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  • skip's retirement travelIberiaskip's retirement travel

    Sintra

    22 mai 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    Sintra is a lovely town not far from Lisbon. It has a cool microclimate, making it a summer refuge. Beginning in the 18th century, royalty recognized this, and Sintra began to develop its fairyland ambiance. It became one of the 1st capitals of Romanticism in Europe.
    Part of the aura is due to it's climate that includes lots of misty weather. I experienced that during my visit. In fact, the famous Pena Palace was completely enshrouded. So that is missing from this post.
    The 1st picture is about the 1st thing you see after leaving the train. It is the old town hall dating to the 12th century in a former palace. The 2nd picture looks across what was the former harbor (now silted in and developed) towards the old town and the royal palace that was originally a Moorish palace, but the current building was significantly remodeled several times.
    The 3rd picture is a rebuilt Moorish fountain that replaced the earlier one destroyed in the 1755 earthquake. The 4th picture is a bit of the hillside town of Sintra in the mist. The 5th picture is the old punishment site where people were whipped. The 6th picture is the old jail with the tower of St. Martin's church (the Templar church) in the background.
    The 7th and 8th pictures are typical streets in Sintra's old town. The last picture is another fountain dating to the late 18th century.
    My visit barely touched on all there is to see here.    En savoir plus

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  • skip's retirement travelIberiaskip's retirement travel

    Quinta de Regaleira

    22 mai 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

    The term quinta often refers to a farm, but more accurately, it refers to an estate or rural property with an historic building such as a palace. That is what Quinta de Regaleira is.
    While the quinta has a longer history, what is here now dates to the very early 20th century. Carvalho Monteiro set out to build a place intended to befuddle visitors. His interest in the esoteric, from alchemy to Masonry, the Rosicrucians and more that is incorporated throughout does accomplish his goal.
    The 1st picture is the wildly decorative palace with its turrets, gargoyles and more. Most of the palace interior isn't open to visitors, but the 2nd picture is a sample of what is open. The 3rd picture looks over some of the extensive gardens on site. This was taken from a balcony at the palace.
    The 2nd building of significance is the chapel. It's style matches the palace. The interior could not be entered, but the door was open to look inside. That's the 4th picture. Notice all the symbols, including the all seeing eye in the ceiling.
    The 5th picture is the Regalería Tower that sits above Leda's Grotto. The site is laced with grottos, caves and tunnels. The ,6th picture is one of the grottoes. The 7th picture, if I recall correctly, is called the Guardians Entrance.
    Perhaps the best known feature here is the Initiation well. It has a 27 meter deep spiral staircase that descends 9 levels (as in Dante's Inferno) and connects to an email interconnected series of tunnels. I'm told the initiation was to be send initiates in blindfolded from the top of the stairs, and they had to find their way out. The 8th picture looks down the spiral stairs into the well. The 9th picture looks along one of the tunnels. And the 10th picture is a false exit. It's one of the tricks. I would fall for it and head for the sound of falling water.
    This is one intriguing place.    En savoir plus

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    Lagos

    25 mai 2022, Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Lagos is one of the larger cities in the Algarve, the southern portion of Portugal along the Atlantic where the shore faces south. (NB. All words and place names in Portuguese that begin with Al- are remnants of the Moorish/Arabic period of Portugal's history.)
    Lagos is an important tourist city with it's weather, beaches, scenery and more. In fact, I was told that 75% of the local workforce is involved with tourism, either directly or indirectly.
    Historically, Lagos held more importance than tourism. It was held at various times by the Celts, Carthaginians, Romans, Visigoths, Moors and Christian royalty. Lagos was a major port during the age of discovery, and Prince Henry the Navigator had his primary residence locally. Also, there was a shipyard here, and Lagos was a center of the slave trade.
    The 1st picture is the main square with it's modern statue of Dom Sebastião. He became king at age 3, and was killed in action during an ill fated crusade against Morocco.
    Near Dom Sebastião is the local market. The 2nd picture is the ground floor which is a fish market that sells the catch of local fishermen. Upstairs in the 1st floor are fruits, vegetables, and other goods. Up top is a restaurant.
    Across the way from the market is the local harbor and marina. The 3rd picture is the view from the market restaurant.
    The 4th picture is the reconstructed fortress that protected the town, primarily from pirates. And the city was walled, most of which is gone. The 5th is a portion of what remains of the wall, taken from the outside in a garden full of specimen trees from around the world, refecting Portugal's maritime history.
    The 6th picture is an example of street art here. The city has a program of approving street art . This one is interesting as it appears 3 dimensional with layers reflecting successively later periods of history.
    The 7th picture is said to be the most photographed building in Lagos. It has art nouveau tiles with a painted border at the top. This was the style among the rich.
    The 8th picture is a water house. When the city upgraded it's water system, several of these houses were built to provide water to the people of the city. I'm told these were still in use well into the 20th century.
    The last 2 pictures are typical street scenes: one showing one example of the interesting way many of the pedestrian streets are paved; and the last of a random street in the old town, this one with a blooming jacaranda tree.    En savoir plus

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    Sagres and CSV

    26 mai 2022, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    Sagres and Cabo São Vincente are the extreme southwest corner of continental Europe and the western end of the Algarve. The region is associated with the Portuguese age of discovery. The shoreline here is cliffs that are about 75 meters high. And facing the North Atlantic, this is a center of surfing.
    The 1st several picture are at Cabo São Vincente, about 6 km from Sagres. The 1st 2 pictures are of the cliffs. Needless to say, this is about as close as I was willing to get. The 3rd picture looks across the top of the cliffs and native vegetation to the lighthouse in the distance. The 4th picture is of the native Algarve the way most of the region looked before development.
    The 5th picture looks across a small local fortified site about halfway between CSV and Sagres. The lighthouse is visible in the background.
    Sabres is closely associated with Prince Henry, aka the Navigator. He was the lord of the manor of this part of Portugal. As such, this region is closely associated with the age of discovery.
    Perhaps the most interesting site here is the Fortaleza de Sagres that is directly connected to Prince Henry. The 6th picture is the approach to the fortress. Like much of the region, the fort was seriously damaged in the 1755 earthquake. So what you see is a restoration. The large circle in the 7th picture is in the fort and is likely a large compass (some argue for a sundial). The is where Henry was known to have his school of navigation. The 8th picture is in the chapel of the fortress.
    The 9th picture looks from the fortress to the town of Sagres and its beach. The last picture is of the Sagres fishing harbor and marina.    En savoir plus

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    Fado

    27 mai 2022, Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Fado is traditional Portuguese music whose history is difficult to trace. This singer described it as coming from those loved ones of sailors left behind when they went to sea. She connected the Portuguese word saudade to the music. Most simply, saudade means longing. She said it's more than that: it is the deep sense of having lost and missing something profoundly important to the artist. Saudade is soul deep.
    The singer is accompanied by 2 guitars played by father and son. The closer one is a Portuguese guitar. The farther one is what we are used to seeing as a guitar
    Here is a snippet. The site limits videos to 60 seconds. So I have to cut it off.    En savoir plus

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    Fin du voyage
    31 mai 2022