And that is exactly why I'm about to go back outside.
While 2 bed/1 bath houses certainly exist here, they're saddled with the reputation of being incredibly difficult to sell, so buyers don't really look at them (sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy).
This is the style of kitchen my mom has, walled off from the rest of the house, doors on either side can be closed so the "sounds and smells of the kitchen" can be isolated. No laundry facilities in hers though (thank goodness!)Most kitchens in Portugal look like this. It's basically a rectangle, usually the cabinets, fridge and machines will be against one wall and the other wall will be free and people usually put a dining table there, it's not super common to have cabinets on both walls. This is actually a very large, fancy kitchen and exactly the kind of kitchen I would love to own one day
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That's another fun cultural differenceThis is the style of kitchen my mom has, walled off from the rest of the house, doors on either side can be closed so the "sounds and smells of the kitchen" can be isolated. No laundry facilities in hers though (thank goodness!)
In stark contrast, my kitchen flows from breakfast table to family room and (yes) even has the kitchen island you don't like... and I much prefer this layout
When we entertain, I am usually finishing up dinner or something in the kitchen when guests arrive. I ask my wife to greet them at the door and get everyone a beverage and they naturally congregate near the kitchen where I can continue working and be part of the conversation. Once I'm done, depending on the formality of the event, I usually clean the island and then set out the food there so people can come and serve themselves. After that, I assume bartender duties
Everyone in the show was clear that they want to entertain at home and wanted to build their living room-dining room-kitchen around receiving guests - some people even mentioned they regularly entertain 20-ish people in their house 
Once again this is unheard of in Portugal. We don't have enough space to entertain 20 people in our home or we don't have such large social circles - I don't know which is the actual cause. Me personally, I HATE having company in the kitchen especially if the company is going to offer unsolicited cooking advice - yeah I'd rather lock the kitchen door and let the guests entertain themselves in the living room until I finish cooking. Overall I'm not a huge fan of receiving guests in my house, but I know people who are, and they were never throwing dinner parties for 20 people in their homes
I am also enjoying this conversation!That's another fun cultural difference
By the way let me just add how much I'm enjoying this conversation - I love home and home is such a huge part of my identity and my life, and it's super fun to see how different cultures have a different interpretation of the concept of home. To me home is definitely a private space to be enjoyed by myself and the people close to me, I don't think I'll ever be happy in those countries where houses are crowded with people or people have their doors open for folks to chime in whenever they want.
We've done that exactly once, probably just under 20 people, and I was a wreck for two weeks ahead and a week after, and was an absolute crap host, because I was so worried about everything, and I also spent a good bit of time rather angry at a lot of the guests!some people even mentioned they regularly entertain 20-ish people in their house
That's a huge peeve of mine. MrsT likes to post some of our food on FB (I'm not on FB), and she has one friend who constantly comments in the form of, "That looks great, but..." and then offers some "constructive" criticism.
Same here! I'm actually somewhat preoccupied/fascinated with other people's kitchens, especially when they're from another country/culture. MrsT always laughs at me, because I watch a lot of foreign films/TV shows, and if there's a scene shot in a kitchen, I'll back it up and watch it over and over again, looking at the light switches, and the appliances, the way things are stored, etc.
I've known several people with open shelving in their kitchens, and every last one of them ended up converting them to conventional cabinets because they couldn't keep the dust off the dishes.
Yeah I did that once, for my bday lunch, and vowed to never do it again. I managed to cram 12 or 13 people in a 40m2 (430 sq ft) apartment that only a table for 6 and seating for 8, people had to eat sitting on the couch. I spent all morning in the kitchen - like from 9am to 1PM - I cooked one appetizer, two mains, some of the guest brought dessert, and I thought "Wow with this all food I won't have to cook dinner" but no, people ate everything, so after hours of dish washing and cleaning and tidying up and what not, I still had to figure out what to cook for dinner!We've done that exactly once, probably just under 20 people, and I was a wreck for two weeks ahead and a week after, and was an absolute crap host, because I was so worried about everything, and I also spent a good bit of time rather angry at a lot of the guests!
