Fifteen Seconds of Fame

Portugal v Turkey

Andy Warhol said once that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes.
Well Anna had her 15 seconds of fame Saturday last night outside the Irish Pub down on the river front of Parques das Nações where we live.

It was approaching half time in the opening match of Euro 2008, and Portugal were playing Turkey and it was still a goalless draw. We were watching on the big screen with our friend Maria, and there was a TV camera there doing some shots of the supporters watching the match. As the whistle blew for half time, all of a sudden the TV presenter swung round to her and asked what she thought of the match so far. In moments like those you hardly know what to say, especially when you’re being asked in Portuguese. "Apparently I said that I loved Portugal, and that the atmosphere along the waterfront was brilliant. So I hope I got it right!! You can see for yourself if you follow the link below (you have to cut and paste into your browser to watch it). My bit comes about 5 mins into the news bulletin" (1).

And the atmosphere was really good. It helped that Portugal won 2:0, and even though there was plenty of alcohol flowing, somehow there wasn’t that belligerent intimidating atmosphere you often get with crowds of football supporters. It was fun to be out that evening. There's been a lot of negative news about, and most people are struggling financially, with the economy the way it is. So the huge interest in Portugal's fortunes as the Championship progresses is a way of thinking positively and taking your mind of your situation

June marks the beginning of the festive season here in Lisbon. Portugal Day happens tomorrow, 10th June. But St Anthony’s festival happening on 12^th and 13^th here in Lisbon is the BIG ONE. The city centre will be packed, we’re told, on the evening of the 12th. On our way back from watching the match, we bumped into St Anthony’s Day marchers which was very interesting. Every district of the city spends the whole year previous designing costumes for the grand parade through the city. Men, girls, little children - they all get involved. And the costumes and designs are all judged in a contest to see whose display is the best. That was what was happening on Saturday evening at 11pm, when we met the marchers from Alcantara District.

(1) http://sic.aeiou.pt/online/scripts/2007/videopopup2008.aspx?videoId={155D0A81-2B7B-4B6F-82C0-B07428291B68}