Friday, November 11 was not just Remembrance Day, it was also Dia de São Martinho, or St. Martin’s Day, in Portugal and many other countries. St. Martin of Tours was a 4th century bishop with a legend from his previous days as a soldier. He had a vision where he came upon a beggar who was barely clothed, and cut his military cloak in half to share. He then dreamed that Jesus was wearing the half-cloak, while declaring Martin’s piety to the angels.
The Portuguese celebrate St. Martin’s day with a bonfire, chestnuts, and a drink called jeripigo. Altogether, a throwback to the holiday’s pagan roots and the harvest, similar to Thanksgiving in Canada or the U.S. In Portugal, the celebration is called magusto, and I attended my first one last year.
This year I don’t have the same feeling of autumn quite yet: I was in Philadelphia during Canadian Thanksgiving (October 10 this year) so it passed by me, I didn’t attend a magusto this year, I was a convalescent two weekends ago when it was time to pick chestnuts in the home village, and the weather has only very recently turned colder. When I shot this picture, it felt too warm to be eating roasted chestnuts.
Then again, I’m always looking for a rationale to pick them in the first place. Those prickly shells are beastly!
October 26, 2016
Album: Portugal [Autumn 2016]
