Portuguese is the official language of Portugal. Portuguese evolved from the Latin language, spoken in the ancient Roman Empire. Other languages that evolved from Latin include Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian. These languages are together known as Romance languages, and not just because they sound romantic! The word "romance" refers to the ancient Roman Empire. Portuguese is very similar to Spanish, at least when you compare the words. Actually, Portuguese and Spanish share over 85% of their vocabulary!
Like many other European nations, Portugal uses the euro for its currency. Many nations in the European Union use the euro to make trade and commerce between nations easier. For example, having a single currency made it easy for me to travel around Europe without having to worry about currency exchange. I went to Spain, Germany and Greece, which all use the euro! In the USA, we have the dollar sign ($), in Europe, they use the Euro sign (€).
A bottle of water costs around 1€. Many Portuguese people say that coffee is cheaper than water, and it's usually true. At coffee shops, bakeries, and restaurants alike, the cheapest item on the menu will usually be an espresso, a shot of strong coffee. My favorite coffee shop sold these shots for about 50 cents apiece
