Portugal Local Custom Tips by salinhopt

Local costumes

Nearly all Portuguese districs have a tradicional costume. In my opinion, Minho costume and Madeira costume are the most beautifull and colourfull. Lovelly

Porto wine

For almost two millennia, a unique viticultural landscape rose on the schistous hillsides along the Douro River valley and that has produced an exceptional wine. More than a gift of Nature, Port Wine is at heart the expression of this history, a collective cultural heritage of work and experience, know-how and art, that has built up from generation to generation. Port Wine was, and is, a key product for the national economy and even more, a symbolic asset that represents Portugal throughout the world.

Fado

Fado began as a howl out of the dives and houses of ill repute along the Lisbon waterfront. The lyrics dwell on themes of longing, sadness and fatalism, to a wistful accompaniment made up of guitars and woodwinds. Melodically, Fado draws on Arabic, African and Iberian influences. The Cape Verdean Morna style made famous by Cesaria Evora is a close cousin.

"I don't sing fado. It sings in me,'' Amalia has said. Known to her fans by her first name, Amalia had a creamy mezzo-soprano that expressed every possible reaction to bad luck and disappointment, from outrage to world-weary resignation.