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Portugal Population: 10,707,924 (July 2010 est.)
country comparison to the world: 77

Languages:  Portuguese (official), Mirandese (official – but locally used)

Portuguese. How hard can that be? (I have a secret… The husband and father, Ian, whom is hosting us, is originally from Britain.) I’ll be cheating with English more than I probably should.

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Portugal Flag: two vertical bands of green (hoist side, two-fifths) and red (three-fifths) with the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) centered on the dividing line; explanations for the color meanings are ambiguous, but a popular interpretation has green symbolizing hope and red the blood of those defending the nation

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Following its heyday as a global maritime power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence of its wealthiest colony of Brazil in 1822.

Just in case you weren’t aware of that…

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The area of Portugal where we will be is at a latitude approximately equal to Lincoln, Nebraska.

Portuguese Translation:
wicked cool = ímpious cool
way awesome = maneira impressionante
incredibly beautiful = incrivelmente bela
where’s Waldo? = Você sabe onde está Waldo?

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Portugal facts:
Area – comparative: slightly smaller than Indiana

Did you know that?

Location: Southwestern Europe, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, west of Spain

You probably knew that.

Time Difference: UTC 0 (6 hours ahead of Minnesota during Standard Time)

I’m way ahead of most of you now.

By the time this post is published, Cyndie and I should have arrived at our destination in Portugal. We are scheduled to fly into Porto, Portugal and then the plan is to be picked up by our hosts and driven to the Forest Garden Estate where our adventure takes place. The location is approximately in the area of the “B” icon in the image below.