I’m going to try and complete Portugal now. Then I’ll only be behind the first 5 days in Spain! Here we go!
Sintra
There are lots of castles, palaces, seafood and Atlantic coast west of Lisbon. One could easily spend a week here. But, we’d decided, we’d take a quick drive over after leaving Lisbon, visit one spot and then head to Coimbra. We broke all the rules; we did not eat seafood in Cascais, did not visit either of the main palaces, nor the western most sport in Europe. But, we did visit Quinta da Regaleira with it’s beautiful gardens and a 27 meter deep well with a spiral staircase to the bottom. Not as crowded, as hard to get tickets and quite beautiful and relaxing to explore.
Not nearly as grand as some I’m sure, but quite elaborate in Gothic design. Actually not very old, being built in the late 1800’s. The land where it sits in various holdings dates to the 1700’s.The 27 meter deep well with a compass rose at the bottom. Apparently this was a Mason ritual to go down the spiral stairs and out through a tunnel at the bottom as a rebirth. (This is a very simplified version of this story.)One has to include the crane fountain, even if the word is spelled differently. This is more of a chunky rock mosaic as opposed to flat stones.There was not much we could see in the house, but the dining room was quite beautiful.
After our visit to the Quinta, we had time for a nice lunch then drove a few hours to Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is one more very old city in Portugal with a university firmly established in Coimbra in 1537 after several iterations moving back and forth between Lisbon beginning in 1290! It is one of the oldest universities in the world with a few traditions that to my New Mexico background seem a bit quirkey. But what do I know. For special occasions a black suit and cape is worn for all students. Very Harry Potteresque.
Two students one caped and the other with it slung over her shoulder like a sash. There is a very specifi8c way they fold them and where them when no draped. From our hotel window we saw a woman showing another how to wrap it and wear it. Yes, both women and men where the capes. I asked one female student when women were admitted. In the 1890’s, a rich, influential daughter was allowed to attend, that did not confer to all women. This happened around 1933 when general education became better for all Portuguese and families in general became wealthier.
Our visit was during the first week of school which seems to be full of ritual parties (with lots of drinking) as well as ceremonies which closed some of the buildings. Definitely not used to this sort of activity at my public university in New Mexico. Very cool to see the bits and pieces though.
The hats are called tassel. Just like at other universities, different colleges have different colors. Those with these elaborate hats have PhD’s. Yellow is for medicine. This is the procession at the end of one of the opening ceremonies for the school year. We were only able to see them as they moved from one room to another.
We also had an opportunity to visit the Capella de Sao Miguel built between the 16th and 18th centuries, a small chapel with an oversized organ.
This elaborate organ was on the side of the chapel, not at the back or front. It was also way oversized for the chapel. I can only imagine the sound it produces in the small space.
And then there was the physics museum and museum of curiosities. An old university has some interesting items.
A piece of the room of curiosities. Lots of odd old things here. I can’t imagine there is much of scientific use here at this point except for perhaps a stuffed extinct bird.There were two large rooms with shelves of equipment used for demonstrations. To help with the sign on this one; The Ampere’s Table is used to investigate the behavior of conductors when an electrical current passed through them. Designed in Paris, 1824 – 1851.The new battery bank we’re considering as a backup for our house in Santa Fe.
On to the Duro
After our morning in Coimbra and a nice lunch, our leisurely forced march continued on to Quinta Casa Amarela. Although there are lots of day trips from Porto to the Duro Valley, I wanted to stay at a Quinta in and valley and do a nice vineyard/winery tour. What a lovely spot!
A view from our room at the quinta. The hills on both sides of the valley below to this family. Gil, the owner is the 5th generation and his grand kids are the next in line to take over.Gil and Jim talking port. Behind Gil are two barrels, one 90 year old port, the other a mere 45. The barrels are from the 1700’s. Gil sees this as his insurance policy.There crushing vats for all reds. White are made at another facility a few miles away. They used to make only port, but now make non-fortified reds and whites as well. They grow 45 varieties of grapes in small lots. The lots are a mix of grapes and are crushed together and go through fermentation together. None of this pure varietal stuff and blending only at the end. Yes, crushing is done by foot.
Porto
We seemed to have moved into activities in the morning and driving to a new spot in the afternoon. Thus, after our wonderful visit with Gil, we made the two hour drive to Porto.
What a lovely town! We spent most of our time wandering, visiting the local market, wandering to the Duro River, enjoying the scenery and visiting a few churches. A very laid back day.
This is much more of an eating market than a buying to take home market. Buy a glass of wine, wander around and find little tidbits to eat.There are so many different packages of sardines. I guess it’s like wine labels, one buys wine and sardines by the label!Very pretty product, but not lots of stalls. We bought some meat, cheese, bread, fruit and pastries and had dinner back at our hotel to finish off an open bottle of wine. Lovely!All the big port houses on on the south side of the bridge in Porto. We did not visit any of them, we only had port at our Quinta in the Duro, but enjoyed wandering the streets. One can only eat and drink so much!We really enjoyed watching the river, the waves and the interesting tour boats on the water. isn’t that a pretty town!I don’t know the story of this bunny on the side of a building. But he was so cool!
Our visit to Porto was short but we really enjoyed wandering the streets, eating here and there and having one very fine meal (our best so far of the trip) in Porto.
The Style and Tiles of Portugal
To round things out, here are a few pics from various spots in Portugal. There is lots of texture, style and soul here.
Many streets in all the towns are mosaic stones. They can be quite slick when wet. Some streets have been paved over, others are being restored. They are not smooth, but I hope they keep them.There are a million designs of blue tile on walls. Others choose different patters, or colors to adorn their buildings.Sometimes they tell stories on the outside of a church.Other times inside a church.There are also more modern takes on tile design.Some choose to adorn their tiles with other objects.Or, forgo tiles altogether and use ties.But in all cases, don’t piss off the cat!
