GUEST OF HONOUR PORTUGAL

Portugal Magic

A small giant guest of honour

Bem-vindo! Welcome! The country of great seafarers casts anchor in Geneva. Guest of honour at the 2013 Geneva Festival, Portugal brings us its passion, its culture, and its islands of Madeira and the Azores too.

What a wealth of choice for such a small country, whose stature is that of one much larger! It’s not by chance that the University of Coimbra is one of the oldest in the world. In truth, Portugal is a country of giants, giants who have left their mark on history. They took to the sea with names such as Magellan (Magalhâes), Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco de Gama.

Let’s take a plane to the Algarve

A magnificent region renowned for its cliffs and its beaches (Praia do Marinha is among the world’s top 100 ranked by beauty), the Algarve is the ideal destination for bathing, surfing, golf and revitalisation. And also for Sagres! It lies at the south-western most tip of continental Portugal, the land of the world’s end, the legendary gateway for seafarers embarking on voyages of discovery, and for Prince Henry the Navigator, keeper of the country’s immense maritime knowledge. He it was who organised great expeditions, dreamed of India, discovered the spice route and asked his scientists to invent the caravel, his seamen to keep a ship’s log, and his captains to create finely detailed coastal maps. Come to the Algarve outside the summer season, when package holidays make way for quieter forays into the green and beautiful hinterland of Serra de Monchique.

Portugal didn’t just sail over the horizon

Firstly we’ll drink a glass of wine and find that it’s good. Nor will we have to look far to find vineyards. We are in Porto for a long weekend… or more, to make the most of a cruise on the Douro. And then of course there’s Lisbon. Lisbon, the city we feel we’ve known forever, which offers so much more than its steep streets in the old town of Alfama, its azulejos and its old tramway.

A short hop and we’re in Madeira

The spectacular scenery stands tall and proud, softened by an eternal spring. Here we’re in the tranquil realm of walking enthusiasts, who pass through a landscape of flowers by the side of the levadas. With its centrepiece Funchal, the strange and marvellous capital that seems to have invented leisurely paced dynamism.The spectacular scenery stands tall and proud, softened by an eternal spring. Here we’re in the tranquil realm of walking enthusiasts, who pass through a landscape of flowers by the side of the levadas. With its centrepiece Funchal, the strange and marvellous capital that seems to have invented leisurely paced dynamism.

Further still

Somewhere between Lisbon and New York, the Azores are not just the name of an anticyclone. More than an archipelago, they comprise nine real islands, a paradise of nature that braves the winds and the particularly ferocious ocean, a destination for those who want to leave the world behind, with le Pico prominent like a knight of old still standing. Portugal’s highest walk culminates here at an altitude of 2351 metres.