I like the story of the Portuguese Prince Regent Dom João who fled in 1807 from the invading Napoleonic forces with his entire royal court of 15.000 from Lisbon to Rio. Until 1821, Rio de Janeiro functioned as the capital of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil and the Algarves. João liked life and pleasures in royal Rio so much (as a Carioca da Gema I am not surprised) that he actually did not want to go back to Lisbon.

Nowadays it would be so much easier to convince João from his need to return since Lisbon has become for me one of the coolest cities in Europe. And Lisbon is, thanks to great views on wide Tejo just around every corner and thanks to the lunatic fugacity of its Fado nights, maybe the only city which may cause similar saudade vibes as Rio. seems that in such a small country, Portuguese explorers were simply too busy exploring the world and marrying, wherever they landed, local women. They conquered Brazil, parts of Africa  and parts of the East Indies. No wonder they could not really concentrate on becoming a great food nation. But there is one notable exception: I love Pastéis de Belém.