Portugal first came to my attention in middle school thanks to a brilliant history teacher – Mrs Fuller – who opened my eyes to the so called “Age of Discovery” (other possibly more accurate descriptions come to mind) in the 15/16th C. No matter what the motives or results, the courage shown by Prince Henry the Navigator, Vasco de Gama and their contemporaries as they ventured forth in those tiny wooden ships caught my imagination and still amazes me today.
As with many European and African countries, the history of Portugal is one of successive waves of conquest, helping to create a rich culture shaped by the numerous rulers of the country throughout the last several thousand years. The Celts, Romans, Germanic tribes, Muslims and Christians (e.g. Crusaders, Knight Templars) have all left their footprint on the land resulting in a fusion of food, wine, architecture and textiles found nowhere else.
My journey begins in Lisbon before following a winding course through the country (as shown on the map, my route is the black line 🙂 ), with the focus being history, food, wine and photography. In no particular order 🙂
Once back in Lisbon, I meet up with my sister to continue the trip to the Portuguese Island Archipelagos. We fly first to Madeira and secondly to the Azores – spending our days hiking and exploring the natural history of the two areas.
As always I will be blogging and posting (internet dependent) as I travel. You are welcome to follow my travels directly www.travelswithanne.ca . I will also try to link the blog to Facebook directly through a FB post on my Page. In case that doesn’t work, the link above will get you to the blog. I am looking forward to sharing my journey with you.
