Contrast offers intense and sharp experiences. In Sofia’s Place you breath the local community spirit and culture in a sophisticated and cosmopolitan accommodation, in the heart of one of the most exclusive, dreamy and romantic places around. As Jardim do Mar itself, Sofia's Place offers the local and the universal, the unique and the diverse, the rural environment and the urbane comfort. Sofia was born in the pitoresque village. And as roots are kept intact, Jardim do Mar became more cosmopolitan as it attracted artists (writers, poets, painters), surfers and nature and tranquility lovers from all over.
Saturday, 2 August 2014
Ricardo Ribeiro
Ricardo Ribeiro is one of the best and most appreciated Fado singers in Portugal and abroad. We have seen him live and it was a moving experience. Largo da Memória is his most recent album. Listen to some songs/videos like "Destino Marcado" (Fate is set) or "Entrega" (Surrender).
Ricardo Ribeiro is the singer in the album Em Português by great world music name Rabih Abou-Khalil. Please, see them playing live "Casa da Mariquinhas" (House of Mariquinhas).
Other fadistas (fado singers) we love besides Ricardo Ribeiro: the younger generation Gisela João, Camané, Carminho, Ana Moura, Mariza, Aldina Duarte, and the older generation Amália, the Fado greatest, Carlos do Carmo, Alfredo Marceneiro, Lucília do Carmo, Argentina Santos.
And always remembering Carlos Paredes, the Portuguese guitar genius (american label Drag City prints/sells two albuns): Verdes Anos, Canto do Amanhecer, Variações de Artur Paredes.
If Portugal has a sound, it is the sound of Canto de Rua (Street Song) a composition by Carlos Paredes. Two other versions: one in Gisela João's debut album (Canto de Rua) played by Ricardo Parreira, and another played by Rafael Fraga (Canto de Rua).
Related info:
FADO, THE URBAN SONG OF LISBON
FADO PART OF THE INTANGIBLE CULTURAL HERITAGE OF HUMANITY
SOFIA'S PLACE MUSIC EXPERIENCE - A SOULFUL SELECTION
FADO FILM SELECTION IN SOFIA'S PLACE
SOFIA'S PLACE AUDITORIUM
More information on Fado:
www.museudofado.pt
www.portaldofado.net
www.unesco.org (here)
David Byrne (musician and producer) on Amália's music: "she expresses the sadness of the Universe and existence"
Tuesday, 8 July 2014
Guest message 47
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| June 2014 |
Key words & ideas:
"Nice home: it was more than expected"; "We really felt like home"; "You live in a magnificent Island."
Please, click on the image for better reading
Thursday, 19 June 2014
Guest message 46
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| June 2014 |
Key words & ideas:
"We had wonderful holiday"; "The nice colours will inspire us to decorate our own house"; "We will never forget the nice stay here in Jardim do Mar."
Please, click on the image for better reading
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Guest message 45
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| May 2014 |
Key words & ideas:
"Thank you for your wonderful house, well located and equiped"; "We had such a good time walking in the levadas and driving to the West and North Coast."
Please, click on the image for better reading
Wednesday, 14 May 2014
Guest message 44
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| May 2014 |
Key words & ideas:
"We had the opportunity to rest in this beautiful house, which is spacious and colourful. It's the HOLIDAY HOUSE everyone should have." Pleasure and tranquility that make each a happy day."
Please, click on the image for better reading
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
Guest message 43
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| April 2014 |
Key words & ideas:
"We've spent a wonderful week in Jardim do Mar"; "The house is very well decorated and there all the details that make you feel at home"; "Jardim do Mar is a superb village with a good atmosphere."
Please, click on the image for better reading
Thursday, 30 January 2014
Guest message 42
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| January 2014 |
Key words & ideas:
"You have a very, very nice house!"; "Madeira is a wonderful Island."
Please, click on the image for better reading
Saturday, 18 January 2014
Carnival of Madeira 2014: programme
This year the Carnival events will take place between February 25 and March 5, 2014.
The Carnival of Madeira (Carnaval in Portuguese) is an annual festival held forty days before Easter, that ends on Shrove Tuesday (called Fat Tuesday in Madeira - Terça-feira Gorda in Portuguese) the day before Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent).
Here is the programme.
Street Events:
From the Wednesday before Carnival allow yourself to be captivated by the magic of Carnival in Funchal city centre, especially the central walkway of Avenida Arriaga, which becomes the focus for numerous street events including carnival music, performances, pageants and events of various kinds that contribute to rousing the carnival spirit in tourists and residents alike.
Children's Carnival:
The morning of the Friday before Carnival is given over to children. A thousand of so young carnival goers from various schools and kindergartens in Funchal, all in costume, parade through the city centre (Avenida Arriaga), where they are entertained with carnival fun.
Solidarity Carnival:
On the afternoon of the Friday before Carnival, the city centre is again the scene of another highly original and creative event. With an energy that sweeps everybody along with it, hundreds of carnival goers from the Funchal Community Development Association parade along Avenida Arriaga to the Municipal Gardens, where they perform a show in which they are the leading players.
Parade of Floats:
On Saturday night the centre of Funchal is thronged with thousands of tourists and residents who come to watch the parade of floats, one of the major attractions of the Madeira Carnival. Over a thousand participants spread between ten groups and a dozen floats parade to the sound of carnival music, all of them choreographed and rehearsed beforehand and dressed in eye-catching costumes, radiating an unbeatable enthusiasm that gets everyone going.
"Trapalhão" Parade:
On the Tuesday of Carnival everyone is free to display their originality. Carnival goers come out spontaneously onto the streets in fancy dress, mostly grotesque or caricatured, to take part individually or in groups in a typically Madeiran informal parade in which humour and social satire about regional, national or international events form the inspiration for the throngs of participants.
--
More info:
History and traditions of Carnival in Madeira
Carnival of Madeira
The Carnival of Madeira (Carnaval in Portuguese) is an annual festival held forty days before Easter, that ends on Shrove Tuesday (called Fat Tuesday in Madeira - Terça-feira Gorda in Portuguese) the day before Ash Wednesday (first day of Lent).
Here is the programme.
Street Events:
From the Wednesday before Carnival allow yourself to be captivated by the magic of Carnival in Funchal city centre, especially the central walkway of Avenida Arriaga, which becomes the focus for numerous street events including carnival music, performances, pageants and events of various kinds that contribute to rousing the carnival spirit in tourists and residents alike.
Children's Carnival:
The morning of the Friday before Carnival is given over to children. A thousand of so young carnival goers from various schools and kindergartens in Funchal, all in costume, parade through the city centre (Avenida Arriaga), where they are entertained with carnival fun.
Solidarity Carnival:
On the afternoon of the Friday before Carnival, the city centre is again the scene of another highly original and creative event. With an energy that sweeps everybody along with it, hundreds of carnival goers from the Funchal Community Development Association parade along Avenida Arriaga to the Municipal Gardens, where they perform a show in which they are the leading players.
Parade of Floats:
On Saturday night the centre of Funchal is thronged with thousands of tourists and residents who come to watch the parade of floats, one of the major attractions of the Madeira Carnival. Over a thousand participants spread between ten groups and a dozen floats parade to the sound of carnival music, all of them choreographed and rehearsed beforehand and dressed in eye-catching costumes, radiating an unbeatable enthusiasm that gets everyone going.
"Trapalhão" Parade:
On the Tuesday of Carnival everyone is free to display their originality. Carnival goers come out spontaneously onto the streets in fancy dress, mostly grotesque or caricatured, to take part individually or in groups in a typically Madeiran informal parade in which humour and social satire about regional, national or international events form the inspiration for the throngs of participants.
--
More info:
History and traditions of Carnival in Madeira
Carnival of Madeira
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