The Portuguese Monument to the Great Voyage
A glorious history
Portugal is located in the extreme south-west of the European continent, bordering Spain to the north and east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south and west, with a population of over 10 million.
There are two tourist attractions within its borders, both of which are known to the public as the End of Days, and the famous Portuguese poet Camões once left a poem like this
The land ends here, the sea begins here.
The fifteenth century was the high point of Portugal’s glorious history, when the age of navigation made this small country invincible and, together with Spain, the other tooth of Europe, conquered almost half the world.
Half of South America was taken away by these two teeth, hence the name Latin America, and the languages are all Latin, either Spanish or Portuguese, and there are many similarities between the two languages.
In its heyday, Portugal had colonies almost all over the world, and in addition to South America, there were countries such as Angola and Mozambique in Africa.
This island is now part of Portugal and was a stopover during the colonisation of Africa. It is very close to the African continent and at least three hours away from the Portuguese mainland by plane, which shows how powerful Portugal was back then.
The island of Madeira, which had been in the process of gaining independence a few years ago, is now inactive again.
In Asia, there is an Indian colony called Goa, which was also a Portuguese colony and still speaks Portuguese, although it has returned to India.
There is also an island in Southeast Asia called East Timor, which was also a Portuguese colony and also speaks Portuguese.
Macau was occupied by Portugal for over 400 years and was not returned to China until 1999.
It is said that the Portuguese merchants rented a place as big as a cow hide in Macau on the pretext that the goods on board were soaked by the sea and had to be dried on shore.
Environment and climate
I have to say that Portugal is a country where the environment is really well protected, every small town is like a big park, there are green areas everywhere, and flowers and plants are planted everywhere, this is a country without heavy industry, there is no atmospheric pollution, and the tap water is directly drinkable.
Even in the capital, Lisbon, there are few buildings with more than 30 storeys. In other small towns, there are houses with no more than five storeys and townhouses and single-family houses with two or three storeys.
Portugal is an old capitalist country after all, although it is now in decline and its former glory is no longer there, its infrastructure is still great, at least the difference between urban and rural areas has been eliminated and you can find car 4s shops, bars and large supermarkets in small towns in the countryside.
The climate in Portugal is really good, with four seasons, and technically there is no winter in Portugal. In winter (as opposed to northern China) the flowers are still in full bloom outside.
This was taken just as I was writing this article. The time difference between Portugal and China is eight hours, and it is now 1pm in Portugal.
When I first arrived, I thought that Portugal only had two seasons, spring and summer, then I moved to another city for work and found that this place had French sycamores and in autumn the leaves would turn yellow and fall to the ground, so I felt the presence of autumn in Portugal.
When you visit Portugal you will find that the sky is always blue, without a single cloud, and the light is strong, so sunglasses are a must when visiting Portugal to prevent you from being blinded by the strong UV rays.
The Algarve region in the south of Portugal, in particular, enjoys 11 months of sunshine a year, according to incomplete statistics, and this, combined with her long and stunning coastline, attracts a huge number of tourists from northern Europe, especially the British, who come here for holidays between May and October each year.
In summer, the southern coastline of Portugal is the scene of an international swimsuit fair, where women, young and old, from all over the world, show off their shapely, hot, or non-shapely, non-hot bodies on the beaches, to the delight of men. ……
