After thirty years of professional life in Africa, a merried couple receives a pre-retirement job in Portugal. Soon they realise that the small country can offer much more than a perfunctory glance of a tourist can see.
Taken to hiking trips by their new portuguese friends, they enthusiastically explore costal villages around Lisbon, take part in festive events and get to know local cultural and culinary traditions.
They become familiar to the sides of life which are normally hidden from short time visitors. Their genuine interest in people opens personal stories which reflect the drama of the country’s way through the centuries of its history. Trying to master the language, they enroll to university summer school and see some customs and habits which have survived from medieval to our days.
Small country has perfect roads. That makes it possible to explore its far corners during week ends. The fact that the country did not have wars on its territory for centuries makes Portugal a living museum with innumerable castles, palaces and monasteries, revealing legendary history of this westernmost European country. The treasures of this museum are described in the book.