aim to produce future narratives through participative events for citizens, public institutions and private sector.Incubated at the transformative design agency With-Company, Future Days was born wi …
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Antwerp again, this time so in love with @osakaantwerp 💙 All 📸©️ @osakaantwerp ‼️ „Osaka is envisioned as a place that is both a bar and an informal restaurant. Noticeably, Osaka offers a large selection of natural wines by the bottle, while serving a seasonal menu of sharing dishes.“
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@gdsfm Zürichs Radio gegen den Strom Recommended by @aen__________ All 📸©️ @gdsfm Slide 1 Philip Frowein for @gdsfm postcard set (available via their webshop https://gdsfm.payrexx.com) „GDS.FM (Zurich’s radio against the current) is an independent and ad-free platform for music creators. We are committed to making the local cultural diversity accessible through radio. We broadcast our own concert series and DJ sets from various locations and provide live coverage of festivals and events of all kinds. The rest of the time, we play carefully curated music in our rotations and set b …
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„Ensemble is a bookshop and gallery dedicated to contemporary photography in Marseille, France. Founded by publisher Loose Joints, Ensemble is a dynamic space, incorporating an atelier, a public bookshop and an exhibition space, presenting a carefully selected range of titles by independent art and photography publishers from across the world, alongside Loose Joints’ own books and editions. Located in the heart of Marseille, between the Vieux-Port and Le Panier, Ensemble opens up visual dialogue with regular exhibitions, book launches and events. Ensemble is also a space that can be …
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In her eyes we‘re all kids. And kids are free.“ Beautiful and vibrant place in Thessaloniki, Greece. „COMMUNITY & CONNECTION YAYA hubs are more than cafes; they’re cultural investments in the neighborhoods we love. Located in Mavili and Kallithea squares, our spaces are designed to breathe new life and air into the community. We cherish real connections, genuine conversations, and the vibrant pulse of local life. At YAYA, it’s all about bringing people together, fostering a sense of community, and creating a space where everyone feels at home. A TALE OF LOVE YAYA was born out of …
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Museum of Prehistory of Île-de-France, Nemours, completed 1980, opened to the public in 1981. The museum’s building is the creation of architect and urban planner Roland Simounet (1927–1996), who won the competition launched by the Seine-et-Marne Department in 1974. Influenced by Le Corbusier, Simounet designed the museum with a minimalist and understated aesthetic, including its architecture, interior layout, and display cases, to highlight both the museum’s collections and the surrounding natural landscape. The Museum is widely regarded by architectural experts as Roland Simounet’s …
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In love with this sustainable coffee roasters and coffee bar: @vonandvonnie All 📷 © @vonandvonnie Recommended by @aveanel „Serving high quality coffee in a warm, welcoming and not pretentious environment with transparent bean-to-cup economics is what we both combined believe in.“ „We know that every cup of coffee had a long journey to get from the farm to end up in front of you. From origin, to you, we want to show you the journey the coffee made with as much transparency and traceability as we possibly can. Trying our best to buy the fairest coffee we can find that ensures more fo …
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The future of sustainable living in cities: Nightingale Housing, Australia @nightingale.housing 💚💚💚 „What began with a prototype by a handful of Melbourne architects has grown into a revolutionary housing model that responds to persistent problems of affordability and helps accelerate the pace of sustainable development toward a low-carbon future. Nightingale is driven by a triple-bottom-line approach that prioritises social, financial and environmental sustainability. As a not-for-profit, Nightingale doesn’t add a profit margin, instead we delivery quality apartments ‘at cost’.“ Source: https://www.nightingalehousing.org
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@found.color 🧡💚💜 An archive exploration of accidental colour schemes, continuously curated by creative developer Gareth Jones @garethj.world „To launch the site, Gareth developed a tool to extract the three most dominant colours in a photo taken and saved – Found Color then shares this original image next to details of the prominent colours featured. While this format isn’t totally different from the curated palettes filling timelines, the platform’s openness about where such palettes are sourced presents a far more inspiring experience for the viewer. It’s also infinitely more gr …
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Solstice Festival, Ruka, Kuusamo, Finland. @solstice.festival AN EXPERIENCE OF MUSIC AND ART IN A HIGH PLAIN ENVIRONMENT WHERE THE SUN NEVER SETS. 🌞♾️ „Solstice is a festival of electronic dance music, experimental music and diverse art at the top of Ruka at Midsummer. An experience of music and arts in a high plain environment where the sun never sets. Three day festival gathers the most exciting foreign and local artists on the top of Ruka. It combines the unique nature, activities, arts and music in a way you’ve never experienced before. In addition to the three stages, there a …
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"YUNS" is how people say "y'all" deep in the southern Appalachian Mountains. It's an inclusive term of endearment.“
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As modern society is progressively dependent on technology and convenience culture, the hardware store remains one of the richest places for us to learn and solve problems with our own minds, hands and abilities. Our goal is to build a strong relationship between people and everyday tools in hopes that the more they can do themselves, the more they can improve the world around them.
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People who say, "The system we have isn't perfect, but it's the best we're going to have," are people who don't have or can't imagine utopias.
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The art market's mild self-reflections, be they regarding its white-male dominance or its role in the late-capitalist state of the world, are performances of self-criticism.
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„unpredictability is what makes natural materials so special. Working with the unexpected to resolve the challenges that these materials present is often where the most interesting moments of a piece are found.“
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„Zuzanna Czebatul (born in 1986, Poland) lives and works in Berlin. She graduated from the Städelschule Frankfurt in 2013, and later attended the MFA Program at Hunter College, New York as Fulbright Fellow. The artist operates mainly in the field of sculpture, creating pieces that blur the lines between commercial product, architectural relic, and artistic production. Her work investigates complex relationships between the viewer and the viewed. She produces her own materials and creates works that deal with different themes representing strength or weakness, depicted in their opposed …
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NEIGHBOURHOOD STUDIO (by Lucas Wearne) is a Melbourne-based studio working across a variety of materials, techniques and styles. Best known for his natural limestone sculptures and hybrid objects that balance form, materiality, and process, Lucas’ experimental approach to object construction is process-driven and centres on the use of the hands and body.
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Antwerp based roastery and coffeeshop Andy Roasters All 📸 © @andyroasters WHO’S ANDY? „Rather than a person, Andy is a philosophy: seeing the art in everyday things. Coffee is consumed daily by so many people and is often not valued for the amazing flavour bomb it actually is. With Andy we try to get coffee’s true identity to a wider audience.“
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Mexico City based @casabosquespension above @casabosques bookstore by @savvystudio / @rafaelsavvy 💘 „Casa Bosque Pensión, a three room guest house, is an intimate accommodation for one or two persons, individually furnished with objects and artworks made by Savvy Studio and the artists who have called the guest house a home. Situated above the quiet charm of the Casa Bosques bookstore and the soothing hum of the chocolate atelier, each room embraces unique architectural features of the former single-family home, like a Juliet window overlooking the quiet, tropical street below, vie …
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‘The idea is to do as little as possible for a lot of money so that I can get back to my own stuff’
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Photographer @benoit_paille ❤️🔥 „I’ve been homeless for the last 10 years, moving from friend to friend’s house every three months. During this time, I document my life, their kids, and my friends. My photography is a tribute to love, a question of the aesthetic of documentary, and a humorous play on an anti-capitalist setup. I use the power of representation to showcase my friends from lower social classes, the queer community, and our shared rage.“ From @noicemag
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#Land Acknowledgement As part of the Catskills community and representing Corners, we extend our deep gratitude for this land and reverently honor the generations that have safeguarded it before us. Recognizing the enduring significance of these lands to the Lenape nations, both past and present, we stand on the ancestral territories of the Haudenosaunee and Munsee Lenape, which are intertwined with the histories of several Indigenous communities; lands and waterways connected to the vast traditional areas of the Haudenosaunee, Esopus Lenape, Munsee Lenape/Monsiyok, and Mohican/Muhhek …
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(think with your eyes) Corners, an art & design store in the Catskills upstate New York. Recommended by Malte Müller.
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Starting in 1965, Mieko Shiomi conducted a series of nine events that she called Spatial Poems. Each one began with an invitation to a large number of friends and colleagues to respond to a simple instruction, which often took the form of an intimate action poem that anyone could perform. The responses she received in the mail would then constitute the work. In 1975, Shiomi published a booklet documenting the nine Spatial Poems and including a collection of responses to each of these works. The accumulated responses give a glimpse of the wide network of artists who were connected throu …
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Absolut no intervention wine from Basel downtown by @spaspaspa.ch 😍
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Published over three years ago but forever one of the most important books I‘ve ever read. Why we matter by @emiliazenzile
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We have decided not to die. BIOSCLEAVE HOUSE (LIFESPAN EXTENDING VILLA), REVERSIBLE DESTINY LOFTS—MITAKA (IN MEMORY OF HELEN KELLER), SITE OF REVERSIBLE DESTINY—YORO PARK. The (realised) architecural work of artist duo Arakawa+Gin. All copyrights belong to Reversible Destiny Foundation. https://www.reversibledestiny.org
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A Daisugi is an entire forest growing on a single tree.
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Modern piment @maempi_ 🟧🔪
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Epic summer sound by @kidfrancescoli 💙 fav song „Le retour en bateau“ from Azuro OST 💙
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From @stephen_gill_ THE PILLAR BOOK available from nobodybooks.com
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@zerozero.marseille ➡️ vins vivante et vinyl 🤝 …. and tees.
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@desiredlandscapes a magazine reading into cities, from Athens, Greece. Ready to walk, always
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Handcrafted ceramics and furniture by @dea_domus 〰️🔹🧢
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💦💦 @traga.it glasses 🧴
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Furniture by @frederikfialin 🍦
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Food maps for the people by @itcouldbeworth
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Goood food: @luckyyoustudios supper clubs and creative culinary studio 🫶🪷💜🍳
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Fungi photography by @cho_fungi 🪻
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Amazing artworks of cake by barcelona based cake artist from kyiv @cou.cou______ 🌹
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this fun and vibrant place: @casa.lawa Sicily🦋❤️🔥🌄 ☑️https://www.casalawa.com
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mondays blue hour at @amberbottleshop / Antwerp 🌀
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Goals.
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Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity. Simone Weil
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yoga a manual for life - by @naomiyoga has profoundly changed my relationship with yoga with its holistic approach. For life.
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Weekend-music: take some time to listen to @orokoradio - broadcasting from Accra and beyond 🙏 ☑️ https://oroko.live This is what they say about themselves: Oroko is a not-for-profit independent internet radio station based in Accra, Ghana. We aim to connect, inspire and empower through conversation, collaboration and community. We seek to reclaim and recenter narratives from the African and Diasporic artistic communities with a particular focus on local perspectives in Accra, in addition to cultivating and nurturing relationships with like-minded projects across the globe. Oroko Ra …
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simple and bold products of danish brand @service.projects for your everyday use. And I love their recipes and travel guides, too! ☑️ https://shop-serviceprojects.com
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I love learning from people. This is my space to share my takeaways with you.
The map lists places close to our hearts

The area map is an every-growing collection of good places run by considerate humans all over the world. Find restaurants recommended by our interview partners, places we felt at home and the best bubbles and coffees across this blue planet.