Portugal - Meet the Unknown #1

Hello to all Steemits!

This is a project I have been postponing for far too long.

I decided to create a series of posts about my country - Portugal. Well known for some, completely unknown for many.

This first post is just a small introduction for this series and many more will follow.
The focus will be on what you, as a tourist, usually are not aware of/do not see.
It can also help you decide on where to take your next vacations.

I will use as many original pictures as possible but you are also free to share yours. Contact me if you`d like to have your pictures/experience featured. Write your own article and get it reSteemed and quoted.

As a teaser and to show you what Portugal is all about, I`m leaving you a recent social media post that went viral and I personally love:

"COMPLAINT LETTER ON PORTUGAL

Dear Europe,

this is the first time I request the complaints book. Once I went to a store to buy an appliance that did not work but I was ashamed of writing a complaint.
This time, things are more serious: I suspect I belong to an European country with defects.
I have been promised Portugal, a mediterranean country with nice weather but, since Gil Eanes who turned Cabo Nojador (southern tip of Africa), only managed to be in the news when a daredevil skateboarder was trending at 9GAG for screaming "Get out of the way, Guedes".

There must be a mistake. The rest of Europe is working normally, in average: french are busy with Le Pen, english are busy with Brexit and spanish are not so busy by not being included on the "portuguese, french and english men" jokes.

In here, we are unstoppable. We are European Football Champions. We have the best football, indoor soccer, beach soccer player in the world and I suspect that is there was any other kind of football, even with 2 trees as goals, the world`s best player would also be ours.

Something is wrong. I suspect we were given a second-hand country because the good examples are not longer just related to sports played with feet.

We won Eurovision song Contest. We organized the biggest entrepreneurial event of all Europe. NOS Alive was elected as one of the best music festivals in Europe. Forbes gave a shout-out to Vhils (plastic artist worth knowing). We have portuguese universities leading Financial Times ranking. Even Pastel de Nata, which used to be just ours, was exported to the rest of Europe so we can say that ours is still the best.

I suspect we have a country whose date has expired. Our state-of-grace should expired 3 days after Éder´s goal but many months after, it´s still mould-free.

Everyday The Guardian publishes an article saying that Lisbon is the coolest city in Europe, that Porto is the epicenter of culture, that Algarve has the best sunsets, sunrises...

I do not know how you work in terms of returns, but I would gladly exchange it for Bulgaria or Croatia.

I just asked for Portugal and by mistake, I was given the best country in Europe."