Feliz Aniversário, Parabéns

XXXI Festival Internacional de Tunas Universitárias Cidade de Porto

The formal way of wishing someone a happy birthday in Portuguese is Feliz Aniversário but people usually use Parabéns which translates to "Congratulations". We experienced two very special anniversaries in Portugal that immersed us into the Portuguese culture in a way that wouldn't have been possible as a tourist.  

On Thursday, September 14, Paula's birthday, we went to a festival of music at her alma mater, the University of Porto. It was held outside on a stage in the square in front of the university.

A Tuna is a group of university students in traditional university dress who play traditional instruments and sing serenades. This originated in Spain and Portugal in the 13th century as a means of students to earn money or food. It helps them pay for all the espresso they drink! Source: Wikipedia 

The festival named in the title of this blog entry is organized by Orfeão Universitário do Porto which has two Tunas: Tuna Universitária do Porto (men) and Tuna Feminina do Orfeão Universitário do Porto (women). TUNAF was the first female Tuna in Portugal. Paula and her university cronies were the founding members of TUNAF in 1997. On this night, alumni members of TUNAF including Paula, Ana and others were invited to sing on stage with the current members.

Paula singing on stage with current and alumni members of TUNAF

Current and Alumni members of TUNAF backstage. Photo credit: Amy 1.5

So to recap... 

1. It's Paula's 50th Birthday

2. It's the 31st anniversary of the international festival of university tunas held at U. Of Porto

3. It's the 30th anniversary of the founding of TUNAF

4. The event is held outdoors and free to the public for the first time in its history

5. Paula is reunited with original members of TUNAF

6. Paula sang on stage with fellow alumni and current members of TUNAF

7. And, it's Paula's 50th birthday... 

That all being said, it was a special night for Paula and we felt honored to experience this tradition first hand. 

A party and a half... 

When Ana Paula Ferreira decides to throw a party she means business! On, Saturday, September 16, Ana and her family hosted a birthday party for Paula that was open house style. It started early and ended in the wee hours of the morning.

People from all different aspects of Paula's life in Portugal (and the Americans, Kim, Amy 1.0, Sanae and Danna) celebrated with her. To say there was food and drink is an understatement of the greatest kind. Some of my favorites were the Bacalhau, Bola de Carne, Arroz de Pato and Tremoços to name just a few. Ana's husband, Vasco created a carefully thought out bar with Portuguese wine and port wine. 

And dessert? The Portuguese people LOVE their desserts. Ana asked the guests to bring a dessert from the region where they live. Ana insisted that since people would be coming and going all day that everyone have the opportunity to sing her happy birthday (Parabéns a você). Ana's mother made three birthday cakes and Paula blew out candles three times! 

Most people get one birthday cake....

An enorme "Obrigada" (thank you) to our wonderful hosts, the Costa family. They made us feel like their own family members and made this a trip to remember forever. 

Clockwise from left: Marta, Duarte (doesn't he look thrilled?) Ana, Vasquinho, Amy 1.0, Kim, Amy 1.5, Vasco and Paula

A City by the River

I mentioned in the previous blog entry that the city of Porto is alongside the Douro River. When traveling I have grown to love the element of water and the interest it adds to the experience of the place I am visiting. From the canals of Venice in Italy, the River Thames in London, the Danube River in Hungary, the Milford Sound in New Zealand to our own Big Bear Lake in California, all of these places are special to me because of their unique proximity to water. The Douro River is another body of water that adds to the beauty and romantic nature of Porto on one side and Vila Nova de Gaia on the other. 

View of Porto from Vila Nova de Gaia. The boats you see pictured here were the traditional boats used to carry Port wine from the Douro Valley where the grapes are grown, downstream to Porto. 

Ponté Luis 1 Bridge

Arrábida Bridge

I also love being able to see a place from the vantage of the water. On Thursday, we were lucky enough to take a boat ride on the river and see all six bridges of Porto from the water. My two favorites are the Ponté Luis 1 and Arrábida Bridges. The architect of the former is Gustave Eiffel, the same man who designed the Eiffel Tower. The Arrábida bridge is made of reinforced concrete and designed by Edgar Cardoso. It was inaugurated in June of 1963 and Paula said that people came from all over the world to see it collapse because they didn't believe a bridge made of concrete could stay standing. 

BFFs Paula and Ana  

Robalo (sea bass) with a salad and potatoes

Thursday was Paula's birthday and her dear very busy friend Ana gave her the gift of her time and spent the entire day with us. After the boat ride we went to lunch to a nice restaurant near a plaza where music was playing in the background. Again we have had amazing weather this trip. Ana's sister Susana surprised us at the restaurant with a beautiful delicious homemade chocolate cake. 

From left: Kimmie T., Amy 1.5, Ana, Susana, Paula, Amy 1.0

Felicidades!

No trip to Porto would be complete without a tour of the wine cellars that are the home of Port wine. We visited Ferreira Cellars and learned how Port wine is made which of course ended with a taste of the wine.   

Amy walking in front of a large Portuguese tiled wall

Another really enjoyable part of this day and the next was walking the narrow streets of Porto and seeing how people live in their flats. With every turn there was a new combination of paint colors and unique Portuguese tiles adorning the buildings. Porto is also known for its unique windows and people often hang their clothes to dry from their balconies.

Oporto - Friends, Food, Culture

It's hard to believe it's Sunday and we are making our journey home tomorrow, a day late. I will explain that later. The last five days have been jam packed with a combination of sightseeing, visiting Paula's friends, eating and shopping. So much so that I had to backtrack the days and make notes of what we did.  

On Wednesday Ana, our host, drove us to Oporto and dropped us off and we made our way to a large roundabout called Rotunda da Boavista with a 148 foot column in the middle. It commemorates the victory of the Portuguese against the French troops that invaded Portugal during the Peninsular War. 

Monumento aos Heróis da Guerra Peninsular

Paula and Fátima

For lunch we met one of Paula's good friends Fátima that she has known for many years from their University days. She is a University professor who lived 10 years in Belgium and fairly recently moved back to Porto. She speaks 7 languages. I'm still wrapping my head around that one.  

After lunch, we took a drive to see the Foz do Douro Lighthouse on the Atlantic Ocean. I have seen some very dramatic images of this lighthouse with waves crashing over it which happens in the winter time.

It was here that we were able to meet up with our other friends Sanae and Danna from the U.S. who also came to celebrate Paula's birthday. It was surreal to be taking an afternoon stroll all together along the Douro River. 

From left: Amy 1.0, Danna, Sanae, Amy 1.5, Paula, Fátima

Boats overlooking the Douro River  

In the evening we were treated to a wonderful fish dinner with the Costa family, our hosts. The fish is caught the same day as it is served. We had a variety of dishes including Hake, Robalo and of course more Bachelhau. Our animated server Orlando filleted a whole cooked fish tableside. 

Typical Portuguese Bachelhau dish  

Até à Próxima (until next time) Ponte de Lima

We have been walking the crowds of Feiras Novas in Ponte de Lima for a couple days. I asked Paula if there was a way we could get up to the nearby hills to get a view from above of this beautiful town. 

She knew the place to go and she borrowed her uncle's car and off we went for a short drive to a the site of a stone chapel.

From the top we could see the Rio Lima clearly and white clouds scattered across blue skies. The weather has been mild and beautiful. 

The view from above Pointe de Lima

Team KAAP standing on the new bridge over Rio Lima

Today we left Tio Loreta, Tio Luis and Mauricia in Ponte de Lima. They were such gracious hosts and fed us so many traditional Portuguese home cooked meals. They don't know English so Paula translated for us and them but through hand gestures, smiles, pats on the back and saying the word "obrigada" (thank you) a LOT we found our own way to communicate with them. They made us feel like we were their own nieces and created a special memory that will stay with us forever. 

From left: Cousin Miguel, Paula, Tia Loreta, Tio Luis

Cousin Miguel drove us to our next destination to meet Ana who took us to her home in Gulpihares where we will stay with her husband Vasco and their children. This will be the site for Paula's 50th birthday party. Ana lives very close to the beach so she took us to quickly look at the ocean before arriving to her house and the ocean air was really refreshing. We undoubtedly will be taking walks there.  

The Atlantic Ocean from Gulpihares  

Feiras Novas 2017

The last two days have been full of eating, drinking, walking, visiting and exploring the vila of Ponte de Lima. Feiras Novas (The New Fairs) is a yearly festival since 1826 that takes place the second week of September. Paula and her family have many years of memories attending this festival and still attend. There are so many elements to this festival it is hard to describe the experience. It is music, folklore, fireworks, and parades. Along with food vendors selling farturas (churro), roasted chestnuts, pastries, popcorn, candy and more.

Paula's cousin Miguel's home is in the direct path of the ethnographic parade so we went to his home for lunch and got a front row seat to the action. The people in the parade dress in costumes and ride on mini floats to tell the story of what makes this region unique or special like iron works, stone works, winemaking, farming and more. It was lively and entertaining to say the least.

Music is a big part of Feiras Novas. There are traditional multi piece bands that play in two small grandstands. Other groups specialize in drums only and the have their own procession and the literally try to "out" drum each other. Imagine the loudest drums you have heard and multiply that by 1000. At night people crowd around other small groups in the streets playing an instrument that is like a small accordion and singing traditional Portuguese songs.

Did I mention we have been eating? Just a bit. Paula's aunt and her sister have made us all home cooked meals with love. It reminds me of my childhood of eating at my grandmother's house. We had a very special dish made with Bacalhau, dried and salted cod, a staple here. The Portuguese say there are 1000 ways to prepare and eat Bacalhau. To summarize the dish, the fish was soaked in water, baked in the oven with sweet peppers on top and swimming in creamy mashed potatoes on the bottom. It was truly delicious!

Traditional Bacalhau Dish

A Familiar Face in an Unfamiliar Place

Our two leg trip to Porto went off without a hitch for the most part. We had to transfer by car from London Heathrow to Stansted Airport. Never heard of Stansted? I'm not surprised. I won't waste precious blog space except to say that I read that 5 hours was the bare minimum you should have for a transfer between these airports and that is the BARE minimum. We were delayed due to rain so by the time we landed it was close to 9 pm local time which was 24 hours from when we left our house in L.A.

Happy Team KAAP

We deplaned and grabbed our bags and at the end of the hallway there were two smiling very familiar faces very happy to see us and we we sorta happy to see them. Paula's friend Isabel graciously offered to pick us up and drive the 1 hour north from Porto to Ponte de Lima.

I mentioned to Paula that I might want a snack before going to bed. She said her aunt would most definitely have something for us to eat. We arrived at the home of Tio Luis and Tia Loreta, Paula's aunt and uncle and Mauricia, Tia Loreta's sister. They greeted us warmly with a double kiss on the cheek starting with the right cheek and moving to the left. This is a typical greeting in Portugal.

We were whisked off the the kitchen where a slew of plates, cups, platters of food and various drinks were offered. You could tell this very thing had been done many many times around this table. We had bread, cookies, a cheesecake like dessert, cheese, espresso, juice. My favorite was this pinwheel like savory dish with a thin slices of meat wrapped in homemade bread called Bola de carne.

My tummy was happy but by now I had been up 33 hours. So you know what comes next, head hit the pillow.

Oporto here we come!

It's time to dust off the old travel blog and we have a great trip to do it. We have taken several trips in the month of September and it seems to bring us good travel karma. A year ago this month we were walking the hills of Ireland and on Thursday we embark to Europe again, this time to Portugal. 

From left: Little Lego Kimmie T, Amy 1.0, Amy 1.5, Paula

We have a wonderful reason for traveling to Portugal which is to celebrate our dear friend Paula's 50th birthday. As if that wasn't special enough, Paula is from the town of Porto in northern Portugal and she will be our very personal tour guide into the sites, sounds and tastes of her country she so loves. Her family and friends will open their homes to have us as their guests and we get to experience this country through the eyes and hearts of those that know and love it. 

Our stay is concentrated in the northern part of the country and we will stay near Porto in Ponte de Lima and Vila Nova de Gaia. 

We are looking forward to exploring this country with our friends Amy and Paula and having a weeklong celebration filled with many adventures.