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.

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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

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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

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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

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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."

Daily Linguistic Features #4

Daily Thought

• Não esperemos dos outros aquilo que não estivermos dispostos a dar.

Word of the Day / Palavra do Dia

• ramalhete = bouquet, bunch

Porto Slang / Calão do porto

• "Quinta das tabuletas" - Cemitério

Portuguese Dictionary

• calibrar

1. v. tr. Determinar o calibre de.
2. Dar o calibre conveniente a.

Bacalhau a Brás - Baked Codfish

Bacalhau a Brás


Ingredients

• 350 grs baked cod fish
• 250 grs potatoes, diced
• 1.5 dL olive oil
• 2 onions
• 6 eggs, mixed
• parsley
• olives

Shred the cod fish into fine pieces, removing all skin and bones.  Dice the onion and sauté in the olive oil until translucent.  Be careful to not overcook the onion.  Add the potatoes, mixed eggs and parsley and mix well, allowing the eggs to cook thoroughly.  Decorate the top with olives and serve in a covered dish.

Porto Picture of the Day

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Portuguese History: Jan 1 - Jan 9

• Jan 3, 1248: Birth of Don Afonso III (1248 - 1279)
• Jan 7, 1325: Birth of Don Afonso IV (1325 - 1357)
• Jan 7, 1355: Murder of Dona Inês de Castro (lover of Dom Pedro I), by order of the Dom Afonso IV his father as he considered Dona Inês a threat to the line of succession to the Portuguese throne
• Jan 7, 1499: Triumphant return of vessels of Vasco da Gama's expedition from his voyage to the east - his return is delayed in the Azores due to the death of his brother
• Jan 5, 1654: Battle of Pernabuco - Dutch are defeated at this important town held by Portuguese settlers
• Jan 3, 1787:  Inauguration of Observatory in Lisbon in Castelo São Jorge
• Jan 6, 1829: General Saldanha flees with his supporters to the Island of Terceira in Azores
• Jan 9, 1829: Failed military revolt in Lisbon
• Jan 5, 1837: Creation of Conservatory of Arts in Porto
• Jan 4, 1868: António José de Vila (Conde de Vila) is appointed Prime Minister
• Jan 6, 1876: Death of Marquês de Sá da Bandeira
• Jan 9, 1913: Afonso Augusto da Costa becomes Prime Minister (1913-1914)
• Jan 3, 1918: Troops in Porto display their support for "Sidónism"
• Jan 3, 1919: Military Junta in Porto assumes control of Portugal
• Jan 1, 1961:  Beja military led by Manuel Serra and Captain Varela Gomes stage a revolt which is quelled by forces of the State
• Jan 3, 1979: Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro of the PPD/PSD Party becomes Prime Minister of 6th Constitutional Government of the Democratic Alliance (1980-1981)
• Jan 9, 1981: Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão of PSD Party becomes Prime Minister of 7th Constitutional Government (1981)
• Jan 1, 1986: Portugal is accepted into the European Community
• Jan 1, 1992: Portugal assumes Presidency of the CCE for the first time
• Jan 1, 1999: Portugal hands the territory of Macau back to China
• Jan 1, 2002: Portugal introduces the Euro as its trading currency and becomes a fully-fledged member of the European Union

Daily Linguistic Features #3

Daily Thought

• A coisa mais difícil de se ver são os próprios defeitos.  A mais fácil, são os defeitos alheias.  Procure inverter esta realidade.

Word of the Day / Palavra do Dia

• assédio = harassment

Porto Slang / Calão do porto

• "Pinchar" - saltar

Portuguese Dictionary

• imposturar

1. v. tr. Ter ou mostrar impostura
2. Bazofiar
3. Fazer alardes

New Porto Metro Link goes to Gondomar

Public Works minister, Antonio Mendonça, inaugurated the sixth line of the Porto Metro, which runs from Matosinhos to Gondomar.  The F Line, or "orange" line, has a total length of 17 kilometers, using the existing main lines and adding another 7 kilometers and ten stations between the Porto Stadium and Fanzeres.  This addition to the Porto metro represents another 135 million euro investment into Porto infrastructure.

The new line began service this week and takes about 39 minutes to complete the whole trip, and 26 minutes to go from Fanzeres in Gondomar to the Trinidade station at the Porto Stadium.  The line has 10 stations including Contumil, Nasoni, Nau Vitória, Levada, Rio Tinto, Campainhas, Baguim, Carreiros, Venda Nova and Fânzeres.  With the new line, the Porto Metro has a total of 80 stations and 67 kilometers of rail line.

Portuguese Poetry 1101

Eternidade

Vens a mim
pequeno como um deus,
frágil como a terra,
morto como o amor,
falso como a luz,
e eu recebo-te
para a invenção da minha grandeza,
para rodeio da minha esperança
e pálpebras de astros nus.

Nasceste agora mesmo. Vem comigo.

Jorge de Sena, in 'Perseguição'

Who Says There's No Snow in Portugal....