1. Portugal’s weather is known as the hottest in Europe, with nearly 3,000 sunny hours per year.
2. Portuguese is the official language of 9 countries and is the 6th most used language online.
3. Lisbon is The Oldest European Capital City, dating at around 2700 years old. Lisbon is older than Madrid, Rome, Paris and London.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo is born in Portugal.
5. The first journey around the world was led by a Portuguese explorer. The expedition of Ferdinand Magellan was the first in the world to complete the trip. Some say that Magellan died before completing the journey and that one of his slaves finished in his place.
6. Portugal exports the largest amount of Cork in the world and it accounts for about 50% of the worlds cork production. Most wine drinkers have to thank Portugal for the corks that keep their favorite wines fresh. Portuguese cork is used by leading brands such as Moet Chandon, Rolls Royce, Airbus, and NASA. And in 2018, Portuguese cork will be present in the spacecraft used by the European Space Agency in its mission to Mars.
7. Portugal is the first European destination to start drinking tea and it played a huge role in its trade routes in the 16th century.
8. There’s a Festival in Portugal where people are throwing plastic or inflatable hammers or garlands of garlic at those they find attractive. It is happening on the night of June 23rd when the Portuguese people take to the street to celebrate the festival of Sao Joao. The festival has Pagan roots and is known as “the festival of lovers.”.

Portuguese people are superstitious and there are many superstitions to observe during your Portuguese wedding:

• A person should not marry another person whose name starts with the same letter.
• Do not remove your engagement ring until the day of the wedding for good luck.
• If you cry on the day of your wedding, that’s a good sign, because those will be the last tears of your marriage.
• Do not drop the rings during the ceremony for it brings bad luck.
• Avoid weddings on Saturday, supposedly it is the least happy day.
• If a younger sibling marries before the first, the eldest shall dance barefoot on the sibling’s wedding; otherwise, they won’t find a partner.
• It brings good luck to marry on the day of the week your partner was born, or on their birthday.
• Borrowing a dress means good luck for the one wearing it, bad luck for the one lending it.
• The bridesmaid role is to confuse the evil spirits so that they may not know who is the bride.
• Do not wear pearls on the day of your wedding as for every pearl there will be a tear of sorrow.
• The veil helps protects you from the evil spirits.
• It’s considered good luck if you find a spider on your wedding clothes.
• The vows have to be said before 6 PM.
• The single people invited should get a slice of the cake and they should put it under their pillow for the night so that they can dream of their future beloved.