One thing that shocked me most when I came here at the beginning of December was unexpected cold.
And I´m not writing this article to complain. It´s just a small reflection to point some differences between Poland and Portugal.
Portugal is mainly characterized by warm temperature and of course during the winter, weather is better than in the rest of Europe. While Poland struggles with cold and snowy or windy and rainy weather, Portugal enjoys averages temperatures of about 15 degrees during a day.
To illustrate winter in Poland I´m posting a couple of pictures that I took last winter in my garden. 
Moreover, Portugal is one of the countries with the highest numbers of sunny days in Europe. Winter in Poland is completely different. You can forget about going out without warm sweaters, winter coats, gloves, hats and winter boots! The sky is often grey and it´s getting dark very early. I know, it sounds quite depressive. Here in Portugal you can enjoy the sun almost everyday!
So what´s the problem?
The only thing that suprised me a bit is that in Portugal it´s not common to use central heating. So basically, during the winter the temperature outside and inside flat is the same. Portuguese got used to that – they just wearing uncountable layers of sweaters and sleep under a couple of blankets. For me at the beginning that was shocking – in Poland it´s impossible to survive without central heating so we always have quite high temperatures inside, in order to compensate the cold outside. But don´t worry, a couple of days and you”ll get used to that and moreover, after the portuguese winter you”ll become stronger and hardened!
So don´t be scared!
During the winter Portugal will not offer you hot, beach weather but still can be a wonderful travel destination.
Instead, you can find cheaper flights and accommodation, cities will be less crowded because it´s not high season and consequently, you will have more space and freedom to admire beautiful landscapes.
Sunny winter in Lisbon!
