RIGHT now, every student here in Portugal is celebrating the one-week spring break. Portugal, being a Mediterranean country, is really enticing to tourists because the Mediterranean scene is associated with healthy food, specifically the Mediterranean diet. The Mediterranean diet consists of seafood. The Portuguese have a high life expectancy because of this and especially so that they use olive oil in sautéing fish. Olive oil is of course the healthiest cooking oil in the world because of its low fat content.
Despite Portugal having a Roman Catholic population, one exciting feature of the country is the array of nudist beaches in its Mediterranean coastline. Here you can enjoy whiling the night away with your loved one in safe discretion because there are no annoying people or paparazzi who will zap you with their zooming lens at night. But be careful not to stray away from the shore because even lifeguards do not usually patrol these areas because the beach management wants to respect their customers’ privacy. It is more ideal to dip by the beach in the moonlight because you’ll be illuminated overhead as well as down below with the glowing planktons swimming about.
On the economic side, the economy of Portugal has never been this robust. One if not the largest electricity producers in the country, EDP, will sell 40 percent of its stake to LogicaCMG. But it will not be electricity they are selling. The energy company will be selling its subsidiary Edinfor instead. That means EDP will be 55 million euros or $88.5 million richer. And this can certainly translate well to the economy of the country because whatever tax is gained from this sellout will be poured back to the Portuguese people. By the way, if you are intending to buy a piece of property here in Portugal for commercial purposes, then it’s so easy even if you’re a foreigner. There are only two kinds of taxes that you have to pay – the annual income tax and the monthly garbage collection tax. The annual income tax goes directly to the national coffers of the country. If there is no one living in the property, the income tax computation is different. It is according to your hypothetical income if you’re leasing the property to one person for a period of one year.
IF you are currently in Portugal and would like to spend Valentines Day here, let’s now take a look at what is in store for couples like you. The biggest gist of tourists here in Portugal is Scandinavian in origin and they are mostly gays and lesbians. Yet these gays and lesbian couples still celebrate Valentines Day even though Roman Catholics, who started the celebration as a way of honoring St. Valentines, do not like the idea of same sex romantic relationships. Another group of foreign lovers who are here in Portugal during Valentines are the British retiree couples who are mostly baby boomers in their 50s. Their children have all been grown up and have their own families back home in the United Kingdom and the aging couples are now free to have their second honeymoon, stripped from all inhibitions of life.
One of the best hotels to stay in Portugal this Valentines is Hotel Cidnay at Porto. It already has a free breakfast included and of course it has a nursery for toddlers for young couples who do not liked to be disturbed in their second honeymoon. You don’t have to worry about anything because the nursery is staffed by child psychologists and are equipped with safe playthings. Erecting nurseries in hotels is already a sign of competition among Portuguese hotels following the Madeleine McCann kidnapping in Praia da Luz resort in 2007. Also, it must be noted that all Portuguese hotels are thoroughly inspected every quarter by the European Union for quality of service. Those who pass the inspection are being tagged the blue flag accreditation.
It must also be emphasized that the practice of giving baskets to lovers during Valentines Day first started in this country – Portugal. It must also be understood that these gift baskets are not being given as empty ones. You must put blue flowers in them if both of you are lovers and white chocolates if you admire the Portuguese lady that you intend to give. Since these gift baskets are humongous, you can actually put lots of items in them that you have purchased here in Portugal. Aside from blue flowers and white chocolates, you can actually put there cheese, wine, fruits, body scrubs, candies and cookies.
For your gastronomical delights, one of the delicacies you can enjoy having this Thursday with only the two of you is Portuguese cream custards. You can actually buy the ingredients earlier in the day and enjoy preparing them together at the comfort of the vacation beach suite that you are renting here. To have a more romantic setting, you can actually hump together in the kitchen so you can prepare the cream custards together. To start with, you must combine first the two cups of flour, one teaspoon of salt and one tablespoon of sugar. Add butter. Add cold water. Refrigerate the resulting dough for one hour. Then cut the dough into the desired piece size. Bake for 10 minutes. For the custard, you stir in cornstarch, whipping cream, egg yolks and sugar together. This is to be added later to the pastry. To make your Valentine dessert preparation more exciting, it is at your discretion what else to do with the whipping cream. Enjoy!
PORTUGAL is one cool country to spend Valentines. First of all, most of the resorts here in Portugal are located in the Mediterranean area and the climate here is temperate especially nowadays that spring is fast coming. Even though most of the population here is Roman Catholic, there are also lots of nudist resorts here in Praia da Luz and the rest of Portugal. The best way to enjoy skinny dipping is during a moonless night. This 2008, new moon in February fell last February 6 or barely eight days from February 14. This Valentines on that date, there is relatively a quarter of the moon that you will see and therefore, a nice time to skinny dip at the nudist resort. There is one reason why swimming naked on a moonless night is cool. Aside from being sweet for romantic lovers, there are also planktons illuminating your body underwater eliminating the relevance of moonlight hovering above.
But it’s not just the Mediterranean coastlines in Portugal such as Praia da Luz which are attracting tourists nowadays even on St. Valentines Day. Even in inland regions such as Lisbon and Santarem, there are already lots of Scandinavian and British tourists descending in this country. Some of them who have experienced Valentines Day here choose to ultimately settle in Portugal for the rest of their lives. They feel that it will be a day of love for all the 365 days in the year. Even though the Santarem Hotel in the same city bearing its name is just a four-star hotel for example, the suite is already perfect as a lover’s nest to stay during Valentines Day. For in every suite at the Santarem Hotel, there is a mini-bar and during Valentines and only during that day, it will be filled with cognac and other spirits dedicated for lovers only. But if you feel lonesome and you are stuck here in Portugal for pressing work-related concerns during Valentines’ Eve, then there are also masseuses who will accompany you for a massage session at your stay in any hotel here in the country.
At the Santarem Hotel for a Valentine’s Day package, you can stay there for one night only at 150 euros per two persons. That already includes a free buffet breakfast the next day after an assuming night of passion. Beyond Valentines though, Santarem is the only agricultural city in Portugal. Of course, there are lots of urban centers in the country such as Lisbon and numerous agricultural areas as well but Santarem is different. It is the only urban center where farms abound and produce by the farmers are displayed at the hippest agricultural fairs throughout the year. Now here’s a piece of trivia for you – during the Roman era, Santarem is known as Presidium Julium. There is also a church there erected in the 14th century which features a famous rose window. So come now to Portugal and enjoy a romantic Valentines.
