Portuguese language

The book that my mum wrote…

Yesterday was my mother’s book launch.

It is her first book. A small novel, a story about reinventing your life, and impossible love. It’s cool and I am really happy for her.

The book launch was very successful and there was even a small tear in the corner of everyone’s eye. My dad organise everything, he was really proud of her. I am really proud of both of them! ♥

Unfortunately to those of you who can’t read Portuguese, you’ll have to wait until the translated versions come out, which, I am sure, will be really soon. If you do read Portuguese (this includes Brazilian Portuguese, of course! Since the book is also published in Brazil), watch out for this book – “no silêncio da noite, o rouxinol disse…” Published by Chiado Editora.

When they were designing the cover I proposed a couple of designs:Capa do livro-estrelas azuis2

capa do livro moderna

Anyway, they didn’t go with any of my suggestions and decided to go with this one:

capa final do livro

5 fun facts about Portugal

In anticipation of my trip to Portugal in November, here are 5 fun facts about Portugal that you might not know:

  1.  Marmalade is the Portuguese word for quince jam. The word for quince in Portuguese is Marmelo and the jam you make with it is Marmelada.
  2. The Ukulele is a Portuguese instrument in its origins. Portuguese emigrants introduced this Instrument to the Hawaiian culture in 1880s, influenced by the Cavaquinho a similar instrument popular in Madeira (one of the Portuguese islands).
  3. In some Arab countries, Persia and Greece the word for Orange is very similar to the word Portugal – this is because it is believed that the Portuguese were the ones who introduced Oranges (originally from China) to these Mediterranean countries.
  4. It was a Portuguese queen (Catarina de Bragança) who married the English king Charles II that introduced the habit of drinking tea to the English Royal Court.
  5. The Portuguese eat more fish and shell fish per capita than any other country in the world – not sure if this is 100% true but, yeah, the Portuguese like their fish a lot 🙂