Friday 17 September 2010

Miranda do Douro

Miranda do Douro, Tras-os-Montes, Portugal

(Summer vacation, 16th and 17th of August 2010)

We arrived in Portugal through Miranda do Douro.
This town is located in the Northeastern part of Portugal, on the border with Spain.

Miranda is a very beautiful town to go for a stroll and enjoy ancient monuments and medieval History...

From Miranda do Douro


From Miranda do Douro


From Miranda do Douro


From Miranda do Douro


Miranda is a very special town...

Miranda has its own language ;-)...Mirandes...

From Miranda do Douro


From Miranda do Douro


Mirandes is a romance language belonging to the Astur-Leonese linguistic group. Miranda is celebrating today the co-official recognition (along the Portuguese language) granted by the Parliament on 17th September 1999.

Parabienes, Miranda! :-)

We read a bit of Mirandes when we were walking on the streets ;-)

From Miranda do Douro


I bought these dictionaries and grammars to learn the differences between Mirandes and Portuguese ;-)

From Miranda do Douro


Portuguese and Spanish readers, guess what I found cute on this page...;-)

From Miranda do Douro


Miranda has also its typical dances with Pauliteiros de Miranda...

If you click on the link, you will see how the men dress themselfs ;-)

We saw the girls, As Pauliteiritas de Miranda.
If you click on the video, you will see one of the dances ;-)
Do you like it?



Miranda has its own meat too, protected by European Union ;-)

"Quero uma Posta Mirandesa, por favor!" :-)

From Miranda do Douro


It was our lunch after our boat trip in Arribas do Douro.
Please, click on the link so you can see more photos about this fabulous landscape.

From Miranda do Douro


We stayed at Albergaria O Mirandes. It is not expensive, the rooms are very good, the food is delicious and the owner and the staff are very friendly.

A must go again, for sure!

17 comments:

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Dearest Sandra,

I understood a word....Mercy? Misericorde in French....what lovely pictures of a country so close to my origins! Anita

Margarida Elias said...

Nunca fui a Miranda e acho que devo gostar. Quanto à ilustração, não sei o que achou engraçado, mas por mim foi o abó das calças e a abó da saia...:)

Presépio no Canal said...

Dear Anita,

Yes!! It is similar to the French and the Portuguese word is "Misericordia" ;-)
A Misericordia is an institution in Portugal founded by Queen Leonor in 1498 (the year that Portugal reaches India by sea) to protect the poors.
Nowadays, they are spread over de world, and I must say, by personal experience, they are very good. When my mother had broken her wrist, she asked for their cleaning house services and to help her take her bath. Everybody can apply for their services and we pay according to our possibilities.














2

Presépio no Canal said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
PATagonia said...

Sandra,
Very pretty this place, and I love the places with medieval history... Strange the language and the Pauliteiros and Pauliteiras.
Incredibles and marvelous the landscapes of the Arribas do Douro...
And the meat... without words! :)
Cheers!!

Unknown said...

Wonderful photos to help illustrate what there is to see! I especially love the second photo because there is something about the living areas of a different culture which seems to draw me in more than anything. Says a lot about the people & the history, which I love! The plate of food looks like it could take me a week to finish, but it looks delicious! Thank you for sharing & I wish you a great weekend!

Presépio no Canal said...

@Margarida, ;-) Nao vou dizer mais nada, ate ver mais respostas ;-) Obrigada por ter respondido ;-)

@Patricia:

Pauliteiros porque e a danca dos paus protagonizada por homens. Pauliteiritas quando sao jovens raparigas a faze-lo.
O Mirandes, as vezes, lembra-me o frances. "la rue", por exemplo, outras o espanhol, "L nino", "La nieta", e outras e claro o portugues, ha muitas palavras comuns.
O passeio pelas Arribas vale a pena pois e orientado por uma biologa que te fala das aves ali existentes e da paisagem envolvente.
Obrigada pelo comentario ;-) Volta sempre ;-)

@Isabella:
The second photo is also my favorite ;-)
Your comment about the food make me smile because it is almost true ;-) That's why in Portugal, many times, the best is to order "uma dose" (one dishe) and split for the two ;-))
Did you see the photos of my place on Earth? Douro? Go there, it is beautiful! ;-)
Thank's for comment and you too, have a great weekend ;-)

Unknown said...

Well, for starters, you have a couple of award-deserving pictures here! Love them all! Especially #2!
I didn't know there was a second official language in Portugal - that goes to show I need to read more about the origin and development of our own language...
I love the word "rapaç" and "rapaza" - they use those same words in Spain as well (*we* don't). Very interesting!
The dance also reminds me of "munheiras" from Galicia - I learned to dance them when I was a kid :D (ohhh ok if you insist, I'll dance for you)
And the landscape.... fantastic. What a fabulous vacation you had, Sandra!!!!

Presépio no Canal said...

Aledys,

Very interesting what you have said.

How do you say it in Argentina?

I read here that the pauliteiros dance is related with the "danza de palos" in Galiza. Is the same as "munheiras"? "danza de palos" means "danca de paus" (lit.)

http://www.bragancanet.pt/pauliteiros/historia.htm

And yes, I want you to dance for me....lol it will be fun...and I will post it the label Cross-culture :D

Now, seriously, I want to see it ;-) You know why?

Because one day I went to Pontevedra in Galiza ( it is a medieval city nearby Santiago de Compostela) and I saw, sitting on the rain, a very good show of Galaico Folklore. I don't know nothing about it. But I remember I liked it very much because we could understand the stories. I hope to see it again one day, this time without rain, and get some information about it...

ana said...

Bom, é tão interessante este post que vou tentar sintetizar.
1) A questão da língua, que é deliciosa, é um particularismo que me interessa sobremaneira.

2) As fotografias estão lindas! Nunca fui a Miranda embora, tenha um tio por afinidade de lá perto - Mirandela.

3) Adoro os Pauliteiros de Miranda por causa da virilidade da dança.

4) Adoro a posta mirandesa e de uma forma geral toda a culinária da região.

Parabéns e obrigada por me recordar esta região.

Presépio no Canal said...

@Ana:

Obrigada por tao simpatico comentario ;-))
Miranda do Douro tem de facto uma cultura muita rica e gosto de ver o cuidado que estao a ter para mante-la ;-) Estive ontem a ler sobre alguns projectos bem interessantes...
Senti-os muito unidos a trabalhar pela terra e muito atenciosos com o cliente tambem. Gostei de ver o Restaurante da Albergaria, cheio e com fila ate a porta. Gosto desta dinamica ;-) E sinal que o negocio mexe. O restaurante muito em conta, por sinal, tal como a Albergaria (de so uma espreitadela na tabela).
E fiz algumas compras la, boa roupa de algodao a venda, bons talheres (do Palacoulo),oh,oh...

Sara said...

I've never been to Miranda do Douro, but I'm a true fan of "posta mirandesa". Whenever I went to Trás-os Montes, or even in my own city, Braga, it's always a pleasure to have a bite (or several, in this case :))
Have a nice weekend!

Presépio no Canal said...

@Sara: ;-)) delicious, isn't it?

@Margarida: foi exactamente o que achei engracado: "abo de las calcas" e "abo de la saia".;-))

Castles Crowns and Cottages said...

Sandra dearest...

You have touched my spirit in such a kind way today; I wrote that sad post while I was waiting for my husband to finish getting ready so I could drive him to work. I am overwhelmed indeed, but I can only do what time and human energy can bear. THANK YOU for such consideration of our friendship. It means the world to me. DO YOU WANT A DRAWING? WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE? TELL ME!!! Go to Castles and let me know! Anita

Telma said...

Olá,

Bem por incrivel que pareça nunca visitei Miranda do Douro, o máximo a norte que fui foi para o outro lado até ao gerês ;D muito bonito tambem!

Fiquei com bastante curiosidade de visitar esta terra que pelo que parece tem tanto de portugues como de espanhol, o que dá uma mistura com o melhor de Portugal e da Espanha.

Concordo contigo quando dizes que temos que dar a conhecer o nosso Portugal. E sim aqui é muito dificil encontrar vinho Portugues, encontram-se mais espanhois! Não percebo porquê somos um país cheio de coisas boas e tantos estrangeiros que nem sabem onde fica e outros que reduzem Portugal ao Algarve... ou será Allgarve?!

Já agora no seguimento desse pensamento que criei o blog portogatelo.blogspot.com há uns bons meses, infelizmente está um bocado abandonado agora mas o intuito é dar a conhecer o que portugal tem de melhor!! Dá uma vista de olhos quando puderes.

Beijocas bom fim-de-semana

Presépio no Canal said...

Ola,Telma,

Obrigada pelo comentario ;-)
Concordo inteiramente com o que dizes, ipsis verbis. Comento isso tanta vez tambem ;-) Portugal nao e so o Algarve (que tem praias boas e uma serra bonita e aquela aguardente de medronho que gosto tanto) e muito menos o "Allgarve".
Obrigada por me lembrares o Geres. Tenho de conhecer melhor. Explorei mais a Peneda.
Vou ver melhor o teu blog ;-)
Ate ja!

Beijinhos,

Sandra

My Grama's Soul said...

Found you over at Castle Crown and Cottages via our sweet friend Anita.....What a beautiful post you have shared today.....and what interesting history you have also shared.....thank you.

Xo

Jo