Politics and Painted Breasts
I ❤️ Carnaval in Portugal...
Last year we went to Madeira to celebrate Carnaval.1 This year we stayed closer to home, instead spending a day (3 March) in the town rated by most as having the best Algarve parade.
It Began a Few Days Earlier
In Vila Real de Santo António, our holiday celebrations started a few days earlier with the children’s parade on 28 February. Nearly everyone was in costume and marched from the elementary school to the praça (town square). Streamers and confetti littered the streets and music and comedians entertained the children for hours.
Of course, we had music in the praça each evening and an occasional unofficial parade. One such spontaneous celebration occurred about 18:00 Sunday when a bed carrying a “patient,” a few nurses, a few beer mugs, and military officers descended on the new specialty beer bar in town. Comfortable in their male skin, these cross-dressing men alternated between taunting us with a large ceramic phallus and hoisting their children into their arms. A newcomer at our table found this behavior “interesting” … after 4 years in Portugal it was just another night in VRSA.
Carnaval de Loulé
This year, was Loulé’s 119th consecutive year of Carnaval celebrations, making it the oldest continuous pre-Lenten party in Portugal. With 15 floats, and over 500 entertainers, this year delivered on its theme “Carnaval is not boring!”
Water conservation in Algarve was the theme for his year’s floats.2 But not everyone followed the theme…
But the float that got the most reaction was this one.
If You Go Next Year
The parade is scheduled each year on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday from 15:00 to 17:00. We got to Loulé at 12:30 and luckily found a parking space on a nearby residential street. We had lunch, walking to the ticket booth at 14:00 to purchase €2 parade tickets. Our mistake was getting in line to enter the parade route at 14:45. After waiting in line for 15 minutes, that entry was closed and we were directed to another. As we were again at the end of the line, that parade entrance was closed before we could enter. We entered the parade area on our fourth attempt and found excellent spots to view the festivities. Fortunately, the full parade circles the parade route on Avenida José da Costa Mealha twice … so we didn’t miss anything. But my advice … get in line to enter the parade area early. There are some bleachers … but I have no idea how early you need to enter to score a seat.
Até à próxima vez, fica bem…
Nanc
Some Friendly Advice: If you are an American, or care about America, and know little or nothing about cryptocurrency … may I suggest you do some research. Frankly, in 2009 I tried to read up on cryptocurrencies … but it made my head hurt. I decided not to waste my precious brain cells trying to understand blockchain, mining, etc … I stuck my head in the sand. But the latest variation, known as meme coins, is enriching the current president, and enabling shadowy (untraceable) figures to buy favor with him. (And it should come as no surprise that some bribe him in full view of the public.) Now an Executive Order to create a digital Fort Knox … what could go wrong?
And a friendly reminder: Most of the US turned their clocks forward on 9 March at 02:00. Portugal clocks will not move forward until 30 March at 01:00. Ergo, rather than NYC being 5 hours behind, it will be 4 hours behind for a few weeks.
To learn more about the history of Carnaval in Europe, read this post.
Wish we were there with you and not here with him. So many thoughts racing through my mind. How does it feel to have the distance from your home and see what we are all seeing? It seems a foolish question, but what do the local people think of US? Apart from the obvious, what do they see that we don't see? What does their history teach them, that we might learn? (Thank you for sharing your fun. You brighten my dark horizons. Keep it coming, please...)
Great coverage of Loule floats! As an aside, there's a reason for the word "cry" in crypto currency. Stay well and keep writing.