P is for platano

Posted on April 6, 2012 by Lindsay

The plantain is not a tree, as it does not have a trunk, instead a water filled leafy stalk which grows from an underground stem called a rhizome. It is in fact a herb and the largest one in the world. It can grow to as high as 20 feet and the plantains will be ready 10 to 15 months after it is planted.

The Dominican Republic is the 13th largest producer of plantains in the world with 491,509 tonnes in 2010. It is beaten by African and South American countries, which are considerably larger, so I am sure if I did the maths it would produce more plantains per square metre than anywhere else. To read more or leave a comment go here.

A – Z of Australia – I is for Islands (Part I)

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Sami

Australia is the largest island in the world, and it is surrounded by 8,220 islands within its maritime borders.

Most of them would be uninhabited of course, but there are some pretty big islands, big enough to be independent countries!
The largest of these islands is Tasmania with 68,332km2, and in turn it is surrounded by another 1000 islands! Tasmania is one of the six states and 2 territories that Australia is divided in. I´ve never been to Tasmania, but it´s a place I would love to visit in the future.

C is for Canvas and Canaletto – The Thought Palette

Posted on April 3, 2012 by Ferragudofan

“I hardly ever stretch the canvas before painting” Jackson Pollock

For me what you paint on is as important as what you paint with – the ‘support’ you are using is vital to the overall finish and appeal of a painting – find out more about canvas and how I make my own by reading this post!

And introducing one of my absolute favourite painters of all time – I am glad his surname begins with a C so that I can cover him early in this A to Z series!

Giovanni Antonio Canal (October 28, 1697 – April 19, 1768), is better known as Canaletto. He was a Venetian artist famous for his landscapes of Venice.

This is the latest in my A to Z series of Art

Click here to read more!

G is for Gold

Posted on April 1, 2012 by juliedawnfox

I’ve never been remotely interested in gold jewellery but a friend of mine who came to visit dragged me round every jeweller’s in Coimbra and in doing so, introduced me to some exquisite filigree pieces. I’m especially taken with the traditional curved hearts that are icons of Portugal. Although I can’t see myself ever wearing them as a pendant or earrings, they’re delicate and beautiful and worthy of admiration, in my opinion.

To read more about Portuguese gold jewellery, click here.

O is for the Ozama river

Posted on March 31, 2012 by Lindsay

I have often wondered why people would want to live there. As recently as the 1950′s there were hardly any houses there at all, and the entire north zone of the city contained only an estimated 5000 families. The last 30 years however have seen amazing changes and tens of thousands of families were evicted from their homes in various parts of Santo Domingo to make way for roads, hospitals, public monuments such as the Columbus Lighthouse, and tourist and business developments. To read more or leave a comment, please click here.

K for Koala

Gallery

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Team Oyeniyi

My mother chose to have her photo taken at Sydney Zoo with a snake draped around her shoulders rather than a koala. She always told me it was because she knew the koalas were a bit scared. My mother looked rather scared … Continue reading →

K is for Kraków

Posted on March 30, 2012 by Restlessjo

Polish cities have had to be masters of the art of survival. Nowhere is this better illlustrated than in Kraków, Poland’s ancient capital and seat of its kings for more than 500 years. I was in love with this city from the first time I walked, arm in arm with my Aunt Anna, into Spring sunshine-filled Rynek Główny, the magnificent market square at the heart of Stare Miasto, the old town.

Please follow the link to read more of this post:

http://restlessjo.wordpress.com/2012/03/30/k-is-for-krakow/

Ñ is for Ñame

Posted on March 28, 2012 by Lindsay

Ñame is a staple Dominican vegetable and the English translation is yam, but it is not a sweet potato as I think yams are. The word is also used to describe someone who is a bit of an idiot! It cannot be said to be an attractive vegetable by any stretch of the imagination being brown and woody looking, and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. In fact, ñame can become enormous, well over 100lbs, and there are all sorts of reports of monster ñames – here is a chap who is very proud of his.

To read more or leave a comment click here.

A is for Almancil

Posted on March 27, 2012 by VentoPortugues

Almancil, Almancil… is a small town nearby Loule but most importantly it’s a town I lived in.

Almancil is about a 15minute drive from the Faro airport and has became an important centre for service providing to the two luxurious residental areas: Quinta Do Lago and Vale Do Lobo (a must destination for the important and famous). These two residental areas make Almancil, in summer, as busy as an ants nest. Great variety of restaurants, pubs, cafes, real estate offices, furnishing shops etc etc. Apolonia supermarket is always absolutely packed since it’s offering all the goods from the UK..

The church of Sao Laurenco, at the east of the town, is beautifully covered with 18th Century ceramic tiles on the inside. The azulejos tell the story of the churches patron saint and the whole work dates back to 1730. Additionally it was made by the azulejo masters of that time – Policarpo de Oliveira.

As for Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo (which means “Valley Of The Wolf”) both are extremely impressive (with impressive prices to match). Vale do Lobo, created in late 60′s, before the end of Salazar dictatorship, had the role of helping the Algarve as a golfers paradise. The famous British golfer Henry Cotton designed the golf course. Quinta Do Lago offers four championship sized golf courses alongside of the Rio Formosa Nature Reserve.

I used to work in a property management company in Quinta Do Lago. Some of the properties are absolutely stunning.. I must admit at firts I was somewhat shy to be around them or in..

To find out more: http://ventoportugues.blogspot.com/

F is for Fame!

Posted on March 27, 2012 by juliedawnfox

A big thanks to Alyson Sheldrake for getting the Personal A to Zs of Portugal featured in the local paper, the Algarve Resident:

click the image to see a larger version

N is for No

Posted on March 24, 2012 by Lindsay

My A to Z of the Dominican Republic continues with the letter N and what I think is probably the most used word – No.

It comes in various forms: No se (pronounced say) means ‘I don’t know’ and is used whenever you ask the kids where something is, or where they have put something. Usually it is not where it was as it has been eaten or used. The conversation goes like this.
“Where is the peanut butter?”
“No se”
“Well it was in the fridge and it’s not there now.”
“No fue yo.” That means it wasn’t me – another No.

To read more or leave a comment go here

Personal A to Z of Portugal. H is for Heat

Posted on March 23, 2012 by somanyhands

Ok, so there were several topics I could have gone with for my “H is for” offering. Holidays? Home? Hands? (that’s us!) I decided to go for “Heat” because, well, it’s one of the things we moved for!

The Algarve region has an average maximum temperature ranging from 15C and 6 hours of sunshine in the winter (yes, winter!) to 28C and 12 hours of sunshine in the summer. Not bad for an average, eh? Compare that to the UK’s winter average maximum of 7C and a summer average high of 20C, it’s not difficult to see why we prefer the Algarve.

Click here to read our “H is for Heat” post

E is for EAT!

Posted on March 23, 2012 by Cynthia Simpson

There is nothing more pleasurable than sitting around a table with family and friends sharing a meal. Whether it’s a lovingly prepared meal at home or a carefully planned dinner or lunch at a restaurant, there is something about the sharing of food that seems to relax people, makes them talk more, everyone just seems to be happier, in my case; the champagne definitely helps too….

In South Africa, our most popular way of entertaining on the weekend is to have a “braai” or barbecue. I definitely have “braai envy” when I catch that smell of the braai wafting over from the neighbors, my stomach begins to growl in a very unfeminine way and it does not then need much encouragement from my side before hubby will have the fire going,

To continue reading click HERE

F is for fusion

Posted on March 23, 2012 by pattikay

The letter F has taken me a while to get in the mood for – maybe it’s the negative connotation from school days. I was an “A” student – “F” and I were not on familiar terms.

My first inclination was to write about foreshadowing – a very respectable “f-word” (hmm – maybe that’s another reason why I’ve been hesitating). I considered it mainly because of two books I recently read. Reading the first one, I felt quite clever, because I was able to decipher the author’s clues about who would end up with whom and who did what long before the main characters figured it out. I love foreshadowing as a literary device – especially when I can decipher the shadowy patterns cast by the advancing plot.

To continue reading, click here

J for Jellyfish

Gallery

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Team Oyeniyi

Their venom is considered to be among the most deadly in the world, containing toxins that attack the heart, nervous system, and skin cells. It is so overpoweringly painful, human victims have been known to go into shock and drown … Continue reading →

Q is for Quotes

Posted on March 18, 2012 by juliedawnfox

No, not witty or inspirational things that other people have said. I mean estimated costs.

One of the things I find frustrating about living in Portugal is how difficult it is to get quotes for work that needs doing. To my way of thinking, it’s in a company’s interests to provide potential clients with the information that they need promptly and with a smile to maximize its chances of getting the business. Especially in the current financial climate.

That’s not how things work here.

To find out more, click here.

Can he fix it? Maybe, but good luck with getting a quote!

M is for Mamajuana, Mangu and Morir Soñando

Posted on March 18, 2012 by Lindsay

Mamajuana is what my husband calls in his interesting English, ‘Rum with esticks’. It is basically rum, red wine and honey poured into a bottle which is full of bits of tree bark, twigs and herbs. The herbs and bark were originally used by the Taino Indians with hot water to make a medicinal tea, and this has now been replaced by alcohol. Mamajuana is said to act as an aphrodisiac, in fact it is sometimes known as el para palo, literally ’lift the stick’, a flu remedy, an aid to digestion and the circulation, a blood cleanser and a tonic for the liver and kidney.

To read more or leave a comment look here.

B is for Brushes and Balkwill

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Ferragudofan

Brushes

“Most artists are not fully aware of the influence the quality of their brushes has on the work they do…. It is very difficult to obtain good results using badly made brushes” Jacques Turner ‘Brushes: A Handbook for Artists and Artisans’

Ray Balkwill

Introducing my second artist to you – someone you may not have even heard of before – but someone who has been influential in encouraging me to paint with confidence and joy.

Click here to read more!

Ll is for lluvia (rain)

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Lindsay

You would think in a country with so much rain that the Dominican people would just take it in their stride. Some do and will go out in the rain, but only if it is totally essential. There is one thing that is essential for the ladies and that it under no circumstances must their hair get wet. Anything is used to cover the hair, and it will usually be a plastic bag. Funnily enough I have never seen plastic rain hats on sale here, although if there is no plastic bag then a shower cap will suffice.

To read more or leave a comment, go here.

E is for Elvas, and Evora, of course

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Restlessjo

Approaching Elvas you are sure to have seen the staggeringly high Aqueduto da Amoreira. With 843 arches and up to five tiers, it still delivers water 5 miles across the valley to the fountain in Largo da Misericordia. You can park on the patchy ground overlooking it to explore the town. Sample the delicious preserved plums sold locally- they are thought to be the original sugar plums after which the Nutcracker Fairy was named.

G is for Graffiti – Algarve Blog

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Ferragudofan

“Graffiti is an impulse to get recognized” Mint & Serf

This is going to be a different post! Despite my best efforts to think of something else for G (without resorting to golf!) the idea of covering graffiti kept coming back to me – so G is for Graffiti in My Personal A to Z of Portugal

It has to be said that wherever you go – you can find graffiti. And it does seem particularly bad in some parts of the Algarve.

So – is it art? Is it ‘urban art’? Can we ‘legitimise’ some forms of graffiti as ‘art’ whilst also targeting and policing the ‘vandalism’ that we can also see around us? And who decides which work is art and which is not?

Click here to read more and participate in the discussion!

A – Z of Australia – H is for Housing

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Sami

Since salaries and cost of living is higher in Australia than in Europe, housing here can be quite pricey, and every time there is a mining boom, property prices seem to go up as well…
After 3 months in a furnished rented apartment paid for by the company that sponsored my husband, we moved into our “renovators dream”. For about 1 month we had searched for our dream home by going to various “open homes” on the weekends ranging from units to houses, old and new in various suburbs South of the River*

L is for Luz

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Lindsay

Around 90% of the country has electricity, with a lower percentage in rural areas. The country is divided into different sectors, A-D, and the amount of electricity you receive depends on your sector. Those in A sectors should have 24 hours a day, whereas the 50% of the country in D sectors have around 12 hours a day. The outages are planned, and you can check them out on line, but as well as the scheduled times to be without electricity, it goes off at other times too, in the supposed 24 hour sectors as well.

To read more or leave a comment, go here.

My Portugal from A to Z: E is for Florbela Espanca

Posted on March 9, 2012 by OlivAmorBlogger

My next post that is part of My Personal A to Z Challenge covers the letter E.

E=Espanca. Early 20th century poet Florbela Espanca (Vila Viçosa 1894-Matosinhos 1930). I wasn’t terribly familiar with her work when I picked up a copy of her Sonetos (Sonnets) at a bookstore near the Chiado last summer. What initially attracted me was the photo on the book’s cover: a sepia-toned image of a young woman (with a fashionable hairstyle) looking slightly upwards but directly at the viewer…

For more on this, check out the rest of the post here.

A – Z of Australia – Gambling and Generosity

Posted on March 7, 2012 by Sami

Gambling is a very big part of the Australian culture, it´s said that almost 90% of Australians gamble!

On average each person loses close to 900$ a year on gambling. They seem to gamble on everything from “horse-racing”, to “which club will win the footy”, or “how many years will Kate and William be married for”, “frog jumping”…you get the idea!

Most forms of gambling are legal in Australia, and it can be done in Casinos, hotels, clubs, TAB (totalisator agency board), machines in pubs and bars (pokies), online, lotto, scratch cards, etc.

S is for Snowboarding in Portugal

Posted on March 5, 2012 by gekko

Snow is possibly the last thing you expect to find when you visit Portugal, renowned for it’s 3,000 odd hours of sunshine a year and soaring summer temperatures.

However that’s exactly what we found when we ventured high into the Serra da Estrela mountains in central Portugal. Admittedly it was half way through February and as we were en-route to the country’s only ski resort at Torre, snow wasn’t that unexpected.

Read more of my lastest Personal A through Z of Portugal – S is for Snowboarding in Portugal

C is for Cottage

Posted on March 5, 2012 by expatlogue

Image courtesy of cottagelife.com

Before we’d even flown the kids over to Canada, we were growing familiar with the concept of “the Cottage”. Canadians LOVE their cottages! Give them a long weekend and above freezing temperatures and they’ll be off, up north, chillin’ by the lake or hiking in the forest.
When our realtor (or estate agent for those of you who speak English) left for her cottage, we knew she would be unreachable until she returned…

Continue to discover how a cottage is not just a building but a concept.

K is for Kite boarding

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Lindsay

Nowadays, Cabarete is known as one of the finest places for kite boarding in the world. The reason is that there are trade winds together with thermals, which make for strong and consistent winds. The wind blows easterly and starts tostrengthen at around 11am in the morning. For an hour or so the conditions are perfect for beginners, and then at around 12.30 to 1.30 the thermals kick in and the wind really picks up. It is at its strongest at around 4pm and then by 6pm it has gone again.

To read more or leave a comment go here

My A-Z of The Netherlands: C is for Children

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Sandra

On 14 February 2007, the United Nations considered the Dutch children the happiest in the world. On December of the same year I arrived in the Netherlands. Let me share with you my first impressions on Dutch children.

I for Immigration

Gallery

Posted on March 3, 2012 by Team Oyeniyi

The statistics from 2006 tell us that 22.2% of the population were born overseas. Add to that the 20% of Australian’s who have at least one parent born overseas. Of the remaining 58% a lot would have overseas-born grandparents. This percentage has dropped: in … Continue reading →