The Québec Winter Carnival vs. the Portuguese Carnival Posted by João on 10:07 pm

Right from the get-go, when the French first colonised New France (what is now Quebec), they created a rowdy tradition of getting together just before Lent to eat, drink and be merry. The custom of celebrating sometime around mid-February has long been popular.

The first officially recognised large winter Carnival in Québec City, however, took place in 1894. Often faced with winter’s hardships, the city's population reinvented the popular tradition of carnival brought from France with a winter celebration that celebrates exactly that - winter. In 1954, in the context of the economic development of Québec City, a group of business people started to commercialise the festivities. That year, Bonhomme (to the right) was born and elected the event’s representative. The first official edition of the Québec Winter Carnival took place the following year, in 1955. Since then, the Carnival has snowballed into an undeniable manifestation for the entire Québec City population, having become an important vehicle for tourism and economical activity in the city. As well, from one winter to the next, the Carnival has enriched its activity program, having added a number of more popular activities that includes winter sports, snow sculptures, and activities based on the traditional Québec lifestyle, such as canoe races and dogsled races. Check out the Ice Palace put up every year below. Today the Québec Winter Carnival is the largest winter carnival in the world, and is third on the list of top carnivals worldwide, after the famous carnivals in Rio and New Orleans.

Ok, now we know that this blog is all about Canadians in Portugal, where these two countries coexist as much as possible. That said ... the Portuguese Carnival. First off, it's worth pointing out that the Portuguese carnivals of yesteryear were not exactly like todays, as missing were the scantily clad dancing girls a la the Brazilian Carnival (we must not forget that at the time of the Carnival in Brazil, it's summer, not exactly the same here, brrrr...). Yes images like the one below are typical to Ovar, Torres Vedras, Loulé and many other carnival-loving Portuguese towns.

The traditional Portuguese Carnival is more about people getting dressed up, often with masks, and making fun of each other and playing tricks on each other. It's also all about mocking public figures like what you see on the left below. Yes that's Cavaco Silva, the Portuguese President of the Republic right up front and former Portuguese PM José Socretes in the back as well. Sometimes, however, public figures themselves show-up to even mock themselves. Yes that's Madeira's Alberto João Jardim below on the right. He's a regular at the Carnival in Funchal year in, year out.

Now this year we all know that Passos Coelho is cutting back on the Carnival. For that reason, this upcoming Tuesday will not be as lively as the rest of the carnival-loving world. So enjoy yourself Québec. Maybe we here in Portugal will join you again next year on a Tuesday, or that year after that, or the year after that, ...

Historic cafés of Portugal and the great minds who love(d) them Posted by João on 12:51 am

There are places in Portugal that never go out of fashion and many of these places are coffee shops or cafés. The Portuguese love coffee, there’s little doubting that – they always have and something tells me they always will. There are cafés everywhere in Portugal – every suburb, every aldeia, by the sea, inland, underground, on top of the highest mountains … they are everywhere. On their daily routines, the folks of Portugal grab their cafés wherever they can and they do it fast. In some cafés, however, this is ill advised. Coffee has its history in Portugal as do many coffee shops. Every city and town possesses cafés that are very much a part of the local socio-cultural landscape to one degree or another. This is something Starbucks will never accomplish here (at least I hope).

Now how important are the cafés of Portugal to the country? Well, lets just say that some are as important as Portuguese culture itself, for many have served to inspire the essence of Portuguese culture itself. Nowhere is this truer than in the case of Portuguese literary history, for Portugal possesses a number of historical cafés that have served as a major source of inspiration for poets and writers, this beyond having been starting points for political, social and cultural rights movements. So if in Portugal and you’re hankering for some history (literary at that) let me recommend a number of cafés for you.

In northern Portugal, in the city of Braga, Café Vianna was a regular stopping ground for Eca de Queiros and Camilo Castelo Branco. Smack-dab in the middle of the city, Café Vianna has been under the famous arcades at Praça da Republica for 141 years.

Leaving Braga and heading south-west towards the city of Porto, here two cafés are particularly worth highlighting: The Majestic and Café d’Ouro.

A stroll down Rua de Santa Catarina will take you past The Majestic. More than just a café, The Majestic is a throwback to 1920s Porto, to the city’s ‘Belle Epoche’. The Majestic quickly became a hangout for the local intellectual bourgeoisie and for writers and artists as well. The café was abandoned for a 16 year period, from 1964 to 1980, restored during a 14 year period and reopened with all its splendor in 1994, becoming Cultural Patrimony of the city of Porto.

Located at Praça de Parada Leitão, the Café Âncora d'Ouro, also known as O Piolho (Lice, in English), has been around since 1909 and is known as the academics café. Here great minds of the city have come to study and to debate and to inspire. Interestingly, O Piolho was the first café in the city to have electricity (in 1957), the first to hook up a television and the first to get the famous Italian coffee machine "La Cimbali" which lead to the name given by the residence of Porto to expresso coffee or ‘uma bica’, that of ‘cimbalino’, name that has stack until this day.

Now if in the University City of Coimbra, a visit to the Café Santa Cruz and all its Manuelino architectural elegance, is a must. Located at Praça 8 de Maio, Café Santa Cruz has been a symbol of the city by the Mondego River since 1923. Much was the controversy when the decision was made to allow the café to exist wall-to-wall with the Santa Cruz Church, but today and through its history, this café has been a home away from home for intellectuals, writers, artists, academics, fadistas, rubbing shoulders with the working class, the wealthy and most recently, tourists.

Further south but still in the centre of Portugal, we reach the City of the Knights Templar – Tomar. Here we can visit the centenary walls of Café Paraíso located at Rua Serpa Pinto, Tomar’s major pedestrian street. Contemporary writer António Lobo Antunes did his military service in Tomar and has had his name tied to Café Paraíso, for example.

Our last stop is Lisbon. Here, three cafés are worth discussing. First, A Brasileira, located at Chiado Square, has been around since 1905. Although known through history as a place frequented by Lisbon’s top literary, artistic and intellectual figures, among these personalities, one frequent client stands out: Fernando Pessoa. In fact, the presence of Fernando Pessoa at A Brasileira was so common that, in order to recognise the poets’ link to this café, a bronze statue of Pessoa sitting at a table was installed in front of A Brasileira.

Our second Lisbon stop is Café Nicola at Rossio Square, once upon a time the favourite haunt of the much celebrated poet from Setúbal, Bocage. The art deco facade and the sidewalk sitting is today a touristic must, thus the reason why when one walks by it is mostly tourists that occupy the tables.

Our last stop is under the arcades on the right hand side of Praça do Comercio (if you’ve got your back to the river). Café Martinho da Arcada has been around since 1778, originally as a liquor trade house, and in 1829 as the café that still stands today. If any café in Portugal is inevitably tied to the history of Portuguese arts and literature it’s Café Martinho da Arcada. Writers such as Cesário Verde, António Botto and Almada Negreiros were regulars in their day. Fernando Pessoa also has a table permanently reserved for him here. He certainly loved his coffee shops. More recently, Martinho de Arcada also has a table permanently reserved for Noble winner José Saramago.

So if you’re in Portugal and you think coffee is just coffee and a café is just a café ... think again. From north to south, if you’re searching out literary inspiration these ‘temples of culture’ are sure to provide you with some, and do take your time to enjoy our coffee.

The eléctricos of Lisbon and the 28 Posted by João on 7:09 pm

One certainly can't say that trams, or eléctricos in Portuguese, are a comfortable means of transportation; quite the contrary in fact, and this is particularly the case if one hops on a tram and can't grab a seat, having instead to enjoy the ride grabbing on to something during the ride. If you've ever been on one of the old eléctricos in Lisbon, you'll know that they are neither fast, agile nor flexible. If you're in a hurry, take my word: unless you have no other alternative, don't take one. On the other hand, the old eléctricos of Lisbon are unique and full of charm; true symbols of gone by days. They are representatives of a city that have managed to stay unique and equal to itself in a world that all too frequently has been taught to discard, ignore and devalue what is old. If only there were more examples like the eléctrico, mind you not everything old is viewed with such romanticism. In Lisbon there are still five old tram lines that have stood the test of time (the 12, 15, 18, 25 and the 28). Classic tourist trams also travel certain lines showing visitors and locals alike the beauty the city possesses.

Now when we get into one of these old trams, it's a lot like going back in time. The fact is the first eléctricos actually began circulating in 1901 and were pulled by horses. These can now only be seen at the Carris Museum in Alcântara. The ones we see on the rails around the city today are from the 1960s and they look like it too - wood and metal and plastic free.

Out of the aforementioned tram lines still running, as any Lisbon eléctrico aficionado will tell you, there's one line in particular worth riding - the number 28 which runs from Martim Moniz to Prazeres in Campo de Ourique (or vice versa, depending on where you start, mind you you can also hop on anywhere in between as well). The travel publication Rough Guide calls the n. 28 line one of the 1000 most important trips to take on the planet with plenty to see along the way. Just to give you an idea, starting at Martin Moniz, as you travel on eléctrico 28 you'll go by Feira da Ladra (fleamarket), Portas do Sol (viewpoint), Castelo São Jorge (castle), Sé de Lisboa (church), the neighbourhoods of Alfama, Graça and Mouraria, this before going down to the baixa (centre of Lisbon) and then back up and crossing the neighbourhoods of Bairro Alto, Bica, São Bento and up to Estrela stopping in front of Basílica da Estrela (basilica) before advancing to Prazeres where one of Lisbon's well known cemeteries is found. Here are a serious of images featuring the eléctrico 28 line:

So even with all the innovation, modernity and ribbon cutting in certain parts of the city, the eléctricos of Lisbon have stood the test of time. They're very much a part of the visual landscape of the city. Poetically speaking, if I may, it's like they're the blood running through the veins of the city ... or maybe that's the subway? Not too good at waxing poetics.

The bastardisation of the pastel de nata Posted by João on 7:01 pm

If one were to say that the pastel de nata (or the pastel de belem) is Portugal's most well known sweet or cake, my bet is on the fact that not too many would put up an arguement. Anyone who knows Portugal, or has any affiliation to the country, knows how delicious these soft and creamy on the inside, crispy on the outside custardy cakes are. Just seeing them leaves your mouth watering, am I right? Just look at all of them ...

Surely the pastel de nata is synonymous with Portugal, but you may also be interested in knowing that its populary is world-wide. If anyone has been a great embassador of our little custardy cake, it's the 5 million Portuguese throughout the world. Myself personally, while growing up in Prince George, B.C., Canada, I certainly didn't have the pleasure of going down to a local Portuguese café like our Portuguese-Canadian friends residing in Toronto or Montreal who have their Little Portugal's. We in Prince George were fortunate enough, however, to have among our community, a baker from the Minho region who had worked at the Pasteis de Belem Factory in Belem for 10 years before having moved to Canada. Every Christmas and Easter he made a killing making and selling his pasteis de nata to the community and believe me, they were just as tasty as any you'd find here in Portugal.

On the issue of the globalisation of the pastel de nata, however, if there's one place our custardy representative has really taken off, it's in Asia, especially in countries like China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malasia, among others. It's introduction to the Orient was, unsurprisingly, through the former Portuguese colony of Macau, having then made its way into China where the pastel de nata is know as 'dan ta' or pastel de ovo (egg tart). Today, it is quite common to find 'dan ta' as a dessert option in many fast food restaurants in these East Asian countries. They do look a little different from the Portuguese version but not too far off. Here's what they look like:

Now what is interesting about the globalisation of the pastel de nata is that as this Portuguese sweet starts making in-roads across different parts of the globe, it also starts taking on regional characteristics, even flavours. Again, in Asia, one can now find various 'bastardisations' of the pastel de nata, ranging from coffee, to caramel, to brown suger to mochi (rice cake) pasteis de nata, for example. Have a look at what the mochi pastel de nata looks like:

Interestingly, however, this trend (if you can call it that) is not unique to East Asia. Recently, while in a Portuguese café in the heart of Little Portugal (in the Plateau-Monte Royal neighbourhood) in Montreal, I came across what undoubtedly best fits the description of a 'Canadian pastel de nata' - a maple syrup pastel de nata - certainly a fitting symbol of the Luso-Canadian presence, bringing the two worlds together. Have a look at the maple syrup pastel de nata (which I thoroughly enjoyed right after taking this picture):

Ok now certainly we can look at this and think that it's just not right to be taking something that is so typically Portuguese and making it something that it is not. Well certainly the Portuguese are not too worried. Just recently at this years Chocolate Festival in Obidos they were selling these tasty little morsels - that's right, chocolate pasteis de nata.

So as we can see, in this globalised world we live in today, everything is everywhere and everything's up for grabs. One thing I could certainly grab right now...? Yeah that's right, you guessed it ... a pastel de nata; but I think I'll stick with something a little more traditional, as in a pastel that comes via Belem.

Festas do Emigrante, 2011 Posted by João on 7:52 pm

As it was written a few post ago on this blog, the current month here in Portugal - which we are now seeing come to a close - is synonymous with the homecoming of Portuguese emigrants. From all over the world they fly in and from European countries they drive as well. The month of August, as many emigrants will tell you, is the month of complete and utter happiness, when the yearning to return, if only for a few weeks, is finally realised; when family and old friends are again seen; when senses, smells and visions of other times are re-encountered; and when spirits are renewed. Many are the songs written about Portuguese emigration, but arguably non capture this sentiment (as simple as it may be stated) as that of the song Voltei, Voltei by Dino Meira. If you don't know it, it goes like this: "Voltei voltei, voltei de lá; Ainda ontem estava em França e agora já estou cá. ... Vale mais um mês aqui do que um ano inteiro lá", or in other words: "I came I came, I came back from their; I was in France yesterday and now I'm here. ... One month here is more valuable then an entire year there".

And so every year during the month of August, villages, towns, municipalities through parties, or festas, if you will to commemorate the homecoming of its son and daughters. The Festa do Emigrante serves up food, drink, live music, folklore, games, fireworks, dancing, and many other things. In some towns they are the biggest parties of the year, prepared for ahead of time and in some cases even payed for by the emigrants abroad.

With this post we pay homage to this tradition by showing posters from some of this years Festas do Emigrante from different parts of Portugal. At the same time we take this opportunity to wish all emigrants who have been here during this month of August safe journeys "home". Hang in there during the Fall, Winter and Spring as next year there'll be more. Here are some posters from this years festas.

Praias Fluviais: the other beaches of Portugal Posted by João on 5:40 pm

Portugal's know for it's beaches. No surprise there. Up and down the coast, or across in the case of the Algarve, or around in the case of Madeira and the Azores, many kilometres of sandy beaches, possessing all kinds of characteristics, can be founds. We also know that the majority of the Portuguese population live along the coastal regions so beach access is by no means difficult to come by for many. Now for those who live in inland communities, where ocean beach access is not so easy to come by, the alternatives are either water parks, river beaches or dammed-up swimming holes. In all cases, in Portugal these bathing locations are better known as praias fluviais.

Now in the Portuguese interior, the water park phenomenon has particularly taken off in the last few years, many of them extravegant in nature, going as far as to imitate tropical island settings as is the case with Praia Fluvial das Rocas in Castanheira da Pera:

And yet others go as far as shipping in sand in order to provide that ocean beach feel, as is the case with the recently inaugurated Live Beach Praia Fluvial in Mangualde:

Many of these beach complexes, in fact, are created to become much more then just a place where you can go for a soak, often becoming mini-entertainment complexes. The two projects shown below - Mangualde's Live Beach (on the left) and Praia Fluvial de Valhelhas (on the right) - show exactly this. Mangualde's Live Beach comes with a stage and holds concerts by big name Portuguese acts through out the Summer. Equally Valhelhas host a rock festival towards the end of August.









So although these somewhat 'mega-projects' have been carried out to bring the coastal beach-like atmosphere into the interior, let it be said that the traditional praia fluvial of the Portuguese interior are actually historic in nature, or should I say as historic as the villages or aldeias many can be found in or close to. A simple visit to the site http://www.praiasfluviais.com/ will provide you with all sorts of information and here you will see exactly what I speak of. For a true bathing experience in history ... pick anyone of the 21 praias fluviais located in the shale villages (aldeias de xisto) of Central Portugal, for example. From the praias fluviais of Benfeita and Piodão in the Açor mountain range near Arganil, to Aldeia Ruiva, Mealhada and Fróia (pictured below) around Proença-a-Nova, all are beautiful man-made bathing locations in the midst of history and rural tranquility, worthy of being experienced.

As also mentioned, another praia fluvial option is that of beach areas created by river reservoirs. Although various can be found through out Portugal, again in Central Portugal the River Zêzere and the Castelo de Bode reservoir provides some of the best praias fluviais in Portugal. The aldeia of Dornes near Ferreira do Zêzere is one such example, providing the beauty of a small mountain village with two very relaxing beaches along the Zêzere (see below).

So if you're still thinking of putting in some beach time this Summer here in Portugal, your encouraged to consider the praias fluvias Portugal has to offer. It's most definitely a soak worth taking.