After learning about the adventures of Vasco da Gama in 1497, how he opened trade with India to Europe, I definitely was interested in a fast-forward trip to modern Portugal. Instead, "An Altitudinal Journey Through Portugal: Colorful Costumes, and Ancient Castles Abound in Tiny Nation That Once Ruled a Vast Empire" took me back to the past to the year, 1927 (National Geographic magazine, November, 1927).
In a time when nations enjoyed separate, different cultures, I would have enjoyed seeing the native dress and customs. Are there any "thatched-roof houses" in Portugal today? Do girls and women still carry heavy loads balanced on their heads? These questions will wait for more recent issues.
The article's author, Harriet Chalmers Adams, reported on the hotels of Minho, Portugal, "Little known to any foreigners save a few British, they are maintained throughout the year for a short summer season, when all the fashionables of central and southern Portugal migrate like birds to the cool, green north (p. 570)." From my Irish relatives, I know Portugal must be a great tourist spot now, for they love to vacation there.
Ever since my brother, Don, when living in Ireland, explained that, "Ireland's not all that far from the Arctic Circle, you know," I've developed an interest in latitude relative to Kentucky. Portugal is somewhat more to the north than Kentucky. FYI: Ireland is way more north than Kentucky. This knowledge helps one pack for the weather in another country!
One of the things I most enjoy about Europe is their long history of civilization. In Braga, Portugal, "The Romans there formed the village into a provincial capital. Nearby lies the stone-paved, rock-bordered" ancient Roman highway (p. 571). After the fall of Rome, Germanic tribes and Moslems occupied Braga. This reminds me of "Six Flags Over Texas!"
Castles are another one of my loves. In Guimaraes is the "castle in which Affonso Henriques, first King of Portugal, was born in 1094 (p. 581)." "This is the Land of Castles. I visited 45 old strongholds, some vast and imposing, nearly all in an excellent state of preservation," related Ms. Adams (p. 596).
Here's our American link to Portugal: "Christopher Columbus (discoverer of America) studied navigation in Oporto, on his way from Spanish Galicia, where his boyhood was spent, to Lisbon (p. 589)."
This article, published in 1927, depicted life as it probably had been for centuries. To process grapes for wine, "the men press out the juice with their bare feet, each man's hands on the shoulder of his neighbor to keep his balance. They sing as they tread, drum and accordion enlivening the march. In the vats the juice ferments and the following spring it is poured into oak casks and loaded into downriver boats." In less than 100 years, our world has been turned upside-down politically, economically, socially, and medically many times! We humans must indeed be resilient!
An impressive statistic: In 1927 there were 6,000,000 inhabitants of Portugal yet worldwide, due to its former colonies' populations, there were 46,000,000 people who spoke Portugese. What a huge acomplishment for a small country not much bigger than our state of Maine (pp. 590-591).
FYI: Interesting and obscure facts: "As in Mexico, so in Portugal the "carcel," or jail, often faces the street. Then prisoners lucky or influential enough to get a ground floor front room may visit freely with people in the street, talking through bars. Food, tobacco and books are easily passed in to them (photo caption, p. 594). Also, Bullfights were vastly different in Portugal, compared to those in its neighbor, Spain: "In Portugal the horses are not tortured and the bulls are not slain. Splendid horsemanship is the chief feature (p. 600)."
I look forward to discovering how the Portugal of 1927 has progressed to the Portugal of 2013, as seen in the pages of National Geographic. Yes, I will definitely put Portugal on my Bucket List of destinations!
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