This week less words and a lot of notes.To show how much my fellow countrymen love portugese music. The titel of this video: spontaneous singing This was the first one I stumbled upon. A father and a son at home on the couch. Just another day. The portugese society is drenched in music! Another one, […]
The portugese love portugese music Read More »
The first one dates back to a long time ago when we were taking lessons in the beautiful portuguese language and suddenly came up against the imperative. We haven’t done that in the dutch language for a long time. I only know the famous slogan just after the war: “Help each other, buy Dutch goods!”
Portuguese-Dutch culture shock Read More »
“Oh dear!” I say anxiously after I hobbled from one bed to the other, “Where is my arm?” “Look at that, you found it there,” the nurse says to me with a smile. My left arm is almost lying across my head. Completely numb. Very friendly staff at the hospital in Figueira How did I
How does it work at the portugese hospital? Read More »
The last time I was there, the ground floor was still full of old rusty fridges, and the stairs to the tower were closed because it was too dangerous. A stork had made a nest in the tree growing on the tower. The Monastery of Seiça has been empty for a long time It’s a
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My friend Anja is staying here for a few days. We’re going on an adventure, looking for a little lake that was recommended in the newspaper, the Diário de Coimbra. It looked like a fairytale in the photo, but on the way we suddenly see something else fairytalish. Abandoned and neglected houses are quite normal
Abandoned and neglected houses in Portugal Read More »
The building we live in is more than a hundred years old. The core was built as a bathhouse, with fifteen bathing cubicles. The water is medicinal and good for skin diseases. It was done according to good old Portuguese building traditions That building tradition is called: piecemeal. First the core, the bathing area. It
Portuguese building traditions Read More »
Did you know that there are more than 30,000 saints? I would never have thought of it, pagan that I am, if I hadn’t seen a pop-up shop in one of the small alleys in the heart of Coimbra, selling beautiful kitsch clothing. Specially for the occasion of one of those Saints birthdays, it seemed
I had already spoken to her on the phone about how to get there. “Can you please send that description by email and on the phone, because we are not very good with computers,” and of course that is possible. “I will send you the link in the confirmation email,” I answer, but no, that
Visit of a renown sculptor Read More »
The itinerary was there, the mood for it was certainly there, and so the reservation had been made. On a beautiful day in February, the following email arrived. Whether I could organize a fado evening as a surprise for her birthday “Hi Ellen,Would you like to do something for us?We will arrive at your place
Fado and in the King’s Sleeve in Coimbra Read More »
Carnival and Valentine in one week. Even better: right after each other. If you went completely crazy during Carnival, you have to go romantic the next day – perhaps with a huge hangover. Oops. In Lazarim they celebrate a special kind of carnival In Lazarim – in the north between Vila Real and Viseu –
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