Another week, another roundup of posts published by our contributors on their personal blogs.
From Anu, one of our contributors from India: Sky Watch Friday – Skies over Mumbai, a city skyline during Monsoon season.
Jason, our contributor from US West Coast, writes about Bolivia’s natural diversity in From Freezing Glaciers to Steaming Cloudforests: El Chorro Trek (more…)
Today, Friday 24 June, is in France the day we celebrate St. John the Baptist and it is also an opportunity to celebrate the Feux de la Saint-Jean.
This tradition, which dates back to ancient times, most likely originated in Asia Minor and was introduced to Eastern Europe by the Celtic tribes 3000 years ago. Feux de la Saint-Jean was originally the celebration of the Summer Solstice on June 21st. The ancients use to light bonfires on the previous evening in honour of the Sun, a way to pray for its protection for the harvest to come.
On May 7, 1945 the German troops surrendered in Western Europe. It was considered the end of World War II in this part of the globe. During the Holocaust, a Portuguese consul saved 30,000 lives. His name was Aristides Sousa Mendes.
Aristides Sousa Mendes, a Portuguese aristocrat and diplomat, saved 30,000 refugees -12,000 of them Jews-, during World War II. Aristides was, at the time, the Portuguese consul in Bordeaux (France). Against the orders of the Portuguese cabinet’s president, António de Oliveira Salazar, Aristides decided to help those people in trouble, attending to his catholic beliefs and conscience. These were his words: “I would rather stand with God against man, than with man against God.” (more…)
Today Portugal celebrates Our Lady of Conception’s Day. She was proclaimed the godmother and Queen of Portugal on March, 25, 1646, by the Portuguese King D. Joao IV, during the Independence Restoration wars (1640-1668) and after sixty years of Spanish rule (1580-1640). The kings of Portugal have never worn the Portuguese Crown again. The Portuguese monarchy ended in 1910.
In this post we’ll explore some historical traces of Portugal around Europe.
Zamora (Spain): birth of the Portuguese nation
The 5th of October 1143, in Zamora, in the Kingdom of Castilla y Leon (Castile and León) a treaty was signed between the King of León and Castile, Alfonso VII, and the King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques. By this treaty, Portugal became an independent country and the oldest European nation. Last summer vacation, on my way to Portugal, I visited Zamora Cathedral, where the treaty was signed and my country, legally, was born. As you may guess, it was a very special moment for me.
Thanks to a friend of mine, I have become a regular at the huge second hand clothes market. The taxi driver I always use is not only reasonable but is something of a mine for information on the history of Lusaka. When driving me to the market recently he mentioned that it is on a large compound called ‘mandevu.’ Now I know ‘mandevu’ means beard in the local language Nyanja, so I of course asked why the compound was called, well, ‘beard’. He explained that mostly Zimbabweans had settled there years ago and they had the habit of shaving their heads but leaving their beards to grow. Zambians would refer to Zimbabweans as ‘the ones with beards’ and as a result the compound where they lived adopted the name ‘beard’.
The easiest way to know a country better is by looking at the meaning of its flag.
On June 12, my country will celebrate its 112th year of independence.
Picture Postcards: Clockmaker’s Shop in Paris, France
5 interesting facts about Australia
The etiquette of visiting around the world
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