The Portuguese are genuinely unique. They are very kind, considerate and caring. Extremely hospitable, very honest and straightforward. What you see is what you get. Their passion for football is unbeatable. Music lovers and fun loving they are. They are very laid back while one can never see even a trace of malice or greed in them. Who can forget their heroic and pioneering adventures across the world from Asia to Africa and the Americas with brave explorers finding new sea routes to new frontiers. Portugal is blessed with a temperate climate which makes life all the more tolerable and enjoyable without having to contend with extremes.

 

Almost all government services are online but if you ever visit any government office you would encounter an official spending more time exchanging pleasantries then effective Customer service. The Portuguese love their food, healthy, tasty and of great variety, designed to please any palate, and unlike some places in Europe, it’s never a sandwich at lunch but a full meal which is incomplete without a glass or two of wine. Portugal is just beautiful and serene. The warmth of the people just intensifies as you move around the countryside and into the villages.

 

Today people shell out a huge amount to obtain a Portuguese Passport. Fortunately, I was blessed to get it for free, thanks to the authorities in Goa who relentlessly chased and hounded me insisting that I was not an Indian but a Portuguese. Why they singled me out only God would know but with any injustice it often turns out to be a blessing in disguise. Anyway, that’s now all history. And maybe I was destined to be a citizen of this great, glorious and fabulous country.

 

It is easy to see why Portugal was ranked 4th in 2022 as the best place for expats to live and increasingly becoming more popular because of the environment and climate, the plethora of leisure options, safety and security and above all the friendliness and resourcefulness of its people. But unfailingly my love for Goa and in particular my birthplace Ribandar shall never ever die. Viva Portugal, Viva Goa, Viva Ribandar!