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Saudades of Things Past

It had to happen sometime. Last weekend, after five years of my Chicago life–and for the first time ever in his, Jose visited me in Chicago. That’s ‘joe-ZAY,’ so pronounce it right in your head when you read it. My best friend from my adult years in New York. My Portuguese connection.

Portugal’s Mariza to Sing at Pritzker Pavilion Wednesday

A last-minute substitution brings Mariza, Portugal’s most celebrated contemporary fadista, or fado singer, to Millennium Park’s Pritzker Pavilion tomorrow evening to sing with the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra. Enormous Lusophile that I am, as I write this, I’m still attempting to lift my jaw off the soalho.

Waiting for Portugal

One of the things I miss the most about New York City is the palpable presence of a Portuguese community. If Chicago had just one Portuguese restaurant my life would be a lot easier. I certainly never expected to meet the editor of a prominent Portuguese newspaper at a Greektown reception.