Gigantones in Viana do Castelo !!!

In August, my friend Shelly and I traveled to a beautiful town in northern Portugal called Viana do Castelo. It's about 5 hours north by train from Lisbon. We went there because Shelly knew about a festival they have there once a year called Romaria de Nossa Señora D'Agonia. It's a 3-day festival that is very colorful and has a lot of different traditions that I'd like to learn more about.  I didn't read the wonderful program before going but here it is and it's written in both Portuguese and English - though the English part seems much briefer than the Portuguese. I just found out, by looking on the internet, that the word "romario" means: pilgrimage. A"pilgrimage" is when people travel to a place (a shrine or church or "sanctuary" (safe place) ) that is important in their religion or in their beliefs. The word "romario" originally comes from people or "pilgrims" who traveled to Rome, Italy.  

Full program with text and photos of the Romaria D'Agonia in Viana Do Castelo

The main features of this festival involve fisherman giving thanks to their patron saint (Nossa Señora D'Agonia). This includes  having processions and parades, decorating the streets with special "tapetes" or carpets made of colored salt, wearing traditional clothing that reflects the history and style of a particular village, fireworks all three nights at midnight on the river, lots of special foods and crafts and music and, most importantly, the Gigantones or giants, the cabeçudos and the drummers !

This festival was so interesting for many reasons...but the biggest reason I wanted to go was to see the Gigantones. Gigantones are giant paper mache people that exorcise (or get rid of) evil in the world. In Portuguese, they "exorcizar os males do mundo", according to the program I got at the festival. They also appear with "cabeçudos", which are referred to as big-headed puppets. The giants and puppets dance or whirl  (turn around and around) to the beat of many groups of very loud drummers. It's really exciting to watch. Take a look at the video below to see them in action.

More info and great pics about Gigantones in Viana do Castelo 

And here are some pics of the "cabeçudos" or puppet heads:

Another big part of this festival is wearing traditional costumes or clothing from all the different towns and villages of the Minho region (far north-west) in Portugal. We were able to attend a special "Festa do Traje" or Festival of Costumes performance and I learned that each place in Portugal traditionally had clothing with particular designs, colors, and fabric unique to that place. And, in the past, when people met each other outside their villages at a market or special occasion, they could identify exactly where people were from by the clothes they wore. Many times, scarves and aprons were used to dress up and personalize a woman's outfit so that she could distinguish herself and express her sense of style.

Also, I was really surprised to see that there is a traditional wedding outfit (for both the bride and groom) in black.

More info. about folk costumes from the Minho

Viana do Castelo is famous for it's filigree jewelry and traditionally women would wear gold jewelry that was passed down through the generations. We learned that for special occasions, women would wear all the gold they owned to display the wealth and heritage of their family. The women dressed in  traditional clothes are referred to as "mordomas" and here is an interesting quote from the program (see link above) about the gold they wear: 

"...these mordomas represent the largest outdoor showcase of gold in the world."

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Here is the famous Viana heart that is a popular jewelry design:

More about the costumes and jewelry of the Minho

Program link explaining the "Mordomia" costumes:

The "tapetes" or carpets were made of colored salt and decorated the streets around the "ribeira" neighborhood near the water. People create them all night on Friday and they are usually gone by Sunday. We were lucky that we happened to take a walk in that area on Saturday. A lot of the themes of this festival are linked to the traditions of fishing and the sea. I didn't realize that the carpets are made to be walked on after the procession to the sea on Saturday. This part of the festival is traditionally for fisherman and their families to give thanks to the patron saint, Nossa Señora D'Agonia. Here are some photos:

Many people with homes and businesses around the ribeira also decorate their balconies and windows. It's fun to walk around and look at the decorations.

More info about "tapetes":

Another way people decorate for this festival is to hang bedspreads and special blankets out the window to display. 

More info. and pics of the tapetes

There were also special processions through the streets with marching bands, people in costumes, and people carrying religious icons.

There was also a procession from the main church to the sea to bless the fishing boats...

And, the lights at night were really beautiful.

And finally, here are a few more pics of the town. It was such a rich and amazing experience to see all of that in only 3 and a half days. I hope I make it back there someday again. I have a lot of respect for the Portuguese people. Even though there were big crowds of people every day, everyone was calm and polite to each other. It was really fun to be part of this festa ! Thank you to all the people of Viana and beyond who made this festa happen. It was so beautiful and interesting for me. I wish we had that kind of unity and rich cultural heritage in the U.S.

After the festa, Praça de Republica is almost empty.

Pedra Basta

Back in July, I was invited to travel to the Alentejo region of Portugal with my friends Isabelle and Oscar. Little did I know what a great few days it was going to be when I decided to accompany them.

Isabelle drove us which was a real treat. I don't often get to travel by car in Portugal so that made the trip even more fun! Oscar and Gabriel followed on their motorcycles. The first day we went to Portalegre, where we stayed for one night in a beautiful former convent. The next day, Oscar had arranged for us to visit his friend Rui, who is a winemaker. We had an incredible time with Rui. First, he took us to Pedra Basta, where he produces his wines. He treated us to the best wine-tasting I've ever experienced consisting of a large variety of both red and white wines. Then, we drove to a higher elevation to see the Terrenus vineyards where a lot of the grapes are grown.

It was a fantastic day due to the company, including friends from the U.S., Portugal, Denmark, and France and the chance to see parts of Portugal I had never seen before. It was a real pleasure to spend time with Portuguese people and try out my language skills too.

Our day included an amazing lunch by the Rio (river) Sever in a town called Portagem. Looking back on that weekend, it was such great exposure to Portuguese culture in terms of the landscape, wine, food, history, language, and the wonderful people who were with us.

Now, I buy Rui's wines whenever I have the opportunity to...and feel so lucky that I got to visit Pedra Basta. By the way, "Pedra Basta" means: enough stones...and it refers to the many stones found in the land around the vineyards there.

Here is Rui's website !

Macadame !!! Meu favorito grupo !!!

I am back in Portugal for the second time ! I feel so lucky to be here again. On Sunday, I got to see Macadame, a wonderful band I saw once before in Lisbon in 2015. I find their music so interesting and beautiful to listen to. I still don't know enough Portuguese to understand the lyrics as I listen to their music...but I hope to in the future. But, it's interesting that even not understanding the words, I find listening to them so satisfying. I guess a big part of music comes across through the sounds, melodies and voices even when you can't understand the language.

Now that I have both of their CDs, I have the lyrics, so I can listen and learn Portuguese as well as enjoy the music. The first time I saw them, they had an artist who put drawings on an overhead projector while they played, adding to the ambiance and meaning of the songs. What a creative use of an OHP !

Last Sunday, I got to see them perform for the second time at a wonderful museum in Lisbon, the Gulbenkian. And, they played at the beautiful outdoor amphitheatre at noon to an audience of lots of children and their parents. It was so cute to see the kids watching, listening and dancing to the music.

It was a very special day for me not only because the concert was amazing, but because I got to meet the band after and talk to them a bit. I spoke a little bit in Portuguese....and decided I want to travel to Coimbra to see them perform in their hometown. I've been meaning to go to Coimbra so this will be a perfect chance.

Some video from You Tube

Balcony TV video

Video of "Quero-te bem"

Os Meus Vizinhos :Cooking Bacalhau da Consoada for Christmas Eve

 Living in Lisboa has been such a wonderful experience for me. I was very very lucky to have this opportunity . I'm so grateful to City College of San Francisco for granting my sabbatical to come and study Portuguese and travel in Portugal. When I first started living on Rua Marechal Saldanha, and I would come back to my building in the evening, there were usually these same three men standing outside my door drinking beer. In fact, they were usually leaning against my door....so I had to say "desculpe"  (excuse me) to go in or come out of my building at a certain time in the evening. Usually, I wouldn't say very much to them. I would just quickly enter or exit and maybe say "olá " (hello)....after a while we would say "tudo bem " (how are you/ is everything good ) but I always felt too shy to strike up a conversation so we just had these quick hello and goodbyes. I think I also was a little bit disapproving of guys leaning against my door drinking. 

Anyway, on December 23, I was coming home, and one of them said something like : "amanhã e o noite de bacalhau " (tomorrow is the night of cod fish). He told me that because it was Christmas Eve, many people prepared Bacalhau and that I should get some. He explained how it was cooked and I said something like: vou comprar Bacalhau amanhã (I'll buy some cod tomorrow ). Then he said that Antonio, the man who runs a little grocery next to my building , has good Bacalhau and that I should buy some from him. So, I said, ok, and we both went in the market. The man, one of my drinking neighbors, had Antonio get me two pieces of Bacalhau from the freezer. Then he showed me the other vegetables I needed to buy to cook with the fish like couve (cauliflower greens) and nabo (turnip). He made Antônio cut The ends off of the couve so it would be easier for me to cook. He told  me the nabo or turnip should be cut into quarters. He explained how I should boil the carrots, potatoes , turnip, and greens first and then add the fish. So, I learned a really nice thing about Portuguese culture by talking to these guys drinking outside my door. And then it struck me that these guys are really sweet people. They wanted to help me celebrate Christmas in the correct Portuguese manner. This dish is called "Bacalhau da Consada" or Bacalhau of Consolation.


 http://www.easyportugueserecipes.com/bacalhau-de-consoada-christmas-eve-codfish/

So I started to see these guys in a different light...as ...my neighbors. I guess originally, I thought people drinking and leaning on people's doors was a questionable or bad thing. But really, there is nothing wrong with it. They are actually being social. That is their time to be together with friends and watch people walk by and be part of the community. I think it's better than going home and watching TV. It was a good lesson for me. These guys should have been my conversation partners all these months. I wasted a good opportunity to practice my Portuguese...I should have been talking to these neighbors every night ! Finally, on my last night in Lisboa, I brought down a bottle of Espumante (Portuguese sparkling wine or champagne) and had a really nice time drinking and talking with them. I'm going to miss these guys.

Um Anjo Dorado - A Golden Angel

In Lisbon, there are a lot of people who make money as street performers. Some dress up in costumes and stand very still, like the woman above. She calls herself: The Golden Angel. Many people like to take pictures of them. The performers like it when people give them some money. This woman has a little box to put money in in front of her on the right. She also has a small bucket with little pieces of rolled up paper that she gives people when they donate or give money to her.

At first, when she pointed for me to take a paper, I thought they were cigarette butts ! Then, I looked a little closer. Here is what mine said:

At first, I didn't understand. I needed someone to translate it for me. I didn't know the word "recear", which means to be afraid. So, in English, the quote would be: "Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you are capable of dreaming, you are capable of making it happen." I went back to the angel and asked her her name. She said it is Flor, which means "flower" in Portuguese. I told her the quote was by an American journalist from California and she smiled.  I would like to talk to her again and ask her how she finds or chooses her quotes. Maybe I'll go look for her again.

I knew that "ter medo" means to be afraid. "Tenho medo" means "I am afraid." Now, I know another way to say that...but will I remember it ? And, "recear" is more difficult to say in different tenses. But, hopefully, my vocabulary is expanding a little bit. Thanks Flor !