Inside Portugal Travel

Festival of the Crosses and the Castle in Monsanto

Miguel C. — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Every year the ancient village of Monsanto host the venerable on early May.

One of the most symbolic traditions of Monsanto is the Festival of the Holy Cross, held in May, to commemorate the resistance to a long history of sieges: the women carry to the top of the castle typical rag-dolls (known as "marafonas") and clay jars, full of flowers, are thrown from the walls. The festival dates back to 2^nd century BC when Roman troops had the population of the village besieged in the castle for six years. Out of food, the population tossed the last of its supplies from the walls to show the Roman’s that they had plenty more, or to tried to fool them into thinking that was the case- and it worked!

In 1938 Monsanto was voted the "most Portuguese village in Portugal" nestled on the slope of a steep hill (the Monsanto head, known in Latin as Mons Sanctus), which rises abruptly above the plains and reaches a height of 2486 feet. Nothing is typical about Monsanto a village built around impressively big and balanced granite boulders.

Axis group opens first low cost hotel in January 2011 in Braga

Miguel C. — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 05:00:00 +0000

The Basic Hotel is the first low cost hotel from the Axis Hotels & Golf group, and will be opened in January of 2011. The hotel will be in Braga, about 5 minutes from the town center, and offers 145 rooms starting at 15 Euros per room. All the rooms in the hotel have a private bathroom, a telephone, air conditioning, and a television, and will also be equipped for internet access. The city of Braga has a great cultural patrimony to offer and the promotion of it through projects such as this is allowing Braga to evolve. Filipe Silva, administrator of the Axis Hotels & Golf group, says that the opening of the Basic Hotel will bring more tourists not only to Braga, but to the whole Minho region.

Live Music is growing in Lisbon

Miguel C. — Sun, 28 Nov 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Lisbon’s live music venues are on the rise, but not enough to meet the growing demand for new artists. The idea is the night for drinking is being changed. There is a very strong cultural offer, now there are new spaces in the Lisbon nightlife with live music, exhibitions, performances," said the developer of the concert hall MusicBox, Alex Cortez.

Cheese Museum in Azeitão - Taste of Arrábida

Miguel C. — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 05:00:00 +0000

The rich vegetation of Arrábida, where sheep graze freely. Here is the first step in the making of Azeitão cheese- classified as Protected Designation of Origin. The factory, which for years made the cheese Alfredo Azeitão cheese is now a museum, but with life. On Thursday the Cheese dairy products are still manufactured, but for the curious who want to know the business. The manufacturing process is recreated in Quinta Velha whenever requested, receiving schools, groups of friends interested in learning this activity. To make cheese of Azeitão all that is required are three ingredients: sheep's milk, salt and milk thistle, a plant that has some heads from which a purple flower. The first step is to make the soaking of the thistle, a process that takes ten to twelve hours. The thistle is used to curdle milk. Remove the water from soaking thistle and a mortar to make a paste. In the 'mouth' of a clay pot is placed a white cloth. Inside the salt and cloth is passed through the cloth warm milk, taking the salt. Mix a little water removed from the maceration of the thistle and passes through a cloth. The liquid will therefore into the milk. The farm hopes to return to the Old Cheese dairy production and marketing of cheese Azeitão within three years.

Holidays in Lisbon: Monumental concerts

Miguel C. — Wed, 24 Nov 2010 20:30:51 +0000

Lisbon will kick off the holiday season with series of concerts from the celebrated December 5-19 in some monumental settings. celebrate the coming of winter - the cyclical nature of return - with light. The schedule of concerts for the holidays 2010 is below. Bach, Handel, Telemann and Tchaikovsky are among the composers whose music will resonate throughout the city, played by groups like the Symphonic Choir Lisboa Cantata, the Pilgrimage Ensemble School of Music Conservatory and also the Opera Company of the Castle, among others Performances are offered afternoons and evenings and everyone can celebrate this special time in an environment of the spirituality of music.

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5 | 4 p.m. | IGREJA DE SÃO NICOLAU LISBON CANTATA Symphony Choir Two Perspectives on the Child Jesus

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10 | 9.30 p.m. | IGREJA DA MADALENA PILGRIMAGE ENSEMBLE MUSIC SCHOOL OF NATIONAL CONSERVATORY Cantos Lusofonia Christmas in Portugal and the Americas

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 11 | 16.00 | GREJA DA MEMÓRIA (AJUDA) CEMM CORAL GROUP STUDIES CENTER OF MUSICAL MAIA By Single

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 12 | 4 p.m. | IGREJA DA GRAÇA CHORUS & REGINA COELI Philharmonic Orchestra of Beiras Christmas Concert

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17 | 9.30 p.m. | BASÍLICA DA ESTRELA Youth Symphony Orchestra Symphonic Choir Concert

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 18 | 4 p.m. | IGREJA DE SANTO AGOSTINHO (MARVILA) OPERA COMPANY OF THE CASTLE Baroque Christmas

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 19TH | 4 p.m. | IGREJA DE SÃO DOMINGOS PORTUGUESE CHAMBER ORCHESTRA European Christmas

Famalicão will have a 5-star hotel

Miguel C. — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 05:00:00 +0000

The village of Bairro, in Famalicão is developing a new tourist accommodation called Hotel Rural da Azenha. The project is already under construction, and the first phase is to be inaugurated in 2011. The 3 million Euro project is being promoted by João Monteiro, a textile entrepreneur from Ladim, who is receiving the support of Turismo de Portugal with plans such as the 5-star hotel, an events hall, a sports hall, and a vineyard.

VinePAT Cockrell School of Engineering Championship "Contest"

Miguel C. — Sat, 20 Nov 2010 00:41:55 +0000

VinePAT a Portuguese wine initiative project won the Cockrell School of Engineering Championship "Contest" Idea to Product (I2P) Global Competition ', held at the University of Texas at Austin. VinePAT is a system for collecting and analyzing data, based on spectroscopic techniques and Process Analytical Technology (PAT), which allows growers to monitor the quality of grapes they produce. This allows them to decide on the treatments to be applied during ripening of the grapes, as well as the optimal time for harvest. I2P Global Competition in 2010 saw 18 teams from eight countries, from schools like Penn State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Illinois, Stockholm School of Entrepreneurship and Aachen University, among others. It was the first time a project representative of the Program COHiTEC, COTEC Portugal - Association for Innovation won this event of world prestige after two second places (2009, 2008) and Third (2007).

Portugal and the United States reaffirmed their enduring political alliance

Miguel C. — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:20:57 +0000

During the meeting between the Minister of Foreign Affairs Luís Amado and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, that took place in Lisbon, on November 19, 2010, Portugal and the United States reaffirmed their enduring political alliance. Both governments share the view that it would be beneficial to Portugal and the United States to expand and enhance bilateral cooperation across a range of policy areas. The 1995 Agreement on Cooperation and Defense and its Standing Bilateral Commission provide the necessary flexibility and mechanisms to strengthen the partnership and cooperation between both countries on different areas. Its potential has to be developed fully. The two Ministers have instructed the Portuguese and the United States Heads of Delegation to the Standing Bilateral Commission to initiate policy dialogues in various areas of cooperation and to work expeditiously to jointly develop the new modalities for the revitalization of the partnership.