Last Saturday we went out to the small town of Golega about 100 km north of Lisbon with two Portuguese friends, to a horse fair.Maria and Aurea picked us up at after 4 pm and I thought to myself that’s a bit late in the day to be going to a fair. In fact we had no idea what to expect – thought it might be a bit of showjumping, a horse race or two, and a lot of trading going on. As it turned out, it was a huge social occasion with the small town packed out, and riders on horseback dangerously mixing with pedestrians through the narrow streets, and everyone intent on seeing and being seen. The actual event was St Martin's Day which falls on November 11th, and is a kind of harvest celebration, with lots of drinking of "agua-pe" (literally "foot water") the early wine produced just after the gapes have been harvested. Maria was brilliant at explaining all the features of the festival, and it was so good being with Portuguese friends at this.
If you’re looking for an Irish equivalent, think Puck Fair in Killorglin, but minus the goat, and with, in many cases, a more elevated social class. What struck us was the “royal” boxes that were set out around the central square of the town for the families of the horse owners who were obviously well to do aristocrats, (and you’d have to be when some of the grand looking Lusitanian horses strutting around would fetch some €600,000) dressed in traditional costumes and hats.
If you’re looking for an Irish equivalent, think Puck Fair in Killorglin, but minus the goat, and with, in many cases, a more elevated social class. What struck us was the “royal” boxes that were set out around the central square of the town for the families of the horse owners who were obviously well to do aristocrats, (and you’d have to be when some of the grand looking Lusitanian horses strutting around would fetch some €600,000) dressed in traditional costumes and hats.
Apart from the crowd-mingling, people-watching, hot-chestnut-eating (a central part of the evening) we also got to see some pretty fancy footwork with dancing horses and the evening ended (or at least our participation in it did) with a fado performance and we left about half past midnight. The dark night, the musicians, the dust, the constant canter and snorting of the horses, the noise, the laughter, the arguments – it was an amazing, rich, earthy experience to add to our understanding of the Portuguese culture. We got home at 2am, and were teased later for adapting too well to the Portuguese hours.
Anna and Aurea chilling out
The ornate stirrups indicate a Spanish rider
Roasting chestnuts. Mmmmm!
1 comment:
Olá !
That stirrups are indicate to portuguese bullfight or working with cows , are not so elegant as the other ones .
Spanish stirrups are different .
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