Portugal!

Ah! Portugal! One half of the two great Iberian imperial powers of yesteryears! Today, it is a country of merely 10 million people. It is also the land of great sailors like Vasco Da Gama.

Portugal has been one of my dream destinations, ever since I read about it in school. And it was becoming a reality! Moreover, I was happy to escape the chilly November German winter, even if it was only for two days.

My Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to the Northern Portuguese city of Porto, took a little over 2.5 hours. The city of Porto looked beautiful from the flight. The buildings looked typically European with inclined and tiled roofs. And the North Atlantic Ocean was right there, less than 3 kms away from the swanky new Porto Airport.

I was on a business visit, so a Taxi was waiting for me at the airport. The Taxi driver spoke Portuguese flavored-English but impeccable German. Our destination was Braga, which is a small city situated to the North East of Porto. The driver told me that the journey would take a little over an hour and that I can relax and enjoy the picturesque beauty of Portuguese countryside.

The countryside retains a lot of remnants from Portugal’s glorious past, blending well with symbols of modernization. Portugal is also among the most Catholic countries in the world.

I got into a casual chat with the driver and he talked about Portuguese history, about their fall from being one of the most powerful countries in the world to being a mere also-ran. He also talked about the bloodless revolution of 1974, which brought democracy to the country, and also about how joining the EU in 1986 has helped the country prosper again, with the growth of a service-oriented industry.

I was a bit surprised a when he asked about Goa and the Portuguese occupation of it. He told me that his uncle was an army officer in Goa prior to its takeover by the Indian Army in 1961.

I learnt a few basic Portuguese terms from him, like Ole (Hello) and Obrigada (Thank You).

He dropped me off at the office and my Portuguese colleague received me. People there are very friendly and very attractive too! They took very good care of me and were very keen to listen.

I noticed that some of the workers looked African. One of my colleagues told me that Portugal has a lot of immigrant workers from its erstwhile colonies in Africa, like Angola and Guinea Bissau and that they are very well integrated into the society.

I happened to meet a lot of people in the office and it seemed to me as if every second guy was named "Pedro" and every third guy was named "Ricardo".

Time for lunch and I was excited to try Portuguese food. The food was mainly seafood and I enjoyed the fish and prawn delicacies. I was accompanied by 6 of my colleagues at the lunch table, each one trying to feed me something special. It reminded me of the hospitality back home in India.

I finished my work in the evening and a Taxi dropped me off to my Hotel. The Hotel was classy and the staff was very helpful. An “Obrigada” from me made them extremely happy.

I freshened up and set out for my evening walk, accompanied by two of my colleagues. They showed me around the city, which looked historic and I shopped for a few souveniers. I was in for a surprise as I found an Indian restaruant named "Ristorante Indiano Rangoli". But we didn't go there as I wanted to try local food. I was taken to the classiest of restaurants in the city for dinner and I relished on more seafood and authentic port wine.

I was woken up the next day by the Hotel staff and breakfast, which was typically European with cheese and butter, was served in my room. I set out for my second and last day in the office and I found the same Taxi driver as the previous day, waiting for me. I greeted him “Ole” and he said “Sie lernen zu schnell” (You learn very fast, in German).

I enjoyed another day at the office, with my work successfully completed by the end of the day. I left for the airport, unwillingly, amid goodbyes from my colleagues.

My Air Berlin flight from Porto left for Hannover, Germany via Palma De Mallorca (an island off the Spanish east coast).