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Boston Globe
33 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
The best of Portugal? It's located north of Lisbon.
Advertisement Catastrophe avoided! I'm happy to report that this was the most harrowing moment I faced on a trip to northern Portugal last month. Full disclosure: I fell in love with this region a dozen years ago when I visited for vacation. So when TAP Air Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up At least that was the pitch I used to convince my editor that this was a good idea. I also wanted to spend more time outside of Porto to visit smaller cities I had missed on my last trip. Advertisement First things first: Porto. When I was last here, the city had yet to be scrubbed clean of its industrial leanings. I enjoyed the raw energy and edge. It's now more visitor-friendly, but that comes at a cost. I don't recall the São Bento train station having more sightseers than rail passengers, and I don't remember standing in a sinuous line and paying 10 euros ($11) to go into São Bento train station in Porto sees more tourists than train passengers annually. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff The number of tourists in Porto has yet to reach the same soaring levels as Lisbon, but it is growing significantly. According to the National Statistics Institute, the region saw 7 million visitors in 2024. That's up from 3.7 million in 2019. This is where the obligatory 'But there's a reason why more tourists are flocking to Porto' sentence should go. Usually, I wouldn't write something so trite, but I'm going to do it anyway. Porto indeed has a lot to see, a lot to hear, and, most importantly, a lot to eat and drink. I had an incredible lunch of traditional Portuguese cuisine at At Advertisement While Porto has become a major tourist draw, you can still find neighborhoods that time forgot. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff Perhaps my favorite culinary find (bear with me if you've heard this before) is alheira, a sausage that was developed during the 16th century. At the time, the Jewish community in Porto faced pressure to convert to Christianity. To practice their beliefs without fear of questioning from zealots, they created tasty sausages, made from bread, kosher meats, and olive oil. They looked like pork, and their adversaries were fooled. They're so good that they're now a mainstay in Portuguese cuisine. I found my favorites at St. Lawrence Church in Porto looks barren on the outside, but inside the church, the ceilings and columns are coated with gold, and the baroque altars are full of wooden saints. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff Speaking of cuisine, let's resume the octopus-laden cooking class in Lamego, where our story began. The tiered vineyards of the Douro Valley dominate northern Portugal. Not only is the region boozy, it's also beautiful. I had my heart set on staying in one of the Much to the chagrin of others in my class, my wine imbibing skills are superior to my cooking skills. However, I did make a killer caprese salad. I found a great hotel nearby. At Advertisement Chef João Faria teaches students how to make a beetroot salad with orange and lime vinagrette in a cooking class at Quinta Da Pacheca in Douro Valley of Portugal. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff Many people come to the Douro Valley as a day trip from Porto. I'm here to tell you that you need more than a day. Especially if the weather is cooperating and you want to take a deep breath and relax. Forget Napa; you can vineyard hop here at wineries that date back hundreds of years, and when you've had enough, you can stretch out on a boat and take a lazy cruise on the river. I booked my river cruise through a company called Pinhão, a town north of Porto, is an ideal base for exploring the Douro River Valley. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff If you're not keen on renting a car and tour buses give you hives, this entire region is well-connected by rail. I alternated between Uber drivers and trains to get around. The trains are clean, efficient, and inexpensive. Learn from my mistakes, my friends. If you come here, give yourself time to explore. The cities in northern Portugal may appear small, but they're designed for leisurely exploration. In Porto, you can hit a tidy checklist of sites, but the streets and canals of Aveiro (the Venice of Portugal), Guimarães (the birthplace of Portugal), and Braga (the Rome of Portugal) need to be taken in at a slower pace. Otherwise, you'll miss the best they have to offer. I came across Aveiro by spreading a paper map in front of me and studying the topographical features of Portugal, something I hadn't done since Columbia House was selling 13 records or tapes for $1. But there it was, a curious place with a lagoon and a series of canals that's just as unique as it sounds. In Aveiro, you can cruise the canals in Moliceiro boats (think of them as Portuguese gondolas), which were used for harvesting seaweed in the 19th century. Now, the boats offer views of the city's unique architecture. The colorful boats of Aveiro merit a story all their own. I took a 45-minute tour through a company called Advertisement São Francisco Church and Convent in Guimarães was founded in the early 15th century by King John I. It's an important example of Gothic architecture with Manueline influences. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff I also didn't spend enough time in Guimarães (sensing a theme yet?), whose city center has been declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site because it's brimming with historically important churches, as well as a medieval castle and a palace. It's often called 'the birthplace of Portugal' because the country's first king was born here. I thought a half-day tour would be enough to see all of Guimarães's highlights. I was wrong. I should know never to underestimate the appeal of beautiful, small European cities. As I walked through the elongated gardens in front of the elaborate, Baroque Santos Passos Church, I made a mental list of the places I'll visit upon my return. The gardens leading up to the architecturally opulent Church of Our Lady of Consolation, in Guimarães. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff My final city to explore was Braga, a municipality of approximately 200,000 residents located about 40 miles north of Porto, and also accessible by train. It's best known for the Sanctuary of Bom Jesus, a hilltop pilgrimage site that can be reached by a 145-year-old funicular. After trekking around Braga, I went back to my hotel, the sleek Advertisement Outside my hotel, people were cheering, waving soccer club scarves, and chanting while cars drove by honking wildly. It looked as if the local team had just won the World Cup. I asked one of the scarf-wavers what was going on, and he explained that Braga had tied with Benfica, a powerhouse team based in Lisbon. Tied? Wasn't this celebration a little over the top for a tie score? Cut to me sitting shoulder-to-shoulder with soccer fans at "Half Rabbit" is a giant sculpture made of trash that can be found in Gaia, Portugal. Christopher Muther/Globe Staff Christopher Muther can be reached at
Boston Globe
43 minutes ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘You name it, this place is run by immigrants': In Nantucket, fears of an economic chilling effect after ICE sting
It's fair to assume, some locals say, that some in that crowd are immigrants, a population that represents a linchpin of the island's economy, and one that has become increasingly fearful under President Trump's dramatic push to arrest and deport more immigrants. It's a reality that was brought The chilling effect of the arrests on aspects of local business was immediate, some say, as people are fearful to go to work. Advertisement 'It's a really hard time,' said Eduardo Calles, a 46-year-old who grew up in Advertisement Calles, who does tile work and painting and acts as a pastor for Iglesia de Jesucristo Principe de Paz Nantucket, found it ironic that in a land known for freedom, people don't feel free to leave their homes. In a place renowned as a favorite vacation spot for the well-heeled, immigrants contribute in an array of industries, locals say, from landscaping to restaurant work to construction and the building trades to hotel and inn hospitality to public sector work for the town. Pedestrians walked in town on the island. Jonathan Wiggs/Globe Staff Their influence can be seen in ways large and small. There is a Caribbean lilt to some baristas' accents. There is a taxi driver from the Balkans who works the graveyard shift, hustling for a better life. A Bulgarian school, a food mart that offers traditional Central American fare, a weekly Mass in Spanish at a Roman Catholic church in the heart of Nantucket's downtown district. 'Everyone's freaked out,' he said. 'It's crazy.' Antonik, a Cape Cod native, said he could not do his job if it weren't for immigrants, who he estimated make up about 80 percent of his workforce. The chilling effect from the arrests, he said, is 'slowing us down for sure.' 'We're navigating through it,' he said. People detained by US Immigration and Customs walked to the US Coast Guard coastal patrol boat Hammerhead in Nantucket Harbor May 27. Peter Sutters/Nantucket Current Advertisement 'Your vacation is made possible by immigrants,' he said. 'Immigrants . . . who serve your food, make your beds, mow the lawns.' He added, 'You name it, this place is run by immigrants.' Even whispers of immigration actions can have a significant impact on everyday lives, said Cyr. He recalled how earlier this year there was a rumor of ICE enforcement on the Vineyard, followed by a huge spike in absenteeism among public school students. The vast majority of immigrants locally, Cyr said, are here through work-sponsored programs or have green cards or other kinds of immigration status. 'But they have someone or know someone in their family who may not,' he said. Immigrants not showing up to work in the aftermath of the ICE arrests, Cyr said, is understandable. Indeed, there was an undercurrent of fear and paranoia in Nantucket this week. The Nantucket Food Pantry posted a message in English, Spanish, and Portuguese to social media saying that if people are not comfortable going to the pantry themselves, 'send a friend or trusted neighbor — we'll welcome them with open arms.' Superintendent Elizabeth Hallett also shared a message with public school families, saying the district 'welcomes all children, no matter what their immigration status, and we want [you] to know that your children will be safe in our classrooms and schools.' Attached to that mass email was a letter Hallett had sent out earlier this year in three different languages that outlines how the district will handle ICE requests. 'If an ICE agent seeks access to a student at school, school staff have been directed not to permit the agent to enter the building but instead to send the agent to the Central Office,' reads the letter. Advertisement Matt Fee, 65, serves on the Nantucket Select Board and has run Something Natural, a bakery and sandwich shop, for about 40 years. He does not hire undocumented workers, he said. But locally, even people who have legal status are nervous, according to Fee. 'It's having an impact,' he said. 'If people self-deport or are deported or choose not to come here, the island will have a difficult time servicing at the level people expect.' Danny McDonald can be reached at
Boston Globe
3 hours ago
- Health
- Boston Globe
A new study reveals a sharp decline in moms' mental health. Is overparenting part of the problem?
This week, a Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up There's so much in this world to justify our stress. But: Is overparenting burning us out on top of it all? I chatted with Elkins (in between reminding my eighth-grader to stay after school for homework help and clicking 'refresh' on my second-grader's soccer schedule) to find out. Advertisement Let's start with your thoughts about the study, and then we'll go into the overparenting stuff. Advertisement It's confirming what we're all seeing firsthand, which is that moms are really struggling. The focus is really timely, especially in light of last year's surgeon general I liked that they highlighted in the article that [more] research on maternal mental health centers around the perinatal period. … But what about moms whose babies are older than 6 months? We're in this for a while. Maternal mental health is suffering. We can't blame it all on COVID. Sign up for Parenting Unfiltered. Globe staff #mc_embed_signup{background:#fff; clear:left; font:14px Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif; } /* Add your own Mailchimp form style overrides in your site stylesheet or in this style block. We recommend moving this block and the preceding CSS link to the HEAD of your HTML file. */ Subscribe * indicates required E-mail * Where do you feel it's coming from? Is the problem overparenting? We can't draw clear, direct conclusions between overparenting and declining mental health based on the study. That being said, I think the fact that the study highlighted a decline in maternal mental health across the sociodemographic spectrum suggests that there's more here than structural racism, access to resources, housing insecurity, and other [systemic] factors that are impacting well-being. It suggests, at the very least, that we need to discuss and hopefully study the cultural factors to which I think this generation of parents is exposed and how it influences beliefs and values, which ultimately translate into behaviors. This is where I actually think that overparenting is a timely construct. Are we all competing with each other? What are we doing? I'm an elder millennial. I think that, somewhere along the line, we became convinced that parenting is both really high stakes and also controllable. It's a perfect storm. We came of age during this boom in brain science and child development research, and a growing interest in attachment theory and the impact of adverse childhood experiences. At the same time, media was shifting, so these insights started making their way into headlines. We had this explosion of the science behind [parenting], but also the dissemination behind it. Advertisement Today's parents are often delaying parenthood. A lot of us are older, which often means that we're more highly educated, and that means that we've spent all these years in achievement-driven environments where hard work and problem-solving get results, and we're used to having agency. If something is broken, we fix it, and our boss says, 'Good job.' When it comes to parenting, we're bringing the same mind-set: We're analyzing and optimizing and deep-diving on the internet to figure out research. We're trying to manage every variable. What's the difference between overparenting and snowplow or intensive parenting? Overparenting is a more deeply held core belief. It's not just about hovering behaviors or snowplowing behaviors. I find that it's usually rooted in two beliefs. The first is that negative emotions are unsafe or somehow harmful, and they should be avoided. We feel that the normal emotions that we might all expect kids to be exposed to — shame and fear and sadness and boredom — are somehow bad. We need to protect our kids from them. The second belief is really fueled by the intensive parenting narrative, which is that it's a parent's job — almost their sacred responsibility — to shape every part of their child's life, including how they feel. The belief that whatever is uncomfortable is actually unsafe, then that belief is going to drive us into all sorts of overparenting behaviors because we feel that we're responsible and are going to condemn our kids to a lifetime of emotional floundering if we're not doing this right. Advertisement Is this just an upper-to-upper-middle-class phenomenon? You'd think that it's primarily an upper-middle-class phenomenon. There's some research to show that this might be more prominent among women with a higher educational background. I think the data is a little bit tricky on that, because most of the research is going to come from clinical populations, which tend to skew more white and upper-middle-class, because they're the ones who can access the care. But we do have data indicating that families across the sociodemographic spectrum value the things that intensive parenting values. It's not like they dismiss it; I think perhaps their opportunity to live it out in real time might be diluted. How does this manifest in real life? It's funny: While we were talking, I was mouthing to my eighth-grader to check in with his teacher about a grade as he walked out the door. I guess I'm guilty. What are some prominent examples from your practice? In the child anxiety world, [there is] what we call parental accommodation, the behavioral and clinical descriptor for how overparenting plays out. These are changes that parents make to our own behavior in an effort to decrease the distress of our kids. We see this in clinical populations: [about] 95 to 98 percent of parents of anxious kids accommodate. There's not a lot of research on the prevalence of accommodation in non-clinical populations, because most of this is studied in clinics like mine, but one study found that one in four parents of non-anxious kids report daily accommodation: That's 25 percent of parents changing their behavior daily in an attempt to minimize their kids' distress. … It's related to parents' own core beliefs around what is safe for our kids and what our responsibility is to our kids. Advertisement [We need] warmth with limits. But somewhere along the line, our social media feeds told us that setting limits around your kids' emotions is bad. One example is your kid gets cut from a sports team. Obviously, they feel really upset. Maybe, the overparenting response would be to call the coach and to complain, or to tell the child that they were treated unfairly: 'You were treated poorly, and I'm going to do something about it.' The aim is to protect the kid from feeling shame, rejection, and failure. A love-and-limits approach might be to acknowledge the disappointment, to express a belief in your child's ability to cope with that disappointment, and to put it back on them: 'What do you want to do next? Do you want to try another league? Do you want to do something else?' If your kid is anxious over a really tough homework assignment, the overparenting path might be getting highly involved, giving a lot of scaffolding around the assignment, and maybe ultimately doing the majority of the work. A love-and-limits approach might be validating the distress: 'This is a monster of an assignment,' suggesting one or two coping strategies, but then dropping the rope. It's validation of the distress, but with the narrative that: 'You can cope with this hard feeling, and I bet you can come up with a solution. I'm here if you need a suggestion or a hug.' Advertisement Overparenting becomes such a problem because with a parent's well-meaning intention of swooping in to cushion the distress, the kid gets the message: 'I can't handle this by myself.' Devil's advocate: Parents actually call coaches to complain that their kid got cut from a team? I find that mortifying. This is a thing that happens? Oh yeah. … It's this hyper-awareness of what a child must be feeling in this moment, and that if they feel rejection, they're going to crumple. But the problem is that, if kids haven't had the opportunity to experience normative negative emotions and recover because parents are jumping in, then they flail spectacularly when things get really hard. You know, you've got a kid who trends anxious. They express distress. A parent jumps in, which sort of sets the framework that a kid can't handle it on their own. It becomes a really vicious cycle, and this is all swimming in intensive parenting culture. But mental health is so precarious. Of course, we want to protect our kids, because we hear horror stories about what can happen if your kids are undergoing mental distress. It's hard to unlearn that. We parents have to acknowledge the waters in which we're swimming, to first notice this tendency and get curious about our own behaviors, and the beliefs that might be driving them: What do you notice about yourself when your kid is becoming distressed or anxious? What urges do you feel driven to do? Are there behaviors you're engaging in that you wouldn't ordinarily? Get curious: What's behind these behaviors? You can start challenging yourself to tolerate your own distress in the moment by resisting the urge to jump in. Maybe there's low-hanging fruit: Your kid says that they're stressed because they've got all of this homework and got home late from dance class. You notice the urge to take responsibilities off their plate: They don't have to bring their plate to the sink, and they don't have to walk the dog, even though those are their responsibilities. Do a little exposure: What happens if they're stressed and they still have expectations in place that they participate in family life. Does your kid crumble? They're probably [mad] at you, but can you handle that? What's so bad about your kid being mad at you? It's not a kid's job to make a parent feel good about parenting decisions. So many of the questions I get around this are: How do I explain my decision not to give them a phone? At the core of that question is: How do I make it so that my kid isn't mad about my decision not to give them the phone? Your kid doesn't have to be happy about every decision that you make. Basically, it's: How can you challenge yourself to tolerate your own distress at your kids' distress. This is a micro-exposure to build their resilience, and it builds your resilience, too. Interview was edited and condensed. Kara Baskin can be reached at
Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Boston Globe
Third man charged in February Mattapan death, allegedly helped coordinate fatal shooting
Darby and Taylor were both charged with first-degree murder in Suffolk Superior Court on May 8. All three men are due back in court on June 17 for pre-trial hearings, the statement said. Surveillance footage from the evening before the shooting captured Meeks arriving at Lawrence's workplace to film him, while Darby and Taylor waited nearby in a Honda Accord, the statement said. Hours later, when Lawrence left work, Darby and Taylor followed him home, and dash-cam audio from their car recorded Meeks giving instructions on how to proceed with the shooting, according to the statement. Advertisement He told them to 'wrap [the gun] up in a bag' to contain shell casings, switch the Accord's rims to alter its appearance, and cover disguise the license plate with special tape, the statement said. Just before 11:30 p.m., as Lawrence approached his apartment door, Taylor came up from behind and shot him. ShotSpotter technology recorded 18 gunshots fired in seven seconds, according to the statement. Taylor then returned to the car, and the pair fled the scene, Darby behind the wheel. Advertisement Responding officers found Lawrence suffering multiple gunshot wounds, and he was pronounced dead while being taken by ambulance to Boston Medical Center, the statement said. The following morning, Darby allegedly texted Meeks, 'it's complete.' 'This case presents a chilling sequence of calculated actions,' said District Attorney Kevin Hayden in the statement. 'It also provides an excellent example of investigators pursuing a criminal incident until every person who played a role is identified and brought forward to answer for their conduct.' Meeks' attorney, Anthony R. Ellison, didn't immediately respond to the Globe's request for comment Thursday night. Rita Chandler can be reached at
Boston Globe
11 hours ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
New York man called in bomb threats to Brookline hotel flying Palestinian flag, police say
Freundlich faces one felony count of making a bomb or hijacking threat, per court records. No arrests appear to have been made. The man's identity was first reported by Advertisement Reached by phone on Thursday, Freundlich told the Globe he had 'nothing to say' about the charges, adding that 'I don't think it would be helpful.' He declined to confirm whether he had retained an attorney or been in contact with law enforcement. The Iris Hotel drew heated criticism after it flew a Palestinian flag on the weekend of April 12, according to police reports obtained by the Globe. Hotel staff told police they had received numerous phone calls accusing them of supporting Hamas and other terrorist groups. On April 18, staff reported multiple phone calls from the same caller who claimed he wanted to book a room, per the reports. The caller allegedly told the receptionist 'there should be no Jews staying there,' adding that a 'bomb would go off' and that he would 'make sure something blows up' while he was there. Advertisement Police identified Freundlich as the caller after a review of phone provider information, per the reports. Management at the hotel did not return a request for comment on Thursday. Wagner Hospitality Management, which operates the Iris Hotel, said at the time the flag was displayed in honor of US Representative Rashida Tlaib, the first Palestinian American woman to serve in Congress, who was staying at the hotel. Tlaib was The management group wrote 'This flag should not be a contentious symbol and we would show the same respect for any dignitary choosing to stay with us regardless of their heritage or ethnicity,' the group wrote. 'We have many Jewish guests staying at our hotel and we respect everyone.' Wagner Hospitality is owned by Anwar Faisal, according to state filings. Faisal, Brookline police said that multiple agencies took part in the investigation. Kristen Setera, an FBI spokesperson, confirmed the agency's involvement. Setera directed further comment to local law enforcement. Camilo Fonseca can be reached at
