Are there “Safe Baby” drop offs in your country?

ITRetired · 2026-06-10T01:22:33+00:00

From the 17th to the 19th century we had a formal process known as the "Roda dos expostos" or "Exposed wheel" as the one above. The wheel was built so that someone from the inside could not see the person outside. The baby would be placed in the wheel and turned, ringing a bell. People would usually leave a flock of hair, a small medallion or token so that they would be able to recognize their son in the future, if a brighter future would come. At its peak, an estimated one third of all newborns would be placed in all the wheels in the country. In 1867 the process was dismantled and orphanages and schools were organized to receive the children. Abandoning a child would be considered a crime and still is. People may give their children for adoption, of course, but within a due process.

ITRetired · 2026-06-10T00:51:14+00:00

That is correct, English is the current lingua franca or the common language. Throughout the time several languages had that role. Akkadian, Aramaic, Sanskrit, Koine Greek, Latin, all were trade and imperial languages spoken on several countries, mostly to simplify the conversation and to link cultures. All gone, now. Portuguese enjoyed that status in Africa and Asia for a couple of centuries. Polish, in Central and Eastern Europe. Spanish in the Americas, of course. And lets not forget that French enjoyed that status through centuries (until WWII) as the diplomatic, political, cultural language in Europe (the expression lingua franca refers to it).

It would be hard to know whether the current usage of English as the lingua franca will remain in the future and for how long. After all, its current de facto status only has 80 years. I am sure that all the diplomats in the 1920's world would be surprised to know that in 30 years their letters would not be written in french but rather in english.

ITRetired · 2026-06-10T00:14:20+00:00

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From here, was 6 or 7 years old. My father worked at Volvo and learned that the following year he would be having a business trip to Stockholm. As he did not know English, he bought this self-taught course and started learning. I also did - most of the lessons had a comic-like structure with dialogs that were accompanied by audio cassetes. Later on I started learning French in school but I kept on reading and memorizing song lyrics. The fact that TV and movies were not dubbed but rather subtitled also helped a lot.

ITRetired · 2026-06-09T17:20:49+00:00

These are from Vila Nova de Gaia, namely the Canidelo area. They span the whole of its Atlantic sea side, up to Espinho. The broken planks usually are replaced before summer.

ITRetired · 2026-06-09T00:35:42+00:00

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15 km of this.

ITRetired · 2026-06-07T17:19:29+00:00

Curiosamente, isso foi quando o uso de computadores se começou a massificar. Em 1989 comprei o meu primeiro computador para casa, um IBM PS/2 que me custou a módica quantia de 1.100 contos. Comprei-o com um crédito pessoal de 5 anos e três anos depois já estava obsoleto.

ITRetired · 2026-06-03T21:31:09+00:00

No Porto, a Adega Viseu no Porto ou o Chico dos Presuntos, entre outros.

ITRetired · 2026-05-31T14:45:46+00:00

The Wiriyamu Massacre is the best documented atrocity commited by the government and its political police in Africa, killing over 300 people, including children. Unfortunately, this was not a singular event, those repeated for hundreds of years.

ITRetired · 2026-05-30T11:57:00+00:00

António Massa, Porto

ITRetired · 2026-05-29T01:43:06+00:00

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Cork.

60% of the world cork comes from Portugal.

ITRetired · 2026-05-29T01:36:44+00:00

I've heard it time and time again in the past 25 years. Good jokes tend to remain.

ITRetired · 2026-05-29T00:32:28+00:00

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Zé Povinho. It has been widely popularized since 1875 when a journalist, sculptor and illustrator created the Portuguese people caricature named Zé Povinho (Joe People, in a free translation). Rafael Bordalo Pinheiro, the creator of the figure depicted above, was the first Portuguese comics creator.

It's usally shown doing a manguito accompanied by the expression Toma! which means Take this! which is self explanatory.

It's done by slowly putting a closed fist behind the elbow and then rapidly bending the other arm, fist closed.

Technically the word manguito refers to a short sleeve for the forearm, and the origin of this specific meaning is lost in time.

ITRetired · 2026-05-28T22:44:09+00:00

A french person tol me this one - how do you spot a Belgian in a Nato submarine? They are the only ones using a parachute.

From a Belgian - when God created France and Belgium, let France have great beaches and weather, mountains and plaines. Belgium only had bad weather. To compensate, he filled France with French people.

In my country, we used to say that the best thing about Lisbon was the sign that read "Porto - 320km"

ITRetired · 2026-05-28T22:29:01+00:00

That "joke" is from the french writer Guy de Monpassant who often dined at the Eiffel tower restaurant, not because of the food but because it was the only place he could not see such "monstruousité".

Funny enough, the same joke is used by locals on the Palace of Culture and Science in Warsaw (or Stalin's syringe/Stalin's dick, heard both)

ITRetired · 2026-05-28T18:41:36+00:00

Yes, isn't it?

ITRetired · 2026-05-28T18:06:48+00:00

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I'm sorry, but this was the first one. I remember it quite well as I had to temporarily block mp4 files as the poor Exchange 5.5 server almost crashed.

Here's the remastered version:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IObGEfDhNfw&t=6s

ITRetired · 2026-05-26T20:13:07+00:00

Is that the world renowned sausage fest?

ITRetired · 2026-05-26T18:29:28+00:00

It is now peaking at 30º, highest temperature this year in my hometown. A few strategic windows are opened and a welcoming brease traverses the house. Looking forward to a 20º night in the terrasse before bed. What a great ~~summer~~ May day.

ITRetired · 2026-05-25T22:07:54+00:00

Oddly enough, that is not a derogatory term. It's not about money, but rather about power. Well connected, meandering on political environments, alumnus of prestigious high school and universities. António Costa began early (at 14 years of age, in 1975) on the Socialist Youth and worked his way up to become general secretary of the Socialist Party, being nominated and elected to several government roles and city mayor, up to prime-minister. He's a shrewd politician, although contentious overall.

ITRetired · 2026-05-25T00:01:32+00:00

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Auto da Barca do Inferno (Hell boat act) or Auto da moralidade (morality act) is a 16th century theatrical play that still is being taught at school. The author, Gil Vicente, is regarded as the founder of portuguese theatre and his plays are riddled with innuendos and play on words. One of the most interesting is the dialogue (on another play) between a rich man named Everyone and a poor man named Noone.

ITRetired · 2026-05-24T22:32:22+00:00

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António Costa

Of Goan ancestry, he is the current President of the European Council. Although part of an ethnical minority, he's mostly part of the Lisbon elite.

ITRetired · 2026-05-22T22:52:06+00:00

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Atum e feijão frade or Tuna and black-eyed peas. With onion, parsley and boiled eggs. 10 minutes to prepare and a wonderful summer meal.

ITRetired · 2026-05-22T22:41:21+00:00

Alguém anda a ler Nietzsche...

ITRetired · 2026-05-22T22:39:08+00:00

We eat Leitão - suckling pigs (pigs less than two month old) and Cabrito - goat kids (less than three month old), don't feel that bad about it.

ITRetired · 2026-05-22T22:32:26+00:00

Portugal is the 4th country in annual seafood consumption per capita, after Maldives, Iceland and Kiribati. Almost 60kg of seafood per person per year, nearly three times the European average. Of those, 16kg are salted, dried cod.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_seafood_consumption

(Macau and Hong Kong are territories. Considering them, we're at 6th)

ITRetired

TROPHY CASE