A country full of poetry: Portugal

Sandra Zaunfuchs
Apr 30
2 min read

This week we are talking about one of the two countries that just had to endure a total blackout. We've had experience of blackouts ourselves when traveling in remote regions and it can push you to your existential limits (especially when it comes to healthcare, where lives are at stake if the supply from devices breaks down). I always remind myself of this when I can't access electricity, WiFi, water or heating for a moment.

The truth is that many people in Central Europe are used to the existential luxury of always having all of this available. We have forgotten the achievements behind this and how many people work every day to maintain the supply. The storms of recent years have not only taught us as humanity how grateful we can be for everything, but also how we can find a new way to find fulfillment in reduction. My happiest state anyway is being out in nature with just a rucksack on my back (see also our book “Zuhause in mir - Wir mir der Jakobsweg die Achtsamkeit lehrte”).

But back to Portugal, which also has a phenomenal route to Santiago de Compostela. Portugal is so much at once that it is hard to grasp. During the 2009 trip, the impressions were so atmospheric everywhere that it is difficult to identify favorite places. That's why today's description is a little less concrete:

Portugal is gray and colorful at the same time,

heavy and light,

fado and joie de vivre,

majestic street dogs and bony stray cats,

heavy port wine and fun-loving copaeira,

God soccer and the Madonna in Fatima,

Convent nuns kneeling on stone steps in Braga to show the world penance,

Cafés that fill the streets with fado music,

Elevators and streetcars for the cities that wind their way upwards,

castles from fairytale lands,

dramatic rocky coasts and wild free surfing,

the rough Atlantic and the lovely Douro valley,