Author: Henry the Navigator. Kidding. It is obviously Rick Steves my friends.

Publisher: Avalon Travel, a member of the Perseus Books Group (guide published in March 2013)

For years, I’ve been enjoying Rick Steves’ programs on PBS. He’s certainly a helpful and informative host of the program, and I’ve always admired the way he travels: thoughtfully, and with a sense of respect and wonder that really all travelers should have. Not to mention infectious enthusiasm and a willingness to see and try as many new things as possible.

Naturally, when I wanted to learn a little more about traveling to and within Portugal, my first thought was Rick Steves.

This book is not only helpful for experienced and inexperienced travelers, Steves really makes a point of ensuring that those following his guide make the most of wherever they are staying, and that their hard earned money is spent wisely and to their benefit. He provides a comprehensive list of transportation options, directions to and from each location, and many, many choices for overnight stays and whatever kind of meal a person might be looking for.

And he’s not afraid to call out some places that are known to take advantage of unsuspecting tourists.

Perhaps my favorite part is the information he provides on the culture, past and present, of each site he’s included in this book. I have learned more reading this book than I’ve ever learned before. Even if it will most likely be some time before I am ever able to see mainland Portugal, I’m very grateful I started my education with this book.

I won’t get into detail here, because the stories he tells throughout are rather fun, but as I read this book, I jotted down some interesting factoids that caught my attention, and I thought I would share them with all of you. These are my thoughts as they popped up whilst I was reading.

–Must look up Fernando Pessoa. He’s a poet, but for some reason he reminds me of Emile Zola. He’s on my to-read list.

–“Lucky Lindy” was a dirty liar, because the first trans-Atlantic flight actually happened in 1922, from Lisbon to South America. So there.

–King Sebastian is kind of the Portuguese Arthur. Maybe they’ve got a timeshare on Avalon.

–Algarve comes from the Arabic “Al Gharb,” just one of the many legacies from the time when Portugal was part of the Islamic empire. I think that’s pretty neat.

–Alentejo produces more than 1/2 the world’s cork supply, with Spain making up most of the rest.

–In Nazare, many women still wear several layers of petticoats, though most don’t wear the traditional 7 layers.

–Henry the Navigator was born to a Portuguese father and an English mother, and in fact there were centuries of friendship between the two countries. My Anglophelia is now justified.

–Dom Pedro and Ines de Castro are kind of like Romeo and Juliet, except I like their story better. They are actually buried feet-to-feet, so that, according to legend, when they rise again on Judgment Day, they will be the first thing that each other sees.

–Obidos was seized from Moorish rule by a ploy straight out Shakespeare. See: Birnham Wood marching to Dunsinane.

–Coimbra is Portugal’s Oxford, and, being founded in 1290, is the 3rd oldest university in the world. St. Anthony of Padua studied there as a young monk. And, in one of the greatest cultural crimes in history, Salazar tore down many of the old buildings to make room for new, fascist buildings. And that’s why I call him Salazar Slytherin. Also, repressive regimes need to just be a thing of the past already.

–THE KING JOHN LIBRARY. It’s like the one in “Beauty and the Beast,” but it’s REAL. I cannot even talk about how awesome this place is in a rational manner, but please do yourself a favor and Google it.

–Men sing fado in the streets of Coimbra, much like medieval troubadors. Sign me up for some caterwauling.

–The old town in Porto is a UNESCO World Heritage site. There should be more of these in the Azores.

–“Coimbra studies, Braga prays, Lisbon parties, and Porto works.”

–Porto= port wine. You’re welcome world. And 19th century British dudes.

–All of the museums listing in this guidebook are astoundingly affordable. Is this a European thing? Because, if so, get with the program America.

–There’s an altar in Porto made of 1500 pounds of silver. When Napoleon pillaged the city, its citizens plastered the altar over in order to hide it.

–Port is aged anywhere from 2 to 100 years. I know which one I want to try.

–The Douro Valley is the birthplace of port wine.

–“God made the earth, but man made the Douro.”

–Much like champagne, to be considered a true port, the wine must originate in the Douro Valley

–The region is a hotspot for British port enthusiasts.

–Many port wine makers still stomp the grapes with their feet. I really, really want to do this.