It only takes a quick glance at the cover of the latest Summer Travel Issue of the New York Times Style Magazine to recognize that it’s highlighting Portugal. It’s the typical whitewashed architecture of the south of the country, and in this case it’s the province of Alentejo east of Lisbon. As is expected from the New York Times, it goes to still-undiscovered corners, places filled with character but not on the usual tourist path. In this issue it chose the upper Alentejo, recommending days traveling on “the slow lane,” enjoying “Portugal’s answer to America’s Great Plains.” That’s where you’ll find country inns and restaurants that are “highly personalized labors of love,” and the article recommends a few. You can read the entire article and current issue of the magazine here: New York Time Style Magazine

First it was the new 7 Wonders of the World announced in Lisbon in 2007. Then Portugal was inspired to choose its own seven (man-made) wonders in the country, the 7 Portuguese Wonders of the World, and is currently voting for its seven natural wonders. It’s now arrived at a list of 21 finalists in 7 different categories that range from protected zones to caves which can be voted at www.7maravilhas.sapo.pt. Among the nominees are sites already singled out by UNESCO as World Heritage — the Sintra landscape, the Douro Valley, and Madeira’s Laurissilva forest.
Not on the list are a couple of my personal favorites, the breathtaking scenery of Coa Valley in the north of the country, the mystical Cabo Espichel, and Cabo da Roca which is the Westernmost point in Europe. Still, the ones on the list are all worthy of the distinction.
The winners will be announced in the Azores (itself a natural wonder) on September 11. In the meantime, here are a few illustrated examples of the candidates:

Berlengas Natural Reserve

Arrábida Natural Park

Sintra Hills

Sete Cidades Lake

Mira D’Aire Caves

Lagoa do Fogo (“The Lake of Fire”)

Douro Valley

J. Crew’s recent photo shoot in Portugal is not just featured on the company’s catalogue and website, it’s also an inspiration for its shops on New York’s Madison and 5th avenues (see photo below). And in May you can take a look at Portuguese design in New York, at the MoMA (Museum of Modern Art) and buy it at the MoMA Store which will have a special display called “Destination: Portugal”. They’ll be pieces made of cork (very eco-friendly) such as umbrellas, purses, and watches. Portugal is the world’s biggest exporter of cork and these products are made by the Pelcor company which has a shop in Lisbon (Rua das Pedras Negras, 32)

Media reports have been buzzing about Apple’s latest gadget, the iPad. Among the mixed reactions (“it’s brilliant!” “where’s the novelty?”), there is also much excitement over flat devices where you can carry your entire life around with you. What we’re seeing is just the beginning of an upcoming technological revolution, and Portugal is set to become a big contributor. The country is actually a quiet technology leader, from wind and solar-powered energy to computer software. If you ever use the ATM in Portugal, you’ll see that it seems that Portugal is using Windows 7 while the rest of the world’s ATMs are still running MsDOS. The Portuguese do everything at the ATM (the “Multibanco“), from paying their monthly bills, to pre-paying their cell phone service, to even ordering concert tickets (there are currently 60 different functionalities possible at Portuguese ATMs). That also means that for many bank services you don’t have to wait to get back home or the office to use online banking, and you don’t have to stand in line at the bank, since you can do that right away, around the corner at the ATM. Having been living in Lisbon for half a dozen years, I have taken these conveniences for granted until I return to the United States and see lines of people at the bank still cashing their salary’s check on Fridays, or using the obsolete-looking ATMs. I also remember passing through New York’s EZ Pass, only to discover later that it is actually a technology developed in Portugal known as “Via Verde” where you don’t have to stop to pay your toll.
Then there are Portuguese companies like Displax which are embracing and innovating technological advances by turning virtually any surface into a touch screen. The company’s polymer film is thinner than paper, therefore allowing pretty much anything to become a touch-screen display. The interactive displays can measure anywhere from 20cm to up to 3 meters diagonally, meaning that one day you just may see entire shop windows turned into interactive displays with multiple users at any time.

Options screen at an ATM in Portugal

A recent cover story of TIME magazine called the almost-over first decade of the new millennium “The Decade From Hell.” For Lisbon and Portugal in general however, it was not so bad. Not in economic terms, since the country suffered with the global crisis as much as everyone else, but the last ten years was a period of positive change in several other areas in the city and the country. With the handing over of Macau to China at the end of 1999, Lisbon was for the first time in five centuries just the capital of Portugal, and not of an empire. It had no choice but to better integrate itself fully into Europe, and that’s what it did from day 1. It is now a much more progressive, forward-thinking city, with a larger number of cultural attractions that have also helped it increase its number of tourists and revenue.
Below is a list of the major events that marked Lisbon and all of Portugal from 2000 to 2009, from politics to cultural events and international distinctions, to major local milestones:

2000
-Lisbon starts the new millennium as the capital of the European Union for six months, just days after handing Macau over to China. For the first time in five centuries it does not have an overseas colony, and celebrates 500 years of its discovery of Brazil.

2001
-Porto is named European capital of Culture, leading to massive renovations around the city, including an expanded airport which eventually wins a Best European Airport award by Airports Council International, and opens a new state-of-the-art metro.

-The Douro Valley and the historic center of Guimarães are declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

2002
-The Euro is the new currency of Portugal, together with eleven other European countries.

2003
-American president George W. Bush, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, and Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar meet in Portugal’s Azores for a controversial summit discussing the start of the Iraq war.

2004
-Portugal hosts Euro2004, the European soccer championships in new stadiums in eight cities: Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra, Faro, Aveiro, Leiria, Braga, and Guimarães. The national team reaches the finals for the first time but loses to Greece.

-The Azores’ Pico landscape is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

-Prime Minister Durão Barroso resigns to take over as President of the European Commission, leading to early elections in Portugal. While taking over the most powerful office of the European Union gave him an international status, his image at home was greatly damaged, in part due to his allowing of the Iraq war summit to take place in the Azores. His party is defeated by the Socialists who win an overwhelming majority.

2005
-Lisbon hosts the MTV European Music Awards with Madonna opening the show with the first performance of her new single “Hung Up.”

2006
-The Dakar Rally starts in Lisbon for the first time.

-Lisbon Casino opens to rival the largest one in Europe, in nearby Estoril.

2007
-The New 7 Wonders of the World are announced in Lisbon.

-After threats that the world-class Berardo Collection of modern art would move to Paris, the Portuguese government reaches an agreement to keep it in Lisbon and provides space for the opening of the new Berardo Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

-The Lisbon Treaty was signed by the leaders of all European Union countries in Lisbon, reviewing and restructuring the EU constitutional framework.

2008
-A year of milestones and special celebrations: It’s the 20th anniversary since the fire that destroyed much of Lisbon’s historic Chiado district, 250 years since the renovation of Baixa after the Great Earthquake, 10 years since Lisbon hosted the World Fair, and Portugal’s greatest film director Manoel De Oliveira turned 100 years old as the world’s oldest active film director.

2009
-Portugal remembers its cultural heritage around the world with the selection of the 7 Portuguese Wonders of the World, inspired by the announcement of the new 7 Wonders of the World two years earlier.

-Lisbon receives the exhibition “Encopassing the Globe: Portugal and the World in the 15th and 16th Centuries” organized by the Smithsonian Institute and previously shown in Washington DC.

-Lisbon finally opens its Design and Fashion Museum.

-Lisbon wins Europe’s Leading Destination, Best European City Break, and European Cruise Destination at the World Travel Awards.

It’s been a while since we brought you a Lisbon in the World post. Today we’re taking you once again to New York, pointing out the places where you can get to know a little of Portuguese culture across the Atlantic. In the previous Lisbon in New York post we highlighted the Big Apple’s Portuguese restaurants and the historical Portuguese Synagogue in the city, and had previously told you about how the borough of Queens is named after Portugal’s Catherine of Bragança.
Today we also remember Emma Lazarus (Lázaro), the poet of Portuguese Jewish background who’s best known for the sonnet “The New Colossus” engraved on the Statue of Liberty (“Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…”), and also tell you about the first non-native citizen of New York, Jan Rodrigues. His last name reveals his Portuguese background, and he was recently remembered in a New Yorker article about Governor’s Island south of Manhattan, where he arrived in 1613 on a Dutch expedition. Rodrigues lived in what was to become New York as a trader of Dutch weapons for the local Indian tribes, and later married an Indian girl.
Another historical personality of Portuguese background in New York was Benjamin Cardozo who was a famous lawyer who went on to become the Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court in the early 20th century.
Moving to the present day, a special taste of Portugal can currently be found in the SoHo neighborhood, at the Kiosk design shop. It sells products found during the owners’ travels, and until mid-February of next year Portugal will be the highlighted country. This is the second time Portugal is the featured country of a New York shop in the period of a year, as last year the popular “Whole Foods” showcased Portuguese cuisine in a special “Adventures in Portugal” month.
Other recent Portuguese-related news in Manhattan was the opening of Aldea Restaurant by Portuguese-American chef George Mendes. His specialty is Iberian cuisine, after having interned at one of Spain’s best restaurants, the three-Michelin-star Martin Berasategui in San Sebastian. The name of the restaurant means “village” in Spanish, perhaps chosen instead of the Portuguese “Aldeia” to look easier for American pronunciation. Although the dishes are Portuguese and Spanish, the wine list also includes labels from France and the United States.

The world’s most famous gem is probably the Hope Diamond due to the legend that says it is cursed. But the world’s biggest stone, the most valuable gem, with 127 carats is said to be the Portuguese Diamond. No one knows for sure where it originally came from, but it is thought to have once been part of the Portuguese crown jewels. It is currently in the Smithsonian in Washington DC, which acquired it in 1963 and has displayed it in the American capital’s Museum of Natural History.
With the wealthiest royal family in the world at one point, and with diamond-rich Angola and gold-filled Brazil as colonies, Portugal transported priceless treasures around the world, and many of them currently lay at the bottom of the oceans. Many shipwrecks traced back to Portugal’s voyages of discovery have been widely reported while many others have been kept largely in secret, but those interested in the subject will want to read an article in National Geographic magazine from a couple of weeks ago. It tells the story of a 16th century Portuguese ship carrying gold and diamonds to India that was blown off course by a storm and never reached its destination. It was only discovered in April of 2008 with thousands of priceless artifacts inside which is firing the imagination of the world’s archaeologists. You may read the entire article here: Diamond Shipwreck.
If you have the “treasure hunter” spirit, you should visit the Ajuda Palace when you’re in Lisbon. It’s the last royal palace built in Portugal, and the last official royal residence until the end of monarchy in 1910. It stands just as the royals left it, and shows off an opulent and extravagant collection of decorative arts. Other royal treasures are found in Mafra Palace and inside the “Disneyesque” Pena Palace in Sintra.

Next Sunday’s travel section of the New York Times will feature an article about Portugal’s Alentejo entitled Next Stop: Alto Alentejo, Unsung but Not for Long. It concentrates on the northern part of the province, the Alto Alentejo, known for its hilltop castles and stopped-in-medieval-times atmosphere.
The main photo of the article shows the castle of Marvão, the spectacularly-sited walled town which GoLisbon recommends as one of Portugal’s Top 10 destinations, but also features other must-see towns such as Estremoz and Crato. These last two are mostly recommended for their Pousadas which I have personally experienced and shared here on this blog: Portugal’s Pousadas.
The article goes on to highlight the region’s cuisine and ends with the conclusion that this part of Portugal is the Tuscany of 30 years ago, and that it’s on its way to being discovered after the planned high-speed train linking Lisbon and Madrid starts stopping nearby in 2012.

The well-known travel publication Lonely Planet released its annual “Best in Travel” list yesterday, and among the top 10 countries to visit in 2010 is Portugal. This list chooses destinations that no matter what your personal style is, you’re guaranteed to find something inspiring geographically and culturally.
The ten countries are not ranked, but rather listed alphabetically, meaning no destination is more recommended than the other. What it does mean is that in 2010, these countries will offer what all kinds of travelers are looking for, whether it’s something familiar or exotic. Some of these countries have been popular tourist destinations for quite some time, while others are way off the beaten path.
In addition to Portugal, the other countries to visit in 2010 according to Lonely Planet are El Salvador, Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, New Zeland, Suriname, and the United States.
For the most complete guide to Portugal and Portuguese culture on the web, see our Portugal Travel Guide.

The 2009 edition of the World Travel Awards took place this weekend and Lisbon was the big winner. The Portuguese capital won Europe’s Leading Destination as well as Best City Break and Leading Cruise Destination. Described as the “Oscars” of the travel industry, these awards single out the best in travel, from hotels to airlines, to destinations, and two other prizes for Portugal were Best Golf Resort to Marriott Praia D’El Rei in Obidos and Best Boutique Resort to Algarve‘s Vila Joya.
Other awards included Best Airline which went to Germany’s Lufthansa, Best Low-Cost Airline to EasyJet, the Best Airport is Zurich‘s, and the best hotel is Paris’ Le Bristol. Among other categories were Best Design Hotel (Turkey’s Adam and Eve), Best Luxury Hotel (St. Petersburg’s Grand Hotel Europe), Best Cruise Lines (Norwegian Cruise Line), and Best Beach Resort (Greece’s Minos Imperial).

This year there were thousands of votes by travel professionals from 183,000 travel agencies, tour and transport companies in over 160 countries.