New year, new activities!

2012-01-15T22:10:00.001Z

We have had the most gorgeous winter! After the last two rainy winters, we have just enjoyed a solid month of sunshiny afternoons and cool nights. Perfect for outdoor activities, such as walking, hiking, bicycling, sitting at outside cafés, horse riding, golfing... Last night we started getting some rain, which, let's face it, was already needed for crops, and it IS the season for rain, anyway, so we should not complain! But it has been really nice to go for the walks and do many outside activities without having to worry about showers. And after today it should be nice again for a week or so! (You can always check out the weather here through the link http://www.accuweather.com/en-us/pt/lisboa/sintra/forecast.aspx ).

The new supporting wall before it was painted

We have started this year with many improvement activities. First came the new supporting wall for the level of the internet house. The November rains and the roots of the Pittosporum trees together created cracks on the wall, so it is now iron and concrete re-enforced. Thanks to the good weather, everything was done quite quickly and the wall is better than ever! The men will continue in a week's time repairing the wall under the pool - it is not cracked, just in need of a bit of a 'lift'.

The next improvements can be done, rain or shine, as they are inside jobs. We are going to redo a floor in Casa da Vista. It seems that as the wooden floor was placed last summer, a nail punctured a heating-pipe. No-one noticed it then, only when the heating was turned on and the dilating pipe started allowing for the water to leek. It was noticed as a few boards started rising. The carpenter is coming tomorrow to start those works.

Also, a plumber will be coming in to redo shower-floors in two Casa do Valle bathrooms. And a painter will be doing some touches as well in the next few weeks. This is a perfect time for all of this, as it is the low season, and the workers can be more at ease with the noise they make.

There are lots of lemon this winter!

The gardeners are busy as well. The hydrangeas have been trimmed down and now we are pruning; this is the season and we have lots to prune! First are the fruit trees, then the olive trees. We will have a lot of firewood next winter from our own trees! Also, replanting of agapanthuses will be done in the bottom part of the garden within the next month. The garden is plentiful even now - the first roses are opening, the callas are in bloom, we have plenty of citrus fruits, especially lemon, the loquat trees are in bloom...

The Clementine are getting sweet

The first roses of 2012!

We have also done a general yearly planning of the property, making more plans for future garden works. I am making drawings for the pond we want to have near the bambus, and additional lighting plans are also ready. New flowers will be planted and I am putting in an herb-garden.

We are planning a pond next to the bambus

So though it is a low season for the guest house, it is the busy season for all the garden work and improvement projects. It is a fun change, and one of the reasons I love this job: though it keeps me busy year round, it is so varied you cannot get bored!

This year 2012 is our 'wellness year' - I will let you know more about it in the next post. We are going to have many wellness activities here through the summer, including exercises, massages and therapies. And if you have any ideas of what you would like that to include, please let us know! There maybe enough time to include it in our plans! In the meanwhile, please check-out our facebook page respond to an inquiry... We love to hear from you!

2011-12-03T17:02:00.001Z

Christmas Season Activities!

As Portugal is deep in the crisis, one cannot help but wonder what that will do for tourism and for Christmas season. Like many other cities, to save money, Sintra has opted to have no public Christmas lights in the streets. This does not mean, however, that there is no Christmas animation - quite the contrary! The shops all have their own window displays, and some of them are quite creative, I might add!
And there are MANY concerts and programs happening, some free, some paid, some in Sintra, some in Lisbon. Some are for children, some for families, some more for the grown folks. In this blog I will basically just list the events, and add links to sites with more information.

I will start with Sintra.
Parques de Sintra have programs for the whole family!
Natal Saloio (Country Christmas) on December 4th at Monserrate
Natal Real (Royal Christmas) on December 11th at Pena Palace
Natal Franciscana (Franciscan Christmas) on December 18th at the Capuchos Convent.
In addition there are creative workshops on candel making and a musical theater Pinocchio!
For more information, see www.parquesdesintra.pt (clique on the green dates of the agenda on the right of the homepage)

As Christmas is for families, there is a Christmas Land set up in the library's garden with Santa's house and elves, a small market and various events. It is open 8-11/12 (13h-18h); 12-16/12 (10h-12h30 and 14h30-17h30) and the 17, 18, 22 and 23 /12 (13h - 18h).

Also, there are the traditional Christmas Concerts in the local churches, still the 11th of December at 16h at the church of São João das Lampas and 18h at the church of Queluz. On the 17th, the concert is in São Miguel - the church next to Olga Cadaval Cultural Center -with the famous Rão Kyao - and the last concert is in our Historical Center, São Martinho, on the 6th of January with the Chamber orchestra and the Opera Group of Sintra. http://www.cm-sintra.pt/NoticiaDisplay.aspx?ID=6406

Also not to miss is the Sleeping Beauty Balet, performed at the Olga Cadaval Cultural Center on the 9th of December by the Russian Classical Ballet Company. More information from http://www.ccolgacadaval.pt/

Great news are the discounts that we have with the local horse and carriage company Sintratur! As always, we offer discounts of 5 and 10 euros off their trips, and this special Winter Season special there is a great deal: An hour and a half Jingle Bell Ride in the Sintra countryside for 55 euros instead of 70, hot chocolate and cookies included! Advanced booking is necessary for this ride, price is per carriage, upto 4 people. More information from www.sintratur.com.

Lisbon is about 30 kms away and there is a lot happening! This is really just a list:

Cirque du Soleil show 'Allegria' 21/12 - 8/1 at the Atlantic Pavillion near the staion Oriente
Grand Strauss Gala 23 - 30/12 at the Tivoli Theater
Russian Army dance and choir performance 27&28/12 at the Tivoli Theater
Cambio de Tercio - Nuevo Ballet Español 1-11/12 Casino de Lisboa
Romeo and Juliet 10, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22/12 at the São Carlos Theater
Alabama Gospel Choir 29/12 at the Tivoli Theater
Christmas concerts in churches starting Dec 4th until December 22
'Divino Sospiro' or Bach's Christmas oratorio 18/12 Belém Cultural Center
Mahler's 9th Symphony 7/12, aslso at the Belém Cultural Center

More information of all of the above, see www.visitlisboa.com

Time to introduce CASA DA VISTA

2011-11-26T11:44:00.001Z

This summer Casa do Valle had a little sister, Casa da Vista! In the bottom of the property, with its own entrance, 3 double rooms and a suite with a kitchenette was raised from the wilderness of bambu, fig- and olive trees, and lots of other things growing wild.

The new 'Casa da Vista' (= 'house with the view') at the bottom of the property has indeed great views!

Many, many years ago we built the house of Casa do Valle because my husband wanted a garage. And below that garage the original 4 rooms were built within the structure that we needed to have to have that garage on street level. The rooms there were made to host my family when they come from Finland to Portugal - so that they could feel at ease, have their own space and this way stay as long as they wanted. Then a friend who had a B&B suggested we start renting the rooms out. We did and loved the activity! The garage had to go, we remodelled the rooms and eventually ended up with 7 rooms.

We still love the activity of the B&B - we have built the garden for our guests to enjoy, with little corners to sit quietly, the pool to relax, internet by WiFi everywhere to keep in touch, even in the garden... Our clients also seem to like it here, and often we are fully booked, quite early, too, so we decided to expand! But we decided to expand only if we could add to the experience, to better provide our clients with what they are looking for.

There was a little building we had built in the bottom of the property that was serving no purpose and that we now transformed into Casa da Vista. It was enlarged and a wooden deck was erected in front. As the rooms of Casa do Valle were built and then made into a B&B, the rooms of Casa da Vista were built to serve as a Guesthouse. Yet we kept what matters: both Valle and Vista have wooden floors, private bathrooms and comfortable beds. In addition, both have mini refrigerators, tea and coffee making facilities, toasters and electric tea-kettles in the rooms. In Casa da Vista the rooms and bathrooms are bigger so it is more comfortable for those with an extra bed, the windows are also larger with a great, uninterrupted view from each room, and there is a wooden deck right in front of the rooms with the garden furniture.

For the guests who prefer self-catering, or are travelling with children, Casa da Vista has a suite with a separate bedroom from the living area with a kitchenette. There is a sleeper-sofa in the living area that sleeps 2 children or an adult. This suite can also communicate with a another room (there is a double door with sound-proofing for whenever it is not in use).

With the 7+4 units, we have noticed yet another need of our clients: big group travelling! Sintra is a historical town with lots to do, and it is the capital of Romanticism. Therefore it is a great spot for reunions and weddings. It is now easier for us to cater to groups travelling together. Already we have booked several weekends for families of people getting married in Sintra, or having a family reunion, or several families vacationing together. As you can book 4 or 7 or 11 rooms for your group, you can pretty much be on your own if you want it.

Please visit the site of Casa da Vista for more pictures and information: www.casadavista.com.pt
We are happy to serve you - let us know what should be the next step!

Markets - great fun and surprising finds

2011-11-03T13:22:00.001Z

The Market of São Pedro

There are several open-air markets around Sintra that are year-round fun for tourists and locals alike. In the times of closed in shopping centers, markets are great fun, full of exciting sounds and smells that invite us to browse and shop - many times for items we only could find this way. The larger markets, such as São Pedro and Monte Abraão, also have food stalls for a nice, warm lunch, and snack counters with freshly baked traditional pastries.

The São Pedro Market in São Pedro de Sintra is held on 2nd and 4th Sundays of each month. This is a very traditional market with everything you can imagine: food, like freshly baked bread, cheeses, and fruits and veggies; baby animals from birds to puppies; trees and plants; clothes and shoes, even men's suits; baskets, toys, and electronic gadgets, rugs, ... you name it, and most probably you can find it here. The vendors that sell 'things' at this market are often selling stock with slight defects or over stock of warehouses; and you also have farmers selling their goods. You also find vendors of traditional items (such as wicker baskets), and traditional household shops use this as an outlet, so you can find all kinds of bales and hotwater bottles and kitchen gadgets. The fresh pão com chouriço's (bread with baked in sausage bits) scent lingers throughout the market area, as does the sound of the vendors' call of 'two for 5 euros' to call attention of the shoppers. The new shopping centers and cheaper clothing stores have taken a toll on the number of vendors and visitors, but the market is still well worth visiting.

The flea market of Correntesa

The flea market in Correntesa, in front of the library, close to the Sintra station, is also open twice monthly, the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month. This is a smaller market, and many of the vendors used to be a part of the São Pedro Market This is the place to find collectors' and retro items. I have gotten vintage Ray Bans, a painting, dessert bowls, and a 50-year old globe from there; my sister bought an old set of keys; my husband has brought home copper bowls, old postcards and books.... Nice stuff. The market has great views to Sintra and the mountain - and there are a couple of real nice coffee and lunch places very close by.

Show and fair of Artesenal items

Along the Volta de Duche, between the City Hall and the National Palace, in front of the Moorish water fountain and the Liberty Park, there is yet another market: the market and show of handicrafts, on the 2nd Saturday of each month. You can find jewelry, toys, pieces of art, bags, handmade clothes etc there.

On the way to Cascais from Colares, near the Sintra Beaches is Almoçagem. On weekend mornings the road side is full of vendors of fruit and veggies. Originally this was a farmers' market only, now you have to go quite early (8-9 in the morning) to still find free-range farm eggs and home made jellies, fruit just picked from the trees... The rest of the day you will find fruits and veggies, but they are the same ones you would find in the stores and they may not be at all local. Nevertheless, it is quite convenient if you are on the way to or from lunch on the beach.

Almoçagem road side market

A bit further, but at an easy 20 minute local train ride away is the market of Monte Abraão. Similar to the São Pedro Market. It is the largest one in the area, and sells, in addition to foods and fresh farmers' produce, stocks from warehouses. I have bought fantastic sheets for single beds (too many had been produced of a particualr color), lots of baby clothes to offer, jeans and sweats - all are famous brand names, some have a slight defect, some just are overproduction. You never are quite sure this week what they will have next week. A great market, lots of movement.

Feira de Monte Abraão

Golf anyone?

2011-10-31T20:19:00.000Z

This entry has been written by Charles Lund, an American traveller who stayed with us in October. An avid golfer, Charles wrote about his experiences in some of the golfcourses near by and within a daytrip from Sintra. If you understand anything about golf, his writing will be a great help in choosing the courses and planning your days around golfing activities.

PenhaLonga Atlantico

I was able to get an email reply and myname on the tee sheet to play this Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course withouthaving to pay in advance or provide a credit card number to hold the time. I arrived at the course about an hour earlyand it was part of a large hotel complex. The area for the course and the hotel was in some undulating terrain whichwas well forested, with lots of pine and oak trees. I’ve played a lot of Robert Trent Jones, Jr.courses and his courses often have a large number of spectacular holes, with acouple of quirky holes that don’t seem to fit, but are needed to make up 18holes. Some might be related to the arealimits around a site where there is a large hotel and lots of expensivehousing. It seemed that this course wasbuilt on a course with sufficient land that there were fewer constraints on therouting. This time he did well and thecourse doesn’t seem to have the odd holes here and there that seem to end up onsome of his courses.

The course started out with some modest startingholes for the first few holes, not anything obviously spectacular orbrilliantly designed, but all well designed and requiring different kinds ofshots over varying terrain. The patterncontinued and either because of the absence of poorly designed or uninterestingholes, each successive hole seemed to get better and better. I used a variety of different clubs on parthrees, ranging from a three metal to a seven iron. The four par fives included two which wereuphill or had portions near the green that were uphill. The other two were downhill and bothincorporated doglegs into the hole, with number 6 having a double dogleg withwater on the left the last 175 yards or so and a very old stone wall to theright of the green with multiple arches. The par fours made very good use of terrain and elevation changes andfairway bunkering assisted with proving driving lines and hole definition. The 16^th and 18^th holeswere my favorite driving holes, with 16 being a dogleg right, that starts from an elevated tee and goes over a lowlandwith a fairway bunker on the right that invites someone to take a go at cuttingsome yardage off the hole. Ifsuccessful, the next shot involves a two or three club elevation gain. Eighteen is downhill par five that returnsback to the clubhouse. Solitary corkoaks are present close to the tee and a single oak is on the right hand sideabout 225 yards from the green where the fairway doglegs right.

Although the course was a bit soggy fromeither or both of heavy rain and heavy watering, the influence of soft fairwayareas did not detract that much from the overall playing experience.

The greens fee here is 120 euros onweekends and 90 on weekdays. For an avidgolfer with a handicap of 18 or under, this course provides a lot of challenge,but you need to be on a set of tees that work for you based on your ability.

OitavosDunes

Oitavos Dunes is located on the EstorilPeninsula and provides views of the Atlantic from many locations on thecourse. The lush and well manicuredfairways and the Umbrella Pines planted years ago to stabilize the dune landare reminiscent of some of the scenic courses along the California coast withstunning ocean views which provide an inherently pleasing experience from anaesthetic point of view. The coursestrives to provide a links type experience, although the lush fairways andreceptive greens are more commonly found in parkland courses. The proximity to the ocean and windinfluences, as well as the sand base and undulating terrain would seem to endowa links quality to the course. Regardless of whether the course is or is not a true links course,pondering the question while playing the many wonderful holes on this beautifulcourse would deprive one of maximizing their potential enjoyment. The course provides buggies but encourageswalking, which minimizes the impact of play and assists in retaining the linksquality of the course. In terms ofrespecting the setting, the course was named a Certified Gold Audubon SignatureSanctuary and curtails access to many environmentally sensitive areas. Botanical information related to plantspecies is provided along the course as vegetation is encountered. The combination of the considerationsmentioned suggests an approach to playing the course which respects the settingon which play is conducted.

Arthur Hills was the designer and Golf World rated it in the Top 100 courses inthe World. It is the only Portugalcourse on the list to my knowledge, which would make it the best golf course inPortugal, at least according to Golf World’s system of standard ratingprocedures.

My sense in playing the courses was thatthe routing emphasized beginning and ending near the clubhouse rather than themore common approach of returning to the clubhouse on the ninth hole. This arrangement is common on many olderlinks courses in Ireland and the United Kingdom. One obvious benefit is that it permits moreflexibility in the routing and provides the designer with more freedom. I am going to infer that the designer lookedat the site and provided a routing which maximized the number of good holesthat were available, based on the physical characteristics of the site. The course has some characteristics thatsuggest designing holes without much in the way of preconceived ideas of whatgolf course design allowed. For example,the ninth hole is a par three, something I have rarely encountered. Furthermore, the back nine has back to backpar threes, among the best holes on the course, each in the opposite directionfrom the other and one being an uphill hole and one being a downhill hole. The first of the two is an uphill hole whereonly the flag is visible and played into a wind on the day I played. The next hole visually looks like a slightdogleg, at least on the day I played it with the pin in the back right portionof the green. The back to back parfives on the front nine are the other anomaly, but one which can add to thecharacter and uniqueness of a course if the holes are both memorable anddifferent from each other. The back toback front nine holes, number 7 and 8, meet both of these criteria.

Other strengths of the course include manychallenging par fours, including a stunning opening hole, a slight dogleg righton which the fairway slopes right, leaving shots on the right side of thefairway partially obstructed by the pines along the right. Number five is the number one stroke hole andwell bunkered along the left. The righthand bunkers can come into play for those players with extra length. For most players with adequate length but notextra length, the challenge is a long second shot that can play into a strongwind. The back nine begins with a longuphill par four to an elevated green which demands a precise second shot andthe hole is the second most difficult stroke hole on the back side. The finishing hole is the most difficultstroke hole and requires a well positioned tee shot. From the tee it appears that the hole callsfor a shot which ends on the right side of the fairway but a better location isin the middle or on the left side of the fairway. The second shot to an elevated green has someof the challenges of the second shot on number ten but the added length of thehole increases the difficulty of the shot.

Bunkering has excellent aesthetic qualitiesand can complicate play from errant shots. Greens are deceptive. I foundmyself seeing an uphill putt from one side of the hole and then looking at theputt from the opposite direction and getting the opposite sense of the slope ofthe green.

Course conditioning was very good for themost part.

I was glad I was able to get a tee time andfit in a round early in my stay. The proshop paired me up with a father and son who traveled to the area fromFinland. They originally booked the timefor me as a single and then emailed me to see if pairing me up would workbecause the two wanted to play the course and the time I was allocated would bethe only opening. Although I appreciatedthe thoughtfulness of the pro shop, I was happy to oblige them. Being a single on a Sunday behind a largenumber of four balls isn’t my idea of fun.

The course is expensive. Weekend greens fee is 150 euros and weekdays the greens fee is 120euros, as expensive and any course I played in Portugal. The expense is probably worthwhile if you area golf nut who wants to play as many of the better courses as you can. The people with whom I played Penha Longaprefer it to Oitavos Dunes, so it is partially a matter of preference. If you like walking when you play, this is anice site to walk on.

TroiaGolf Club

Troia Golf Club is about an hours driveplus a ferry ride from Setubal to the Troia Penisula, or you can drive aroundthe long way, which I did because theferry connection can be a hassle. The drivedown is complicated and a lot of the time as I was heading around trying tofind the highway route, I was concerned the GPS was going to take me on theroute back to the ferry. This speaks tothe benefit of having a detailed map or a good idea of the route. I got the ferry schedule at the golf courseand paid 11 euros for the ferry ticket and went by ferry back to Setubal,probably saving me an hour to an hour and a half.

Thisseaside course has everything going for it and is in a great setting. It’s picturesque, challenging, andcharming. I’ve played a lot of RobertTrent Jones, Sr. courses and it has so many of the classic elements I have inmy own mental template of his design work. It includes aesthetically attractive fairway bunkering, lots of sweepingdoglegs, the occasional tree that challenges you on iron shots to greens orfrom the tee, challenging green elevations, and lots of variation in shapes ofthe greens, including some that are long and narrow and angled to the line ofplay. The pines growing in the areaprovide fairway definition and have wide canopies. The natural sandy base of the area utilizesthis type of naturally occurring material in lieu of long rough and has some ofthe appearance of the newly renovated Pinehurst #2 in the U.S. in NorthCarolina, which uses grass on fairways and greens only, with no long grass forrough. Instead naturally sandy wasteareas constitute an aesthetically attractive alternative to rough.

The fairways provide nice lies and hittinga solid iron from the turf there was pleasant and enjoyable. The free stroke saver is invaluable on someof the holes, although the overall shape of the hole is fairly easily detectedfrom the tee. The greens are receptiveto iron shots and the bunkers had lots of soft sand, probably from not that faraway. Pace of play was very good and Ifinished my round in a little over three hours, getting through three groups onthe back nine.

The course had 18 very good holes whichwere a good mix of short and long par fours. The par threes were challenging, with one longer, two about the samelength, and one shorter. Par foursincluding a couple of shorter par fours, leaving a wedge for the second shot,as well as some much longer two shotters requiring a fairway metal. Effective bunkering and green elevations madethe second shots challenging on remaining par fours. The par fives included three doglegs rightand one dogleg left. From the tees Iplayed from, the par fives left wedges with well struck tee shots and fairwaymetals.

One of the course rankings published listedTroia as the number four course in Portugal. The course has a classic feel to it and even though it is short bymodern standards, there are many challenges for players of all abilities. I considered it to be one of the mostenjoyable courses of my trip so far.

The greens fee on the day I played was 60euros so it is less expensive than the courses closer to Lisbon. If you know who Robert Trent Jones, Sr. isand like his work, the drive is well worth the time and you are compensated forthe time and fuel cost with a quality experience at a lower cost. I’d consider this course to be one of thebest values in Portugal.

Praiadel Rey Golf Resort

Praia del Rey Golf Resort is located aboutan hour north of Lisbon, on the Atlantic Ocean, in a development that seems tohave grown without intruding in major ways into the course itself. Designed by Cabell Robinson, who alsodesigned Finca Cortestin and La Reserva in Spain, Praia del Rey is a scenic andwell manicured and maintained course where you can enjoy the breathtakingbeauty of the Atlantic Ocean along several holes and view the ocean fromothers. The holes that wind throughpine forests away from the ocean are also gorgeous and seem to fit the land fromwhich they were carved. The courseincluded 18 well designed holes with an assortment of doglegs and moderatechanges in elevation. Greens are in goodcondition and challenging. Three of thepar fives (#7, #10, and #17) encourage you to hit it long and straight from thetee box and the wind can be a factor which extends or attenuates theirlengths. The three holes include astraightaway hole (#7), a dogleg right (#10), and a dogleg left (#17). Number 17 sets up with a tee shot over asmall mound which obscures an otherwise open fairway. Similar mounding is present from 100 yardsin. The course makes good use of short,long and medium par fours. One of themore spectacular par fours is number four, which has a massive bunker leftwhich can come into play with an errant tee shot but is easily taken out ofplay with a club which leaves one back 80 to 100 yards. The green is protected on the left by thelarge bunker but there is a massive dune out to the right. Number five is a challenging uphill par fourand the number two stroke hole. Number15 is the number three stroke hole and played extremely long into thewind. The views to the oceanside ofnumber 12 through 15 are stunning.

This was the 100^th courseoutside of North America that I have played since beginning overseas golftravel four years ago. Praia del Rey wasincluded in Planet Golf as the only course in Portugal described in thiscolorful collection of golf reviews and accompanying photographs.

Greens fee was 100 euros for non-resortguests. I found the course to be quitewalkable, but noticed some cart use. Thedrive time up is less than the drive time to Troia. Like the other courses in Portugal I played,this course reminded me of courses I have enjoyed in the Monterey Peninsulaarea in the U.S. on the west coast. Thelatitude and climate and ocean presence is similar to that of the MontereyPeninsula.

Othercourses

My play around Lisbon was limited to thesefour courses. You can buy an EstorilPeninsula golf pass and pick other courses to play and pay less per round. I elected to spend time on the courses thatinterested me the most, which is what I do on golf trips. Had I spent more time in the area, I amcertain I would have found courses I enjoyed that are often played by localslike myself in areas where I spend a lot of time and am therefore a local. As of the end of this trip, I will haveplayed 108 courses outside of North America, including 30 or so which areranked in the top 100 in the world outside the U.S. So I don’t intend to discount or diminish theenjoyment someone might get from a course they like and I have my own set offavorites close to home that are off the radar of many of the ratings of the socalled experts.

Fall? The end or a start of something new?

2011-10-01T20:57:00.002+01:00

I prefer the latter. I always loved autumn, and autumn like we are having is great. It is finally summer here in Sintra. July and August were OK, but not like our usual summers, more windy and even rainy. September was great - 25-30º daily, sunny days, cool nights. And it is continuing, at least for another 2 weeks. The pool temperature is still 23º and the pool is very frequented.

But it is clearly fall. The fall of the leaves, the fall of the petals of the boganvila all over the lawn, The days are getting shorter, the morning traffic has started earlier as the people travel to work after their holidays. The fruits are different, it is time for grapes and melons. We here at the guest house are preparing for cold. I have gone pine cone picking (great for starting fires, and there is a wood heated tile covered heater in room #3), we are ordering, and cutting, firewood, checking that the heaters work - and it all seems so strange as the temperatures hit the 30's in the afternoons.

October is a great month in Sintra, lots to do:

The BARBER OF SEVILLE, Opera by Rossini performed by the Moldávian National Opera Theater, at the Cultural Center of Olga Cadaval.

SINTRA MISTY Festival is on between October 13 and 23 at the Olga Cadaval Cultural Center. The 2011 edition will bring several novelties, namely first performances in Portugal of new projects, both national and international, as well as films dedicated to music. Some of the performing artists are Sean Riley & the Slowriders, Jay Jay Johanson, Howe Gelb, Sara Tavares, Stuart Staples, John Grant, Guta Naki - see more at www.sintra-misty.com. And do like me, you-tube some of the names and get stuck listening for awhile - some of this is really good and interesting! It promises a good festival!

Also CÓRTEX is on, after Sintra Misty, 27-30 of October, also at Olga Cadaval. This is a short-film festival aimed at encouraging young Portuguese film directors and producers to compete. Every day after the showing of the films that are in the competition, the program will continue with musical projects.

The old TRAM (eléctrico) has also extended its working hours through October. During this extra month, the tram will circulate between Sintra and Praia das Maçãs on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.

The TOY MUSEUM has a special exhibition 'MissLupita': the Mexican papermaché dolls.

The MUNICIPAL GALLERY has an exhibition 'Inside and Outside'; paintings by Fernando D'F Pereira.

In MONSERRATE PALACE there is a photo exhibition of the works from an international Garden Photography contest.

And many other things are happening. We here at the guest house are looking back at this year, planning next year. We are especially keen on new package-deals; talking to various people to organize wine tastings, culinary experiences etc. Please answer our questionnaire in facebook of what would be interesting to YOU in a package deal at Casa do Valle. What experience or event would make it worth your while to buy a package rather than just a night here.

More soon!

Museu do Ar - A Museum of Airplanes in Sintra

2011-09-10T12:22:00.011+01:00

I have asked Diego Scarabelli to write this blog entry. He knows his planes and is enthusiastic about them. I could really not distinguish them myself, except for by color and maybe types of wings (without knowing their names...) But the museum is actually very good and not so well known, so therefore I thought it would be worth the blog entry! So - here is the entry of Diego, thank you very much! (The plane in the first picture is a Saber)

Military planes have always been my passion. I like to watch documentaries about them and, of course like to see them in the museums. You do not really understand their beauty and their abilities until you see them in person. From the ground we see them as little objects, but some of them are very big and yet agile. It is fascinating to imagine that these machines are the masters of the skies, or at least, they used to be before they were replaced by new and more advanced technology. Nevertheless, to fully comprehend the new jets it is important to know their ancestors! In this matter the Museu do Ar is extremely interesting and useful. (The plane in the below picture is a GN93).

The Museu do Ar provides an amazing collection of old military aircrafts that were employed by the Portuguese Air Force. Thus everybody can enjoy all the developments that led to the modern Portuguese aviation. In this museum you will not find aircrafts like the F16, but you will be able to see great planes like the North American T-6, the De Havilland, and several helicopters among which the Alouette. It is definitely worth visiting the museum already for these planes; however, it has got much more! As a matter of fact, the Fiat G.91 and the Spitfire are also parts of the collection.

There are even two Fiat G.91 and one is the commemorative version for the 75,000 hours flown by the Portuguese pilots throughout its employment with the Força Aérea Portuguesa. The G.91 has been serving and protecting the Portuguese interests everywhere in the world and it accomplished several tasks: ground support, recognition and air-to-air combat. It used to be one of the pillars of the defense forces of this country.

The Spitfire, well, it does not need an introduction. Even people who do not immediately remember how this aircraft looks like will recognize it once they see it. The Spitfire is a truly outstanding piece of machinery. It was defined by many as the most beautiful

aircraft ever built. it was the sole weapon that prevented Hitler from invading Britain. This spectacular fighter and its pilots won the famous Battle of England. It was during that period that the Portuguese received some of these planes to protect their borders. One of these aircrafts is at the Museu do Ar.

(The Spitfire is here on the left)

I recommend this collection. I really like military aircrafts so I know I am biased. Nevertheless, I went with someone who is not interested as I am but still enjoyed it. It is a fun experience for everybody. After this visit, you will want to watch the movie 'Top Gun' over and over again!

Museu do Ar is in Pero Pinheiro, and opens Tuesdays to Sundays between 10:00 and 17:00. Price to enter is 3 euros. If you wish to have a guided tour, please schedule ahead of time either by (00351) 21 987 8984 or by email museudoar@emfa.pt

Diego Scarabelli is an Italian Doctoral student of History in London.

The Magic of the Mountain

2011-08-24T22:08:00.004+01:00

Castelo dos Mouros, the Moorish Castle, has been on top of the mountain of Sintra for over 1000 years. When Portugal had its first King, D Afonso Henriques in 1154, it was used most for vigilance - never was it used for fighting battles. As the conquerers moved more southward, its importance was less and less, and it was left to ruin. The earthquake of 1755 did a lot of damage as well to what was left of it. It wasn't until early 1800's that King Fernando the 2nd started the restoration of this castle, erecting and fixing it once again, making paths from the Santa Maria area to it so that the people of Sintra could enjoy the mountain and the romantic aura that it provides.

In my morning paths I love to walk up to the Moorish castle. A round trip from Casa do Valle takes roughly an hour - including my stops for photos and a drink from the fountain. I also usually go with a dog, so it does keep my pace steady. And what a treat it is! Passing through the sleepy village, with the lingering scent of warm pastries, up the narrow cobble-stone streets, passing the Sabuga fountain and the church of Santa Maria to the revolving doors ---
And that is when it happens: the explosion of sensory stimulus!

It is like entering a fairy land. First the sight - the deep, dark greens of the trees and undergrowth, the ivy and other climbing plants against the light brown of the tree bark and the gray and red of the granite boulders. All enhanced with the morning dew. The imensity of the trees is such you feel really tiny, like somehow as you passed through those doors, you did not enter the forest, but into a wonderland.

Then the scent - of the eucalyptus, the pine, the redwood. And of course the sweeter smells of the flowers and moss. And it is so subtle you can taste it! Then the hearing - the birds calling, the subtle wind moving the leaves, the falling branches. As on the edge, listening to hear what's next. The touch is the trickiest - the light breeze moves softly through your hair - and today I was so lucky as to be there when the morning mist was rising, and the rapid passing of it plays on the skin of your face, almost like rain, but not quite.

And then for the explosion (the sixth sense): The sun burning through the mist, making the leaves glisten and giving the mountain the air of mysticism, only you are not looking from down below - you are right in it! What a feeling! Surreal, like on a set of some movie with special effects, only this is real. You forget the aching of your calf muscles and the out-of-breath feeling seems to disappear as you look around and thank your Lord for yet another fantastic morning!

(And I might add that having asthma, the air full of eucalyptus keeps your pipes well open).

I had my Iphone with me today and took a few pictures. Quality is not the greatest but you'll get the idea. And you will probably understand why I plan to go again tomorrow.

Visiting the Park of Pena Palace

2011-08-17T23:03:00.006+01:00

This summer has been ever so busy! We have had works in the property and I have had nearly no time to write the blog! Therefor I have asked some special people and guests to write about their Sintra experiences and share some interesting hints of what to do - that is not the most obvious to all the visitors. The first people are Siiri and Elena - two students on a budget visiting Sintra. Here is their experience up in the mountain, more specifically, visiting the Park of Pena Palace.

My friend Elena and I had the most magical time in the Sintra mountain. One beautiful day, we went to the town center and bought freshly made bread from a pastry shop and decided to have a picnic in the Pena Palace gardens, which apparently most people tend to ignore, only visiting the palace itself. We found a deal in the local shop for the entry tickets to palaces and gardens in Sintra which was 20 euros for each of us to get into practically all of the major sightseeing spots, saving us 18 euros. This was fantastic because we were on a student budget. We had the option to take public transportation up to the Pena Palace, which, we realized, would have resulted in a long wait, as August is the peak season. So, we opted to take the horse carriage up the mountain giving us the opportunity to enjoy a refreshing ride and better views. Sharing the carriage meant we paid 15 euros a person to get this different experience, rather than taking the over expensive bus or hiking up the mountain, thus keeping us within the daily budget as we had already paid a few euros for our picnic.

The horse carriage left us at the bottom of the garden. We cannot stress enough how we were completely surprised with the beauty and the complexity of the gardens: beautiful vegetation from across the globe and intricately designed gardens with lakes and romantic spots, like arabic fountains. It was a perfect landscape for our picnic (and cheaper than eating at a restaurant). There was a recently opened, restored chalet, which was built by King Fernando the 2^nd for his lover, Countess of Edla, a famous opera singer (who later became the king's official wife). This Chalet looks like it was designed for a Disney movie. Also, one can see the garden had different influences, and this was because different zones of the gardens were constructed by Kings from different eras and thus different styles developed. After seeing both the gardens and the palace we were surprised that people opt only to see the Palace and not the gardens, because we found the gardens absolutely amazing!

Shopping!

2011-07-03T16:04:00.002+01:00

Last week when I spent a week abroad for work, Sintra was HOT with temperatures rising until 38-40 degrees in the afternoon. Now that I am back, they went back to the 20's. The pool water is about 24º and it does not change quickly, which is really good! It seems that this coming week we can expect temperatures of up to 27º and then next week they go over the 30º mark again. You can follow the weather here through the following site (accuweather):

http://www.accuweather.com/forecast.aspx?partner=accuweather&metric=1&loc=EUR|PT|PO012|AMADORA&week=15

So last week I was not here - I went to the United States for work, and stocked up on some important items:

A proper 110 - 220 volt current converter, with the proper adapter. This because we have had some situations with sensitive equipment of our American guests as they are sometimes unaware that it is not always enough to just have a plug that fits, the current is also very important! If you are American and still on your way here, please bring one of those converters so you can use it everywhere on your travels (I paid about 28euros at Walmart for one).
A hang-scale to weigh luggage! We have lots of clients with luggage overweight issues, and in Portugal they are quite strict about the limits. Knowing how much your luggage weighs helps you decide what you leave behind if you do not want to pay for the extra kilos (many leave shampoos behind to have allowance for tiles and other gifts purchased). The scale is quite useful also if you want to distribute the weight equally between various pieces of luggage.
Washcloths! In Europe they are not used as much as in the States - we use scrubs and brushes. But now we have washcloths as well, if you haven't brought your own.

I also brought a lot of other things, more personal and for own use; things that are tough to find here (flour shifter, lettuce knife, notepads with magnet for the fridge door, Reese's Pieces, maple syrup...).

It is amazing how much fun it is to go to grocery and other shops to see what other countries have that one does not have in his own country freely available or that is just different. From here, many of our clients buy tiles, ceramics, artisan handiworks, 'chocolate sausage', wine, jams, sardine and tuna patés, ... In addition to visiting castles, parks and museums, you can get in to the culture by visiting the grocery shops. Does your local supermarket have fresh fish and meat counters? How about isles full of wine? What is the shelf-space difference for items such as water or cookies here and in your country? Are the fruits and vegetables we have the same as you have at home? What do we sell in bulk that you can only buy in very small bags - and vice versa; and what items are the same and completely different from your home?

Walking through the isles of a supermarket tells you a lot about the country's culture, of what is important and central in everyday life. Most every supermarket here has a coffee-counter as well for a quick coffee and fresh pastry. And cheap!

Have you already been here? And if so, let us know what did YOU buy to take home - for the benefit of others.

The Festival Season: Classical and Jazz

2011-06-26T15:58:00.004+01:00

The 46th edition of the Sintra Music Festival opened this weekend. This year the special focus and central theme is Liszt and Mahler, both known for musical romanticism, fitting so well in Sintra, the capital of Romanticism. This classical music festival hosts its concerts not only in the Cultural Center of Olga Cadaval, but also in the palaces, churches and manor houses.

From June 24th until the the 10th of July, there are numerous concerts and recitals, talks and movies, performed by a large and varied group of national and international artists. The list is enormous, please check the official site of the Festival for further information; schedules and venues http://www.festivaldesintra.pt/. Some of the concerts are free, to others the tickets average 10-15 euros. Great opportunity to indulge in classical music!

In case that you are not familiar with these composers, here is an address to a youtube video of a romantic piece by Liszt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGw4c2YGGB8 and Mahler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_CjoCAemK6Y (please copy-paste).

As the one festival draws to the end, the Cascais Cool Jazz Fest opens its doors! Actually there are really no doors, as these are outside concerts, starting on July 4th with Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings as well as the Portuguese Caís de Sudré Funk Connection, in the Marechal Carmona Park. The last concert is July 29th when Jamie Cullum (and Luísa Sobral) perform at the Hipódromo fo Cascais. In between there are concerts of Seal (20/7), Madeleine Peyroux (6/7), Afrikkanitha (8/7) ... and so many more. The official site is http://www.cooljazzfest.com/programa_2011.html - check that out!

Busy, busy, busy

2011-05-27T21:11:00.004+01:00

Summer is here. We have temperatures of nearly 30 daily, and have had a few thunderstorms, which is great to get rid of the heavy humidity we have had. Plus it is giving extra water to the garden!

It has been very busy here in many ways.
The rooms have been quite full, and we have people from all over the world: from Australia to America, Belgium to Holland, Norway to Singapore. We start having 'regulars', people who come every year, and it is very nice to see their faces time after time!

We are busy 'up-keeping': several of the rooms have gotten a cote of paint - there are always marks from the suitcases on the walls and stains that do not come off. This has been quite a challenge, to find a day when the rooms are empty and the painter has time, at the same time!

Mainly we have been busy in the garden. We have planted 60 new fruit trees: apricots, peaches, lemons, passion fruits, apples, pears, grapes, oranges... (In these pictures they are still waiting to be planted.) To add to the ones we already have! Also the watering system is being extended. The newly discovered and recuperated rosary has given a lot of work but is also looking good: I am particularly happy that we have roses blooming at different times, and in various tones of reds and pinks.

The garden is coming on nicely: our guests are already enjoying the fruits from the older trees
and the agapanthos are starting to bloom, so lots of color is being added to the green! The rocks around the pool have been power-washed, the net around the chill-out sofa has been changed, and now we are re planning the lighting of the garden.
We have also started a recuperation building work on the grounds, but more of that later.

Question and Answer session

2011-05-07T11:29:00.004+01:00

When I was studying speech communication at OSU, we were taught that when at the end of the speech you are answering the questions raised, the first thing to do is to repeat the question to make sure you got it right - and to make sure that everyone else in the audience heard it. Otherwise they will just hear an answer without knowing what the question was. Then you answer the question; and finally you summarize the question and the answer to the benefit of all.

Recently I have been asked several questions repeatedly, and as the 'audience' (read: the clients) are normally with me one at a time, there is no benefit of hearing others' questions. So, I have decided to answer some of them here, so that more of you can benefit, and do so before arriving to be better prepared... (sorry, no repetition of question here, as you can all read it...)

Where can I exchange money in Sintra? Nowhere, unless you have an account in a local bank. As strange as it is, the closest money bureau is in Cascais, 20 kms away. There are many cash machines though, where you can withdraw money with European bank debit cards in euros (without commission) and also international creditcards (with commission). The commission will not be applied in the withdrawal, it will appear in your statement later. To pay your account here, in addition to cash, we accept Visa, Mastercard, AmEx and Diners.

How hot does it get in the summer? Although he temperatures can rise to over 30C in the afternoons, normal summer afternoon temperatures are just below 30. The nights are always cooler, though, except for a very few nights in August, so do pack along a long-sleeved something for the nights, even in the summer. We are on the mountain! When it is really warm, we close the curtains during the day so that the sun does not shine directly in, and open the windows at night. Although there are not a lot of mosquitoes, we provide a plug-in repellent that really works! And we do have fans if you need them.

What is the story of the wonderful, abandoned house across the street? It used to be a school, a very good one, up to about 20 years ago. Then a family lived there for another 10, and the last 10 it has been empty. There is a family dispute about it, some want to sell, some don't. I would love to see it sold and or recuperated while it still can be!

Can you recommend any restaurants for dinner? Yes - there are many great restaurants that our previous clients have recommended - all written down in the 'Guest to Guest' book in the internet-house. The idea is that before you leave, if you have had any great or bad experiences, please write them down for the benefit of future visitors. And it has worked very well, both for 'don't miss' and 'don't go'. However, if you are pressed for time or look for a very specific type of restaurant, please do ask me - I read the book and do know the local places, so I can also make some recommendations.

What time do the restaurants open? For lunch, the normal time is 12:30-2:30. For dinner, the normal time is from 7:30 -10:00. Yes, this is later than North of Europe and earlier than Spain.

We only have one day to visit Sintra - what do you recommend us to visit? Well, again I refer to the 'Guest to Guest' book - but also suggest that you think of what types of things do you like generally to see, so as to spend an enjoyable day. But here are some suggestions:

The number one of all of our visitors is Quinta da Regaleira - the gardens and the house. This would be the only place in Sintra where I would recommend a guided tour in order to understand any of the symbolism (masonry) of this magical place.
A very close number two of our visitors is Pena Palace and the Park - this old summer palace of the Portuguese royalty is fun, because it is full of things: the beds are made, the tables are set, the clothes are set out. It looks like someone still lives there and you are just peeking in. And you get to see the bathrooms and the kitchen, too! The park is magnificient as well, with swans in the lakes; flowers, ferns and redwoods... There is also a part where the fairy's live.
The Mourish Castle has magnificient views
The Monserrate palace is already partially recuperated and the botannical gardens are fabulous
If you like peace and quiet, the Capuchos Convent is perfect
If you like tiles, the National Palace in the center has a great collection of Manueline tiles
If you like activity, plan your day using an electric bike (for hire in town) - entrances to the above monuments, except for Regaleira, are included in the price
Visit Sintra in a horse and carriage - this way you can see over the numerous walls what the gardens are like
If you like museums, there are several small but interesting museums; the Modern Art museum, the toy museum, the Anjos Teixeira (sculptures), the Natural History Museum with the flying dinosaur, the interactive science museum, the Aviation museum, the archaeological museum of Odrinhas.....

Is it safe to leave your car here in the street? Yes. I have parked my car in the street now for 21 years without incidents. It is also safe to leave your car parked in the public parking areas. I do not, however, recommend you to leave any valuables inside your car - there are many thieves around everywhere and Sintra is no exception. Remember that we can hold onto your luggage even after your check-out if you wish to spend some more time visiting Sintra.

What is the filling in the travesseiro - pastries of Piriquita? It is a well kept, patented, secret - but it does have egg and almonds and sugar.

Would you have an adapter or do you have a hairdryer that I could use? Yes, we have adapters you can use (not transformers, though) and Yes - there is a hairdryer in every bathroom.

How far is it to the station/bus-stop - and how often do the trains and buses go etc.? The railway station to Lisbon is about 700 meters away. This is also where the buses to Estoril and Cascais leave from. There are about 4 trains an hour to Lisbon, they take approximately 35 minutes, and a roundtrip ticket costs roughly 4 euros /person. The buses to Estoril/Cascais go about once an hour, and the price is a bit higher. Buses to the monuments leave from the Historical Center, 3 times an hour, and they have a hop on-hop off price of about 4 euros, as well. The buses to the beaches pass down in the valley, ab. 500 meters from Casa do Valle.

I guess these are the most common questions. Also, I answer a lot more questions regarding public transport, green wine, types of coffee - but there is a blog entry already of all of those things.

Hope this has been helpful - let me know what else I should answer for you!

Vinho Verde

2011-04-21T10:58:00.007+01:00

Many of our clients are surprised by the wine lists of the local restaurants: in addition to the division of 'Reds' and 'Whites' there are the 'Greens'. The Reds and the Whites then are divided into the wine regions; Greens, if divided at all, may be divided into Green Whites or Green Reds.
So what are the Green wines, the Vinho Verdes?

The most known Greens are white, but there are reds as well. They are best served chilled and make a great aperitif - and go very well with fish, seafood, salads, white meats, sushi, sashimi - and are great drink on a hot summer day. As their alcohol content is lower than that of the other wines (8-11,5%), so is their calory amount, and this makes it an 'easily drinkable' wine.
Vinho Verde has great digestive properties due to its freshness and special qualities. The reds are full-bodied wines with an intense colour and a rosy or light red foam. The whites usually present a lemony or straw colour.

The strong distinctive character and originality of these wines are the result of soil and climate characteristics and social-economic agents, on one hand, and of the grape varieties and the vinegrowing methods, on the other. Vinho Verde is only grown in the Northwest region of Portugal, in Minho. The vines, distinguished by their great vegetative expansion in severe conditions, occupy an area of almost 35 thousand hectares, corresponding to 15% of the national viticultural area. These vines also grow very tall, nearly tree-like.

So - why 'Green'? The green here is not the opposite of or differentiation from other colors. It is 'green' as in 'young', as opposite to 'mature'. The Portuguese wine legislation of 1946 still divided the wines into 'greens and matures', also referring to the alcohol content, which of the matures started from 11,5%. So the green wine is a young wine, drunk young, and you will not find quality greens from 50 years ago. Notice that Green wine is made from special grapes, though, not all the grapes will make a green wine, it would just be 'wine-made-with-not-so-mature-grapes'.

There are many famous green wine houses, but due to the small region that produces these wines, the production has not been large enough for large scale export. Only in the recent years has there been more exports and only last year the sales of vinho verde went up 34% in the United States. Yet - the best green wines are not necessarily the ones of the biggest houses with large marketing budgets. Just last weekend I had the 'House Green' at Praia da Adraga restaurant - excellent and cheap - and from a smaller producer.

When you are here - try it! I am sure you will be positively surprised!

Before, During and After

2011-04-02T21:03:00.002+01:00

Here are three pictures - before, during and after. Unfortunately, even the 'after' picture will need to become a 'before' picture. Why? The work has just started, and a lot work needs to go in, still.
SO, BEFORE:

DURING:
and AFTER:These pictures have been taken from the newer part of the ground. Well, from the part that we acquired after the main house's grounds, and is the part that we have much slower started to take care of. Actually, 'take care of' is not the correct term here. We have been taken care of the ground and this is the reason of the 'Before' picture. The heeps of green you see are branches, cuttings, and other garden trash accumulated as the older fruit trees were pruned and wild bushes cut. That and the fast growing Morning Glories and other plants covering the garden trash under a blanket of green and blue and orange. Here, too, the undesirable plants grow faster than the rest... But it has been a blessing, in a way; the solid green did look nicer than the black-gray bare ground.

So what comes next? Next week the little bits of branches will be raked up so the ground can be turned and smoothed. It has a lot of natural manure - that actually smells quite strong, too. Then the wisteria that had survived under the wreckage will be lifted and guided up on supports that we will weld on to the wall. And the grass will be kept trimmed.

It only took 3 hours of the city hall's HPEM department to gather all the trash, 5 cubic meters of tightly packed garden trash, the remains of 2 years of gardening. As the men hauled the branches away, we 'found' a lot of things: the old gates of the property, the old garage doors, a huge pile of heavy rocks that once where the press of olive oil, probably for the olives of the ground... Actually, none of this was found, as in after being lost. I guess we knew these things were there but as they were no longer in site, they had been forgotten about.

The cord-looking things around the gate and the rocks are wisteria.

I will give an update on how this part of the ground will advance. For sure, the advancements will not be as visible as fast as this morning's work, but it will advance; slowly but surely!

Oh, the wonderful Pastries and Bread!

2011-03-19T20:06:00.012Z

As I have mentioned before, I frequently walk in the mornings with my dog; up and down the hills, into the forest and mountain roads. Recently there has been an extra burden on my walks. It is lent, the 40 days between Carnival and Easter. Tradition says you give up something for those 40 days that is like an addiction. Some people give up coffee, others chocolate or cigarettes. I decided to give up bread and pastries made with white wheat flour. And this is the reason that climbing up the 400 meters to town is now doubly difficult: the bakeries and pastry shops open their doors even before Pandora and I take off from home, so we walk up to town with the irresistible scent of freshly baked goodies lingering over the town center, calling my name - which I am patiently (more and less) ignoring.

Sintra is famous for its pastries. The pastries of Piriquita, travesseiros, are famous all over Portugal, and people cue up to buy them to take home by boxes. These long, sugar coded 'pillows' are best still warm, and they are freshly made all through the day. The outside is a flaky shell, inside filling is with egg yolk and sugar and almond.... Of course the recipe is a secret, under lock and key, patented and worth a fortune. There are a lot of imitation pastries around, but none as perfect a combination as the original of Piriquita. The main coffee-shop is right in the middle of the Historical Center, and it is closed on Wednesdays - but don't worry: they have opened the 'Piriquita 2' a little bit further up on the street to make sure that you can get yours no matter what the day of the week is when you are in Sintra. But be forewarned - especially during the weekends and all through the summer afternoons, the lines are long (= about a half an hour).

Queijadas de Sintra, Sintra cheese cakes, is another famous pastry of the region. These are usually eaten cold and they last long. Very different from the American cheese cakes, these pastries are small and round, and are made not with cream cheese but with the local unsalted cottage cheese type fresh cheese and cinnamon. Normally you buy the pastries to go, wrapped in a paper tube, 6 in a package. There are several pastry shops that have their own recipe: the original cheese cake bakery, SAPA by the City Hall (already famous for its pastries in the middle of the 1800's), Casa do Preto in the entrance of Sintra by São Pedro, Pastelaria Gregório in town and also Piriquita. All of these places have their own patented recipes and nice coffee shops to visit and experiment the 'goodies'.

Fofos de Belas is yet another famous local pastry. The muffin-size sponge-like cake is filled with a cream and covered with fine sugar, every bite melting in your mouth. They are baked in a traditional wood-burning bread oven and also are a tradition of one special bakery - and are fiercely copied.

Also worth mentioning are the Pasteis de Belém, or Pasteis de Nata. Though they are originals of Lisbon, they have been quite successfully 'copied' by the Sintra bakeries. These cup-like tarts are filled with an egg and cream custard, often powdered with cinnamon or powdered sugar. Great either warm or cold, they are just the perfect little thing, not over sweet, to go with a quick cup of coffee. They are not attractive but boy are they tasty!

And as if the pastries were not enough, the bread in this region is divine! Traditionally made in a wood-burning stove, people cue up daily for the fresh bread - and it is worth it! Small carcaças, half loaves, full loaves, well cooked, lightly cooked, all white flour or integral, or half-and half, or mixture of wheat and rye, or rye and corn, baked in water or in milk....... I have never seen as many varieties of bread as in Portugal. And Portuguese bread is world-famous. Even the local baker in the Seychelles made bread with a Portuguese recipe! And the bread is baked and bought daily - the bread of the day before is given to the chicken and other farm animals.

So you can see why it is tough for me to ignore the scent of freshly-baked pastries, lingering in the streets. And once you try them, you can believe that they can easily become an addiction!

What's the weather like?

2011-03-02T18:47:00.006Z

While a big part of Europe is covered in snow - this is what our forests are covered in right now!

It has been awhile since I 'blogged' and have wanted to do so for awhile now! It has been a busy season, more so than usual in February. Casa do Valle is in those Gift Voucher Packages called Smartbox and 'Life is Beautiful', and the last few months we have been very busy with people coming to spend a night away from routine - which is great for us!

An interesting issue has been raised and I have noted, which is 'What's the weather like'.

One of my sisters gave me for Christmas a bit over 4 years ago a 5-year agenda/diary. I am now in the last year. Every day in 5 lines I write what has happened: Lots of paperwork, shopping, first fresia of the year bloomed, ate the first cherries/plums/pears/figs.... and very importantly - what the weather was like. In the last 5 years there has not yet been a fool-proof pattern in January/February.

The old people around say that if the weather is good during Carneval, we will have rain for Easter. And vice versa. That has been true. The rain fall in this region normally is the following: in the winter it rains. Most of the years, November more than December and February more than January. And these are the 4 months of most rain. Yet normally, when it rains it is not days on end - sometimes we have two days of rain, then a week without, etc. And the other old saying 'Abril, chuvas mil' (April, thousand rains) does not mean that it is the heaviest month of rain - just that there are lots of short periods of rain. And traditionally, after April, VERY little rain until October again. Temperatures vary from the low of 2 to the high of 22. Normally, the difference of the daytime and night time temperatures is roughly 10 degrees,

Looking at my agenda, certain things are constant. In February, there are always two weekends with warm enough weather to have a long lunch out on the veranda. In February, my daffodils and fresias start blooming. In February, also the jasmine and the phitosporum flowers start giving their scent - the magnolias and camellias are in bloom... The days are getting noticeably longer, and I always wonder if I should wear a long sleeved t-shirts under my windbreaker for my morning walks.

What to pack? Always a windbreaker and something warm, even for the summer evenings. We are blessed with cool nights, and even when the temperatures are over 30 in the summer months, it can get cool at night - the mountain and the Atlantic do their duty and we sleep peacefully! For this reason I also say that be prepared for all kinds of weather. Sintra is not your #1 beach destination, be it clear. Though it has beautiful beaches they are warm enough to suntan only in the summer - great for walks though, especially in the winter. There are plenty of things to do in Sintra but do not plan all of your activities for the good-weather days. If you are the kind who only is happy in perfect weather, then, think twice when you come to Sintra in the winter!

This brings me back to the beginning - the one-nighters in the winter. The ones who have come to relax and to escape the daily routine, who want to have a nice dinner out and visit a few monuments, the ones who don't mind bringing along an umbrella and walk wearing a windbreaker or a rain coat - and get positively surprised when the weather is suddenly 20 degrees and sunny, the ones who enjoy the gardens and flowers, the mountain and the nature - those are the ones who enjoy their Sintra experience during any month.

Fountains and more fountains!

2011-01-18T21:34:00.011Z

My husband loves books and pictures of Sintra way back. Buildings in their glory, people dressed in old fashioned clothing - but mainly he likes the ones where you see the way the city was laid out - and maps. In many pictures, from afar, you can see the whole mountain very bare, almost treeless - but in the closeups you can see some trees and bushes and vegetation. And fountains. The trees have come and gone according to fires and cutting - the most glorious gardens and parks we have now have been planted specifically by Kings and famous men who chose to establish themselves here. The climate was perfect for the near tropical vegetation - and the water was plenty. There is plenty of water in the mountain and all of the habitants of Sintra throughout the years have known to channel it to serve their purpose, be it a public bath house or gardening; or simply a place where the citizens could come to collect water when there was not proper canalization. Many of the fountains no longer are operational but nevertheless are beautiful and a reminder of the past and of the city's wealth in water.

There are over 20 public fountains in Sintra, in the city and the mountain. Much more if you count the public washing places and tanks. Curiously the most famous and photographed of the city fountains is one of the youngest, Fonte Mourisca (in the above picture). Originally dating back to 1922 this fountain substituted the city tap near the public bath house of Volta do Duche. In 1960 when the road was widened, the fountain was dismounted and re erected about 20 meters from its original place. It has Arab influences with its green tiles and triple arches and is very popular still amongst the locals to fetch water for daily consumption.

Fonte da Sabuga's water has been known for its medicinal purposes. It was said to cure diarrheas and have special digestive qualities. In 1946 the company 'Águas de Sintra Lda' even bottled and sold 111.177 liters of the water of the fountain of Sabuga. The first time this fountain is mentioned in written works is 1406, but it has been redesigned several times - in 1652, in 1757, and lastly in 2004/2005. The water is still so popular that it is rare to pass it and not see someone bottling up - people come from afar with dozens of 5 liter bottles at a time. In fact, the movement is such that the City Hall has tried to keep the water-collecting orderly by restricting the amount of bottles each person can fill at a time to two, just to keep the lines shorter. However, it hardly works. The locals are usually kind though to tourists, letting them pass in front of the line to fill their one water bottle. In my morning walks I have seen how it is kept clean and disinfected by the City Hall, the workers power-hosing it down before clients start their cuing.

The first mention of Fonte da Pipa (on the right here) dates to 1369. Its current architecture however dates back to the 18th century when the fountain was re erected by D Maria 1st's orders. It has beautiful, blue tile work and it's mouthpieceslook like barrels. The fountain is hidden in the narrow streets of the town - you have to know where it is at, it is very unlikely that you would stumble upon it.

My personal favorite is the Fonte dos Pisões (below), on the road to Monserrate but still before Regaleira and Seteais. Its strong colors and semi-circular shape, its sculptured structure and shapes together with the tiles make it a fascinating piece of art - dating back to 1931 when it substituted a city water tank. It has a special overflow tank for the animals, though it is one of the fountains that now runs dry.

More towards Colares, on the road there are plenty more fountains: Fonte de Mata-Alva (patronized by Sir Francis Cook, on the way to his residence of Monserrate) and Fonte dos Ladrões, for example. Both of these fountains date back to the 18th century. There are many more on the mountain; some recuperated, some not, but all beautiful! It makes for a nice thematic walk (and some nice photo sessions) in town and on the way to Colares.

Here are pictures of a few more - just so that you get an idea of what to expect!

January, and 2011, are here!

2011-01-05T21:50:00.003Z

In the last few months I have blogged very little. Not that there is nothing to say, quite the contrary - I have been really busy, both at work and on holidays. And there are plenty of new things coming along and happening. Some things are still in the developmental stage and it is too early to speak about them but some are coming right out wanting to be mentioned...

This last year was a good year to us. We built very few new things but were improving a lot: new garden furniture, new fruit trees planted, new pillows, some new rugs and curtains, new blankets, new dishes, ... We painted some walls, inside and out. In the marketing side, we changed our site some, and started working with some agencies. A notable change was starting to work with A Vida é Bela and later the Smartbox - both are gift voucher companies, and both have picked up nicely. They have changed our strategies a bit, too, as they have changed our clientèle, especially during the winter months, to more national from international. In the summer most of our customers are foreign, in the winter mostly portuguese!

We have started 'packaging', too! Especially the Romantic and Super Romantic Sintra packages have become popular. The 'Spoil Yourself' has also picked up. If you like the idea of a 'packaging', maybe you have ideas to give us on what you would like to see - packages that include health items or restaurant meals - or maybe cultural events? We would really love to hear from you.

Soon we will be sending our a net questionnaire for all who stayed with us in 2010 to find out what we have done that pleased you and what you wished we had done differently. It is impossible to please everyone, but we can try! Normally I try to speak with all of our guests many times during their stay, but sometimes I fail to get all the important information to improve our services. That's why the questionnaire goes out. I will then write about the results here.

2011 is full of projects. We have plans that will improve our accessibility, ecological footprints and social responsibility. I will talk about them all, one at a time, at a later date. We hope to also be able to make changes necessary to improve customer satisfaction. This week we started English language training to our Portuguese staff - and in the summer we should have someone here who is fluent in Spanish.

And the weather? Looks like another rainy winter! Some gorgeous days in the midst of rain are scattered around. But it usually does not rain 100% of the time, even in the rainy days. Not many mornings did I have to cancel my morning walk due to rain! It is magical in Sintra this time of the year, with the mist rolling in and over the castles, then thinning out. That is the great thing about this place: It is gorgeous ALWAYS!

Tom Tom - or the navigator blues

2010-12-11T11:48:00.003Z

For a few years I was very fortunate to have the task of driving my husband's 100-year+ old grandma through Sintra; from her place to ours and back. She always wanted me to go very slowly, as she rarely traveled in the car, so she could see all the places she used to walk by, live in and work at. She would tell me stories about how Sintra used to be, what it looked like, and of course how it has changed. One of her favorite topics was the traffic. She said she remembered when there was only 1 car in Sintra, when taxis were horse-drawn carriages, when the tram was the major transportation in to the Historical Center (now it no longer comes this far), then called just 'Vila'. She told me how you had to have a license to get into Vila by any form of transportation: there was an area in the entrance to the town, in Lourel, where people had to place their goods in public or hired horse-drawn trucks to bring them into town. Interesting! It still would be nice.

A few years ago there was a movement to block/condition motorized traffic in Vila, but sadly many of the local businessmen were able to stop this movement. Everywhere in the world it seems that the Historical Centers have very limited and conditioned traffic. But not in Sintra! The narrow streets are winding, many of them cobblestone, and many are NOT one-ways even if it is extremely difficult for two cars to pass at once. Sometimes these narrow streets are the only access to a cluster of houses, so that even if it made sense to make them one way for a better fit, it would not be feasible as it is the only access and needs to be both to and fro.

Don't get me wrong - Sintra is charming. It is a blessing that it is built in the mountain the way it is, not having leveled away hills, contouring the valleys. We must remember that Sintra is several hundreds of years old, and it was built for the purposes then. No cars then. And very rarely any frost; so there are cobblestones and ramps steeper than would be feasible if ice were covering the ways. And to add to its charm: no, it is not built the American North-South East-West directions. It is built how the buildings best fit the nature as it was.

The major roads for access to or bypassing Sintra are wide enough for two cars, or are in fact 1 way. It works well, especially if you know where you are going to. Great for locals, but tourists and other visitors mostly don't know where they are going. Sometimes this means, that missing a turn, you have to drive an extra 3kms to come back to where you wanted to turn in the first place but missed it. This is OK too if you are driving when there is very little traffic (noon time in the winter season). And if the parked cars leave you enough space to pass... There have been no major changes in the last 7 years in the traffic directions in Sintra. This is where the great invention of navigators, such as Tom Tom, come in really handy.

Having said this, I have come to notice that many of the navigator programs use maps made a long time ago - where the changes in directions made 7 years ago are still not updated. It is not unusual for us to get a call from a client 500 meters down the road asking what to do when the navigator instructs them to turn right and up and it is a one way street down. Another common problem in the navigators' programs is that it seems that they are missing major roads and places. This last week we had a couple whose navigator did not find a major road (passing the station, where the police is etc) and said that the Sintra station was nearly 4 kms instead of 700 meters away: the last station did not exist at all in the Sintra maps of the machine. If you spend a half an hour to an hour frustrated every time you want to go somewhere, it is bound to weigh negatively in your experiences in this wonderful town! Also, be aware that even if you know the exact address of a restaurant or a place, you may not be able to drive your car to the door, as many of the streets are in fact too narrow for traffic.

I am writing this to tell you that the things that make you fall in love with Sintra are the very same things that make you get frustrated here. The beauty of the nature, the narrow streets, the mountain - wonderful, yet you must be able to move around. So please, please, if you are travelling with a car and plan to bring your navigator: download the latest version of this area. Also, jot down our address Rua da Paderna, lote 2, 2710-604 Sintra and take note of the GPS coordenates N 38.80057º and W 9.39373º, Location Format hddd.dddddº.

SPOIL YOURSELF from head to toe

2010-11-17T20:50:00.005Z

While our site is being translated into one more language, it is experiencing some growing pains - sorry for that. It seems my browser (Netscape) is tougher to get it right than the more common ones. Anyway, while the web-guys are working on that, a new special package has been created. It seems especially appropriate now to get ready for the busy holiday season - and maybe even after it to unwind. It is called: SPOIL YOURSELF from head to toe!

The feet and the head are places that when massaged can relax the whole body. That is the idea. The package has two different massages combined, one to the head, the other to the feet, totaling about an hour of bliss. The massage on the feet is reflexology, a therapy that consists of massaging, stimulating and pressing points of our feet where our different organs have their counterpoints, producing not only a deep effect of relaxation but also a relief of symptoms of an illness.
This massage can be either combined with a facial massage, Mukha Abyangam or head and neck massage, champi. Mukha Abyangam rejuvenates, drains, hydrates and restores energetic equilibrium. After the massage a mask of ayurvedic products stays on your face while your feet start their treatment. The other option for the head is Champi, which is done without any oils or creams. The direct massage to the head and neck resets the brain and the nervous system to send out more calming messages; thus any tense and painful area of the body can experience relief.

A special thing about this package is that it can be bought for either 1 person or 2 - and for 1 night or 2! The ideal for relaxation purposes would be two nights, but even 1 will help!
1 person, 1 night = 110 euros
1 person, 2 nights = 140 euros
2 people, 1 night = 160 euros
2 people, 2 nights = 210 euros

Also, we are offering a special winter price on the 2 day Super Romantic Sintra package; 210 euros instead of 230 until the end of February! And massages booked with that package have a 5 euro discount each!

These packages make great gifts, too!

It is a great season to invest in yourself. We are hoping to help you do so - with coffee, tea and cookies in your room - and also nuts and port wine during this season. What is stopping you?

For more information on these and other promotions, check out our page and 'Special Deals' menu, and contact us through info@casadovalle.com or (+351) 91 9371622.

Motorways

2010-11-06T16:07:00.007Z

The other day I accompanied my husband to a meeting 385 kms away from Sintra, to Trancoso in the 'Beira Interior'. We left at 6 am, I spent an hour in town while he was in the meeting, we drove back and stopped in another town on the way where he had another meeting, we stopped for lunch and were back in Sintra by 4 pm. These 800+ kms were leisurely passed with all the stopping in 10 hours. Yes, the motorways in Portugal are great!

There is a crisis in Portugal, but I have full faith that all will turn out well. All of these motorways going through remote areas have guaranteed something: businesses are all over our country, not only in the big cities (and this includes tourism!). The roads enable good and efficient transportation of raw materials as well as ready products, linking the interior to the coast, North to South - and of course to Center, our region.

As we were driving, I was marveled by the green - the vast forests (even after the fires of the last years); the little towns, the colors of autumn now as the vineyards were read and yellow against the green. High mountains, some green and lush, some rocky like the Rocky Mountains; and the valleys - one more beautiful than the other.

It is really easy to use Sintra as a point of reference and day trip from here. After spending a few days visiting the local monuments and relaxing by the pool, it is easy enough to drive to Óbidos, Nazaré, Peniche ou Fátima for a day - and if you are moving on, you don't have to spend a whole day going from a town to another, the motorways are great and well serviced (stations after every 30-40 kms); plan with 3 hours to Porto, the same to the Algarve. Guests we have here now drove here yesterday from Sevilla in 5 hours, not knowing the roads previously (and that included changing a tire on the way due to a nail-puncture...). And if you don't have a car with you, the roads make it also fast and comfortable for the long distance buses.

The best roads from Porto to Sintra are A1 all the way to Alverca where you take CREL in direction of Cascais, and then A16 to Sintra OR A1 until Aveiro where you take A25, then A17 that terminates as A8, and then CREL and A 16. From the South, the easiest way is the A2, passing the Tagus river on the wonderful bridge of Vasco de Gama.

And while in Trancoso, I did great shopping; the marvelous chestnuts, walnuts, hazelnuts are all in season, and I was in the right region! I got many, many kilos of fresh, wonderful nuts to place in the rooms with port wine to welcome our guests - and to bring all of Portugal closer to all of you!

(The following picture is of the entrance to Trancoso, a city within the walls).

Bed and Breakfast.com Award

2010-10-07T19:09:00.003+01:00

Two days ago I received a mail from the BedandBreakfast.com offices to inform us that Casa do Valle had been awarded the Best of Portugal Award! We had been selected based upon 'excellent reviews posted by your guests during the past year'. The BedandBreakfast.com Awards are based on both qualitative and quantitative analysis. So I thank You - all of you who have written a review for us! And please, keep writing!

The same day I noticed that we had jumped to 1st place again on TripAdvisor in the category of Bed and Breakfasts of Sintra. Seen that we are still quite young in the business, that was extremely good news!

Here at Casa do Valle we read carefully all the reviews we get. We take them seriously and anything that we catch as an 'iffy' we try to correct. We have learned a lot reading through those comments, changed things, continued others. We especially love it when guests who are still here come to us and tell us they would like something different (pillows, lights, snacks, covers...) or they need something (umbrellas, adapters, cutlery, coats, empty cds, a radio, medicine...) or if they have a special need (lactose or gluten intolerance, allergy of some kind etc.). This is when we can still make sure your stay is more enjoyable. Unfortunately, if we only read about it afterwards, there is nothing we can do about it anymore. We do hope we can create an ambiance that encourages this exchange whilst here.

So - thank you for the reviews, please keep them coming!!!

Morning and other walks in Sintra

2010-10-05T21:53:00.007+01:00

This was the first morning this autumn that when I left for my morning walk with Pandora, I put a reflector on both of my legs under the knee. Pandora's pink bandana was also changed to a reflecting collar, to be on the safe side. It wasn't dark at 7:15, but the light was not strong anymore. No socks were necessary but I wore a long-sleeved t-shirt to keep off the cool, humid morning air of my chest.

I have gotten addicted to these morning walks. As I write this, Pandora is a 7 month-old Great Dane full of energy. Initially I thought that these walks would ware her out and she would stay calmer for a longer period. But who wore out was I. Then I got into a better shape, and I told myself that I would waste her energy and it would magically transfer to me, as I felt energized after the walks. Wrong again. Yes, I get energized but so does she. Now both of us look forward to our walks with equal eagerness, which is easy enough to comprehend. Sintra is magical, ESPECIALLY in the mornings!

There is a mist that rises from the green of the mountain. There are colors on the horizon as the sun hits the clouds over the sea. There is a magic scent, almost like in an African forest, of the flowers in the numerous parks and gardens all over town. And there are birds waking up, singing to each other, sheep starting to move around with their bells sounding off with each step.
And yes, there is often the sound of the street-sweepers sweeping and blowing, mechanically.

There are a few early risers on the move - Manuel Careca's restaurant is open for coffee next to the City Hall, the Bakery in the Historic Center is open. The mechanics open shop early, too. The policemen change their shift. Some students walk to the train station to catch an early train. Then come the workers for the various building sites at 8, and Pandora's friend Nico takes a walk with his master at that time too! And the Arara-birds of Quinta das Murtas get up early, too, to do their morning singing.

But what there is not yet are a lot of people around. Hardly any cars are parked on Volta do Duche and the sculptures can easily be viewed. Almost no cars are passing in the streets, no buses, no hunking of horns. Only the nature, really, and Pandora and I!

And the walnuts and the figs. Where we walk we can collect walnuts off the street, fallen from the walnut-trees that hang over the walls - and figs all the same. Soon it will be chestnuts. Last month it was blackberries on the side of some streets. Rewarding! And there are several fountains of fresh mountain water to quinch our thirst - no need to carry bottles with us (just the poop-bag, a kleenex, and asthma-pump in the pocket).

The walks in Sintra are not the easiest. It is difficult to find straight, non-hilly terrain. The pavements are always to the humid-side in the mornings (dew and mountain mist...). But they are never boring. You can choose less and more difficult, steep and less steep, 160 straight-forward or 80 double-width winding stairs (or no stairs at all)! All around the mountain there are marked, well-kept walking paths to the castles and monuments, or just to the seaside and along the coast. There are printed maps of these available in many languages at the tourism office, and guides can be hired for longer walks. In the summers the City Hall also offers free guides at certain times for groups. I obviously prefer morning walks, but you can walk the whole day if you wish taking advantage of the beautiful countryside! And you are most welcome to join Pandora and myself any morning if you are an early riser, before breakfast!

Riding a bike up the mountain...

2010-09-12T20:41:00.004+01:00

Stopping to buy ceramics on the way up from the beach
It has been a very busy season for us here at Casa do Valle - which is great! I took an afternoon off the other week with my friend when we went with a horse and carriage to Monserrate. Now my sister visited, and I took some more time off - this time doing something that I had been wanting to do for awhile, but not alone: I rented an electric bike.

I have always liked riding a bike, but somehow the idea of normal mountain biking on these mountain roads does not appeal to me - I vision a sweaty ride concentrating on each effort of pedaling to make it up the hill, a sweaty, curved back and hearing my heart beat so loud I cannot hear anything else. Which would be great for RPM or spinning. But I would like to envision myself pedaling upright, listening to the wind through the eucalyptus leaves, the birds chirping away; feeling the scent of the pine, eucalyptus and other trees - all this without being too tired to enjoy it all. And this is just what I got when riding the electric bike.

On the way to Monserrate
My first reaction was a 'WOW' of surprise when I started pedaling - it actually felt like someone was pushing me, giving me a help up those hills. And it was easy. Very easy to get the hang of it, changing the gears, and pedaling uphill sitting down. All the while seeing how much battery I had left - and the more I pedalled the more it filled again! With some effort but not at all difficult. Through the mirrors of the bike I could check that my sister was following, and as we got more distance between the Historic Center and us we biked a lot next to each other and were able to have a nice conversation. Without the noise of motorbikes but all the freedom you would associate to them. We went toward Monserrate again (my sister had not seen it since the palace openend again)- and back.

So much did we enjoy our ride that we hired the bikes again - this time to go to Capuchos convent high up on the mountain (and much further away than Monserrate). Another wonderful ride! And the asfalt was in great condition (Just a side note: the shop of the convent was a delightful change to the normal tourist shops in town, with items made of cork, natural soaps, notebooks....). My sister went for a ride even a third time when her husband arrived - and they went much further than we ever did, enjoying it as much as we had before.

I am sad I never went before, so excited was I. I told all of our clients about our experience and some Dutch clients of ours already went - returning with the same, positive experience as we had had. A nice way to experience the mountain, the nature, and all the things associated that fill your senses. While still getting some exercise!

The bikes were recently changed to modern ones with lithium batteries; as they are new they are in great condition; and for any eventuality, they have a local phone number you can call and get help. The bike hire costs 30 euros for a full day or 19 for a half a day - and this includes the entrances to the monuments/parks - which makes it a really good deal. Cheaper yet, if you are 3 or more. I recommend reserving the bikes one day in advance - the first day we wanted to go they did not have any available!

Right here in the middle of the Historical Center

2010-08-21T16:18:00.011+01:00

No need to take a bus or drive or walk long distances.... Sometimes another day in the car queues or crowded busses do not seem like an attracive choice of things to do. Here are some of my suggestions for a day spent in the town center, walking distance from Casa do Valle.
Once I already blogged about the Museum of Natural History, in town, worth seeing, and interesting to all ages.

Now - The National Palace is the center of Sintra! One of the most visited monuments in all of Portugal, it is easily forgotten by the tourists as it is so close! Its cone-shaped twin chimneys are an exlibris of Sintra - and its tiles (azulejos) are the largest national collection. A summer house of the Queen Mother Maria Pia until the end of the Monarchy (1910), it now belongs to the state and is a host to many concerts, state lunches and exhibitions. Closed on Wednesdays, free entries on Sunday mornings!

The Toy Museum -Started as a private collection of tin soldiers of João Arbués Moreira. It is a fantastic show in 4 stories, with girls' toys and boys' toys; wooden toys, tin toys, plastic toys; building toys, decorative toys and interactive toys...... You name it! The special exhibition until the end of summer is Transportation - boats, trains, cars..... some from private collections on lend here. You can walk through the museum in 45 minutes - but don't be surprised if you end up spending hours! There is a gift shop and a café on the ground floor.

The Anjos Teixeira Sculpture Museum - in Volta de Duche, down in the green part, next to the large parking place; there are bronze pieces, plaster studies, drawings, mock-ups and other work done by Pedro Anjos Teixeira and his father Artur Anjos Teixeira. The museum is located in a building that used to be an old rock-mill. Closed on Mondays.
The Liberty Park (Parque da Liberdade) - also in Volta de Duche. The entrance of the park is half way between the Historical Center and the City Hall, where there used to be a public bath house (hence the name of the street, Volta de Duche). The park opened in 1937 and was one of the first of its kind with tennis courts and later rollerskating rinks. Even now between May and October you can either bring your own skates or rent some and skate away! You can also find a virtual Japanese theater recreating the relation of Portugal and Japan. At the end of the park that is closer to the Historical Center there are picnic tables and a snack-shop. You can bring your own lunch or buy some and eat outside watching the views and people passing by.

The Children's play park, opposite the Toy Museum is also a nice stop for the families with small children: slides, swings, climbing bars, play-kitchen..... will keep the smaller ones busy for awhile. Well kept, cleaned and safe! (The foto was taken in the winter..)

And of course there is a lot shopping in town, and nice little restaurants - and the horses and carriages leave from the center.

Running away from the heat

2010-08-11T20:14:00.002+01:00

This winter when it was cold and rainy I promised to myself that I would not complain about the heat if it ever came. The heat DID come, and it has stayed on and on. The normally cool nights of Sintra have been less cool than normal, and all of our clients have slept with their windows and doors open. My poor dog Ruben, who was recently operated on his knee, is suffering the most with the heat.

So what to do? It has been really busy, too, I have been blogging less, though I often think about things to blog about. I have now tried to escape the heat; my morning walks area earlier, and in the shade. And that is what gave me the idea: the shade. Sintra is FULL of tourists. I thank each and everyone for coming, but in this heat I wanted a short escapade from the crowds, and the heat - and that is just what I did; I took a horse and carriage ride to Monserrate gardens!

The trip was wonderful. It let the crowded center of town behind and we dove into the lush, green and cool mountain. Passing the various water fountains, the Quinta da Regaleira and the Seteais Palace; big gates of the various huge manor houses.... With each leg of the trip there were less tourists, less traffic, and less heat.

What joy! The cloppety-clop of the hoofs, the fresh wind in my face, the beautiful views...
I went with a friend, but there is space for 4 people per carriage. The trip to Monserrate took about 35 minutes. We visited the newly partly-opened palace (after restoration, they are still doing restauration works in other parts of the palace) while the carriage waited - and we returned. A total of about 2 hours. And we returned fresh, conversation upto date, and frankly, it seemed much longer than that!

I do recommend this trip - or a shorter one if you don't have 2 hours - check out their site www.sintratur.com . And remember - at Casa do Valle we give you discount coupons for these trips. A really traditional way to get to know Sintra that will freeze time (and the heat...)!

New Horizons!

2010-07-19T21:35:00.007+01:00

Most of the people who visit Sintra do not rent a car - and it really is not necessary. To those who are not used to narrow streets and mountainous terrain, driving in Sintra can be a nerve-racking experience. Most of the monuments and parks are easily reachable by foot from Casa do Valle - or at least by the local bus. Quinta da Regaleira is about a kilometer from here, Pena Palace and the Mourish castle are about 3 kms - and the local buses are quite good to visit the beaches, Cascais and Estoril, as well. I have mentioned in my previous entries that we have a 'Guest to Guest' book where guests who are leaving suggest places to eat and go visit to the new arriving guests. Recently a few places have started popping up, like The Convent of Capuchos (or the 'Cork Monastery'), Cabo de Roca, the higher points of the mountain, rarer beaches, small villages. All not-in-a-walking-distance, and difficultly or hardly not at all reachable by public transportation.

Recently I had the most wonderful, refreshing experience up the mountain and on the beaches, seeing exactly those things that are less frequented, only due to more challenging access - certainly not by less worth! I used a new service provided by a local student of applied languages: I visited all of those wonderful places in a BMW convertible! I must say I was a bit weary at first, never having ridden in a convertible before - thinking my hair would be all messed up and all, but let me tell you - it wasn't and I loved it! The wonderful scent of the eucalyptus forest up on the mountain filled my senses! The calm of the Capuchos Convent, beautifully recuperated, was refreshing. The views from Peninha nearly 500 meters above sea level both to Lisbon and Ericeira were fantastic. The quaint village of Penedo where we drank water from a mountain well was like time had stopped. The Western-most point of continental Europe, Cabo de Roca, was easily accessible without getting bus-sick... All through the 4 hours we spent visiting I took SO many pictures and saw so many things it seemed I had never really seen Sintra (and I only live here...).

I strongly recommend this trip to all of our clients. It can be tailor-made depending on what you enjoy, it can include a stop at a café or restaurant; you can take a picnic with you and eat it at a place you are not likely to have a chance to see again. João is a very nice young man, speaks very good English and is sure to be able to make the trip just right for you! I am including a few pictures just to give an idea of things you can see on the way. You can contact us if you want to book, by email (info@casadovalle.com) or by phone (00351 91 937 1622).

July is FULL of activity!

2010-07-13T15:05:00.001+01:00

The Medieval times are represented all through the month with the jousting we had last weekend (anounced on our facebook page) and now the FAIR! The familiar venue of the São Pedro Fair will be very lively, its main attraction being an exhibition of traditional objects and arts that will take the visitor back in time, making Sintra an attractive place, whilst contributing toward the preservation of traditions. The medieval market will be open on Friday (16th) from 5pm to 11h30pm and on Saturday (17th) and Sunday (18th), from 3pm to 11h30 pm. Admission is free. Take the bus 433 from from the Historical Center.

AND from July 30 until August 1st in the Square in front of the Queluz National Palace there is the 18th Century Fair, the golden era of the Palace. With this historical recreation of Queen Maria 1st's reign, you can make a real 'journey in time', during which several craftsmen and shopkeepers will demonstrate crafts and trades of the period. There will be tableau vivants as well as real characters, making it possible to get to know and experience, in a playful and cultural manner, the time when Queluz was the seat of the Portuguese court. Friday the 30th 5-11h30pm & Saturday and Sunday 3-11h30pm. Admission is also free. 20 minutes in the local Sintra - Lisbon train.

Sintra Fashion 2010 will be held on July 16th (Friday) at 9h30pm, in the square of Sintra National Palace. For one evening, Sintra World Heritage will be the main center of Portuguese fashion, filled with light, sound and beauty. Fashion designers João Rolo, Miguel Vieira, Américo Tavar, Carlos Gil, and Storytailors as well as the fashion jeweler Gil the Sousa will be showing their latest collections. Live music by famous musicians, stand-up comedy and famous presenters will 'crown' the event. Admission is free! Just walk up from Casa do Valle, 400 meters to the square.

Also worth mentioning is the international, annual dog show of Sintra: 24 and 25 of July in São João de Lampas, between 10am and 7pm on both days. (10 kms from Casa do Valle). This is a huge show, with about 600 dogs in the national and another 600 in the international competitions.

Please check out our Facebook page for more informations and announcements!

Abandoned houses

2010-06-19T20:09:00.007+01:00

When you walk around Sintra and Lisbon you cannot but notice and wonder about some beautiful old buildings that look like they are abandoned and/or falling apart. It saddens many to see the potential of these houses going to waste just sitting there with broken or boarded up windows, roof half falling and the garden overgrown. Right across the street from us there is one such building and a few times a week I tell people the story of it.

As the high fencing and basketball hoop lets you guess, it was 'Escola Academica' still about 20 years ago when we were building and moved here; a small private school. Once a beautiful building, full of life, the school mistress retired, the school lost its license, and for awhile after the death of the old school mistress, a family lived there with no rights to rental. When they were successfully evicted, we thought the house would be soon sold and were looking forward to new neighbors - with no luck until today. Many people wanted to buy it, but the story that circulates is that the elderly lady who owns it does not want to sell it so her son(s) wont benefit from it. Instead, she's willed it to someone after her death. Meanwhile the old Academica rots away and will soon be too costly to make sense to fix it.

Sadly the story is very likely to be true. In Portugal there are many old buildings that are abandoned, due to two main reasons: Old rental and inheritance laws.

Here is an example of a situation is Lisbon: a man owns two identical apartments in a building in the heart of Lisbon. One he rents for €2,750 a month, the other for €75 . The discrepancy is a result of 100-year -old tenancy rules, which have frozen the rent of hundreds of thousands of tenants and protected them against eviction. If your rental agreement was made prior to 1974, you and your family can live in the house/apartment until death, with no increase to your rent. What happens is that nowadays the small rental revenue is not enough to take care of the house - the painting, the plumbing, the everyday fixing. And the houses fall apart. We have a friend who lives in Alfama, Lisbon, in a house they bought 20 years ago that they would like to completely redo, but they cannot until the last of the tenants leaves the house (in this case the old man is 90+ years-old and still going strong).

In Sintra there are many houses for sale - beautiful, in a good location; and if they are reasonably priced have a tenant who is in his early retirement years, so whoever buys the house, will have to let the tenant stay there. Sometimes people actually 'by the tenants out' or offer them another apartment/house in return to live in - as was a case in the village of Eugaria where we lived while building our house: the owners of a building built a small house to an elderly couple occupying a part of a house they bought so that they could redo the house for themselves.

Another reason for these 'abandoned' houses are inheritance laws. A family house may be inherited in part by about 16 cousins - and it is enough if one says he doesn't want to sell 'because it is the place I spent my summer holidays when I was young' and the house is not sold. Yet the 16 cousins cannot agree who should live there or what should be done with the house, and none of them has the money to pay the other cousins their share - so the house sits alone. OR one or more cousins may live in Canada or Australia and could not care less to come to Portugal to sign a sale of the house when what he would get as his part is less than the cost of the airfare.

No matter what the reason, it is an estimate that in Lisbon, about 8 percent of houses are deserted. So when you see a house that looks abandoned, just take a look upstairs or in one of the windows, and you may signs of life; a curtain, a plant, a cat sleeping on the window sill. This means that the house is not completely abandoned, just waiting to get empty so it can be sold or fixed to the owner's liking.

(The numbers for this entry came from an article in NYT, 'Portugal follows Spain on Austerity Cuts' , May 13, 2010.)

Why I ask for your arrival time and contact information

2010-06-13T15:40:00.005+01:00

A few separate incidents.

A Dutch couple came in in the middle of the afternoon, brought in their luggage and was shown around the house: the pool, the garden and the internet house. They got the WiFi code for their laptop, they ordered breakfast and started undoing their bags. It was only then that they noticed that the laptop and other electric/electronic items were missing from the suitcase. Followed a trip to the police station, canceling cards and changing email passwords, but in the end nothing was recouped.

An American family arrived at 930am straight from their international flight. Their luggage was stored here, they had breakfast by the pool, and then took a nap (on the chill-out-sofa, in the hammock) before they took the keys of their would-be room and went to town to start their exploration of Sintra. Two days later when they left, we kept their luggage for several hours after check-out time as they still went sight-seeing before their night flight.

A family driving in from France arrived in Sintra, parked their car and started visiting the town. When they wanted to make their way to Casa do Valle, close to 8 pm they were surprised by the traffic being cut due to a sporting event - and had to wait until 10 pm to get through. Luckily my daughters were home and stayed waiting for the clients so I could go to our anniversary dinner with my husband.

A Portuguese young couple came to Casa do Valle because of a dinner and decided not to check in before dinner as agreed but rather after dinner, ringing the doorbell at midnight, wondering why it took me such along time to get to them (I had to get dressed as I was already in bed thinking they were no longer coming). But at least they had their room left. Another couple had not arrived by 9pm, though they told me they were arriving around 6, had their phones turned off when I tried to call them to find out if they were lost and were surprised to find out at 11 pm when they rang the doorbell that I had rented their room to someone else at 10pm. They had another available, but not the one they had wanted...

Why tell you all this? For security reasons? Actually, Sintra is in fact very safe, you can walk easily even in the dark in the streets without feeling afraid. Naturally, anywhere touristy you should not leave your luggage in the car and leave the car unattended, unfortunately the thiefs have arrived in Sintra as well. What do all these little incidents have in common?

Our announced check-in time is between 2 and 7 pm (14h-19h). Our Bed and Breakfast is small, and does not have 24 hour reception service. As the guests leave for the day, this is when we are busy: the rooms are cleaned, the shopping is done, the patios are swept. We realize that not all of our guests can arrive between 2 and 7 pm. It would be unreasonable of us not to let the clients arrive early and leave their luggage; or late driving in from the North or Spain. We are happy to oblige, to welcome our guests before 2 and after 7 when we know to expect them.

The Dutch couple whose laptop had been stolen had rung the doorbell at 1130 - no one heard them as the cleaning lady was vacuuming and I wasn't here. But I could and would have been had I known to expect them. So they didn't leave their luggage here but instead left it sitting in the car from where it was stolen from. I also knew about the traffic alterations the other night but had only advised a couple who said they might not make it here until 8 pm and the traffic was altered after 7 pm, after the check-in time. And I didn't have a working number to the French family to inquire about them when they had not arrived by then.

When we confirm your reservation, we mention the check-in and check-out times and ask for an estimated arrival time. We also ask for a contact phone number for any eventuality. Please, please, especially if you come early or late, do let us know a rough estimate of your arrival time and the phone number. This can really help so you (nor me) don't lose your day waiting around or worse yet, so you don't lose your time and your luggage.

Great views and food at Crôa!

2010-06-05T16:23:00.009+01:00

The Portuguese love a good meal. And they love their families. SO - you often get the whole families in restaurants: the grandparents, the uncles, the children, the cousins... Sometimes if you just want to go for a relaxing lunch as a couple having other people's children running around is tiresome. And other times it's your own children that are impatiently awaiting to go home while you would still like to continue your meal in peace (as the Portuguese meals tend to take a long time).

One of the restaurants that recently has become popular amongst our clients is Crôa on Praia Grande. Literally ON Praia Grande, high up on top, overlooking the beach, facing the sea. Beautiful place for sunsets! Crôa is one of these family owned and run restaurants that has lasted and lasted, always knowing what needs to be changed and kept to stay popular. It is also wonderful for family lunches as it has a fabulous fenced-in play-park between the terrace and the parking. A wonderful idea, so everyone can have a nice meal as the children are not running around being bored but happily playing while the rest of the family is enjoying their meal until the end.

It helps to have plenty of parking and great views, but a restaurant does need to have good food to stay on top. And Crôa does. I have included a couple of pictures of the meal I recently had at Crôa - grilled fish, and clams. Everything is always fresh, service is quick and pleasant. One of the last times I went to Crôa I went with family members with a small boy. His chips and hamburger were served really quickly and off he went to play. And us adults enjoyed a calm, long lunch!

One of the great things about Crôa is though its situation - on the cliff, close to the beach... You can go in your shorts straight from the beach and no-one will complain. It is also a nice place to hang around, have a drink with your friends, relax. A lot of the surfers hang out there after some hours on the waves. And their caipirinhas are famous!

(You can catch the bus 441 from the bus stop down the hill straight to Crôa!)

Moving about

2010-05-13T20:53:00.006+01:00

Our clients frequently ask how to get to Sintra from the airport and if they need a car here to move around. This blog tries to answer these questions.

There are various railroad lines in the Greater Lisbon area. One goes from the Cais de Sodré station to Cascais (passing Estoril), another goes from the Rossio station to Sintra. Neither passes by the airport. There are between 3 and 6 trains per hour between Lisbon and Sintra and the oneway ticket per person is about 2 euros. There are several normal buses that pass by the airport that you can take to Lisbon center without luggage - and special ones that go to town that are easy enough with luggage. There are also hourly buses that go to Cascais/Estoril directly from the airport - but none directly to Sintra. Check out this site regarding getting to downtown Lisbon: http://www.golisbon.com/transport/airport.html.

So to get to Sintra, you either have to take a bus/taxi downtown Lisbon, change into a train and once in Sintra, get a taxi to Casa do Valle (at least 1,5 hours and a minimum of 10 euros). OR take a taxi straight from the airport to Sintra. About 30-35 euros and the same amount of minutes. If this is your choice, please see my blog entry of March 23/2010. Or you can rent a car from the airport and drive directly to Sintra - check out our driving instructions from our site http://www.casadovalle.com/howto.asp?lingua=ing&p=images . Or you can ask us to pick you up for a fee of 35 euros.

In Sintra, especially in the summer months, it is difficult to park. Everyone seems to have the same itinerary and hence the parking areas fill quickly. I am pleased to say that the public transportation has improved greatly in the last years in Sintra, and you can easily get around with a bus. The buses are frequent and inexpensive - and there are choices as well.

First an important note. Sintra is a very old town on a mountain - remember this whether you walk or drive. This translates into three things: narrow, often one-way streets going up and down the mountain, full of tourists. If you are not used to mountain driving or driving in very narrow conditions, then save your nerves and don't. Casa do Valle is about 400-500 meters from the Historical Center and about 700 meters from the station - by foot. Buses to the monuments leave form the Historical Center (uphill), buses to Cascais/Estoril and trains to Lisbon leave from the station. Buses to Sintra and Cascais beaches leave from 'Ribeira' = 500 meters down the hill.
Then again - if you think this type of walking is too heavy for you, then drive. If you choose to rent a car, better do it at the airport already, as there are no car rental companies in Sintra.

So - where can you go with the buses?

Just around Sintra, to the new part of town, to the station, to São Pedro, take the 433. Any trip is just 90 cents. There are normally 3 buses per hour.
Up to the Pena Palace and the Mourish Castle, take bus 434 - round trip up and down the mountain is 4,5€/person, 4 buses per hour. Hop on, hop off!
Seteais and Monserrate are on the new bus route 435 - the hop on-hop off ticket costs 2€ roundtrip - and there are 2 buses an hour between 9:45 and 18:45.
The bus to Beach of Praia Grande (Bus 441) is easy to get from Ribeira stop, about 500 meters down the road from us. The one-way ticket is 1,90€ from Ribeira to the beach, and there are 1-2 buses per hour, starting 7am, until 9pm. The bus also passes through Praia das Maçãs and Azenhas do Mar.
To Cabo de Roca, the Western-most point of continental Europe, and to the Cascais beaches, you can take bus 403 from Ribeira. The ticket is 2,75€ one way, and the buses run between 630am and 730pm.
More directly to Cascais and Estoril, buses 417 and 418 respectively leave from the station once an hour, between 530am and midnight. The ticket is 3,55€ one-way per person.

For the buses, you can also get a day ticket of 10€/person. This ticket can be purchased a day before, if you want to take an early start and do not want to start your trip form the station (point of day-pass purchase). All other tickets can be purchased from the driver. These are just a few suggestions, but most popular ones. There are many other interesting routes to little villages around here!

Some other suggestions to get around:

TAXIS - The Sintra taxis are reliable and you can agree a price beforehand, if you prefer. Take one from the Historical Center or the Station - or we can call you one to Casa do Valle.
BICYCLES - Electric bikes can be rented in the center of town, near by the tourism office and the church. During the weekends Sintra is a popular place for mountain biking and you will see lots of little groups cycling about!
HORSE-DRAWN CARRIAGES - This is a wonderful way to get around Sintra, listening to the hooves on the pavement. From 30€ onward per carriage up to 4 passengers, it is not as expensive as most people think. And Casa do Valle has discounts for her clients!
WALKING - Sintra mountain has marked trails of various difficulties and distances, thematically arranged. Maps and information about some guided tours in the summer months are available from the Tourism office.
THE OLD TRAM-LINE - from the Ribeira stop to Praia das Maças Beach through Colares on the summer weekends. Nice, calm way to see the neighbouring villages.

So - it is up to you. No, you do not NEED a car. If you have time and don't mind being 'stuck' by schedules, at least you won't have to worry about parking and traffic lines. Sintra is well served by public transport.

(NOTE: prices and schedules are the ones valid now, May of 2010)

Have you stayed in Sintra? What is your opinion on this? Please comment!

'Uma meia de leite da máquina, sff!'

2010-04-30T21:35:00.004+01:00

Recently coffee has been in the news in Portugal: it seems that each Portuguese consumes a little over 4 kgs of coffee a year. This is an equivalent of 1-2 coffees per person per day, well below the 6kg per person European average (and much below the Finnish 10kgs/person/year average). This surprised me, as it seems that there is a coffee shop in every street corner and they do have a lot of custom! The Portuguese may not drink as much coffee as you would imagine, but boy have they made it a wonderful habit!

Most Portuguese drink the strong expresso type coffee and mostly not at home. A morning coffee on the way to work, another after lunch, and a third one after dinner, especially if the dinner has been in a restaurant. This is the typical scene and can continue to be so as long as coffee continues as reasonable as it is. When you visit a Portuguese house, however, contrary to the Northern European habit that I am used to, you will not be offered a coffee, but a glass of wine, a beer, a glass of water or juice. Coffee is for restaurants and coffee shops (though in all fairness, in the last year or so the expresso machines have sold very well and more and more people are buying one for their homes).

Outside the shops, the name of the coffee brand served is mentioned, and most people have a favourite brand: Tofa, Sicala, Delta.... People are often faithful to a brand and when they have a choice, they will choose the shop according to the brand.

So what do they drink? The coffees with milk are usually served in the morning and maybe at a snack time in the afternoon - never on top of lunch or dinner. And never would you find coffee as a drink WITH meals, like an alternative to water or wine; always after dessert. Here is a short description of different coffees that you can ask for. Notice that the names apply to the coffee drinks in this region, they may vary a little in different regions.

Café ou 'bica' is the normal expresso-type coffee-drink served in a small cup of about 6 cms in height. When you ask for a 'bica' the cup will be about 1/2 full of strong, black coffee.
Café Curto ou 'italiano' is stronger still, the same amount of coffee but less water, your small cup will be about 1/4 - 1/3 full.
Café cheio ou 'longo' is more water for the same amount of coffee grounds. Your cup would be about 3/4 full.
Café pingado is a 'bica' with a few drops of milk (drop = pingo).
'Garoto' is the other way around: a small expresso cup with warm milk and a few frops of coffee. Traditionally this was the version for children, hence the name (garoto = a young boy).
'Carioca' is like a normal café but weaker - the same amount of water but it is the second serving of coffee with the coffee grounds already used for a bica.

Then there are the coffees with more milk:

Meia de Leite is a little bigger cup, that is filled half and half with coffee and milk. If you want to taste the coffee, make sure you ask 'de máquina' so that your coffee is in fact expresso coffee. In some circumstances, if you don't specifically ask otherwise, it will be filtered coffee, which, with lots of milk, will be very weak.
Um Galão is served in a tall glass and is about 1/3 or 1/4 of coffee, and the rest is hot milk. This is usually, amongst the Portuguese, a breakfast coffee only. The 'de máquina' rule applies here as well.

The milk coffees can be also qualified as 'claro' (=light) ou escuro' (=dark) to indicate your wish of more and less coffee in relation to milk.

And what does this all cost? 60-90-1,20. This is the basic rule. 60 cents for a coffee, 90 cents for a meia de leite and 1,2 euros for a galão. This is when you are inside the coffee shop, or when there is, at the counter. If you are served to the table or especially if you are served out in the terrace, there are different prices for the same itens. Count with 30-100% extra (80-1,5-1,8). I did a quick survey in Sintra about the coffee prices. Cheapest coffee is at the 'Padaria' or the bakery in the middle of town: 55ç. Most expensive in the terraces: 1,8 or 1,9€ for a bica. And beware - there are a few places that have a price for 'cappuccino' (3-4€) but they will serve you either a meia de leite or meia de leite with whipped cream on top, and not necessarily a true capuccino. In The historical Center our clients have preferred the 'Padaria', 'Piriquita' and 'Village Café'.

The Portuguese coffee is very good. I love having the shops everywhere, and the opportunity to have the wonderful pastries with the coffee! The smell of the baked goods and strong coffee that lingers on the narrow streets in the morning is divine. I just advice you to check the prices charged for a coffee of the places by the door (all establishments must have the price list posted in a visible place near the entrance) so you know what to expect. And the pastries - that calls for another blog entry!

The ash cloud over Europe

2010-04-17T09:57:00.003+01:00

This week the airports have been in full chaos all over Europe. As flights are canceled, tourists are stuck all over the world unable to arrive home, forced to extend their holidays. As this situation is considered 'force major' most of the airlines are not returning the money of the tickets, let alone providing the clients with a hotel to stay during their wait of sometimes days. The extension of the holidays is not necessarily a welcomed thing: it exhausts the finances of those who are suddenly paying extra hotel-nights and causes worry about things left undone at home. There are talks about forced holidays for airline employees if the situation does not improve.

The situation is as frustrating for the would-be tourists who have booked their holidays a long time in advance ready to go for the much-needed holidays and now not knowing if they will go later or at all. The situation is also bad at this end when tourists cancel their reservations at the last moment. It complicates not only the hotels but also those who cater for them: cleaning and laundry services, restaurants ..... It is a force major for everyone.

At Casa do Valle our normal cancellation policy is as follows: we return the deposit in full if cancellation is made at least two weeks prior to the scheduled check-in date. As the European airports are closed, and people are canceling their reservations from one day to the next, we have adopted the following policy for this specific situation: we will not refund the deposit paid by the clients, but we will consider that money during one year for them. This means that if you paid a 50 euro deposit, those 50 euros are yours to spend at Casa do Valle during the next year. Hopefully people are able to reschedule their holidays within that time. OR if they know someone else coming here, they can reallocate those 50 euros to them OR if their travel-insurance does cover force majors, we will be happy to send an official document to the insurance company of the deposit paid so as to recover the deposit.

In the meanwhile, we are announcing a special to try to recover some of our losses as well for the next week: Reservations made this week (17-24/4) for at least two nights this week have 20% off the room price! So instead of 140 euros for two nights, you pay only 110 euros!

Glicinia time!

2010-04-10T20:21:00.013+01:00

Every spring there is a purple tint to Sintra. The glicínias bloom, their flowers cascading down from the vine, for two to three weeks. They frame gates and pathways, covering arches, giving shade from the first warm sun. They grow wild on abandoned properties and in the middle of forest climbing to the highest point of the trees or electric poles. And then, the flowers fall and leaves are formed. But the weeks of flowers are magical! They give a special fairy-tale look to the places they surround, and transform the abandoned properties, giving an attractive look to the gray of the walls and rust of the gates. At the same time as this is a beautiful time, it is also a time with lots of allergies: there is pollen all around. Normally, the plants on the Casa do Valle property are not high-allergenic but up in the mountain and parks there are a few plants that some people do feel in their eyes and noses. (All of the following pictures were taken within a walking distance of Casa do Valle today).

Easter Friday

2010-04-08T20:25:00.012+01:00

Good Friday was the hardest day of my life as far as customer service. I know that no matter what, you are to be cheerful and efficient. You are to put your personal affairs and emotions to the background and be all you should be to provide the best service to your clients, to make them feel at home and cared for. But it was really difficult, and I am afraid I failed: I burst into tears when a young Brazilian couple wanted to settle their bill and cut a Swedish couple short when they asked me how the Portuguese celebrate Easter. For this I apologize now publically.

Good Friday was one of the hardest days of my life in general - it was the day I held Zoe's head on my lap while she slept away to her eternal sleep as her kidneys stopped working due to the leishmanhose disease that had bothered her for 2 years.

Many of our guests remember Zoe - the gentle porcelain Great Dane of 4. She loved attention and company. She loved walks on the beach and playing with Ruben and Viiri. She loved sitting in front of the fire and watching the flames as much as suntanning on the top of the stairs by the entrance of rooms 3 and 4. She was very forgiving when the other dogs told her off or destroyed her toys - she was so easy to love that she won the hearts of everyone who came her way.

In a guest house like ours it is difficult to keep dogs. They have their routines of early morning and late evening runs usually successfully avoiding the guests: Zoe was so big that many guests were afraid of her because of her size only. But not for long. She was much photographed and caressed - some clients knocked on the door just to ask if she could come out and play, as they missed their own pets at home. Zoe was glad to oblige.

And we do miss her.

(If you have any pictures of her, please post one on our Facebook page!)

The lovely trees we couldn't live without!

2010-03-31T21:45:00.009+01:00

In one of my early blogs I mentioned that when we bought these grounds, they were an abandoned wine-yard. In fact, around 1890 a family of army officials built a house across the street and our ground were the 'quinta', the farm, they had. On these grounds a wonderful wine was grown; it is said that the wine from here won several international prices, even.

A hundred years after the building of the original house, another house, our house, was built in the quinta. There was nothing here, really: a broken down pig-dwelling, a broken down ruin of a greenhouse. And the patio. The patio was, and still is, under huge trees, Cassias and Pittosporums, in the middle of the grounds. Perfectly placed so you see the palaces up on top of the mountain, get the afternoon sun in the winter and the afternoon shade in the summer. There was a type of iron structure to train the branches of the trees to form a sort of a gazebo, a protection and a shelter. During the years, however, the ground was not kept, for various reasons. We loved - love - the patio. And we still don't quite know what to do with it. (I put up different pictures so you could see the immenseness, the dimension, of the trees - cassia still without leaves).

During the years of abandon, the tree swallowed some of the iron, lifting up the structure, almost like saying that it was unnecessary (which you can see in the pictures). We have had these grounds for over 20 years, and the patio still looks the same: the iron structure inside the tree. We had the rest of the structure metalized and painted, and the tiling of the floor redone. But the basic structure and the idea are the same.

This is the time of the year when it is obvious why this variety of the pittosporum is called 'lily-of-the-valley-tree' in Finnish. The scent is intoxicating, sweet but not overpowering. Any little wind brings some of the flowers down. We sweep the patio a few times a day, and soon it looks like it has never been swept. Actually we sweep all year around: when there are no flowers, there are the leaves, as the pittosporum ALWAYS has leaves, which means it changes and consequently drops some ALL YEAR AROUND... Frustrating, but worth the effort. So many of our clients have slept and napped in the shade of these trees. So many younger clients have found these the perfect climbing trees. They give protection to the guest house from the winter winds and the summer sun - and house the birds that sing so beautifully in the mornings.

Do you have special memories/thoughts about these trees and the patio? Please share!

Beware of the taxis!

2010-03-23T21:11:00.003Z

This is one of those blogs that I already don't like and I am only writing the first sentence! But please keep reading on, it is quite important.

This last weekend two different sets of clients arrived to our house from the airport with a taxi. In both cases the driver tried to ask for nearly twice the amount that is normal rate. Please be aware that the fare you should pay is 30-35 euros (depending on amount of luggage and time of day).

Here is some information you should be aware of:
The distance between the airport and Casa do Valle is 28 kms. The straightest road for this trip is using the road IC19. During the day, it takes about 3o minutes to drive that - in the peak hours up to 1 hour. There are no tolls to pay on IC19. The driver has the tariff '1' on until the end of 2nd circular road where he switches on tariff '3' = about 7 kms from the airport.

So what can go wrong:
The driver switches on tariff '3' too early or chooses another road, with tolls, instead of IC19.
Or he plain cheats and has his meter worked on. In any case, do not pay more than 35 euros!!!!

What to do if they say to you at our gate 'That will be 55 euros, please'?
1) Do not pay. Ring our door bell and ask me to check the price.
2) Ask for an invoice (= factura). Ask them to write the route, 'Airport - Casa do Valle - via IC19'.
3) Take note of the make and license plate of the car.
4) Take note of the name of the driver (on the dashboard) and the number of the taxi license (on the window).

And before you even take off, still at the airport, say where you want to go and by which road (IC19), show the driver the address and map from our site - and do say that you are aware that the price is about 30-35 euros. DO NOT AGREE ON A SET PRICE LIKE 50 EUROS PRIOR TO LEAVING THE AIRPORT!!!!

As I said, I hate having to write about this. For the longest time this has not been a problem, until recently again. On our site there is a tab 'How to Arrive' with a simplified map of the route and a map within Sintra. Please print these and show them to your driver. Keep our phone number available as well (also on the site). There are only a few drivers that cannot be trusted, but, as often happens, they ruin it for everyone. Taxis are more inexpensive in Portugal than in many other countries and the drivers try to use the ignorance of the tourists to cash on.

In Sintra we only use trusted and known drivers, so you do not have to worry about these situations on the way to the airport.

Also, do not forget that if previously agreed, we can come and pick you up from the airport for 35 euros.

'The Wonderful Jazz Café just before the station on the right'

2010-03-18T22:25:00.006Z

Saudade, if you look it up from the dictionary, means Nostalgia in English.
In the Portuguese dictionary the word is explained as 'sadness caused by missing someone or something' AND as 'greetings'. The word includes both happiness and sadness, a longing for.

Saudade, the Life and Art of Portuguese People, is a coffee-place, a tea room, a place to gather to listen to music. For me, O Saudade is one of the only places where you can sit with your book, newspaper or laptop, enjoying a cup of coffee and a long conversation with your best friend and beautiful cakes, and not be harassed. It is what one of our clients described as 'The Wonderful Jazz Café just before the Station on the Right'.

O Saudade opened at the end of June 2009. The first week of July we already had two nice comments about in our Guest to Guest book. The truth is, it gained immediate popularity. Mary and João have lovingly turned one of the original 5 cheese cake factories of Sintra, Mathilde, into a popular place to have breakfast, lunch or 'lanche' (=afternoon snack). There is live music, mostly jazz, but also fados, a few times a month on the weekend evenings. It is probably the only place where the original tanks made of stone where the preservation of fresh cheese was done in salt water are still conserved, as the other factories have been modernized. Mathilde was not, as it stopped its production in 1974.

But the space has been rediscovered: exhibitions of local /Portuguese art and handicrafts (quilts, silver work etc) take place in the recuperated spaces - the sofa-scene of the picture is in the old oven area, the tiles have been conserved, the tables and chairs are local antiques. The charm of the place are the little corners where you can almost feel like you were by yourself even in a crowded café, the feel of being in someone's home, as if you recognized the tables and chairs... The scones and green tea are my daughter's favorites, I like the lemon meringue pie, my niece is crazy for the chocolate cake; and many of our clients enjoy light lunches there (4-7€). Also worth mentioning is the small table for children, with games. And the wonderful stucco ceilings. And, and, and.... O Saudade is convenient to the station and only 10 minutes walk from Casa do Valle.

So why the name Saudade? Makes sense. Missing the calmer times from before in the hectic life of today? Appreciating the good things in life? Enjoying it while there and wishing your loved ones were there, too? Remembering and appreciating the past while bringing some of it to the present? Or: All of the above!

What to do on a rainy day?

2010-03-05T20:54:00.007Z

We have certainly had our share of rainy days. So what to do when your sister, niece and great niece are visiting and it just rains? Well, no worry. We spent an afternoon at the Modern Science Museum 'Centro de Ciência Viva de Sintra'- only 500 meters by foot down the hill from Casa do Valle. This interactive center is one of the 'new' museums of Sintra, opened just a few years ago. I confess, I had never been, though I had been in the large ones of Chicago and Helsinki. This one is a small one. You spend between an hour and 3, depending on your age and weather...

What do you see? Actually, what do you do? You can make a simulation of wave energy movement; make up your genetic DNA and find out how many people are out there with your combination of eye- and hair color, nose and jaw shape etc; test your short-term memory and reaction skills by part-taking in games that use sounds and colors; take a picture of your body to find out which parts of your body are warmer/colder than the others... You can practice walking and throwing balls while your sight is impaired and play music jumping on a huge keyboard on the floor... Lots of things. And there were more - all water related and interesting looking. But outside and it was raining. So we skipped that. A reason to go back.

What did we like most? The 4 year old and her mother could have stayed on the attached side-by side swings: it was enough for 1 to work on gaining speed, the other would naturally follow. I liked the memory games and the wonderful architecture of the converted garage of the Sintra trams - my sister liked looking at the Sintra mountain with the 360º telescope.... We spent an easy hour and plus with no-one getting bored (and missing the water-part), but we were all sure that a 10-year old would entertain himself for at least 1 more hour than us, easily, being able to discover the science as well, instead of just having fun. Everything was written in Portuguese and English.

There is an internet coffee shop with a terrace as well, which works great, I am sure, if some of you want to relax while others are still entertained in their discovery of science.

An interesting note: right outside the center, there is a stop for the tram that travels between Sintra and the Praia das Maçãs beach in the summer weekends; a hint to combine a visit to the Center with a trip to the beach!

Weather Report

2010-02-25T19:24:00.003Z

This winter has been extreme all over, in Europe and elsewhere in the world, too. It is rare to watch the news and NOT hear about a calamity somewhere in the world. Last weekend one hour of pouring rain (60 ml) did lots and lots of damage in the Portuguese island of Madeira, over 40 people were killed/missing and lots of villages are still in complete isolation as the roads were washed away.

The same weekend I spent Friday and Saturday mornings building sandcastles on the beach with friends' children - in wonderful sunny weather! Saturday night it rained hard here, too, though - and a part of our wall in the bottom of the property gave in to the weight of the wet ground (after a much higher than average rainfall). It rained a lot on and off all Sunday, making the Saturday morning beach outing feel like a distant dream. But then on Monday afternoon our 4-year old guest dipped into the 10º pool - the sun was so inviting again!

This February we have had night frost about 5 times. Normally here when it's cold it is dry - but this year we have also had freezing rain. Now the night temperatures are about 12-14º and daytime temperatures 15-17º. It does feel a bit colder, though, when the wind blows, and the humidity makes itself felt. This morning we had gusty winds of about 70kms/hr and I was once again fishing garden furniture from the pool.

This has been the story of the whole winter. Every day we have a variety of weather - sun, wind, rain - even hail! The good thing is that the weather does change throughout the day, so you can plan outings and visits if you are not tied down by strict schedules. I tried the hammock this afternoon for the first time this year - a wonderful afternoon nap. And I started the weeding of the agapantos beds, which ended up being nearly addictive, as the ground is so wet and the weeds so tall that is was fast and fun, and the results were easily seen.

If you are coming here in the next two months, I do suggest bringing a windbreaker-jacket that takes some rain. Soft cottony clothing gets wet here easily, even when it doesn't rain, as the humidity may drip off the trees in the parks during quite a while after the rain. It really is not so cold, just windy and humid. And if you are dressed right, you hardly notice it.

Pictures of Tulha's

2010-02-21T20:23:00.003Z

Tulha's Bar

2010-02-16T17:25:00.010Z

Tulha's Bar is by far the #1 restaurant of our visitors. It is also one of the restaurants mentioned in many of the guide books. There are many reasons: the service is friendly, menu is typically Portuguese but varied, portions are large, price is accessible - these are a few. And it is also just 10 minutes by foot from Casa do Valle, right in the Historical Center, between the Church and the Tourism Office.

Tulha's is one of the restaurants that has been around 'forever'. In the last 20+ years that I have lived here, they have changed cooks only once and the owners and some of the staff have been here all this time. A converted, old grain warehouse, it is small, only 10 tables, and it is always busy. The service is fast and pleasant, there is always a smile and a free glass of Port waiting for you. For those who want to taste the Portuguese culinary specialties like Duck Rice or Cream-baked Cod, this is the place: everyday there is a different specialty on the menu. And the standard menu is great - the meats are tender, lamb chops famous, the fish is fresh, veggies are seasonal, tasty and cooked to perfection.

In our 'Guest to Guest' - book the comments regarding Tulha's let you understand that people have often eaten there more than once during their stay in town. Some comments include:
'Fantastic service & food' 'Prompt and efficient service and good, honest Portuguese food'
'Se come por 30 euros, 2 personas' (=2 people eat there for 30 euros) (My comment: I had lunch there very recently and three adults and a child had lunch with starters and desserts included for 35 euros).
'They are happy to accommodate your tastes & we have asked for lots of vegetables and got them at no extra cost' 'It's a must'.

In general, you feel you get your money's worth, and more! But be aware - it is closed on Wednesdays!

(Have you eaten at Tulha's? Please comment!!)

Winter beaches

2010-01-31T17:02:00.004Z

This morning once again I took the dogs to the beach as the morning was breaking. I am enclosing a picture of Praia Pequena 'waking up' - if you look closely, you will see the little black dots, that's the early surfers. The other picture is of Praia Grande. It is full moon now, and the time of the year of 'Marés Vivas' - the rough winter tides. You can see the stairs going down to the beach, with blue railing. Notice how the stairs seem to stop in the middle of the way. They don't. That's 'all the way to the beach' normally - just that the tides took away all the sand! In two weeks, with the new moon, the sand will be back again. An interesting phenomena on our winter beaches!

Winter frustration - and Special Getaway prices

2010-01-30T21:24:00.004Z

This is the frustrating time of the winter season - the rain has stopped and we have had a week of cool, clear days with a variable amount of sun. As I walk around the grounds, I do notice on the winter flowers: the lavender is starting to have long purple flowers, the calla is still going strong and the old rose tree has an odd pink rose as well. Also it seems that all that we planted last fall/winter have taken to their new places and have started well. However, it seems that the walls that need painting, the moss that needs to be scraped and stairs that need washing - all seem to scream louder than the flowers.

The gardeners started pruning the trees last week, and will continue for a few more weeks. As they advance, I keep seeing lots of other things that need to be done - we still have to wait about ten days for the painter. The electrician is supposed to arrive any day to fix a few odd things. The carpenter is still to fix odds and ends as well - it seems everyone in town is taking advantage of the finished rain and I am just having a hard time waiting as I want everything done NOW... At least we have started with the washing and scraping to get things going.

Meanwhile I announced our February deals: 2 nights for the price of 100 euros, or three nights for the price of 2! And there is still some space for the carnival (Sunday to Tuesday) long weekend.

The Natural History Museum of Sintra

2010-01-24T22:03:00.005Z

Only a 10-minute walk from Casa do Valle, in the Historical Center, this museum is the newest addition to the many museums of Sintra. I went for the first time today, though it opened in August already. Like many of the local museums, this was first a private collection of the couple Miguel and Fernanda Barbosa, who for 50 years collected, traded and bought 90% of the pieces that now are a part of the museum's collection.

My first reaction was that the museum is attractive, modern and organized. Street level hosts the special exhibition and the lower level the permanent exhibition. This is where you can see the only specimen in the world of a species of flying reptiles, the Braseodactylus sp, or see a simulation of the big-bang. There are many recreations, but even more of the REAL things: dinosaurs eggs and nests, bones of all kinds, skulls...

What made it interesting to me was the fact that it was not only bones - there are parts of the exhibition dedicated to minerals, fossils, and even the origin of universe. The significance of the museum is due to the quality and rarity of many of its exhibits, from all over the world (f.ex the dinosaurs eggs from Gobi Desert, China, and fragments of tha Nantan meteorite that fell in the 16th century).

The museum is of interest to all, from school-age children onward - it is free and can be seen quite quickly - or you can easily spend a few hours! More information on the Sintra site,
http://www.cm-sintra.pt/NoticiaDisplay.aspx?ID=5583

Fresh Seafood at Búzio's

2010-01-16T21:28:00.013Z

Sintra has a long coast and excellent beaches -and on one of its most famous beaches, Praia das Maçãs, there is an excellent Seafood restaurant 'Búzio'. Right on the main road, with the day's catch of fish and shellfish on view in a see-through fridge, this restaurant has long been the favorite of the local sea-food lovers - and has also become the favorite seafood spot of our clients. It is about 10 kms or a 10-minute drive, from Casa do Valle, with private parking and easy access with the local transports. (In the pictures above you can see some of the fresh fish, the newly decorated main dining hall and my daughter choosing her dinner as one of the owners, Luís Alberto, looks on).

This family restaurant first opened in 1959 and has since passed from parents to children and their spouses. I have been a customer for over 20 years and seen many 'face lifts', turning the restaurant each time more and more stylish, yet staying comfortable. One thing that has not changed is the quality of the food - everything is very fresh and always very well done. Búzio has two fisheries (tanks), one in the restaurant and the other by the sea - and one of the best 'garreteers' in the country! And though most of the specialties of the house are in fact fish and shellfish, the meat that is served is as well superb - the vegetables seasonal and delicious, cheeses local specialties, desserts home made ....

'Wonderful', 'elegant', 'of surprising quality' and 'super fresh' are some of the ways our guests have described their dining experience at Búzio in our 'Guest to Guest - Book'. It is not the cheapest restaurant around, yet it is not overpriced and worth the money. Expect to pay about 25 euros per person, including starters, main dish, dessert, and coffee - plus wine. More information from www.buzio.pt .

New themes for the blog

2010-01-15T08:57:00.002Z

To start the new year well, I have decided to blog about the wonderful things in Sintra - to start, go through some of the favorite restaurants and coffee shops of our clients this passed year -and add a few newer things that are not necessarily in the guide books yet. I will label them accordingly so in the future, if you look for a restaurant that has pleased many of our clients just write 'restaurants' in the search function of the blog and it will filter them for you, same with parks, museums etc.

Many guide books mention the same monuments, hotels and restaurants year after year - even when they have stopped existing some time ago. We have noticed this with our clients when they ask us to make a reservation in a particular restaurant that no one knows about anymore. And it seems to be increasingly difficult for new restaurants - or old ones with new management - to get in the books. That is why I like our 'Guest to Guest' book - it is current always. All it needs is active participation from our clients. And that is what I would like from you, too - if you recognize a place I will write about, please comment! And please let me know if you would like me to write about a particular one - that you adored and did not remember to write about in the book.

I will start with the most popular spots - and go from there.

In the meanwhile, the weather in Sintra has been like everywhere - rain, colder than normal, and then some more rain. The good thing is that we should not have water shortages this summer, maybe even less forest fires or at least more means to fight them. And our cold is always warmer than cold in other parts of Europe....

Happy New Year 2010!

2010-01-01T19:24:00.005Z

Today was a beautiful day in Sintra - and lots of people filled the streets as they visited Sintra on the first day of this year 2010. I watched the traditional New Year's Strauss concert in TV, and will see it again on the 10th of January - live here in Sintra, as the Strauss Festival Orchestra & Ballet Ensemble perform at the great auditorium of Centro Cultural Olga Cadaval. The Cultural Center has a very nice and varied program in its 2 auditoriums (300 and 1000 seats). The pages of the center are http://www.ccolgacadaval.pt/ if you want to check out the programs. Plan ahead and check out the program for the June Sintra Festival!

We have had quite a lot of reservations recently from A Vida é Bela - the experience-gifts for getaways. It seems that after these holidays people really need a break, with massages in the beautiful Sintra. Welcome to all of you to relax here!

Christmas!

2009-12-25T22:35:00.003Z

This has been an unusual Christmas with rain and winds. Normally our family goes on a jingle bell ride on Christmas Eve on the horse-drawn carriages in the morning. This is the first year in at least 10 years that we had to cancel due to weather conditions. The rain is so unpredictable, and the weather reports keep changing a few times a day, making it nearly impossible to plan anything ahead. I print a weather report and post it on the bulletin board of the little internet hut every so many days - now I do it daily and it still is not so certain.

There are a couple of sites I use to check the weather, one that I have previously mentioned is Accuweather http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast-15day.asp?partner=accuweather&trave - and the other that is more detailed the WindGuru, a weather site for the surfers http://www.windguru.com/pt/index.php?sc=14481. This site is great to check the amount of rain fall and the hour of day the rain falls.

In any case, for the next two weeks we are expecting an old-fashioned Portuguese winter - two days of rain and two days of sun!

Rain or shine, I wish all the od and future guests of Casa do Valle a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy 2010!!!

Winter Weather

2009-12-16T18:37:00.006Z

Traditionally winter in our area is the rainy season. Say what they may about climate change, the traditional rain is here. It comes and goes. When it is not raining, it is absolutely wonderful - the colors are clear and sharp and the winter flowers come on strongly. After the rain, there is a light mist rising from the forest for awhile though , resembling smoke. The trees are loosing their last leaves and and there is a lot of gray in our view. It is one of those times that can get one really excited about the scenery and photography. The other day when I was taking these pictures, some clients were surprised that after livng in Sintra for over 20 years I still find it fascinating enough to take pictures!

But when it is a day without rain, it is a nice season - still lots to do. We just had an English family visiting that spent some wonderful days here: visiting museums and monuments on the rainy days, taking surfing lessons on the clear days, followed by a massage in the late afternoon. They found an English-speaking surfing instructor that came to pick them up from Casa do Valle, brought them back and charged only 30 euros for a few hours, equipment included!

Concertos de Natal

2009-12-06T22:08:00.004Z

Since Nov 14th, there are free Christmas Concerts all over the municipality. Mostly they are in churches, On Saturday and Sunday afternoons; different amateur choirs singing traditional Portuguese and international Christmas musics. This weekend I attended the one closest to home: a children's choir singing at the church of S. Martinho in the Historical Center.

They started a few minutes late. I was impressed by the diversity of the children's ages - the youngest must have been 4 years old, and the oldest about 14! They were accompanied by a man playing the guitar, one of the older children the piano - and the rest of the children different percussion instruments. There was not a lot of harmonizing going on, and some of the voices of the children were not well heard in the beautiful, old church. But there were other things. There was enthusiasm by the choir director and the parents in the audience; there were tourists peeking in at the door in the middle of the program, and deciding to stay when they heard the choir. There were the clear, high voices of the children, familiar tunes, candles and calm, while it was raining outside. There was feeling, emotion: the familiar feeling that Christmas is approaching and that it belongs to children, families.

The night before I attended with some of our English guests a different concert but belonging to the series of free Christmas Concerts, at the Cultural Center of Olga Cadaval: a concert by the Sintra Chamber Orchestra, playing some modern Portuguese classical and the 40th of Mozart. Very different from the children, very good and appropriate.

Congratulations for the tourism bureau for offering such a complete program! And a note to our guests - there are 3 more concerts next weekend, and a whole lot more next year!

Leaves and efficiency

2009-11-28T19:42:00.004Z

This week in Sintra they started giving the vaccines for the B-group people for the A-virus - later than many other cities in Portugal. I was called in as well and was also given the tetanus - they saw on the computer that mine was out of date. Sometimes things are efficient like that here, two vaccines at the time.

There are many things that I wished were more efficient here - faster response to many bureaucratic issues, for example. But some things I wish at times were not so efficient. Like the street sweepers. There are many in Sintra, and to be honest they do a great job - the streets are very clean here, even after the market of São Pedro. If you see the grounds at 6pm on the day of the market, it's a disaster - but the morning after you could never guess it had been a market day the day before. That is great.

But this week after the rain the big oak trees dropped their leaves - HUGE yellow, read and green ALL over the roads of Sintra. I collected many on my way to the vaccine, they were beautiful and made the Sintra roads look so cozy and 'autumny'. But then they were gone. The efficiency of the sweepers is amazing. Now I am just happy that they are giving some more rain for tomorrow so I can walk on the leaves again, maybe collect a few more before they are gone again!

More Waves

2009-11-22T21:19:00.004Z

Some of the waves today were 7-8 meters high!

Above the beaches of Sintra

2009-11-22T20:51:00.011Z

The most wonderful afternoon on the local beaches! We had a clear, sunny afternoon and I went for a walk on the beach: from Praia Grande, above Praia Pequena to Praia das Maçãs. Yes, above the beaches, as the beaches of Sintra have high cliffs and therefore drops of 40-50 meters to the sea. Of course they have nice road accesses to the beaches, but in between the roads there is a high difference of levels. I was positively surprised by the neat walkways, properly protected by a wooden fence - and the clear info boards of flora to look for. Every so many meters, a covered bench was awaiting for visitors to sit down and look at the waves.

The beaches are wild in the winter. Last weekend there was nearly no beach; today, yes. There were lots of people on a Sunday afternoon stroll: whole families with dogs and grannies, couples in love - and even skydivers jumping down the cliffs and landing on the beach after leisurely circling over the strollers. Praia Grande is the beach that most lends itself to these activities. I can hardly wait another month or two to see all of the flowers on the cliffs in bloom. And it is good to remember that it is only 400 meters from Casa do Valle to the bus-stop of the buses on the route to the beaches - and they circulate summer AND winter.

Rain, Rain, Go Away???

2009-11-16T18:40:00.005Z

We have had a week of humid, warm weather. Mainly it's been raining when it's dark - which it seems to be a lot these days - and we have had very nice afternoons. Our guests have still been able to visit the monuments without the umbrella. Last night it rained a lot, though, and it has continued all through the day today. The swimming pool is nearly overflowing, the garden is full of leaves. And there are lots of accidents on the roads as the new roads are slippery and people forget to slow down.

The rain is of course needed. I just feel sorry for the men who are setting up the Christmas lights around the town. This year they started later than usual and cannot therefore slow down to get everything set up by deadline - rain or no rain. When it does not rain, though, sintra is SO beautiful! The mist rising up, half the mountain covered up in a cloud of mist - and the colors so vivid and the air smelling fresh and clean! I will put some pictures up soon so you can see what I mean.

I have now been writing this blog for a year. Sometimes I wonder if I should, as there are so few comments. Then comes a client who comments on a blog entry or asks a question about something I have written about and it makes it all worth it. Actually, I like it a lot now - trying to remember what happened last year or six months ago gets easier, as remembering what the weather was like in the spring when someone asks me.

And just like last year this time, we have placed nuts and port wine in the rooms to welcome our cold, wet clients to the warmth of Casa do Valle!

Hot Stone Massage

2009-11-08T21:23:00.005Z

Now that the holidays are over, autumn is really here with rain and wind - and Christmas is around the corner with all the busyness that comes along with it. To help prepare you for the season, we suggest a way to relax at Casa do Valle - a massage with Hot Stones.

The heat of the stones has two objectives: deep - relaxing the muscles and reestablishing the body's energies. This massage uses techniques of both classical relaxation massage AND Reiki to absorb and drain the body from tired energy. 45 euros for an hour + session in the privacy of your room.
Or if you prefer, you can book a classical 50 minute full-body relaxation massage for a special price of 35 euros or a session of Chinese Tui Na or Japanese Seitai also for 45 euros.

Advanced booking is necessary for any of these massages. You can contact us for more information through our email info@casadovalle.com

Getting prepared for the cold - and the spring!

2009-11-05T08:11:00.004Z

The last 10 days we have had more of a traditional autumn weather: showers at night and in the morning, afternoon temperatures are about 15 degrees, but they feel colder because of the wind. The umbrellas in the rooms are being used or at least taken for walks as the guests leave for dinner. In some rooms the heaters are on. But the evidence of the earlier warm weeks are clear: I bought beautiful, national strawberries at the supermarket for breakfast today (our strawberry season is March-June)!

This is the time when I get excited about next spring! My husband brought new hammocks from Brasil to place in the garden. I found a wonderful rug to place on the floor next to the sofa outside - I also found some wonderful textiles to make new pillows for the garden.

But I am also excited about the autumn. Candles and lanterns are placed and lit in the evenings. As it is the nut season, we have placed complimentary mixed nuts (and a nut-cracker) with port wine in the rooms to welcome our guests as they arrive. Also, extra blankets are being placed in the rooms - not that it is cold as the rooms are heated, but some people prefer feeling the weight of the blankets on them in bed when they can hear the wind outside - or wrap themselves in the blanket and sit outside watching the sunset - or the full moon, which, by the way, has been gorgeous the last few days!

Recycling...

2009-10-25T20:36:00.004Z

This weekend, like any other weekend, my husband loaded his car with different bags: plastic water bottles and soda cans in one, juice and wine bottles in another, and newspapers and packaging materials in a third one. Every weekend he takes out the recycling. During the week we collect these items from the rooms' trash bags and separate them accordingly. And it amounts to a surprisingly large amount. We also collect the tops of water bottles; the plastic bottle tops, and take them to a collection in order to help someone get a wheelchair (A LOT of kilograms are needed for that, so we join our efforts with other people).

We try to be environmentally friendly in many ways. As our clients check in they have a new toilet paper roll in their bathroom - the unfinished ones after the clients check-out are not thrown away but used elsewhere to save paper. The linen is changed every third night during long stays, not daily; yet of course more often if requested by clients. The light bulbs in places that require a long light-cycle are the eco-lights - and the lights by the gate turn on and off automatically in function to natural light outside. Our heaters recharge at night and release energy (and heat) all during the day.

Any other suggestions? We would love to hear from you in regards of 'green topics'.

Autumn IS coming - with special deals you cannot miss!

2009-10-18T07:13:00.008+01:00

It has been exceptionally warm in Portugal this autumn and every day we hear stories about how dry it is and how we need rain. In the Guest House we still have been quite busy and with the people around the pool in the afternoons, at first glance, it does look like summer. So how do you know, when it's 28º in the afternoon that autumn is coming anyway?

The people in the pool actually SWIM, not just lull around, as the water is cooler
The hydrangeas are beautifully spotted
The fruit trees are all losing their leaves
Olives are falling off the trees
The only fruit waiting to ripen are the citrus fruit
The bougainvillea on the front lawn is losing its red petals and the lawn (and the pool) are full of red petals in the mornings - the natural spa-look
There is actually place to park your car everywhere
The monuments, especially during the week days, are much less crowded
It is dark in the mornings when I start to ride the bike in the garden

And it still is delicious in the garden - excellent weather to walk in town and yes, still go to the beach.

So we have decided to start of the fall/winter season with a special deal you cannot miss -

Until the end of November:

Two weekend nights (Friday to Sunday or Saturday to Monday) : the two nights for 100€
During the week, the fourth night is free!

Come and enjoy our November - remember we still have wonderful deals in massages & carriage rides to make your getaway more special! For more information, send us an email to info@casadovalle.com .

Yuka is blooming!

2009-10-10T18:22:00.004+01:00

Gorgeous October !

2009-10-10T17:46:00.012+01:00

It is not unusual this time of the year that we start turning on the heaters at night, even if the days are warm. Not this year. Today it's 28º and the pool water is still 21º. The poor apple trees are confused and are blooming. Otherwise, we have the last of the fruits, rock pears (on the right) and diospiros (kaki persimmons) below in the pictures.

And the citrus trees are full of green lemons and oranges, ripening for Christmas. Also the Yuka palm is blooming and is gorgeous!

It also seems that the weather will be continuing pleasant for at least another week or so, which is great for our Scandinavian fall-break guests. if you ever want to check the weather report for here, you can check out the following site of AccuWeather: http://www.accuweather.com/world-forecast-15day.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&locCode=EUR|PT|PO012|SINTRA&metric=1
It has proven to be quite reliable.

Rain

2009-10-06T21:11:00.004+01:00

I was away for a week in the North of Europe where the autumn foliage was advanced; there was night frost and afternoon sun. It was the beginning of Autumn there, and just like our coldest weather ever in Sintra. The last two days we have had some rain (needed, needless to say) and it should continue two more days, just to give way to more gorgeous sunshine.

These days are beautiful on the mountain: it is covered half way up in a mist and gives an air of secrecy to the mountain, or a 'now you see it, now you don't' effect. The air smells fresh, the colors are vivid and everything seems more sharp in the view.

Also this is the time when the roads are slippery. The new motorway between Sintra Ranholas and Cascais opened cutting the traffic queues greatly, but also making rainy weather dangerous with humidity on new asphalt and the sense of wanting to speed on a new, broad road... A dangerous combination. Anyway, it opened just in time for the GP of Motorcycles of Estoril and made that weekend less strenuous.

We are keeping busy at the Bed and Breakfast, nearly ready to announce our special deals for the winter season. Please, please go to our facebook page and take part on the discussion so we know what you appreciate in a getaway weekend!

HOT start for autumn

2009-09-25T21:06:00.005+01:00

Autumn has officially kicked in - and with better weather than July! Gone is the unpleasant wind, and the temperatures have risen to over 30 degrees every afternoon this week! It is true that leaves have started to fall, and the pool has to be vacuumed more often due to that - but wow what a goodbye we have for the summer.

We still have an abundance of pears, still lots of flowers around the garden, but the sun IS lower and gives a nice, soft air about. The pool temperature is still 22 degrees, warm enough to swim.

Inspired by the official start of autumn and plenty of guests asking what the weather is like in the winter or spring here, I placed an album on our facebook page called '4 seasons' with pictures of the surroundings from the last year. I also started a discussion on the facebook page regarding ideas for the getaway weekends we are planning to offer. If you have the time, please contribute and let us know YOUR opinions about what could and should be offered/included in short stays and what types of thematic stays might be of interest to you.

Girlfriend Getaways

2009-09-16T15:49:00.003+01:00

The month of September has been for the last years the month with the most twin beds per room. We have chosen to have many rooms with the possibility of either twin beds or double beds - and this is really the time that it pays off. We have had several 'Girlfriend groups' recently 2-4 women taking an extended weekend holiday together - or even longer. This is the perfect time as the family holidays are over, and the weather is still lovely - and monuments don't have the summer crowds.

This last weekend we had 4 ladies from Finland spend a couple days taking a break together. On Saturday they spent a 'cultural day'. Up the mountain with a horse and carriage to the Pena Park. They walked through the park to the Palace of Pena, then down to the Moorish castle and again back down to the historical Center for a lunch. And then they went to Regaleira and did some shopping. Topping it off in the pool and then a slow dinner at Tulha's in town. There was even an outdoor concert in the center to animate the evening. They started out Sunday with an hour's Yoga session on the lawn, went to the São Pedro market and did some other shopping, and had their tired muscles massaged in the garden at the end of the afternoon. And a nice dinner on the beach in the sunset.

Sound good? Want to take a couple of days with your friends? Let us help you by suggesting whatever it is you might be interested in. Botanical garden and Bonzai Museum visits? Art exhibitions? Golf? Do you really want to have a morning yoga class and a massage? Want to visit all the wonderful castles? How about a guided walking tour or a horse and carriage ride ending up with a picnic?

You imagine it, we'll help you organize it!

I love this activity!

2009-09-07T21:49:00.003+01:00

I have felt overwhelmed today with the notion of how much I love this activity of running the Bed and Breakfast.

I love meeting new people - and I do meet so many! People from different walks of life: from farmers to doctors, air-hostesses to teachers, politicians to administrators - even a teacher in a circus school! There are so many wonderful conversations waiting to take place or to continue - so many different points of view and questions about the Portuguese life and culture - and reverting to conversations of comparisons of cultures and ways. Life never gets boring when you meet so many different people.

And from so many different countries, too! 2008 summer the major part of our guests came from Spain, this year there has been a shift to more people from the Great Britain, Netherlands and Belgium. There are times when lots of people come from very far: Australia, New Zealand, United States and Canada. And we have a growing number of Asian people too, from Korea, China, Japan and Hong Kong. Also nice to have guests from the less frequent European countries, such as Macedonia or Lithuania. It is like travelling abroad in your own garden.

I have been making pear jam the last few days (there are so many pears) and it was nice to get guests' feedback on it. Now there is time to do these 'extra' things as we are not always jam-packed. I even started a facebook page for Casa do Valle, as many of our previous guests have suggested it to stay in touch. I am hoping someone will post pictures or little stories of their stay. And I hope to start a few forum conversations, as I really want to get the guests' comments on things like what a special getaway weekend package should entail.

So, Thank You to all of our guests for making this activity so enjoyable!

TWINS!

2009-09-05T11:33:00.011+01:00

For the first time our palm tree has two flowers at the same time! Usually in the fall we have the beautiful cascading purple flowers in one tree or the other but never two in one! They are truly beautiful and we feel lucky to have them.

This has also been an extraordinary year for fruit. I will add a picture to show the abundance of pears: the heavy branches are nearly sweeping the ground. This weekend will certainly be jam-making time. Even our small apple trees are so full of apples for their size that the branches are bent to the ground. The fig trees are also promising a lot, lots of fruit to come - for those though we just have to wait another week or two.

It is obvious that fall is getting closer. It is darker in the mornings and more humid at nights. The mornings now often have a gray mist hanging over the mountain until about 9 am, and in town there are some vines with a few red leaves already. Yet the temperature has been about 26-28º in the afternoons and our swimming pool water has been about 22º in the mornings and 24º in the afternoons. But it is a time when a sweater or a coat is necessary at nights.

Sintra roads are made for exercise!

2009-08-22T18:39:00.009+01:00

When the sun rises over the mountain, it hits the higher tree tops first. As the slight breeze moves the leaves, it makes the sun dance on them, giving it a magic glow. The roads are curvy, so the view changes continuously, the sun comes from different angles and paints the scenery in different shades of green.

In a situation like this, it is wonderful to take a morning walk - very few people on the move, clean, fresh mountain air. Whether alone or accompanied, it is a great start for the day. We are happy to lend you one of our several pairs of the walking sticks so you don't have to pack your own. And those who don't want to go for the exercise, just to enjoy the morning, will be happy to know that the bakery in the historical center opens before 7 am...

I went for a walk recently with a friend, her with the Nordic walking sticks, me with a dog. And there was plenty of space for all of us! These pictures are from the end of July, at 7am.

Iphiclides Podalirius

2009-08-15T19:24:00.009+01:00

A little over a week ago a Finnish client of ours rescued this beautiful butterfly from our swimming pool. It was absolutely stunning but shivering and struggling to move a bit. We had another couple visiting from Belgium at the time and by luck they were biologists! So they knew exactly what to do, what type of flower the butterfly could reach to eat from, to regain forces. In fact they were very patient finding a flower where they could leave it to nurse itself back to strength! They also searched the net to show me what type it was and so I found out its latin name. (In Finnish, it belongs to the sail-butterfly family). If you click to enlarge the picture with the flower, you can see how it was hanging on to the flower with its dear life, exhausted.

This was the first time I had seen one of these butterflies around here - and today I saw yet another, close to the pool in the plum tree - then flying towards the dog pen - exactly where we had finally left the rescued butterfly 10 days ago! So I like to think it was the same one, happily recuperated, having made its home here. Whether it was, I don't know, but it is a beautiful addition to our garden, that is for sure!

A note of thanks for Katarina who took these pictures and kindly shared them with us!

The arrival of the 2nd SPRING in Sintra

2009-08-12T09:08:00.003+01:00

Yesterday a client asked me when the famous second spring of Sintra that she so much has heard of is. It was the day when I noticed the beautiful roses opening again by the pool.
This morning as I took the dogs out early I started cleaning the agapantos, pulling out the already whitish tall flowers; and noticed the dozens of new flowers shooting up. And just a few days ago the palm tree set its flower free, dropping the protective cover from the trunk.

We are getting our second set of fruits, too - after a few weeks of nearly no fresh fruits from our garden: pears and apples are getting ready, and some passion fruits, too. The weather has been over 30 degrees, with very little wind. The pool is warm and very popular, especially after 4 or 5 pm after a day of castle-visiting. The streets are full of cars and parking is nearly impossible. Every day people ring the doorbell to ask if there are free rooms. So that would say summer is at its best - but there is definitely spring in the air as well.

A wonderful massage in the breeze with the birds chirping away!

2009-08-01T13:53:00.004+01:00

'Great - A wonderful massage in the breeze with the birds chirping away!' This is a comment of one of our clients after a massage at Casa do Valle. We have started to work together with different masseuse - one who does the classical muscle massage, a 50-minute full body massage or a hot-stone massage. Also, a place in Sintra (Art of Living) that does Tui Na, Seitai, Acupuncture, Yoga, Reiki, ... Many things for the well-being and relaxation of the clients. The massages can be done at the center in Sintra, in the guest-rooms or, when weather allows, in the garden.

Prices are very accessible, 40-50 euros for 1 hour, and should be reserved in advance.

Sintra Romantica

2009-07-17T22:42:00.004+01:00

I went to the launching of the official concept of Sintra as the Capital of Romance yesterday. BEAUTIFUL! The setting was at Quinta da Regaleira in the evening - and what made it so beautiful, in addition to the obviously magnificent gardens, were the videos and photos passed on the screen behind the presentation. Please check some of it out at www.sintraromantica.net - even if you do not speak any Portuguese, the video they have in the very beginning is worth the 8 minutes. After watching it you really want to come to Sintra with that significant other!

Especially after you see our special deals on massages - we are partnering with a new wellness-center in Sintra wehre they have wonderful therapists doing all kinds of massages from the more known aromatherapy to Tui Na and Seitai massages, Acupuncture, Reiki, and even Yoga (also special sessions for two people...). All of this either at the center OR in the peace of your room here! And affordable prices from 30 euros upward. Keep an eye on more on this one!

You may have noticed that I added a search feature on this blog - just to help with the search of blog contents. All entries have a few labels, like Culture, Garden or Summer... so if you are interested in the blogs that have to do with the garden, just type it in and it will locate the entries about garden for you - etc. Hope that it is useful!

Summer? LOTS of activities!

2009-07-11T10:54:00.008+01:00

This is a question many clients have asked me, since after the heat wave of end of May we've had cooler than average temperatures - with an unpleasant wind. The nights are always cool here but now the coolness has extended to noon - though the afternoons are nice and warm (23-28º).

The activities continue in Sintra! Again, just a few high-lights:

Free Musical activities on Saturdays of July:

Jazz concerts at 10 pm in the libray gardens
Folkloric dances and traditional orchestral music in Colares in the evenings
Philharmonic orchestras and choir groups in the afternoons in the Historical Center

The Medieval fairs continue with enacting of the gladiator fights in front of Sintra's National Palace on the weekend of the 11-12/7 and with a market as was the custom in the 700's: with artists, performers, handicrafts from those times by the Queluz palace on the weekend of the 17-19/7.

Also in Queluz Palace 14/7-16/8, a guided visit with an historical re-enactment of daily life at the court in Queluz.

The Toy Museum of Sintra has a special exhibition of Playmobil toys; the 'Volta do Duche' road in the middle of the Historical Center has just changed sculptures in the outdoor exhibition; the Municipal Gallery has an exhibition of Maria Almira Medina and the Modern Art Museum an exhibition of Gao Xingjian's works from the beginning of the 80's to present.

Some outdoor activities: at the city's Liberty Park you can go rollerskating - skate rental is 1,5€/hr and there are monitors present if you need guidance. And there are bike tours (BTT) aranged in the Sintra mountain and surrounding areas.

AND THIS IS JUST TO MENTION A FEW ACTIVITIES!!! Lots and lots to choose from! Again, more information at the Tourism Offices or the city hall site (www.cm-sintra.pt).

2009-06-28T17:50:00.004+01:00

These are samples of some of the different plums that are getting ready: purple and red plums!

Fruit, glorious fruit...

2009-06-26T21:41:00.003+01:00

This year the plums, of all colors, are truly wonderful! The cherry-sized ones are nearly gone (both purples and yellows), and the bigger ones are at their peak: reds, purples, yellows... How wonderful is it to walk around the grounds and have breakfast out, straight from the trees???

Also - a wonderful morning activity is the exercise bike by the pool outside and swimming. At 8 or 830 in the morning I start brewing the coffee for our coffee-drinking clients, but before that I have already ridden the bike and swam, 15 to 30 mins of each activity! The morning mist on the mountain, rising from the sea, the rising sun's rays hitting the mountain... and the pool water is about 25 degrees! A lot of our clients have also learned to enjoy it all - both the exercising and the mornings. Though to be fair, just hiking up to the castles is quite a work-out in itself!

This is the 1st year we have been able to eat the cherries - we are now quicker than the birds!

The weather this week has been good, sunny and fair, but only going up to about 25º. Last weekend's heatwave of 35º is gone, but the temperatures are expected to go up to over the 30º mark again from Wednesday on.

Fire Fly Season!

2009-06-11T22:39:00.004+01:00

This is the time of the year when the days are longer and the nights are shorter - and full of Fire Flies! If you have never seen them, they are quite an interesting sight: flashing and moving yellow-green lights dancing in the height of your eyes or lower. We have a part of the garden full of them. It is the type of sight that makes you believe that fairies actually DO live here. My husband used to collect the flies in a jar for the enjoyment of the girls, but no-one is doing that anymore here. Our clients have been happily surprised to see them, trying to catch them or to photograph them. But it is really tough to know where to point your camera in the dark, and when exactly to release the shutter.

This is also the time of color in the garden: the yellow prunes are getting yellow already, the reds red, etc (and they are so sweet!) The apricots are nearly ready and a third of the agapantos are in full bloom of blue. We had some cool weather and rainy days last week, and we are expecting heavy clouds and humidity with high temperatures and maybe a thunderstorm. But today the weather was 30 degrees and sunny. Great for the extra long weekend: Wednesday was the day of Portugal, then Thursday another bank holiday. The beach was already full, and the guest house as well.

June is full of activity!

2009-06-05T21:35:00.006+01:00

This week I received the Cultural Agendas of June the Tourism Office sends us every month. It was so full of activities that you must stay a long time to do everything in it! There is something for everyone this month (and throughout the summer) - here are some of the highlights, but you should really check out the pages of the City Hall for more information (www.cm-sintra.pt).

THE 44th EDITION OF FESTIVAL DE SINTRA runs 5/6 - 5/7. Lots of classical music, dance and opera performances. Some of the highlights are the Spanish National Ballet at the Olga Cadaval and the Opera Tosca of Puccini at the Queluz Palace. All the venues are at different palaces which alone adds to the magic - jazz, piano, violin, orchestras....

NIGHTS IN THE MUSEUM - The archeological museum of Odrinhas welcomes the visitors recreating the Roman times in candle light, escorted by people dressed as Romans. June 20th.

AFTERNOONS IN THE SQUARE - A series of performances in the Square of the Sintra National Palace promise to make this place even more attractive. With a varied program, these performances will take place at 5 pm every Saturday until July 25 and will include light orchestras, choral and classical music groups, and a dance group performing Historical dances.

ROMAN FAIR - As it is already a tradition this fair promises a lot. 27/6 until the end of July - Medieval Gladiator Tournaments on horseback, military camp and drills, Roman acrobatic dances, children's games, music, continuous entertainment...

JAZZ NIGHTS - for the 2nd consequtive year, all June Saturdays at 22hours in the gardens in front of the Library (and close to the train station) the City Hall has organized free Jazz concerts. Please check the City Hall pages for a list of the performers.

And there is A LOT more - Art exhibitions, rollerskating at the City Park, theater and a book-fair to name a few. Sintra has really thought of all of us and tried to make it interesting to spend a few days here, whether it be with a family or friends.

Nearly there!

2009-05-25T17:14:00.005+01:00

The apricots (left) and the plums (above) are nearly there! It looks like this year is a good fruit year, the branches are FULL of green little fruit. Soon they will turn into yellow, red, purple and green plums, orange apricots, red cherries, green and yellow pears... And soon our guests will have a treat as I never know quite what to do with all of them, as there are SO many ready at the same time. The dogs eat them straight off the trees, blessed by the slopey ground so they can reach them, but there is plenty always left for the rest of us. I can hardly wait!

2009-05-22T00:00:00.004+01:00

I have been travelling alot in the last few weeks and every time I come back, there are beautiful surprises! The hydrangeas have started to open in certain parts of the garden, always the whites and the reds first. The blues are the last ones, and in the fall, the green ones. I like them the most, as if there were not enough color to go on after so many flowers all summer long.

Another flower starting to open are the agapantos - our garden only has blue ones, and lots of them. Agapantos are one of the unifying elements in our garden, along with the hydrangeas - I have them in various parts. And soon on the other side of the valley the blue agapantos will bloom, giving a line of blue color a few hundred meters long that lasts over a month. Our flowers usually bloom a long time due to the cool nights - and the watering system!

The olive trees are also in bloom - small light-yellow flowers are falling everywhere, covering the garden furniture and the top of the pool. The effect on the flowering trees is such that from distance it looks like they are drying up - only from close up can you see the real reason of the color.

A question of attitude...

2009-05-01T18:57:00.004+01:00

The hammock is up and what a wonderful way it is to take in the view while unwinding in it!

It's a question of attitude, really!

2009-05-01T18:26:00.003+01:00

Continuing on the swinging theme - it has now become warmer again. It has been a beautiful day, after a few days of half winter, half summer. I guess it's typical here, too: an older Portuguese saying goes 'in the morning it's winter, in the afternoon summer!' They of course meant March.

Anyway, we had Belgian guests this week and as they were leaving, I asked them a bit apologetically about how they had liked it here, with the strange weather and all. And they said it had been fabulous - less tourists, and they had gone in to the palaces / monuments when it rained, telling me a story about rain pouring down when they were in the warmth of a restaurant, how bizarre it was because they had had sunshine just a moment before. And I was thinking how nice it is when you come to holidays to relax, to be with whoever you are with, to visit new places, to enjoy new foods - independently of the weather. So if it rains, it does not bother you, and when it's sunny, it's like an extra bonus! Nowadays the seasons are changing, and you never know when it's going to be sunny or rainy, so if you go on holidays ONLY to have sunshine, even the special places you visit will be sadder if it rains.

'Kevät keikkuen tulevi'

2009-04-25T21:21:00.003+01:00

This title is Finnish and means in a very rough translation that 'spring swings in'. Our spring keeps swinging in for sure, back and worth, back and worth. On Thursday it was so nice and sunny that even my husband's 103 year-old grandma lifted the legs of her pants to feel the warmth of the sun on her legs - 26 degrees, sunny, and a barely noticeable breeze, just enough to bring the warmth closer. Yesterday the wind blew the pillows of the chill-out sofa all around the garden - today it feels like winter with a cold wind and rain, once again. We are hoping that the swinging will do its 'back and forth - thing' again and bring the warmth back soon - otherwise I don't know what's going to happen to all of the baby-fruits that are filling our trees!

Today I posted an announcement on the bulletin board of the internet house - normally it has things of upcoming concerts, weather reports from the net and so worth . This time, however, I posted an apology for any inconvenience of works we have on premises. We are remodeling one of the rooms - which is very exciting! The works have now started: after the works in the room, a little stream and pond will be made on the grounds (long ago imagined and planned and finally being realized). It is an exciting phase, and we are really hoping that the weather swing back to no rain at least so we can advance with no delays (and less of a mess).

Garden Planning

2009-04-07T22:22:00.006+01:00

I am originally from Finland, and in Finland, normally, all you need to do in the garden in the winter is shovel snow. In Portugal, winter is the busy season in garden work. There is lots to cut, prune, trim and even plant. Cleaning up seems to never end - and it continues on to the spring. Today I was planning with the gardeners: where to plant the cleavias that have overgrown their space, which part of the ramp will be covered by the lavendar, how to bring in the watering for the newly acquired plants in vases... And very importantly, how to hang the hammock between the palm trees.

This is one thing I like about the Portuguese seasons - most of them, at least partly, give you a chance to relax in the nature in your t-shirt. The chill-out sofa is wonderful all year around. Even in the winter when the sun is low and hits the sofa, many people take their afternoon coffee there. And in the summer, when it is in the shielded shade of the trees, it is the haven from heat. This year we are planning many other little spots in the garden to relax in: the hammock, wrought iron furniture with comfortable cushions... As the plans are realized, the hammock hung - I will post pictures so you can visualize them!

Spring in the valley

2009-03-29T22:51:00.002+01:00

It is obvious that we are officially in the spring. This weekend we had very strong winds that brought the temperatures down, but the green keeps on coming! The leaves are opening, the flowers are blooming - and the sheep on the other side of the valley are pacing up and down happily 'singing' away, to the delight of many of our guests. (If you look carefully you can see a few of them in the lower level in the picture - this is a view from the pool). At times like these it seems like we are really in the country, though we are only 400 meters from the center!

Being Prepared

2009-03-21T15:10:00.004Z

This week we had guests from Hong Kong - for the first time. They were very nice and very enthusiastic about Sintra and its surroundings. So much so that the 4G of memory in their camera's memory card was quickly filled, and they still had a week to go. Luckily the situation was resolved by our internet house - they used the computer available for the clients and transferred the pictures on to a DVD I provided them with! At the same we had American guests who ran out of battery in their camera while up the Moorish castle. They were very resourceful and asked fellow countrymen they met on the mountain if they could use their memory card on the other people's camera to take the few pictures they wanted to but didn't have a battery for. They did; pictures were taken and a friendship formed.

These two unrelated stories reminded me how important it is to try to be prepared in the Guest House. We do have empty DVDs and a computer with NERO to help you save your pictures if your memory card is full - and a large assortment of electrical adapters so you can charge your battery in case you forget your own. We also have a stock of shaving and hygienic items, small electrical appliances, flashlights, etc. Please do let us know what YOU have missed while traveling so we can learn from that and be prepared for anyone experiencing a similar situation!

Spring fotos

2009-03-21T11:03:00.011Z

The Roses are starting to bloom! This is the time of the pink roses, large and small. On the ground where we have the fruit trees we also have old, old roses. Some are the wild bushy-kind, some are nice to cut for vases, but they have all appeared after we cleaned the grounds two years ago. The other picture is a view from the window where I am sitting writing this post.

Pool season is open!

2009-03-15T15:28:00.003Z

The last couple of weeks we have had three families with children under 10 visiting. Our pittosporums have been popular not only for the great, sweet smell of the flowers, but also for climbing. Even more popular, however, has been the swimming pool. With water of 17 and 18 degrees, it is not a great pleasure for many adults yet, but all the children have spent an enormous amount of time jumping in and out. Followed by a warm shower, needless to say.

The weather has been over 20 degrees every afternoon this week. We have truly had a lovely taste of spring. In addition to the blooming pittosporums, the jasmine has opened up by the pool and the late-blooming fruit trees of peach and cherry are also releasing their scent. Magical! This week the hydrangeas have also opened their leaves quite big, though no flowers yet. It is really difficult to sit by the desk and work on days like this, especially after winter when all this seems so new!

The gardeners have finished pruning the fruit trees and spent an afternoon weeding the lawns and trimming down the papiryses. Papirys is a plant that loves water but even the rains of this winter were not enough for them this year - the flower beds were so full that it wasn't enough. So we actually made a drastic cut to make sure some will survive. Some of the older, taller ones we trimmed were over 5 meters tall!

Casa do Valle recommended by L'Express, France

2009-03-07T10:44:00.005Z

While I was away in February, I read the weekly magazine Styles of L'Express (France). There was an article about Sintra in the spring. At the end of the article, there was the travelers' advice part, of how to get there, where to eat, where to stay. I am pleased to tell you that Casa do Valle was one of the 3 suggestions of Where to Stay, the other two were 5-star hotels. It is good to know that whoever stayed here from the part of the magazine had liked it! Thank you for recommending us.

From the article 'Premiers soleils à Sintra, Styles L'Express, nº3007 of February 2009:

'Où dormir á Sintra:
...Casa do Valle - Charmant bed and breakfast aux ravissantes chambres meublées, avec jardin et piscine...' (p. 59).

It didn't last long

2009-03-07T09:52:00.005Z

Nearly two weeks of wonderful sunshine - Honeysuckle releasing its wonderful scent, trees and plants are opening their leaves, flowers blooming everywhere. I was gone for two weeks on holidays (that's why there was no blogging recently) and was surprised by the force with which spring was pushing through!

And then came the storm. Heavy, gusty winds, rain and lower temperatures again. Now we are just keeping our fingers crossed that the wind doesn't blow away all the fruit tree blooms, so we can look forward to lots of fruit this year again.

2009-02-16T22:17:00.006Z

White Plum

Red Plum

Here comes the sun...

2009-02-16T21:55:00.009Z

Finally.

The sun feels so good after so much rain. This weekend was the first time this year we had lunch out on the terrace - and guests had breakfast outside, too. During the day it is warm enough to take a stroll in a t-shirt; yet at night a coat is still more than necessary.

The garden changed over night: the fruit trees started to bloom and small flowers pushed through to give even more color to the scenery.

As it was Valentine's, our Bed and Breakfast was full of couples taking a weekend off in Sintra, the Romantic Capital of Portugal. The town was full of couples of all ages walking hand in hand, even cuing up for the horse and carriage rides. Love was in the air, in addition to the sun.

Filling...

2009-02-08T21:18:00.003Z

There are several things that are filling -

Of course the swimming pool is filling as the rain keeps pouring down, though now with considerable breaks with sunshine. Someone just said the rain this year is like the in-laws: coming for a visit at Christmas time and lingering on until carnival...

Our rooms are filling up especially on the weekends - our special deal for two weekend-nights has been popular.

The book case in the internet house is also quite full - sadly a friend is moving away and has made a nice donation of recent and classical books for our little library.

The trees on the patio and the garden are now full of birds. And the patio trees are about to open the sweet-scented flowers that are filling the branches!

What is new are the key-chains of our rooms: colorful, large but not heavy, hand made by Elisete. Here's a picture with them all.

A bit of Color

2009-01-31T16:45:00.015Z

I love these in-between-the-rain days! Luckily the rain stopped to give the grounds a chance to absorb some more of the water because there is still some more to come. The colors are slowly but surely coming back and you can clearly see the sweet force of nature in
the flowers that are promising spring. Here are some samples of the plants starting to bloom in the garden.

Winter W's

2009-01-23T20:02:00.005Z

This week I received beautiful winter scenery pictures from a client in Finland (Kiitos Terttu!). Everything was beautiful, covered in snow, white. What a contrast to our winter in Sintra! Or is it? Do we have White in our winter?

Earlier on the week the cold returned. In the morning everything was covered in frost, the green grass had a white coat of ice, heavy, bending the grass down.
Later on the day we had a hail storm. 5 minutes of large hail and everything was covered in white - the cars, the roads (yes, loads of accidents), the landscape. I rushed home (slow rush) but by the time I got a hold of my camera, it was gone. But for 5 minutes Sintra was white.

The next day everything was white again. The fog was so heavy that it felt like you were sitting on a theater stage instead of your kitchen - but a bad stage: looking out the window all you could see was white, as if someone had forgotten to paint the scenery behind the windows. It was what you call 'peasoup fog', only instead of green it was white. I went to the beach, and even the beach was white: the moon has changed and the sea is wild. The beach was full of white foam flying in the wind, getting stuck in the sand and the supporting walls.

So we do have a white winter. Brief, but white. This year it was Wednesday....

And there are other W -words in our winter, too. Tonight we are expecting winds of 100 kms/hour. And it is wet. It is the season, it is time for it, but we are all waiting for the spring.

Warm Sun + WiFi + Special February Deals

2009-01-18T20:32:00.006Z

In the middle of the winter rains we had a day of brilliant sunshine yesterday. Perfect weather for being outside, I was weeding the garden in a t-shirt. In a sheltered area, the temperatures can rise to over 20 degrees in the early afternoon, even tricking a young tree: we have a young almond tree ready to bloom. A bit too early, but there's nothing one can do to avoid it.

This week we installed a new router. Now there is a stronger WiFi signal all over and your own laptops should access the net from the rooms. We still do have the guest computer available, though, for those guests who do not want to carry their own computers to holidays.

This week I posted new special deals for February on our site:
a two-day weekend for 75 euros, or
a 'third night free'-deal for during the week.
Perfect getaway-gift for Valentine's or Carneval!

A day on the beach (Praia Grande)

2009-01-12T21:25:00.006Z

January Morning at Praia Grande

I like the beach in the winter. I go early morning, 7:00-8:00 when there is no-one else. Just me and the dogs. And the birds. And the sun rising. It is usually really beautiful, especially in the winter. There are often rivers formed by the tides, the waves are wild and the colors are soft pastel, reflecting the early morning sun, with the mist rising form the waves. The other day I went both in the morning and the afternoon - seeing both the sunrise and sunset. Incredible!

As I left the beach in the morning I saw the bus arriving. It is wonderful how even in the winter there is a service so people without a car can also take advantage of a morning stroll on the beach. Great way to start - and finish - the day!

January Sunset on Praia Grande

Casa do Valle is now #1 B&B in Sintra in the Tripadvisor!

2009-01-04T18:26:00.004Z

As I often do, this weekend I checked on the sites we are listed on, how we appear, updating the information and checking out any comments we have received. In tripadvisor.com I noticed that with the latest 5 star comment, Casa do Valle climbed to 1st place in the Sintra B&B list!

Thank you so much everyone for your positive comments, it is nice to know what we are doing right - and yes, also nice to know where we should improve. So please keep commenting, this blog is a great place for that, too! It is so important to us that our Guest House serves you well.

Winter Cleaning

2009-01-04T18:10:00.004Z

Somehow one would think that with all that rain we have had recently, everything would be clean as rain waters wash any dirt out. Wrong. The rain waters have just brought dirt in. We have spent all of Saturday cleaning and scraping & brushing and scrubbing the outside stairways and patios. I must say it looks different now - no more black dirt stuck on the stairs or leaves glued on to the patio. It took the whole day, but it is a joy to watch the result. Today the internet house was cleaned inside and out, and tomorrow we 'attack' the curtains of the rooms.

As we are in the low season we take advantage of the possibility to deep clean the rooms. Two by two we wash everything from duvets to ceilings. The plumber will check the pipes, the painter will re-do some walls with luggage marks on them etc. Some new towels will be replacing older ones, some pillows will be substituted, new glasses will be put in.

It is a good time to reflect and recuperate. Any ideas will be more than welcome from you!

Happy New Year & GPS coordinates

2009-01-02T17:11:00.007Z

Happy 2009 for all of you!

Though holidays are over, Sintra is still full of visitors. We had wonderful weather for Christmas, but unfortunately, right after the rains restarted. The lawns feel like a marsh, flower beds remind me of small ponds, the swimming pool is overflowing and the streets are crowded with colorful umbrellas. One of our clients showed me beautiful pictures taken in between the rain by the Capuchos Convent and the Moorish Castle as the mist rises from amongst the trees giving the mountain the mysterious look it is famous for.

A big 'thank you' for our Russian guests Elena and Igor who kindly provided us with the GPS coordinates that work for our location (N 38.80057º and W 9.39373º, Location Format hddd.dddddº). Many guests have indeed told us before that our location is not easy to find with the GPSs. I am not sure if it is because of all the 1 way streets or because our road has two sets of numbering. In either case, now there should be no problems!