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!