Friday, May 8, 2009

March 3, 2009 - Let's experience Portugal!

Let's experience Portugal!

Beja is in Alentejo in southern Portugal. Alentejo is supposedly sun baked (but we’ve seen the unusual rain) and large – one third the size of Portugal. The guide book describes it as having vast rolling plains, golden with wheat (probably in June) or silver with olive trees, with white washed villages made of stucco.

Beja was founded by the Romans – on a hill for security reasons. The Romans valued this land for its wheat fields to grow grain to feed their empire. They introduced irrigation systems to overcome the area’s dryness (one of my friends here told me that the area becomes very brown in late summer).

Enjoy Beja, its varied cobblestone and white stucco buildings. Be wary when walking (slippery) on wet stone in this town with its warren of streets, some labeled and some more challenging.

I view the Portuguese as a friendly, hospitable people with a proud heritage and I’m looking forward to a very rewarding experience here.

- Jeanne Clark Katucki


Thought of the Day: "Success is never final and failure is never fatal."



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