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Showing posts from September, 2012

Music to my ears

The majority of village Festas (local festivals) focus around a lot of very poor music, from local accordion players thrashing out the classics, to middle aged men singing ‘party hits’ with scantily clad girl backing singers doing a few basic Wigfield Saturday Night moves. The normal Festa entertainment on offer The Candal Festa of Music was billed as something quite different, with   real music from Fado to a Portuguese Irish band (!).   Set in the mountain-top xisto   (pronounced shhisto) village of Candal   - now home to just a few full time residents, but home to some of the best holiday homes you’ve ever seen, the setting could not have been more beautiful.   Set into the hillside = lots of steps   In true Portuguese style we missed the first act but climbed up the village (set into the hillside would be a better description) to watch a Coimbra guitarist playing some melancholy Fado music while we perched on the steps in the afternoon sun.      I was