Glimpses of Colorful Portugal is a travelogue film (likely from the 1950s) narrated by Peter Allen and gives viewers a brief tour of the country. The film opens with a shot of a beach on the rocky Iberian Peninsula coast. People depart a passenger plane at the international airport in Lisbon (00:50). Highlights of the capital city include the Praca Do Comercio and the narrow streets of the Alfama district. There is a good shot of the harbor at the estuary of Tagus River (01:23). Fish wives sell fish near the docks. Women carry large baskets of fish on their heads. Viewers see the Palacio da Pena (02:10), then the Douro River and the city of Porto. The next stop is Guimaraes with its ancient castle (03:03). In the Algarve region, people perform a traditional dance. Windmills dot the country’s farmland. A man leads two oxen as they pull a plow. In rice paddies, women harvest the grain. Farmers use the river to transport wheat on boats to market (04:52). Farmers drive a cart in their finest clothes on Sunday as they head to a bull fight. Viewers see a Portuguese bullfight with the caballero and then the matador taking on a bull (05:28). Next, the film shows the mountain village of Monsanto. A Portuguese craftsman uses clay to make a rooster (06:28). He paints and sands the work. In a workshop in Lisbon, a man spins a pottery wheel as he shapes a vase. Women paint the pottery in another room of the workshop. The film features some finished metalcrafts made of gold and silver (07:47). Viewers then see a government school at Vila do Conde where young girls learn the art of lace making. Nuns of the Good Shepherd order teach girls to weave rugs. Women cut reeds that will be used to make baskets. A man weaves a basket with the reeds (09:20). A man makes an embroidered linen. Young women stitch linens. The film then goes to Fatima (10:20), and viewers see people driving their mule-drawn carts to the Sanctuary of Fatima. Men and women make the pilgrimage, and footage shows the ceremony of the shrine, which is celebrated on 13 May and 13 October of each year. People crowd the square in front of the chapel. The image of the Lady of Fatima is brought outside. Portuguese fishermen fish next to rocks, fishing for sardines or cod (11:33). Fishermen from Nazare repair nets on the beach. The film shows several shots of the day’s catch. The film concludes with men and women dancing in the town square of Nazare. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: "01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference."
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