Bom Jesus - A Million Visitors per Year

The Bom Jesus sanctuary in Braga, Portugal receives over a million visitors every year, but not all are catholic.  "There are all kinds of tourist who want to see Bom Jesus, especially in the summer," said João Varanda, lead of the local brotherhood that manages the site.

(more pictures)

The monumental staircase that lies at the front of Bom Jesus is a crown jewel of Braga, located in Tenoes, a parish on the outskirts of Braga.  Starting from the 200 year old portico at the bottom, the 248 steps lead up to the top of the mount where the sanctuary of Bom Jesus sits, making up one of the most unique and best example of Baroque style architecture in all of Europe.

In order to allow the faithful to follow a simulated trip into Palestine, the church has built 14 stations of the cross along the crossing staircase, while higher up sits the monumental staircase of Five Senses and staircase of Three Virtues, before arriving at the church itself, designed by Carlos Amarante, at the top of the hill.  Along the primary stairway are eight statues representing characters involved in the conviction, passion and death of Jesus Christ: Annas, Caiaphas, Herod, Pilate, Joseph of Arimathea, Nicodemus, Pilate again and the Centurion.

Porto Picture of the Day

Please contribute your memories by telling us what

you can identify in this picture in the comments section below.

Daily Linguistic Features #7

Daily Thought

• O maior de todos os erros é não se ter consciência de nenhum.

Word of the Day / Palavra do Dia

• cerebral = brainpower

Porto Slang / Calão do porto

• "Boca no trombone" - ser apanhado com a boca no trombone, ou seja, em flagrante.

Portuguese Dictionary

• insuflar

1. v. tr. Encher de ar (soprando).
2. Tornar túrgido.
3. Introduzir ou aplicar por meio do insuflador; bafejar.
4. Fig. Sugerir.

Zeca e Quim Roscas - Hysterical

Listen Now!

From their radio broadcasts, some great stories to hear the language again.

FM Histérica Jan-05 

Porto Picture of the Day

Please contribute your memories by telling us what

you can identify in this picture in the comments section below.

Fado Spotlight: Pedro Moutinho

Pedro Moutinho was born in Oeiras, Portugal on November 11, 1976, in a family already linked to Fado for many years.  He grew up listening to and living with some of the most important fadistas in Lisbon, which compelled him to embrace his own love of fado.  At 11 years old, he started singing at many different gatherings and ended up honing his skills in the style of Lison Fado.

In 1995, he was a part of the Clube de Fado Amália, after which he started a regular collaboration with the Cafe Luso, where continues as one of their resident fadistas.  In 2000 he created the fado group Quintet de Fado in Lisbon with four other artists.  They performed in many Fado Houses throughout the capital city, including the Belem Cultural Center Music Festival.  Since 2001, he has been a regularly invited singer in the Fado Room at the Estoril Casino.

Daily Linguistic Features #5

Daily Thought

• É necessário tomarmos consciência dos nossos defeitos e limites e darmo-nos conta de que não somos muito diferentes daqueles a quem nos julgamos superiores..

Word of the Day / Palavra do Dia

• telheiro = shed

Porto Slang / Calão do porto

• "Marralhar" - discutir o preço

Portuguese Dictionary

• debater

1. v. tr. Discutir em debate.
2. v. pron. Agitar-se com violência (procurando desprender-se ou soltar-se).
3. Empregar resistência.

Cutting Edge Procedure in Portugal provides 5 organ transplant to Spain

Four year old Ibai Costales received a stomach, liver, pancreas, duodenum and intestines from a Portuguese child who died.  He underwent life-saving surgery on December 29, 2010 in Madrid.  "He is very lucky.  It was an exceptional amount of luck in such a grievous situation," said Director Rafael Matesanz, Director of the National Transplant Organization of Spain.

El Correo went on to further state in an Opinion Article that this could be called a Christmas Miracle.  The young boy had an unusual tumor of nearly 2 pounds that has been lodged in his abdomen since birth. After an initial surgery to remove the tumor, Ibai continued with a high fever and was transferred to La Paz Hospital in Madrid.

After discovering that parts of the young boys stomach and intestines where left without irrigation during the initial surgery, they had to remove the necrotic organs.  But that wasn't enough, they would have to replace the five affected organs for the boy to survive.  Finding a donor in the pediatric age group is not easy, and in Spain there may only be 30 donors per year.  After two weeks of searching in Spain, the answer came from Portugal, with whom Spain has a transplant agreement.  This is the second time Portugal has provided donor organs to Spain, the first being in 2008.  Although Portugal may be a small country, it is definitely on the cutting edge of medical procedures.

Porto Picture of the Day

Please contribute your memories by telling us what

you can identify in this picture in the comments section below.

TVI Confirms the exit of Júlia Pinheiro

TVI confirmed that Júlia Pinheiro, host of "Afternoons with Júlia" will pursue new professional challenges.  After a mutually beneficial 8 years with TVI and a career filled with many successes, Júlia has decided to pursue other career opportunities at this time.  Her last day at TVI was on December 31st, when she was the host of the final gala for the wildly popular program Secret Story - House of Secrets, televised live from Campo Pequeno.

She has had some major challenges during the past year, most notably the death of her father, Hélder Pinheiro, who had been battling lung cancer for some time.  Even though she knew the passing of her father was almost certain, she always kept a positive attitude on her program.  She had a very close relationship with her father, saying "He is a sweet and tender man.  We have strong relationship based in humor - both of us being rather sarcastic."