Marvelous history, especially the Reconquista and the Age of Discovery
Catholic majority country
Bifana. 500 bifanas please.
It is was somewhat of a secluded country, so if you want wanted to be away from immigrants and live in a local majority country, this is was the destination. It' is was not a high-demand immigration destination such as Germany, France or UK.
Easy to make a name for yourself if you're skilled, meticulous and diligent
If you're retired, it'd feel like heaven with all the 'slow life' stuff
High levels of English literacy
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. I love this guy, he is such a meme. He has quite the handshake, you should look it up. He has various memes across the web. Cool and decent president.
How would I summarize Portugal? It is simply an OK country. Not great, not terrible.
Opposed to the common knowledge, I think it's a Buddhist country. You learn patience, even more patience, and nonchalance here. It's as if the whole country is on some Xanax or something.
It's one of those "visiting" not "living" countries. For tourism purposes, it'd feel good. Living? Not so much. Ask the locals...
Most claim that the locals are super nice and kind, I must disagree. I'd say it's neutral. At least that is my experience so far. It's not necessarily a bad thing.
Cheese variations and quality is OK. But only if we consider the cheese coming from Açores. Those are pretty decent. And don't get me started on that Queijo Fresco crap. It's like prison cheese dude, what the hell.
Culinary wise, it's alright. Not incredible though. Except for seafood. Seafood is pretty good.
It's a Mediterranean country with a heavy influence of Mediterranean culture. And as a rule of thumb; anything Mediterranean sea touches has some sort of problems.
Although it appears to be in Southern Europe, or Western Europe according to some, it is in fact an honorary Balkan country. See any demographic or socioeconomic map and you'll see what I mean, Portugal is always the same color as the Balkans. See this sub as proof.
Bread. You'd expect far better bread quality for a European country. Pastries are good but man, the breads leave much to be desired.
If you're a beer guy, good luck. You're at the mercy of Super Bock and Sagres, both of which taste like horse-piss. If you ever drank good beer, you'd know what I mean. You can always find some import beer but it's expensive compared to the local ones.
Emigration numbers are rampant, cruising around 70k-100k per year. This speaks volumes on it's own.
'D' in Portugal stands for discipline and diligence
'M' in Portugal stands for meticulousness
The term 'customer experience' never reached these lands
Events, meetings, reservations tend to be postponed/cancelled. Time flows differently here. 5 minute means 15 real world minutes, 1 month means 3 months.
People are too keen on you to learn Portuguese, so much that it gets tad bit irritating
Balconies commonly have the size of one foot. You go out the balcony, inhale some fresh air, go back in.
The country relies heavily on tourism; as it represents 20% of the country's GDP
Service and catering industry is booming while all other industries are in shambles
Political instability and corruption scandals have been common in the last decade
Coffee culture is Espresso. Ugh. How do you enjoy this man? It's tiny, you just one shot it. Geez. Coffee is meant to be enjoyed long, not this 2 second thing.
It's the cheap labor shed of other European countries and the US. There is a reason why some tech giants are eager to open offices here.
Climate is hot and humid. Not my cup of tea. I don't like the weather. If you like sunny days, you'll like it in here.