The 19th Amendment

On Aug 26, 1920 the 19th Amendment was adopted in the USA Constitution extending to women the right to vote. It was the culmination of more than 70 years of struggle by women suffragists.

This Chinese Tea House built in the gardens of Marble House in Newport, Rhode Island, owned by Alva Vanderbilt was a site of rallies for women’s right to vote.

O Chiado há 25 anos

Incêndio no Chiado, 25 de Agosto de 1988 ARQUIVO DA CÂMARA MUNICIPAL DE LISBOA

http://www.publico.pt/temas/jornal/o-interprete-ideal-26981924

O dia seguinte

Watermelon

Watermelon is one of the most refreshing fruits in the summer. I wonder if my students who are going to attend Cooking School will learn to carve it...

Five Reasons to Eat Watermelon

Jane Austen on the 10-pound note

The Bank of England announced that Jane Austen would appear on a new £10 note.

She will replace Charles Darwin. I salute the initiative to call attention to the achievements of British women on the 200th anniversary of Pride and Prejudice.

Mountain View

This expression, Mountain View, is beautiful. It reminds me of those nice hotels and the tricky question we are often asked when checking in: “Do you prefer Ocean View or Mountain View?” and I never know what to answer because I really love both. I was born in a mountainous island so my link to the sea and to the mountains is equally important. 

When I started this blog I became acquainted with a city in California called “Mountain View” named for its views of the Santa Cruz Mountains. It is situated in the Silicon Valley home to many of the world's largest technology companies.


 I think I must thank those “Mountain Viewers” (is this the name we call people who live there?) who care to read my blog, because when I check the country of the readers they always come first in USA. 

Last week an English friend who visited me liked my books and wondered how nice it must be to have a bilingual library- because as for him, he could only read in English. Well those people in Mountain View they also read my posts in Portuguese, probably because the community of Portuguese descendants there is as big as in many Californian towns.

The Other Algarve

On 19th July Seth Sherwood published an article in The New York Times about the wonders of the unknown Algarve - the southern coastline of Portugal.

From its seaside blessed with dunes to the sublime seafood he tells his experience of the other Algarve where he found traditional fishing villages, medieval castles, unmarked surfer beaches.


Read The Other Algarve

On November 27, 2011 Seth Sherwood published in the same newspaper an article about Oporto: 36 Hours in Porto, Portugal

Read more about Portugal in The New York Times: From The New York Times to Oporto

WHY SUMMER MAKES US LAZY

Why does summer make us lazy? Read Maria Konnikova in The New Yorker on humidity, productivity, and the link between sunshine and happiness.

It's a boy!

George Alexander Louis

The Duchess of Cambridge, and her husband Prince William welcomed their first child on Monday, 22nd July.The baby boy was born at 4:24 p.m., weighing 8 pounds, 6 ounces (3,8 Kg). 

The official announcement of the birth was posted on the forecourt of Buckingham Palace to be viewed by the waiting crowds.

CNN: Royal Baby meet the relatives

http://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2013/06/world/uk-royal-family-tree/

Royal Baby on the way

Buckingham Palace has confirmed that the Duchess of Cambridge has been admitted to St. Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, London in the early stages of labour. 

The Duchess travelled by car from Kensington Palace to the Lindo Wing at St. Mary’s Hospital with The Duke of Cambridge.

The same hospital is where Prince William and his brother Prince Harry were born.

It could be 10 days before the baby's name is announced. British people favour the names Alexandra, Charlotte, Elizabeth, Victoria, Grace, James and George. The field is open for both boys' and girls' names because the parents did not want to know their child's sex in advance.

The child's title will be His or Her Royal Highness Prince or Princess (the baby's name) of Cambridge. 

Protocol dictates that the first to know about the arrival of the baby will be Queen Elizabeth II, Prime Minister David Cameron and the governors general of each of the Commonwealth Nations -along with the rest of the Royal Family and the Middleton Family.

The baby will be third in line to the throne after Prince Charles and Prince William, regardless of gender. A rule change in 2011 (More Queens in the future?) ended centuries of male primogeniture, which decreed that the crown passed to the eldest son and was bestowed on a daughter only when there were no sons. It means that if the next royal baby is a girl, she will eventually become queen; previously, a younger male sibling would have taken precedence.

Global Wealth Inequality

A shocking and disturbing video about global wealth inequality:

Helen Thomas has died at 92

Helen Thomas (1920-2013) was a pioneering journalist at the White House. She covered the administrations of 10 presidents (from Kennedy to Obama) for nearly five decades. She was the person sitting in the front row at the White house who ended every presidential press conference by saying, on behalf of her fellow journalists, "Thank you, Mr. President”.

She was known for asking difficult questions.

President Obama released a statement saying: “What made Helen the Dean of the White House Press Corps was not the length of her tenure but the fierce belief that our democracy works best when we ask tough questions and hold our leaders to account”.

Woody Allen´s New York

Carlyle Hotel

You can watch Woody Allen and the Eddy Davis New Orleans Jazz Band play in the intimate Café Carlyle.

Explore Manhattan, through the eyes of Woody Allen.

O meu nutricionista

Uma amiga chamou-me a atenção para um artigo do meu nutricionista, Dr. Júlio de Castro Soares, publicado na revista Men´s Health.

Ali, mais destinadas a atletas, as recomendações da dieta são bastante diferentes daquelas que me deu, quando o consultei pela primeira vez, há cerca de um ano. No entanto e por esta leitura, nota-se que mantém a mesma atitude geral daquela que tive então a oportunidade de registar agradavelmente. 

Aconselha uma alimentação saudável, tendo em conta o tipo de pessoa a quem se destina. Comigo, não fez advertências ou pretendeu impor exigências, daqueles tipos que provocam mal-estar connosco próprias. 

Ao contrário, sublinhou que comer importa para o nosso bem-estar, pode continuar a ser um prazer, mesmo com preocupações de equilíbrio. Portanto, mostrou-me ser possível encontrar uma dieta, na qual acontecem aqueles três ingredientes, prazer, bem-estar e equilíbrio. 

https://www.facebook.com/nutricionistajuliodecastrosoares   

   

Rota Vicentina in The Sunday Times

Gavin Brett published an article about Rota Vicentina, in which he highlights the “wild Alentejo” that he discovered while walking through the region, in May.

Read more

 Zambujeira do Mar beach

My favourite place to stay: Monte das Pedras Pardas

The perfect spot to spend Earth Day. 

Mandela Day

July 18 is Mandela Day, a day that recognizes South African activist and former president Nelson Mandela's birthday.

Nelson Mandela is spending his 95th birthday in hospital in Pretoria, as events take place around the world and in South Africa in his honour.

NELSON MANDELA (in Portuguese)

Statement by President Obama on Nelson Mandela International Day 

Badwater Ultramarathon

The Badwater Ultramarathon is a 135-mile race across Death Valley, California, the hottest place on Earth, starting at 86 m below sea level in the Badwater Basin, and ending at an elevation of 2548 m at Whitney Portal. It takes place annually in mid-July, when temperatures over 49 °C even in the shade are not uncommon. On Monday, July 15, 2013, 96 competitors from 25 countries began the race.

The Portuguese runner Carlos Alberto Gomes de Sa, from Barcelos, has won the 2013 Badwater Ultramarathon, with a time of 24 hours, 38 minutes and 16 seconds, according to the race's official website.

Panda twins born at Zoo Atlanta

Lun Lun

Lun Lun, a 15-year-old giant panda, gave birth to twins at Zoo Atlanta on Monday, July 15, 2013. The first of the tiny duo arrived at 6:21 p.m., and its twin followed at 6:23 p.m. The last panda twins born in U.S. were in 1987, zoo says. The cubs will go on public display in late fall.

The twins

http://www.zooatlanta.org/home/article_content/giant_panda_twins

A Physics Class Story

Miss Rogers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she was explaining to one of her classes about sound, and then decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them, “Now, I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone, and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from across the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you-and for what reason?”

The smartest student at once answered, “Your brother, Miss Rogers, because electricity travels faster than sound waves.”

“That´s very good”, Miss Rogers answered, but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Rogers said, “Yes, Debbie?” “ I disagree”, Debbie said. “Your brother would hear you earlier because when it´s eleven o´clock here it´s only eight o´clock in Los Angeles”.



Hill, L.A. Intermediate Anecdotes in American English. Oxford University Press, 1980.

A funny story about exams

A teacher was asking a student a lot of questions but the student couldn´t answer any of them. The teacher then decided to ask him some very easy questions so that he could get a few right.

“What was Bunker Hill?” she said

The student thought for some time and then answered “An airport?”

“No, it was a battle” the teacher said. She was getting a little angry now, but she was trying not to show it. Then she asked, “Who was the first President of the United States?”

The student thought for a long time, but didn´t say anything. Then the teacher got very angry and shouted, “George Washington!” The student got up and began to walk towards his seat.

“Come back!” the teacher said. “I didn´t tell you to go.”

“Oh, I´m sorry”, the student said. “I thought you called the next student”.

Hill, L.A. Intermediate Anecdotes in American English. Oxford University Press, 1980

The Cuckoo’s Calling

J. K. Rowling, whose Harry Potter novels made her one of the world's best-selling authors, published a new novel in April and kept it a secret.

She wrote "The Cuckoo’s Calling" as Robert Galbraith. Her book earned good reviews.

Read more