Having been here once before, I can tell you that Portugal is a very underrated place to visit. The weather is great, the food is both hearty and interesting, the wines are inventive, and the people are friendly. Portugal is pricier than a super cheap getaway to the Southern United States, to the rest of Europe, its very economical, which is one reason why so many Americans are retiring here. With the dollar about even to the euro, you can expect to pay around $75 for a hotel and $20 for a meal with drinks. Thats quite a bargain for some of the worlds best cuisine.
One fact I did not know: Portugal has the oldest (1139) borders in Europe. Portugal is situated at the point of Europe and also includes the Madeira and Azores archipelagos in the Atlantic Ocean. Mainland Portugal occupies an area of 88,889 km2. It is 218 km wide and 561 km long. It has 832 km of Atlantic coast and a 1,215 km border with Spain.
Portuguese cuisine evolved from hearty peasant food drawn from the land and abundant seafood found in the countrys lengthy coast with the cows, pigs and
goats raised on the limited grazing land of its interior. From these humble origins, spices and condiments brought back to the country during the exploration and colonization of South America, Africa, the East Indies and the Far East, contributed to the development of what regarded as typical Portuguese cuisine which inherently, also helped shape the cuisine in the regions under Portuguese influence, from Brazil and Cape Verde to Thailand and Japan. Today, traditional Portuguese cuisine is served alongside the latest trendy and fusion cuisine styles. Several establishments have been awarded Michelin stars.
Portugal is mainly characterized by a Mediterranean climate ( in the South, central interior, and the Douro river valley; in the North, Central west and Vicentine Coast), temperate maritime climate in the mainland highlands and mountains, and in some high altitude zones of the Azorean islands; a climate in certain parts of the Beja District far south and in Porto Santo Island, a warm desert climate in the Selvagens Islands and a humid subtropical climate in the western Azores, according to the Climate Classification. It is one of the warmest countries in Europe: The Algarve, separated from the Alentejo region by mountains reaching up to 900 meters (3,000 ft) in Alto da Fia, has a climate similar to that of
Portugal is located on the Mediterranean Basin, the third most diverse hotspot of flora in the world. Due to its geographical and climatic context - between the Atlantic and Mediterranean - Portugal has a high level of biodiversity on land and at sea. It is home to six terrestrial ecoregions: Azores temperate mixed forests, Cantabrian mixed forests, Madeira evergreen forests, Iberian sclerophyllous and forests, Northwest Iberian montane forests, and Southwest Iberian Mediterranean sclerophyllous and mixed forests.
Native Portuguese are an Iberian ethnic group and they form 95%!o(MISSING)f the whole population, whose ancestry is very similar to Spaniards and have strong ties with fellow Atlantic Arc countries like Ireland, British Isles, France and Belgium due to maritime trade dated as far back as the Bronze Age. These maritime contacts and the prevalence of R1b haplogroup as the main genetical marker of these countries suggest ancestry and cultural proximity. Other maritime contacts with the Mediterranean especially with Greeks, Phoenicians, Romans and Moors added some phenotypes in southern Portugal and particularly southern Spain (the Tartessos culture), making Portugal and Spain a bridge between Europe and the Mediterranean but maintaining the Atlantic character.
Some famous people from Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo, Vasco da Gama, Ferdinand Magellan, Henry the Navigator, Jose
Saramago, Salvador Sobral, Luis Figo, Eusebio, Fernando Pessoa, Daniela Rush, Paula Rego, Nelly Furtado, Mariza, Antonio Guterres (Secretary General of the U.N.
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