Dinner at the Ambassador of Portugal’s Residency in Copenhagen
On Monday 18 April
professors Fernanda Gláucia Pinto and Georg Fischer along with students Juul
van de Voort (BA) and Peter Haldborg (MA) had the pleasure of attending a
dinner-buffet at the residence of the ambassador of Portugal, Rui Macieira’s
residency. The occasion was the visit of professor Ricardo Reis, associate dean
for International Affairs of Universidade Católica de Lisboa.
After a three-and-a-half hour journey from Aarhus to
Copenhagen, a few cups of coffee and a beer, and finally a trip to
Charlottenlund, we arrived at Rui Macieira’s residence where we were greeted by
the ambassador himself. Shortly after, he thanked everyone for their
participation in his welcome speech, soon followed by a short speech by
professor Reis – both in European Portuguese, obviously.
After the speeches it was time to enjoy the delicious
food! Moments after the dinner was served people were flocking around the
buffet, enjoying a mixture of Danish and Portuguese delicacies, including a
fantastic chicken-inspired dish and håndmadder.
To the great delight of several guests a small table across the main buffet
offered Portuguese red and white wine as well as the fantastic and best-selling
Portuguese beer in the world, better known as Super Bock. Unsurprisingly, the
entire stock of this marvellous beer was soon as empty as the dishes containing
the aforementioned chicken-inspired food. It is certainly safe to say that
people enjoyed both the buffet and the beverages, and during the entire time
the small talk was free-flowing and the atmosphere was joyous with exuberant
guests making jokes and laughing. We all got to know several great people,
including some of the professors and students from Brazilian and Portuguese
Studies at Copenhagen University.
After putting in a concerted effort in cleaning the
buffet dishes the dessert arrived, as many eyes visibly lit up while ignoring
desperate shouts from well-satisfied stomachs trying to signal that maximum capacity
had been reached at least half an hour ago. However, the eyes won and mouths
were working overtime consuming delicious cinnamon rice, pudding and
orange-flavoured tarts. At this point the small talk was less audible, as the
guests were trying not to explode due to what some people would call excessive
eating.
Little by little, people started to bid their
farewell, exhausted stomachs made their way home accompanied by light rain and
growing darkness outside. Meanwhile, Juul and Peter had a great chat with the
residence’s valet, who managed to enlighten us about everything from Portugal
to the peculiarity of love. What a life-affirming and feel-good character he
was! The only time he said “no” was when we cheekily asked for more Super Bock
beer, which he would have happily provided had there been any left!
By the time we had to leave in order not to miss our
train back to Aarhus the vast majority of the guests had already taken off. We
duly thanked for fantastic hospitality before entering a taxi escorting us to
the train station. We managed to acquire the necessary provisions for our trip
moments before boarding the less than packed train. It did not take very long
for both Georg and Juul to fall asleep, but both Fernanda and Peter managed to
stay awake until we all reached Aarhus. After all, Mineiros (and people deeply in love with Minas Gerais like Peter)
should fell very much at home inside one of their most cherished possessions,
namely the trem (“train” in
Portuguese)…
After a long but delightful day we all said our
goodbyes after exiting the train in Aarhus. It had been a lovely experience for
everyone involved, and the company was not too bad, either!
Written by Peter Haldborg
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ReplyDeleteDinner at the Ambassador of Portugal's Residency in Copenhagen was a sublime experience, rich with Portuguese hospitality and flavors. Obrigado for an unforgettable evening!" 🇵🇹🍽️✨ portugalresidencyadvisors.com
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