Portugal

Portugal is one of my favourite countries in the world.

In large part this is due to my colleague and friend João Araújo, who arranged for me to visit Portugal for the first time in 2008, and on all of my many visits since, has taken me on “crazy trips” over much of the country; as well as the popular tourist attractions, I have seen things that most tourists never get to.

Last year, Rosemary’s nephew and partner had a holiday in Porto and the Douro valley. They asked me for recommendations for things to see. Since we didn’t have time for much discussion over Christmas, I wrote a little brochure about some of the highlights south of the Douro for them. I sent a copy to João, who corrected some historical errors (surprisingly few, since I wrote it without recourse to guidebooks, just occasional use of Google to check spelling), and encouraged me to go public with it.

So, with that seal of approval, here it is!