Fairs and Feiras

We have county fairs in the States, usually held sometime during the summer, but here in Portugal they have their version (somewhat) of a county fair called a feira. Their feira's last longer and in the case of the one near our apartment, it lasted for all of September. We enjoyed walking down on several occasions to enjoy the activity that surrounds a feira. There were even a few rides for small children. We also got a few nice plants and a really good little pan at one of the booths.

They have a lot of the same things we do - "fair food" of grilled chicken, hamburgers, sausages, corn, potatoes, friend potatoes, and even cotton candy. They also have a version of fried dough but shaped in the form of long hollow tubes that can be filled with cream or fruit fillings or just left empty and then sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon. We chuckled a little about the name because it wouldn't go over so well in the States - to be eating "farturas".

The word "feira"also means market and in fact, the days of the week came from their "market" days. Monday is segunda-feira (2nd market), Tuesday is terça-feira (3rd market), quarta..., quinta..., sexta... Saturday and Sunday are Sabado and Domingo with no -feira after the word.

The gypsies sell a lot things at the feiras - name brands and immitations. If you need something, you will probably find it for a pretty good price at these kinds of annual feiras.