One of the best things I’ve done to get an appreciation for mainland Portugal and a lot of its various regions was to buy the book, Rick Steves Portugal. I have the 2019 edition, but it was updated in 2021. In this post, I will discuss some of the things I learned about Portugal, how the book is laid out, and some of the recommended attractions.  Now the legal stuff – As an Amazon Associate, I may earn a commission from any purchases made through links on this post. Portuguese History When I was researching where to live in Portugal, I relied a lot on this book. It allowed me…

Housing in Coimbra has been on my mind.  What types of places are available for us?  I’ve been keeping an eye on the types of housing available in Coimbra for us to rent when we get there.  There is a lot to consider. Size Matters Because we are going to be a family of five people, we need a rather large place.  Four bedrooms are the minimum, but I am also looking at five-bedroom places.  We want to be able to host friends and family when people come to visit. Coimbra is a university city so there are lots of apartments to rent. However, the apartments tend to be one…

Agriculture and its products are the backbone of the economy in Portugal.  From people scratching out an existence in the soil to using machinery for the production of food, Portugal adapted to its agricultural needs.  Climate change affects the direction of agriculture’s future. Portugal’s Past Agricultural Practices Human-like people (Homo heidelbergensis) first inhabited the area now known as Portugal approximately 400,000 years ago.  Eventually, the Romans, Visigoths, and Moors occupied the land.  Once the Moors came, agricultural practices began to be updated. The Moors began to change what and how people in Portugal farmed.  They introduced a large number of new crops and farming technology to the land.  Sugarcane, rice,…