Many dog owners in the Algarve give their dog the name of Diana, the patron saint of the hunters. Hunting is an ancient tradition in Portugal and today still practised by many men and a few women. The shooting of birds and game was always a welcome opportunity to feed the family with something else than pork or chicken. Nowadays, rules are more strict and nature preservation is high on the agenda. The organisation of a hunt is taken...

                     

Football is omnipresent in Portugal, you might even speak of "footballization" of the Portuguese society. Here, in the Algarve, the football-a-holics are often divided between the clubs of Benfica and Sporting (or should I say Sporting and Benfica?). Anyway, the third important national club, Porto, is out of the picture here.

Football was brought to Portugal in the late 19th century by Portuguese students who returned from England. The first match ...

Saint Martin, the very popular Saint who became Bishop of Tours in France in the year 371, was buried on the 11th of November 397. According to the most widespread variation of the legend, Saint Martin cut off half of his cloak in order to offer it to a freezing beggar. As he faced a long ride in a freezing weather, the dark clouds cleared away and the sun shone so intensely that the frost melted away. Such weather was rare for early November, so was credited to God's i...

                       

If you visited Portugal before, you probably will have noticed these machines on the counter of local bars and cafes. These gambling machines are to the locals what the Casino is for the city dwellers. There are machines that give you a chance on winning some extra cash, there are others that have more or less useful items to win, such as pocket knifes, lighters etc.  

                       

And than you have my favorite kind of gambling machine:  the chocolate casino! A...