Vines, a tradition that endures

September-October every year

    The end of summer and the beginning of autumn are synonymous for harvest: the grapes are ready to harvest and produce the wine of that year. In this period it is common to hold numerous popular festivals.

    A Portuguese tradition that despite having been, during the last years, modernized, is still what it was in some aspects.

    Between september and october, the harvests, which in areas of the Douro, are large areas that require some labor, but in my case, or better of my family, the vineyard is quite small, whose final product is for own consumption; and it is a pretext to gather friends and have a lunch.

    So every year on a Saturday morning, my father, my brother, my mother and I, plus a few friends we took on the scissors, in a bucket and then we go to the fields.My father built it in our garage. a wine cellar, which includes a tank where the must is fermenting, so it is a process that does not even come out of the house. Now it has a machine where the grapes go, which are crushed and then transformed into must, which after being fermented (a process whose odor is horrible) turns into alcohol and then wine, which my father then puts in wooden kettles or stainless steel tanks waiting for it to be ready for consumption. Despite the machinery, it is still tradition at home, some of us go into the tank (without washing our feet) to crush the grapes. 

    Just one more detail: from the must is made the brandy (a drink with high alcohol content) and jeropiga (traditional from my country), which is a preparation by adding brandy to the grape must to stop fermentation, resulting in a more alcoholic drink than wine (I personally do not appreciate) which is the traditional drink for magustos (see next link)

 https://someanywhere.blogspot.pt/2015/11/magusto.html

 

Conímbriga, October 2014

   During my trip to Coimbra, previously, we passed  the ruins of an ancient Roman city whose remains are even today tourist attraction.

    Since childhood I've heard of them, but only in 2014 that I was able to visit. The expectation was great for what I saw I must confess...

    Conímbriga is one of the largest Roman settlements, classified as a National Monument. The town was at the time of the Roman invasion of the Iberian Peninsula, the main city of Escalabitano Convent, Roman province of Lusitania. It is 16 km from Coimbra.

    This locality was in the road that went from Olisipo (Lisboa) to Braca Augusta (Braga). At the end of century IV, with the decline of the Roman Empire, it was built a walled waist for urban defense, whose ruins are still amenable to see. In the context of the barbarian invasions in the Iberian Peninsula in 464, the Swabians attacked the city, but the victory of the Visigoths on the latter, made Conímbriga lost his episcopal status for Emínio (Coimbra), which had better defense conditions.

   The first excavations began in 1899 and between 1930 and 1944 were discovered, the public baths, three villas, especially the House of the Fountains, paved with mosaics and a central garden where they kept an entire plumbing system with more than 500 fountains. It was also revealed an early Christian basilica, a villa with private spa, a forum, that was demolished (at the time of the Flavian) to make room for a larger one. In 1962, the Museum of Conimbriga is totally dedicated to the archaeological site where it's inserted, and in it are exposed artifacts like coins and surgical instruments.

    I confess that for those who aren't big fan of history and visiting the ruins, this is not a very appealing place, unlike the lovers of Roman civilization. But it's always wonderful to see what was built centuries ago without today's technology, and the importance that people attributed to certain places and objects, to know the way of life and culture of a people who came before us.

World of Discoveries, May 2016

      Again there I was with the kids parting for another adventure. One hundred and few children, plus assistants and teachers embarked to discover the glorious era of Portugal. 

    We finally arrived to Porto, Miragaia area, embraced by the river and rocked by the seagulls' singing, the bustle increases... Here we go into the World of Discoveries, as interactive museum and theme park that reconstructs the odyssey of the Portuguese navigators, who crossed oceans to the discovery of an unknown world.

      I think that apart from the little ones, every person should go there... it's an interesting experience and learn a little more about the time, characters and legends. It's a great place for recreation of scenarios and because it's possible to touch, smell and hear, more than to see.

     And now a short introduction... "The Discoveries launched humanity in an era of globalization [...] and Portugal had a starring role in this process for centuries on end, creating new oceanic routes and placing people, animals and plants circulating throughout the world".
     The museum is a place where cultures intersect, with 20 thematic areas. One part of the museum is navigable with replicas of small boats that make the most realistic adventure.

     A curiosity: this wasn't my first visit to the museum, but in that first time we couldn't use the boats due to a malfunction, so they offered us a trip on Douro River, with a panoramic bus included to take us to the port. I assure you that was the joy of the little ones!!!

 I leave you some information about the visits, withdrawal of the site itself: www.worldofdiscoveries.com so anything just take a look. The visit to the park and museum last about 1 hour and 30 minutes. Has qualified guides, it offers an educational service and the content can be translated into five languages - spanish, french, english, german and italian.

     As for the price of tickets (which is always cheaper if purchased online): Children (0-3 years) it's free; children (4-12 years) is 8€/6,80€; Senior (+65) and Students is 11€ and this is only for the museum and park, because if you wish to visit the temporary exhibition (which when I was there was about Ceuta), prices vary. 

At the end of the day is guarantee of a well spent time.

Badoka Safari Park, August 2015

    Have you ever thought about having a chance to do a safari without going to Africa? Well, I never thought of that, and so when I knew of this hypothesis didn't think twice.

entrance

     So in my week of vacation I decided, along with one of my best friends, to do a detour and go to Vila Nova de Santo André, in direction to Santiago do Cacém. I tell you never cross my mind that would be so far!!! Coming out of Covilhã it's more than a half a day trip, and yet we stopped for lunch on the way.

    Around 3pm we got there, with some expectation, because neither os us had been there. In this park you can see the Island of Primates, a place that recreates the environment similar to the wild. You can find were chimpanzees and baboons. 

    We can do a safari, in a tractor guided tour, by a space of 45 hectares, among giraffes, buffaloes, ostriches, zebras and many other friends from the African Savannah in freedom. It's possible in this adventure to feed giraffes and zebras, as they are quite affable and approximate the vehicles, waiting for the "great luck" (the guide advised not to feed the ostriches, because can become dangerous). For security reasons the Tigers and another species (of which I no longer remember the name) are in a closed space.

    In the park you can watch the presentation of the Birds of Prey (eagles and hawks in free flight, simulating hunting scenes) and also feed the lemurs (animals endangered ... who does not remember the mythical character from "Madagascar." .. "I like to move it, move it ..."). The most radical and wet experience is the African Rafting a 500 meters trip through troubled waters aboard an inflatable boat (for 2 € without travel limit - the people finished a trip and went back to the line) ... Get ready to get wet :)!!!

    The entire park is sandy, so do the Rafting and then make the visit isn't the best option (believe me). It's part of the park, the African village, the educational farm, the garden of exotic birds and tropical forest.

    The park has set schedules for all activities and the ticket is a bit expensive, but it's still a different adventure. In terms of price we paid (each) 15€+2€ (for rafting), but add 12€ (adult) or 10€ (child) if you want to interact with the lemurs.

For more information visit the website: www.badoca.com

Almeida, 2015

So Like I said I'm back :)

    

    Due to the fact that around this time there's a lot of small festivities in some villages around my region, I decided to talk about one that stands up above the others because of its military purpose once... Almeida - a small village near to the border with Spain.

     I confess that I was there for a few times with my parents, but I went back in 2015 for a flash trip with Erasmus students, and it's a whole different experience... I could finally check out some "secret passages" and play with some "characters" :)

    Almeida is a Portuguese village belonging to Guada's County, with about 1300 inhabitants. The village is known for its fortress, a twelve-pointed star, so one of the most spectacular European defensive systems (army lovers this is a place to visit)!

    "Almeida [...] committed to [...] building a renewed war machine that could adapt to new fire arms and allow seal the border." - www.aldeiashistoricasdeportugal.com. This village is part of the historic villages of Portugal and some of the information (that I no longer remember) was through the site above (give it a look).

    According to historical sources had its origin thanks to the migration of the inhabitants of a Lusitanian busy 61 B.C. by the Romans and later by barbarians. Given its geographical location (plateau), the Arabs named it Al-Mêda, Talmeyda or Almeydan, having been built a castle in the VII-IX centuries.

    In the period of the Reconquest, Christians took Almeida in 1190 and was later disputed with León (Spain), moving to Lusitanian possession in 1297 through the Treaty of Alcañices. 

    Received royal charter by D. Dinis (1296), who built the castle and again with D. Manuel (1510). The french invasions devasted much of the village. During the Seven Years War (1756-1763), Almeida went back to Spain and was taken up in 1763. along the liberal fights between 1829 and 1832 its walls were destroyed, only rebuilt in 1853 (so many wars!!!). In 1927 came the las Cavalry Squadron losing the military activity that for centuries was the reasons for its existence.

   Are a strong attraction the Square (century XVII/XVIII), a baroque military architectural model, a fortress with hexagonal layout. The access is made through the double doors in arched tunnel - Santo António and Saint Francis of the Cross. It  has six bastions with its casemates - underground galleries where the population gathered in case of danger and also served as prisons during civil war - and ravelins with moats 12 meters deep, where was built a field hospital and is currently located the Military Museum (for those that like to know more about fire arms and military stuff its a cool museum and not very expensive).

two Portuguese girls and two Brazilian guys :)

   I can actually tell you that visiting the museum it was fun!! My group and I had a blast creating scenes with the characters... and guess what... in several rooms are this touchscreens with info about the artifacts, but we actually found one were we took a picture... it was a blast (crazy people)!!! And after we played a little we found some passages that took us outside the walls :o!!!

Us and our secret passage!!

It was dark!!!

I´m back...

Hi there!

So I'm back again... I had to stop for a while because the adventures of daily life occupied a lot of time and the writing about my journeys had to suffer a pause. But now I'm back and throughout this time, don't think I stopped traveling... no way... that's impossible... although were just a few trips but one of them was spectacular...

So I'll try to recover all the time lost and continue to tell you more about my adventures that happened in between!!

Write you soon :)

Vinhais

Several times throughout the years

   Vinhais is a Portuguese village which belongs to the Bragança district (Alto Trás-os-Montes). This is the birthplace of my mother, and current place of residence of my grandmother. I have enough childhood memories of  this village, and it doesn't matter how many times I go back, the charm does not disappear and there's always something new.

   It was here that I learned some of the traditions of the Portuguese people, accompanied by memories of my grandmother, as well as other local traditions that are practiced even today. The fascination by the legends and myths that surround the entire region are magical. Although small, the village is full of little treasures, such as the Medieval Wall and the Biological Park; events are varied and attract tourists from all over the country and even the neighboring country (given its proximity to Spain).

     I'll tell you a little about some of the tourist sites in the village and also about some of the events (but haven't decided if I'll talk about them in more detail in different posts).

    The Medieval Wall - Vinhais Castle (or "Castelinhos" as they're called by my grandmother): no one knows for sure when or who had built, but authors refer to D. Dinis as author. Due to its border location, the castle was of great military importance due to the greed of the neighboring monarchs.

    Pillory: located within the walled enclosure of the castle, very close to my grandmother's house (she lives down the street). Its construction dates back to the Manueline period.

     For nature lovers I advise a walk to the top of Cidadelha, consisting of a viewpoint overlooking a beautiful landscape. You can see some unique species of fauna and flora.

    You can also visit the Biological Park where you can observe several species such as roe deer, wild boars, various waterfowl, and the Mirandese donkey, the same as the flora, where you can find different types of mushrooms, aromatic and medicinal herbs. And here I have to tell you about this amazing thing, we found there some goose, that were actually very polite because when we make a bow, they match.

    Remember when I spoke of traditions, it is the Green Park is the place to learn. This leisure area is also a place dedicated to preserving the memory of the arts and traditional crafts, which many are unaware and are at risk of getting lost in time. I'll talk about them in another post, solely dedicated to it.

   Vinhais has a rich and varied cuisine based on typical regional products such as maize (corn meal with tomato or cabbage), the couscous (wheat flour and boiled water in a water bath). very typical dishes like  rabanadas, canelones, caldo de cascas, enchidos, folar de Páscoa and pasteis de massa tenra.

Besides gastronomy, this village has many traditional festivals (some more than others), such as the Chestnut Festival, the Fair Meats, the Feast of the Goat and the Stub (Cidões - Vinhais) and Wednesday of Ash: Death and Devils. I decided to address these festivities in another post in order to be able to extend myself a little more about each of them.

This is a well-Portuguese town !!! And my house: D

Serra da Estrela

A few times over the years...

       Although I live near by, it's not with that much frequency that I go to the mountains (I know it's something quite stupid...). I'll tell you a little bit about this specific mountain.

       Serra da Estrela is the name given to the mountain range where are the highest peaks of Portugal. The mountain reaches a maximum altitude of 2000 meters (to rely on a tower of 9 meters). This is part of six municipalities: Manteigas, Guarda, Seia, Gouveia, Celorico da Beira and Covilhã (where I live).

     In addition to the snow, fauna and flora, you can explore the entire human wealth, cultural, historic and gastronomic of the region.You can find here the Vodafone ski resort, the only one in Portugal, beyond the highest point, the tower. 

Other sights are the Bear Stone (Pedra do Urso), the Monument to Our Lady of Good Star (Monumento a Nossa Senhora da Boa Estrela), the Hell Pit (Poço do Inferno) and Hardy pitcher (which draws the most intrepid to climb) (Cântaro Magro), the Head of the Old (Cabeça da Velha) and Long Pond (Lagoa Comprida).

In terms of gastronomy, bread and cheese are the main stars. Peculiar something is the dog of the Serra da Estrela, typical of the region, whose main function is the grazing of sheep in an area where practices such as transhumance (can (re)read the post about the rattles) and the renewal of pastures by fire are common.

      As I said, though I don't go so often to the mountains, I have some pretty anecdotal episodes: from sledding as a child, almost getting buried in snow (and fortunately it was only up to the knee and inside a covered river with snow), taking pictures with "Olaf" and catching a colossal cold just to take some beautiful photographs with a beautiful sundown.

It's fun and attracts many tourists in winter, especially around Christmas and New Year, however, is never sure when it snows ...

Águas Radium

December, 2015

Hotel Serra da Pena

     This is not one of those places more visited by tourists in Portugal, but for those of you who like ruins, and a more mystical environment, well, then this is one of the places you must see. I had several opportunities to check it out, unfortunately always seemed to happen something at the last minute that made give up the idea. So after Christmas, this year I finally could get to the place and take some pictures, and dig within its history. I should warn you that although the place is great for taking great photos, its history its a little bit off, I mean, there's nothing to certain, but I'll tell you what is common history about this place.

     Originally this was called Hotel Serra da Pena, and it's situated near Sortelha, belonging to Sabugal's county. At the beginning of the twentieth century it became known as Termas de Águas Radium (Radium Water Baths). They are a massive granite construction, now in ruins. The hotel part is the one that is located in the background of the large patio and the construction on the right corresponds to the old spa.

        As I said, the story is a bit confusing, but it seems that its origin is a legend. It begins with a Spanish Count, Don Rodrigo, who here would have cured her daughter from a serious skin disease, later sending, to build a spa hotel. But what deepens the mystery is a story of Acciainoli, according to which, until 1920 the waters were not known and at that Professor Lepierre stated that the springs had radioactive properties. There was a time, where appeared the radioactive fever, which stated that radioactive materials were beneficial to health (more specifically the radio). The It is said that the hotel was able to accommodate 150 people, and where it was possible to cure the following ailments: skin diseases, basin, arteriosclerosis, rheumatism, gout, hypertension, colitis, edema, circulatory failure, kidney and disturbances in nutrition, via treatment with radioactive sludge and the application of radioactive electrical pads, among others. 

       During World War II, its the end of the hot springs, as uranium becomes a bloody material. Around the years 40-50, the radioactive fever ends with the release of harmful effects that exposure to radioactive materials has to health. Later it come a project to try revive the hot springs, within a luxury hotel, but it never came through. So right now its in ruins, and yet it still fascinates those who pass by.