It feels like we’ve been in Portugal for a long time, and so we have! At the moment we’ve spent 45% of our big trip in Portugal, although that percentage will drop to about 1/3 of our time by the time we go home. We saw a good portion of the country in the big loop we drove, covering ground from the very southern edge of the country to the northwest corner just south of Spain. In one sense we feel that we’ve seen a lot and understand the country fairly well, but in another sense, we know there is so much that we didn’t get to see. We’ve witnessed the culture and learned some history, but we didn’t really eat out or have many conversations with natives. We have certainly experienced the full spectrum of winter weather Portugal can produce. Here are some of the things we’ll remember about Portugal:

• The scent of a Portuguese grocery store. We’ve written about the bakery cases in grocery stores, but have I mentioned the fish counter? Depending on the size of a grocery store, you will smell the stink of fresh fish in part or all of the store. It’s overpowering, and I’m not sure how pregnant ladies survive the smells.
• Olá, bom dia. The polite Portuguese will almost always greet you with hello and good day, afternoon, or night. No rude scowls from grocery clerks here, only what seems like genuine friendliness. People are quick to give you space, yield for a pedestrian, or lend a quick helping hand, welcome gestures after the colder cultures we’ve experienced. Nic says he did not feel an overwhelming sense of welcome, though, so maybe it’s just me.
• Mold and mildew. Pretty much every lodging smells like mold and mildew, covered at moments by scented “stink sticks” and cleaning product smells. You might not detect the odor until the bedroom door has been shut for a while, but it’s always there. 
• Roundabouts. We must have gone through hundreds of them! Maybe this is true in all of Europe, but Portuguese roads involve way more roundabouts than traffic lights. They can be annoying, but it’s very easy to turn around of make a left turn, and unlike in Albania, everyone follows traffic rules in an orderly fashion. On the topic of driving, Nic reports that it was pretty easy driving. Be careful with the historic old town areas though, as you’ll be inching through some incredibly narrow situations!
• Portuguese. In print I can understand quite a bit with my Spanish background, but spoken Portuguese is a challenge to decipher. I found it quite difficult to speak the little I know as well. With all the nasal sounds and “zh” and “sh” sounds, it sounded like Russian to us. 
• Shelf-stable milk. We had a hard time finding fresh milk occasionally, and even when we could find it, whole milk wasn’t always available. A latte just isn’t the same with shelf-stable milk! 
• The wine. Our lodgings gifted us enough wine that we didn’t have to buy more than a bottle of port to try. The wine varieties we tried were universally delicious. We will have to look for Portuguese wine in the USA.
• Sandy beaches. Even though the weather worked against us, we loved the sandy beaches, and our kids found loads of shells. We will have to return when it’s warm enough to swim!
• Stairways. I’m not sure that there is such a thing as a flat Portuguese city, so touring around on foot inevitably involves climbing up and down and all around. Hidden stairways tucked away where you least expect them make short work of climbing.
• Public gardens. We found tranquility (and peacocks) in many public gardens. With careful design and tidy upkeep, you can’t go wrong visiting a public garden.