A Portuguese Love

Hello friends and followers Today I am not happy. This fishing trawler named Olívia Ribau has more than 20 meters. Watch the video as she sails gently into the harbor followed by hundreds of os seagulls. It's wonderful to watch these fishing boat arrivals and I have witnessed it many times. As you may remember I live in Figueira da Foz. We have a few great beaches and sardines from these waters are considered very tasty. Unfortunately, this city harbors his famous for its difficulty, and for the last few days, the sea was agitated not making it easy to go up the river. Olivia Ribau sank at the entrance of Figueira da Foz's port on Tuesday at the end of the day. Two men were saved, one didn't make it alive even if he survived to hold to the hull of the boat for some time. Two bodies were found today trapped inside the boat and two are still missing. I love the sea, as you may know. This tragedy happened so close to the shore that several people watched it happening, ca...

Douro river mouth  (3 prints from the video mentioned below) From Monday - 6 January- until yesterday, 7 January, we had rough sea conditions at the Portuguese coastline. There was a red alert on, the level of highest weather warnings. It's a lot better now but it seems the bad weather will return at the beginning of next week. The stormy conditions at sea together with high tides originated coastal chaos in Portugal especially on the coastline from Viana do Castelo to Lisbon. But waves were unusually high in most of the Portuguese coastline. The violent sea caused extensive damage to coastal infrastructures and property along the shoreline from north to south of the country. Watch the video I posted below and see how a big wave could have easily swept away folks nearby while watching and photo-taking the large swells. This incident took place in Foz do Douro, Porto. Watch a wave that easily washed around 20 cars away from the beachfront area. Some people got hurt and w...

The song Grândola, Vila Morena first became a symbol of protest during the 1974 revolution that brought democracy to Portugal. Carlos Bahia went to the United States in 1977 and now lives in Danbury, CT. He plays “Grandola, Vila Morena” on his radio program Radio Familia on WFAR in Danbury, Connecticut. + + Hello friends and Zazzlers! Had to post about this demonstration. These are the covers of our most popular newspapers. Thousands of demonstrators were on the streets in more than 20 cities in Portugal on Saturday to protest against government-imposed austerity measures. "Screw the troika, we want our lives back."- The troika is a reference to the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank, the lenders behind the country's financial bailout. Many protesters were singing a 40-year-old song called Grândola Vila Morena.  It's a song that's linked to the 1974 popular uprising known as the Carnation Revoluti...

Take a look at Pedro Agostinho's photos here Hello friends and Zazzlers! Yesterday morning I had no electricity in the house and the internet was off all day and night! How ironic! This had to happen just a few days after I'd been writing about our mild Portuguese winter! So this weekend was - and still is - an example of what you usually don't get when coming to Portugal. Heavy downpours from time to time and very strong winds (over 140 km/hour ) caused damages all over the country but mainly in Coimbra district, that is my district, Lisbon, and Porto. In the city where I live now (Figueira da Foz) there are damaged roofs and covers smashed windows, many advertising signs, and plates of transit were ripped and ended on the floor. There are lots of uprooted trees everywhere, and maybe some smashed cars and structures there too. The sea got pretty wild, so the port was closed for sure. On Saturday I went to bed very late after watching some movies. The wind was already ...

Photo by Mauricio Lima for The New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2012/11/27/world/europe/20121128-PORTUGAL.html?smid=pl-share Portugal Passes Another Austere Budget is the title of a New York Times piece. It reads" Since the spring of 2010, Portugal has been battered by the debt crisis that began in Greece and has spread across much of Europe’s periphery. On Tuesday, it passed another round of tax increases and spending cuts." This appalling photo is just one of the 16 available at the photo gallery. This is my country one month before the year ends. Watch and read.

Every Summer we watch this happen we know it will not be the last time. But yesterday, Mata Nacional de Fôja, between Santo Amaro da Boiça and Santana, was on fire. This is 10 minutes from where I live. Santana is just a few kilometers from Figueira da Foz. In the afternoon the sky got dark with the smoke. I could see it from my window. The air smelled of smoke and burning wood. The sun disappeared in the heavy brownish-colored clouds of smoke. We're experiencing high temperatures and strong winds. This is the result. 130 firemen, 38 vehicles, and plain dealing with hell. I don't know what set these fire hoods. Very sad. Photos were taken by Tiago Cação and there are more of them in his Facebook Album. This young man was moved by what he found." Se o inferno existe, é bem próximo daquilo que eu estava a assistir", he wrote. If hell exists, it must be close to what I'm watching.

Last week I read shocking news in the newspaper. A young Danish woman asked for a ride and was raped. It happened in Rio Maior maybe 80km from my town. Although not able to speak Portuguese she asked for help in English at the gas station. She came to Portugal with a group of friends and settled in Oporto. Then the 24-year-old woman decided to leave her friends and discover the country by herself. She wanted to get to Lisbon. At Leiria, she asked for a ride from a truck driver. Not far from Leiria the truck driver stopped the truck in a desert place and threatened her with a screwdriver and then raped her. In resisting him she was attacked on the head, forehead, and neck. The attacker then dropped her on the roadside. She was clever and took the license plate number so the police were able to identify and arrest him. The man lives in Rio Maior and is married. He will be presented to a judge soon and punished. These situations are infrequent but do happen in Portugal. From time to t...

António Serginho Photo Hello friends and readers.  I’ve been too busy to write anything but today I bring to this blog an important story. Sure that you already know that I love Oporto city and its people. I have already shared with you some photos of the city and you can expect some more in the future. Last year in June I spent some days at Oporto during St. John’s Festival. It’s traditional to celebrate it on the streets with dancing, music, eating sardines, and lighting paper balloons or jumping bonfires. I attended Fontinha’s St. John's street party. It was a collective party. People were invited to bring food to share. There was already music and typical decoration hanging when I arrived at the scene with my friends. When we left the place was full of people from all social backgrounds and ages - babies, children, youngsters, adults, and seniors. From the windows of the surrounding buildings, some of the Fontinha quarter inhabitants watched us and waved to us. It was cool....

From time to time I bring some more serious matters to this blog. Yesterday Portuguese workers were on strike nationwide. My country is at crossroads and I can't see the end of it. Portugal's biggest union CGTP called for a general strike to protest against the center-right government's labor market reforms. Portuguese are protesting against exploitation and growing impoverishment. The strike aimed at the erosion of workers' rights, lower salaries, and record-high unemployment. People feel that austerity measures don't solve anything and that we will soon be as bad as Greece. In Lisbon, a small group of young demonstrators clashed with police, and two photographers were hit by the police who charged the group. As you may know, sometimes it's difficult to protest without provocation. I read that eggs were thrown at bank buildings and persons that were near picking money from cash machines in this group. Probably policemen were hit too with anything that was ...

Founded on April 11, 2011, the Art Institute is a non-profit organization that promotes culture and showcases art from Portugal. It is a space that offers a creative environment for Portuguese artists in the field of art, literature, music, dance, and film. It promotes an innovative artistic dialogue between the many communities in New York and the Portuguese artists. Arte Institute in collaboration with Pilar del Rio and director Miguel Gonçalves Mendes will promote a week of events to honor the Literature Portuguese Nobel Prize winner, José Saramago. The feature film "José e Pilar" by Miguel Gonçalves Mendes is Portugal's Oscar 2011 Submission and will be shown at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). This documentary shows the life of José Saramago, the Literature Nobel Prize winner and his wife Pilar del Rio. If you are in NY try to watch it because it's a wonderful film. Even if you never read anything from him you can still enjoy the movie. It's wonderful ...

Sunday Portugal will have a legislative election. José Sócrates the ex-Prime Minister was forced to resign after six years of mismanagement. President called for elections. For the last few months, people have been coping with unfair social measures and austerity budgets one after the other. We saw the biggest political demonstration of displease ever happening on the streets this year. A few are richer and more powerful, and a few are holding privileges, keeping the best jobs, and pulling the strings. The middle class is ruined. The number of poor people is rising. All those who are responsible for this situation should be held accountable. And this includes the ex-Prime Minister. Can’t understand how he was re-elected as Secretary-General of his party, the PS, after resigning from his job in Government. For me, he’s discredited beyond recovery.  Not all the situation we’re in is his responsibility. Europe's construction as it was dreamed of is trembling. The market shap...

We live the oddest days. For a normal person that lives by the rules, it’s difficult to make sense of some behaviors. When I was young and attending high school boys had fist fights in the space outside. Some would watch and do nothing; the old ones may try to put an end to the fight. I remember broken noses and bleeding on the cement floor. Boys will always engage in fights. Girls also had their share of grievances and acts of vengeance. But it was another game. Violence has a number of complex factors that contribute to it. Violence at an early age is choking. What kind of human beings are we raising? The education of children and young people is demanding. Many face hard living conditions. But my grandmother lived through the War times and she and the community where she lived endured hardship, yet, she never told me about significant tales of violence in her neighborhood. Parents delegate their responsibility in school but a school cannot substitute for the role of parents. The ...

Eduardo Souto Moura, the 58-year-old architect based in Oporto opened his practice in 1980. He worked in his earlier years at Alvaro Siza’s office, another Pritzker Laureate (1992). Since then he has completed over sixty buildings, most of them in Portugal, and also in Spain, Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland. He has just been awarded the Pritzker Prize in 2011. Read Archdaily's very comprehensive article on it! The prize takes its name from the Pritzker family, whose international business interests are headquartered in Chicago. Their name is synonymous with Hyatt Hotels located throughout the world. The Pritzkers have long been known for their support of educational, scientific, medical, and cultural activities. Many of the procedures and rewards of the Pritzker Prize are modeled after the Nobel Prize. Laureates of the Pritzker Architecture Prize receive a $100,000 grant, a formal citation certificate, and since 1987, a bronze medallion. Prior to that year,...

Photos were taken by Isabel Camarinha, a friend, at Oporto, where at least 80.000 people gathered to protest. Called onto the streets by a social media Facebook campaign a total of 300.000 thousand people marched in a dozen Portuguese cities last Saturday to vent their frustration at grim career prospects. This was one of the biggest demonstrations ever held in Portugal. After a decade of feeble economic growth Portuguese are now facing hard austerity measures with reflections on every life sector from education to health. Demonstrators were mostly in their 20s -30s but their middle-aged parents were present too and even older people in their 60s already. On Facebook´s Manifesto, young organizers stated that this demonstration would be from unemployed and other poorly paid slaves disguised as workers and its aim was to trigger a qualitative change in Portugal. The organizers aspire to a decent future with stability and security. The generation with the highest level of tra...

Polvos mortos deram à costa - JN The sea keeps bringing dead octopuses to some northern beaches shores of Portugal. One day after it started authorities still do not know what caused it. Maybe they drunk too much in New Year's Eve underwater festivities?!

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/us2009qhac.php My eyes' dark circles are getting bigger and bigger. Two nights in a row losing sleep is just too much. Two nights ago the responsible for it was a strong wind blowing on my window. Too much noise around my building. It was really a wind festival. As a result yesterday I was on coffee all day. I lost count of how many cups I drank. As a result of too much coffee, I was still awake at 1.37 AM and so I felt an earthquake!  Its origin was in the south, in the sea - 190 km (115 miles) WSW of Faro, or 265 km (165 miles) SSW of Lisbon, our capital. You can check the link above for more information on it. It was felt as far as Braga, in the north, Madrid, the capital of Spain, and Marrakech, Morocco. The magnitude of 5.7. No damage but enough shakes to scare good people. As some of you might know in 1755 Lisbon had an earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake. It took place on 1 November 1755....

Source: http://www.greenpeace.org/espana/news/091130 During the XIX Ibero American Summit Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009, in Lisbon, nine Greenpeace activists climbed on top of Torre de Belém. The annual summit brought together the leaders of 19 Latin-American countries plus Portugal, Spain, and Andorra. For a few moments, we could read OUR CLIMATE, YOUR DECISION in the beautiful monument. The summit in Copenhagen is vital for the fate of the earth and climate wasn't on the Ibero American Lisbon summit agenda. This was a small effort to catch the summit leader's attention to this big question. The Copenhagen summit, also known as the Conference of the Parties 15 or COP15, is the fifteenth big meeting organized by the United Nations to discuss a global response to climate change.