Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Portugal: The Best Destination -- in Diogo's Own Words

In learning more about Diogo, one automatically learns more and more about his native homeland of Portugal as well. And I am sure I am not the only one who has become completely enthralled by this country's culture, beauty, and people. 

To that end, many of you may have seen "Eu sou Portugal" ("I am Portugal"), a truly majestic film Diogo made in the summer of 2012 for "Portugal: Melhor Destino" ("Portugal: The Best Destination").  

But as one of several "appointed Ambassadors of Portugal" for this project, Diogo also gave his own "testimony" in his own words, as to why Portugal is the best destination.  

Our amazing friend @MsLiliana, another proud Portugal native, kindly provided a translation of Diogo's passionate words about his country, which you can find right below the clip:


 (video courtesy of OMelhorDestino YouTube Channel)

Diogo Morgado: "Portugal the best destination. 

The best destination, why?  We have to win a new pride about being Portuguese. We have all he best, the best people, the best food, the best weather.  We have to value what is ours. 

With this campaign, we are going to make known a new Portugal.  A Portugal with a different way of seeing, unlike we are used to, and also make the world change the way we are seen. 


We have people taking pictures of Portugal. Pictures of everything, not only the landscapes... the food, the persons, a detail, a doorbell, a lamp, a fountain, why not?  We are going to show that Portugal is a different country. We have it all. 

We are cosmopolitans, maintain our traditions, our untouchable costumes, and we have amazing weather. We have these reasons and a few more to be proud of what we have. 

Every time I come back to Portugal – when I have to be absent for some reason – all the times I have the spirit of Saudade* and warm feelings of being at home, at such a good and competent country.  

We are at the tip of Europe, as it was said before, 9 hours to one side, we are in New York, 9 hours to the other side and we are deep in Asia.  We are privileged for many reasons, but mainly for the people. 

And with this campaign, what we intend, is that each one of us looks at himself, with pride and can say: I am proud to be Portuguese!"

(*Saudade is a Portuguese word that has no direct translation in English. It describes a deep emotional state of nostalgic longing.)

__________

Thank you again to @MsLiliana for another translation, and for being our very own ambassador to Portugal. I am ready to go visit now!  Obrigada!

--Sara


17 comments:

  1. Thank you for this Sara and Liliana. I love seeing Diogo speaking from the heart in his first language. He is so proud, and it shows. I am loving learning about a country I admit I know little about prior to Diogo. Thank you for helping me with that "education."

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  2. Portugal is a truly beautiful and diverse country surrounded by beautiful beaches, with hilltop castles and palaces, forests with more palaces, great places for surfing and paragliding, great food, wine, and great people. I've been living abroad for 10 years now, but the more I live in foreigner countries, the more I love my home country.

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    1. Nothing like the cosiness Portugal makes us feel! I´ve been spreading the word... =)

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  3. LOVE Portugal. LOVE this Blog! LOVE to make people happy! As myself and as a Cultutal Heritage Manager I LOVE to show what Portugal is and how proud I am for being born here! Ohhh and LOVE portuguese talent! <3

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    1. Yes, we should spread the word.

      I have met many foreigners (Canadians, Japanese, French, Australians) who just visited Portugal by chance, because they were traveling in Spain and France, and Portugal was just right there. However, they told me the surprise was huge. They never expected to love Portugal so much. A Canadian and a Japanese told me they ended up loving Portugal more than the other countries they visited in Europe. A Parisian even told me he had found Lisbon much more romantic than Paris :).

      Diogo should make some videos about Portugal in English.

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    2. Liliana, you are doing a terrific job about all of what you have contributed to this blog! I've following it for days...thanks to you who spread out the word about this blog on facebook! :)Obrigada :)And I speak for myself I just started pay attention on Diogo since "his" Jesus...just saw him in " Laços de Sangue" a tv soup...and nothing else! So I'm really enjoying to catch it all that I've missed so far :)

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  4. And I cannot miss to thank a lot to Sara, the blog's owner and all your dedication about Diogo! It's really apreciated! :)

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  5. I am so there! Lilliana has enticed me with the beautiful pictures she tweets. I'm in love with Portugal already...thanks to her and I've never been there.

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  6. While I genuinely appreciate every view of and every comment on this blog, I have to tell you, reading such comments from those of you in/from Portugal truly means a lot to me. It is a thrill to know more about your country, and a honor to meet all of you here.

    You all give me perhaps one of the greatest compliments I could hope for with this blog, knowing that you too are enjoying discovering or re-discovering, Diogo's talent and work. One of the things I am enjoying so much is seeing two countries, two cultures, two languages, come together, thanks to Diogo. That says a lot about him, and I hope he knows just how special that is.

    It is amazing to see. I cannot thank you enough for embracing the blog, and welcoming all of us into our new favorite country! :) Obrigada.

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  7. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13JzhYcS0mw

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    1. Thanks Lou for that video. So warm and inviting.

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  8. This film is even better, and it shows beautiful Lisbon (at minutes 2:00 and 3:00), where Diogo was born. He lives on the south shore of Lisbon now.

    I have never been in San Francisco, but I flew over it once and I was shocked at the similarities between Lisbon and San Francisco. Both cities have many hills and our bridge is often compared to the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIkUmzLFVio

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  9. Thank you for sharing this video and thank you Ms.Liliana for providing the translations. Blessings to both of you...

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