Portugal

Portugal (Portugal in Portuguese) is 10.2 million people country in the southwestern part of Europe. It belongs to the European Union (EU) and is surrounded by Spain. The population has a mostly Catholic Christian tradition, the official language is Portuguese (Mirandese is also co-oficial in some villages around Miranda do Douro). The official currency of Portugal is the euro (€). Portugal is quickly becoming an important touristic destination in Europe and today it has 17 sites placed in UNESCO World Heritage list. The main city, and the capital city, of France is Lisbon, with other important cities like Sintra, Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto or Loures.

What can I visit in Portugal?

Here you have a list of places Portugal that are worth to be seen. Check them out and find out the ones you want to visit:

• Azores Islands
• Lisbon
  
• Madeira Islands
• Porto
  

History

The first inhabitants

Unforgettable experiences 

This places and experiences are a must if you want to discover and understand Spain

Planning your holidays

These are some possible journeys you may do in Lithuania so visit parts of it or discover it all.

What can I eat and drink in Portugal?

Lithuanian food has Polish and Ashkenazi influences and their meals are usually based in barley, potatoes, mushrooms, rye and beets. Cepelinai (potato dumpling stuffed with meat, cheese or mushrooms) is the national dish and is usually used as starter. There are other varieties like kukuliai (similar to gnocchi), koldūnai, virtiniai or auselės. One of the most common dishes in Lithuanian cuisine are soups, with many kinds like cabbage soup, cucumber soup, sauerkraut soup, lapienė (greens in a cramy broth), barščiai (hot beet soup), šaltibarščiai (cold beet soup) and the popular vištienos sultinys (chicken broth). Lithuania is also rich in blynai (mixture between pancakes and crêpes), with some examples like kėdainių blynai, žemaičių blynai and lietiniai. Talking about regional food in Lithuania, the regions with more food personality are Dzūkija and Samogitia. In the former some traditional dishes are juka (blood soup), kugel (potato pudding with an Ashkenazi origin) and buckwheat pancakes. In Samogitia region it's typical the kastinys (sour cream forming a soft spread). Another ethnic minory like the Karaites have their own dishes like kibinai (pastry with mutton and onion). The most common bread is ruginė duona (rye bread).

Some other typical dishes are the Lithuanian šaltnosiukai (dumplings filled with lingonberries), įdaryti kiaušiniai (similar to deviled eggs), įdaryti pomidorai (tomatoes filled with savory stuffing) and Lithuanian curd cheese. Some of the dishes with meat are lašiniai (pork underskin fat with little or no meat), vėdarai (pig large intestine with potato), šiupinys (stew made from variety of ingredients), balandėliai (cabbage leaves stuffed with meat), dešra (typical Lithuanian sausages), skilandis or kindziukas (pig stomach stuffed with meat and garlic and cold-smoked), suktiniai (beef or pork very thin, filled, rolled up and braised), kotletai or frikadėlės (minced meat and/or onion patties) and šaltiena or košeliena (aspic or meat jelly)
In desserts the most popular one are Lithuanian-style cakes (pyragas) but others are žagarėliai (deep-fried pastries with sugar), kūčiukai or šližikai (tradicional Christmas dinner roll), ledai (ice cream), spurgos (Lithuanian donut), šakotis (Lithuanian baumkuchen), tinginys (Kaunas typical dessert), manų putra/košė (semolina wheat pudding) and skruzdėlynas (pastries stacked on top of one another).


Talking about drinking, the most famous Lithuanian drink is the beer (alus) throughout all the country, usually drank with piršteliai prie alaus (puff pastries served with beer), yet not the oldest one, having midus (mead) that honour. As in many other northern countries, there are many other kind of stronger spirits like trauktinė (strong herbal vodka), degtinė (rye, wheat or potato vodka) or krupnikas (honey liqueur). There are other non alcoholic drinks like gira (similar to kvass), arbata (tea) or kava (coffee). 

Learn some Portuguese

  Portuguese is the co-oficial language of Galicia, together with Spanish, and is currently spoken by 2.4 million people aprox. Galician language is quite similar to Portugues and to Spanish, so visitors who speak any of those languages won't have problems of communication. Moreover Galician very widely spoken and understood all over Galicia, with more importance in rural areas rather than in cities, where Spanish is stronger. These are some basic words in Portuguese:

Portuguese	English	Portuguese	English
Olá	Hello	Por favor	Please
Boa noite	Good evening	Obrigado	Thanks
Como vai?	How are you?	Sim	Yes
Até mais!	Goodbye!	Não	No
Tchau!	Bye!	Eu não falo português	I don’t speak Portuguese

Useful links

 In case you want to look for more information about Portugal (https://www.visitportugal.com/en) or its regions, here there's a list with some pages to get it:

• Brittany ().
  
• Centre-Val de Loire ().
• Corsica ().
• .