Showing category "way of life" (Show all posts)

Football, more than just a game in Portugal

Posted by Marianne Hoesen on Monday, May 1, 2017, In : way of life

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.

A little bit of history

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

Saint Martin - Chestnuts And New Wine

Posted by Marianne Hoesen on Sunday, November 8, 2015, In : way of life

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...

The Chocolate Casino

Posted by Marianne Hoesen on Saturday, October 17, 2015, In : way of life

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...

Sueca, The Most Famous Portuguese Card Game

Posted by Marianne Hoesen on Friday, April 3, 2015, In : way of life

Sueca is Portuguese for a Swedish female, but it is also a very well known card game which is played all over the country as well as in other Portuguese-speaking countries. It is a point-trick game with trumps and is probably the most widely played card game.

At the local cafés you can find posters advertising for a Sueca tournament, where you can win a lamb, a goat, suckling pig or a chicken. The game is played with 4 people in teams - two against two, with partners ...

Traditional Pig Slaughter - Matança do Porco

Posted by Marianne Hoesen on Tuesday, October 7, 2014, In : way of life

Since medieval times, many rural Portuguese families raise pigs for domestic consumption. People in the countryside were self-sufficient, providing for their own vegetables, fruit and meat. Because the activity of pig slaughter has been practiced during many centuries, nowadays, the pig and its meat belong to the national identity.

But the slaughtering of a pig is more than providing for food, it is also a social happening, where families, neighbours and friends...

Fado, The Portuguese Blues

Posted by Marianne Hoesen on Friday, September 5, 2014, In : way of life

Anybody who visited Portugal before will certainly know it - the melodramatic sound of a Fado song.

Fado (fate) is a musical style that developed originally in Lissabon around 1800. A singer (fadista) is usually accompanied by a Portuguese gitar and the subject of the song is often grief, sadness, poverty and loneliness. In 2011 Fado was added to the Intangible Cultural Heritage List by UNESCO.

Word goes that the origin of Fado even goes back to the 15th century,...

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About Me

Marianne Hoesen

SãO Marcos Da Serra

Born in the deep south of The Netherlands, I moved to the central Algarve in 2007, together with my partner and 2 dogs. In the meantime we added some goats and chickens and are living a peaceful life in the rolling hills of the rural south of Portugal. I invite you to read a bit in my blog and to leave a comment afterwards. Also check out the holiday accommodations mentioned elsewhere in this website.