London 2012 - Olympic Games

Thursday 31 May 2012

Pastel de Belém

Monday 28 May 2012

         Pastel de Nata or Pastel de Belém is probably the most important typical dessert of Portugal. You can have it in almost every Portuguese bakery, but the original recipe is from before the 18th century and nowadays is only known by some employees of Fábrica dos Pastéis de Belém that work in Oficina do Segredo. 
          It is believed that the Pastel de Nata was invented by Catholic monks during the medieval times in Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. This tells us a lot about the Pastel de Nata. In the monasteries the production of eggs was made in large quantities but only the egg-whites were used, therefore it is very common to verify a huge amount of egg yolks in the Portuguese pastry. The Pastel de Nata is not an exception.
        Later the production of Pastéis de Belém was transferred to Fábrica dos Pastéis de Belém. This bakery is located in Lisbon, near Mosteiro dos Jerónimos where the Pastel de Nata was created. Since 1837, locals and visitors have visited the bakery to buy Pastéis de Belém that are often supplemented with cinnamon and powdered sugar.
        Researchers from Italy prepared a report which concluded that the recipe of Pastéis de Belém probably included "potato flakes" similar to those used to make mashed potatoes. The publication of this report was stopped by Oficina do Segredo and the recipe of the Pastel de Belém remanined a secret, and that’s what makes this dessert so special.
        Pastel de Belém is very important for the Portuguese identity and in 2011 was elected by the Portuguese people as one of the 7 Maravilhas da Gastronomia. It is the flavour that represents our country in the whole world in the matter of pastry, being the Fábrica dos Pastéis de Belém a mandatory place for tourists to visit.

Diana Barros

Tim Burton - Originality and lots of imagination!

Wednesday 23 May 2012

 Hey there everyone! Has been a while, right? Well today I’m going to speak about one of my favorite artists, the one and only, Tim Burton.  He is an American director and he also draws. Born in 1958 and well known by his originality he began with the movie “The Nightmare Before Christmas” in 1993, which is a great movie by the way! Before that he won a collegeship and he studied in the Institution of Arts in California. After that he worked at Disney where he wrote and filmed “Vincent”.

Today Tim Burton is known worldwide and his trademark is really easy to recognize: dolls with extremely long bodies, strange faces, fantastic characters and lots and lots of imagination. After Nightmare Before Christmas many movies came.  I believe my favorites are Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (which is based on a short story from the writer who wrote “our short story”), The Corpse Bride is also awesome, just like Edward Scissor Hands! Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is epic and we can’t forget Alice in the Wonderland! Now we can see on theaters Black Shadows, and I can't wait for the opportunity to watch it!

In many of his movies Tim Burton works with Johnny Depp (who is actually my favorite actor) and with Helena Bonham Carter (Bellatrix Lestrange in the Harry Potter saga and also his wife). So much talent leads to awesome, amazing, unforgettable movies! If you have never seen any movie from Tim Burton you really should! Summer is close so we are going to have lots of time for that!

Maybe next time I will write about Scorsese or Star Wars, with Summer coming good movies are always needed! I leave you now with the trailer of Black Shadows and others. Oh and you can also check the official website (really interesting) : http://timburton.com/

Inês Ribas 

Stephen Merchant

Monday 7 May 2012

Today I will talk to you about one of my favourite British comediants. 


His name is Stephen Merchant. Born in 24th November of 1974, in Bristol, England, he is a british comediant. Best know for writting, in collaboration with Ricky Gervais, the british version of a worldwide know sitcom, The Office .

Recently, he voice-acted for Wheatley, a humorous robotic sphere, one of the main characters of the blockbuster videogame Portal 2. With this work as a character in a video game, Stephen earned a lot of new fans that until then, didn't know him.

Wheatley, the character whose voice is performed by Stephen Merchant.

Right now, Merchant is touring both UK and USA with is new stand-up comedy show "Hello Ladies"

Overall, he is a very funny man, whose work is recognised by both press and public and I recomend you all to check out his awesome work.

I'll leave you now with a part of his new stand-up comedy show. Enjoy:

Fábio Freitas

Dublin Castle

Thursday 3 May 2012

Dublin Castle is located in Dame Street, Dublin, Ireland. During the XIII century a wall was built around Dublin and in the next seven centuries the principal part of the wall, Dublin Castle, was developed and became a symbol of the English domination. Nowadays there aren’t any traces of the original structure except for the Record Tower.

Through the years this castle fulfilled different roles. Originally it was a defensive fortification but later became the royal residence. It also was used as a court.

The Throne Room is a very important room of the Castle. It was built in 1740 and contains a huge throne that was built in 1821. This Throne was built to George IV especially because he weighted 111Kg. Queen Elizabeth II was the first queen to officially visit the Republic of Ireland, it happened in May 2011. She was the first monarch to enter in Dublin Castle and not use the throne.
St Patrick’s Hall is the largest room of the castle and contains one of the most important decorative interiors in Ireland. It is one of the oldest rooms in the castle, dating from the 1740s.  The most significant painted ceiling in Ireland executed by Vincenzo Valdre is painted in the ceiling of this room. It is composed of three panels, the ceiling depicts the coronation of King George III, Saint Patrick introducing Christianity to Ireland, and King Henry II receiving the submission of the Irish Chieftains.

Beside the Castle is located the chapel royal, a gothic revival building designed by Francis Johnston. This church nowadays is not used and it’s only preserved in order to be visited by tourists.

Dublin castle in these days is used for hosting official government visits and it is opened to the public.

  Diana Barros

Giant’s Causeway

   The Giant's Causeway located in the town of Bushmills in Northern Ireland is an area of about 40000 basalt columns. It is the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. Some 50 to 60 million years ago, during the Paleogene period the intense volcanic activity cause an extensive lava plateau. As the lava cooled rapidly, contraction occurred which led to the formation of hexagonal columns, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides. The tallest are about 12m high. The tops of the columns form a 3Km extension of stepping stones.
   The name of this natural wonder is explained by a legend. According to a legend the Irish warrior Fionn created a bridge to Scotland because he was challenged to fight a giant. Fionn turned out to know that his opponent was much larger than him. Fionn’s wife came up with the idea to dress Fionn like a baby. When the giant came to Fionn's house, Fionn's wife told him that Fionn was out and showed him her baby. The opponent saw the baby thinking how huge Fionn would be. He ran back to Scotland and parts of the causeway sank into the waters below.
   The discovery of the causeway hasbeen attributed to the Bishop of Londonderry. In 1694, at Trinity College, Dublin, Sir Richard Bukeley, presented a paper to the Royal Society which outlined this 'amazing' discovery' and so initiated the debate on how it was formed.
   The Giant’s Causeway was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. It was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The Giant's Causeway is nowadays owned and managed by the National Trust and it is the most popular tourist attraction in Northern Ireland.
   This natural wonder was featured in Led Zeppelin’s album Houses of the Holy. There is a similar stricter in Santa Maria, the Azores.

Diana Barros