27 de Dezembro de 2019.
Silent night, holy night – Christmas in Germany When the air starts smelling like roasted almonds, when the city center is immersed in warm lights and when children start to sing their hearts out on the streets, then you know it`s time for one of the most important German Christmas traditions: The Christmas Market. The idea of this pre-Christmas market originates in the Late Middle Ages when people bought goods to prepare for the cold wintertime. Throughout the years also craftsmen, toymakers and confectioners were allowed to sell their products, contributing to the Christmas market as it is today. Traditionally, the market starts in the last week of November and lasting until Christmas Eve. A very curious thing about this […]
26 de Dezembro de 2019.
A alcatifa é feita a partir de materiais têxteis reciclados e, no final do evento, é novamente transformada noutros produtos de gama mais baixa. Uma empresa da Guarda começou este ano a produzir uma alcatifa reciclável, feita a partir de excedentes têxteis, roupas e desperdícios industriais, para utilização específica em recintos de eventos. A startup Karpet2R – Walking to the Future surgiu por iniciativa de Pedro Tavares e João Gonçalves, que também gerem uma empresa de organização de eventos. Segundo Pedro Tavares, a startup de produção de alcatifas recicladas surgiu após verificar que, no final de cada evento organizado, as alcatifas de polipropileno utilizadas eram deitadas fora. “Estamos a falar de quilos e quilos que, no fundo, iam para o […]
25 de Dezembro de 2019.
Some traditions have moved into the background in recent years and others are still very important for the people. Our Christmas starts with the Advent season. It starts four weeks before Christmas day on a Sunday. There we light the first candle from our Advent wreath and every Sunday until Christmas we will light one more candle. So, at Christmas, all four candles will be lit on the Advent wreath. During this time, we have another celebration. On the 6th of December Saint Nicholas visits our houses. He was the bishop of Myra and this is why he has a bishop’s hat and a bishop’s stick. In my hometown, we have this tradition that all girls in the last year […]
24 de Dezembro de 2019.
Viriato e Lusitânia, eis os nomes escolhidos por Portugal para um exoplaneta e a sua estrela. O exoplaneta agora baptizado foi descoberto por uma equipa liderada pelo astrofísico português Nuno Santos. Para comemorar o 100.º aniversário da União Astronómica Internacional (IAU, na sigla em inglês), mais de 110 países organizaram campanhas nacionais para atribuírem nomes a exoplanetas e às suas estrelas hospedeiras. Os resultados desta iniciativa, a IAU100 Name ExoWorlds (Dê Nome a ExoMundos, em português), foram anunciados esta terça-feira numa conferência em Paris. Em Portugal, os nomes escolhidos foram Lusitânia (para a estrela) e Viriato (para o exoplaneta). Esta proposta partiu, de forma independente, de três escolas de Braga, Pombal e da Maia. “Observações astronómicas durante a última geração […]
23 de Dezembro de 2019.
Ireland has a wide number of Christmas traditions steeped in the Gaelic and Catholic heritage of the country. A tradition that was very widespread in the 1970s but which seems to be dying out somewhat and especially in urban areas is the candle in the window. Symbolically the candle represented a welcome to Joseph and Mary as they wandered in search of lodgings. The candle indicated to strangers and especially to the poor that there may be an offering of food in the house within. During the penal times in Ireland Catholic priests were forbidden to perform mass so the candle would also show people passing by that the person in the house was a Catholic believer and mass could […]
23 de Dezembro de 2019.
A criação do PROTransP tem como objectivo “aumentar a oferta de transporte colectiv23o nas comunidades intermunicipais e nos territórios de baixa densidade” O ministro do Ambiente e da Acção Climática disse nesta segunda-feira esperar “um aumento muito expressivo” do transporte público fora das duas áreas metropolitanas (Porto e Lisboa) devido ao novo programa de 15 milhões de euros criado pelo Governo. “Acho que, ao longo próximo ano, e nos anos seguintes, vamos assistir a um aumento muito expressivo dos territórios fora das áreas metropolitanas”, explicou João Pedro Matos Fernandes, em declarações aos jornalistas à margem da cerimónia dos 70 milhões de clientes do Metro do Porto em 2019. O governante referia-se ao Programa de Apoio à Densificação e Reforço da […]
20 de Dezembro de 2019.
Scottish Christmas traditions are very recent because Christmas did not become a public holiday in Scotland until 1958. In 1640 an act in the Scottish Parliament banned the celebration of Christmas, then called Yule. This was because of the Reformation, which saw the country breaking with the Catholic Church and developing a national Kirk (church) which was influenced by Presbyterian outlooks. The attitudes towards celebrations changed after the Reformation leading to them outlawing the celebration of Christmas festivities. Christmas was, therefore, a quiet affair for many years; which meant that Hogmanay (New Year’s Eve) was the biggest festival for the Scottish. Hogmanay includes many traditions such as “first-footing” which is to be the first person to visit a friend after […]
19 de Dezembro de 2019.
Recolha e tratamento de resíduos de equipamentos eléctricos e electrónicos deverá rondar as 70 mil toneladas, longe das 103 mil exigidas pela UE. O Ministério do Ambiente e da Acção Climática estima que a recolha e tratamento de resíduos de equipamentos eléctricos e electrónicos (REEE), em 2019, ronde as 70 mil toneladas, e não as 48 mil toneladas contabilizadas pela associação ambientalista Zero. O esclarecimento do Ministério do Ambiente enviado esta quinta-feira às redacções confirma, assim, que Portugal deverá falhar as metas estabelecidas pela União Europeia, que apontam para a recolha e tratamento de 65% destes componentes perigosos para a saúde e o ambiente. Para atingir esse valor, o país teria de recolher 103 mil toneladas de REEE. No esclarecimento […]
18 de Dezembro de 2019.
Like in most Central European countries, Christmas in Poland is a quaint and much-beloved affair. Most of the Polish Christmas celebrations take place on 24th December, and even though the day isn’t an official public holiday in Poland, to many Poles it is one of the most significant and family-oriented dates in the calendar. Many institutions stop working earlier than usual on the day of Christmas Eve, which is usually celebrated with a family dinner at home. Many Poles wait until the first star appears in the sky before sitting down to eat on 24th December. This tradition commemorates the Star of Bethlehem, which according to the New Testament guided the Wise Men to the birthplace of Christ. Nowadays, with […]
17 de Dezembro de 2019.
O exoplaneta agora baptizado foi descoberto por uma equipa liderada pelo astrofísico português Nuno Santos. Para comemorar o 100.º aniversário da União Astronómica Internacional (IAU, na sigla em inglês), mais de 110 países organizaram campanhas nacionais para atribuírem nomes a exoplanetas e às suas estrelas hospedeiras. Os resultados desta iniciativa, a IAU100 Name ExoWorlds (Dê Nome a ExoMundos, em português), foram anunciados esta terça-feira numa conferência em Paris. Em Portugal, os nomes escolhidos foram Lusitânia (para a estrela) e Viriato (para o exoplaneta). Esta proposta partiu, de forma independente, de três escolas de Braga, Pombal e da Maia. “Observações astronómicas durante a última geração levaram já à descoberta de mais de 4000 exoplanetas em órbita de outras estrelas que não […]
2 de Abril de 2018.
The period of his reign was one of the finest times in the history of Portugal. Walking around Funchal you could have came across a square called “Largo Dom Manuel I” (eng. “Square of King Manuel I”) which is located near Sé Cathedral or you could have heard about an architectural style called ‘mannueline’ visible in many buildings in the city. All this reminds us of the times of reign of one of the most famous kings of Portugal, Manuel I also known as the Fortunate (port. o Afortunado) had as the period of his reign 1495-1521. During this time Funchal received city rights (1508) and became an important commercial port in the map of the world. We can even […]
29 de Março de 2018.
Probably one of the most famous kings in Portuguese history. King Sebastian of Portugal (20 January 1554 – 4 August 1578) is very popular amongst us volunteers so that it took me a little discussion so that I am finally the one who writes about “the desired”. But why is he so famous? Was it because he invited the Jesuit order in 1569 to the island of Madeira after a huge French privateer attack in 1566 where French soldiers robbed and plundered the archipelago? Or because he was the youngest king Portugal ever had, who became king with just 3 years because his father Prince John died before he was born, his mother Joanna of Spain returned shortly after his […]
28 de Março de 2018.
Já la vão 6 meses, já se vê formar um verão pela primavera que vai ficando. Hoje é o dia do Pai, 19 de Março, dia que lembra que nada é efémero, nem pai, nem esta experiência fora de Portugal. Mas que permanece connosco até a vida nos faltar. Na Bulgária os dias mais quentes vão chegando com pequenas mudanças na natureza, a brisa vem fresca e carregada de flores e sementes. O café já é tomado na varanda e o frio vai desvanecendo. Com o passar da estação segue a mudança. Neste momento a aragem está abafada de monotonia e a saudade desprende-me. De pensar que conhecia o meu mundo criei uma ingrata rotina que se consome da saudade. […]
26 de Março de 2018.
D.Maria I was very religious and got completely crazy during her lifetime. Maria Francisca Isabel Josefa Antónia Gertrudes Rita Joana (Maria I) was the daughter of José I de Portugal and Mariana Victoria of Spain. Maria was born in 1734 and grew up with her sisters at the court in Lisbon. They seemed to have a good life, they were loved by their father and they did a lot of things, like riding horses, learning to draw and read French and Latin. But things happened in Maria´s lifetime that slowly drove her crazy. For example the earthquake in Lisbon, which killed thousands of people. She had to marry her uncle (at the age of 17) and apart from that she […]
22 de Março de 2018.
The military successes (and failures) of Dom João I of Portugal. João I reigned as the 10th king of Portugal, succeeding Fernando I in 1385. As the naturalized son of Pedro I and a Galician noblewomen, his ascension to the throne represented the beginning of the Aviz dynasty. His coronation came during a time of conflict with the Castilian crown, who had sought authority over Portugal during a period of anarchy following the death of Fernando. It could be said that turbulent relations with Portugal’s Iberian neighbours defined João’s reign. João is commonly referred to as ‘the good’ or ‘the great’ by the Portuguese, due primarily to his victories over the Moroccan Marinid Empire in Ceuta as part of the […]
19 de Março de 2018.
Manuel II had the time to be a king for only about two and half years. King Manuel II was born in 15th of November 1889. He was the third child and the last son of King Carlos and Queen Amélie of Orléans and Braganza. They belonged to Braganza family, the fourth and last reigning dynasty of Portugal. His big brother Luís Filipe, as crown prince, was raised to become the king some day. He was interested in for example literature, reading and music. Other things that he liked to do on his free time were horse riding, fencing, rowing, tennis and gardening. Manuel was supposed to enter the Portuguese Naval academy. The plans changed, when in the 1st of […]