A hidden aqueduct in the well preserved valley is a jewel and you can find that quite close to Lousã.
Water was always one of the most precious resources in the world and around here that not different.
Wednesday, January 13, 2016
Walking on the Lousã's aqueduct - Portugal
Casas do Côro at Marialva, glamorous village hotel - Portugal
Some places deserve to be referred and Casa do Côro is certainly one of them, a glamorous village hotel in a spectacular landscape.
Most of the times, when I think about traveling, I will first think about where to go and then where to stay. However, in some cases is totally the opposite.
With Casas do Côro (http://www.casasdocoro.pt/), the lodging itself is the destination and around it there are plenty of things that can be done like countryside walks, ride a mountain bike, a guided castle visit and also visiting other small historical villages.
Casas do Côro is located in Marialva which is one of the twelve Portuguese historical villages as you can check at http://www.aldeiashistoricasdeportugal.com/en/. It worth visiting all the historical villages and Marialva is no exception.
Marialva is a village older than Portugal, isn't that funny? Portugal was founded in the XII century AD and Marialva was founded by the Romans probably during the II century AD.
But, if you think that you will go to Marialva and you will find there a building with a sign saying "Hotel" you couldn't be more mistaken.
When visiting Marialva you will notice that a certain part of the village is better preserved and has some kind of harmony even in the chaos of the narrow streets of the village. This newer area is the hotel.
Casas de Côro is composed by an increasing set of rebuilt stone houses and there is a bigger house where one can find the restaurant, a living room, kitchen and breakfast area … lovely concept, a village hotel.
In each stone house you will find a complete house, I mean with rooms (with private bath), living room, kitchen and even a small yard.
The decor is absolutely fabulous but never ostensive. If I need to find only one word to describe it I will say elegant … yes, very elegant.
This is the kind of place a Tour Leader loves because everything works like a Swiss watch, the service is as good as everything looks like, just perfect.
One starts to wonder about the reason behind the success and the elegance until talking with the owners Paulo and Carmen Romão. You will feel they live the hotel and consequently the hotel mirrors them and it's their heart and soul.
I know the place since 2010 and I've been there in many different occasions, in all the stations of the year.
Although I can say that it was always good independently of the time of the year, is with bad weather conditions that I prefer the place.
Several times I returned to the hotel with the guests, all of us completely wet from the rain and cold from the hard wind after a walk in the woods and the people there had lighten the fireplace thinking about us. Upon our arrival we were greeted with a "Would you like some hot tea to warm you up?" … this is pure gold.
If you have an opportunity visit the place and enjoy yourself.
David Monteiro
Location: Marialva, Portugal
A hiking adventure at Sierra de Gredos - Spain
At 110 Km Norwest from Madrid you will find the landscape of the book "For whom the bell tolls" from Ernest Hemingway and a perfect location for a hiking adventure.
If I remember well, I read the book "For whom the bell tolls" when I was 18 years old or something like that. At that age I was far from imagining that one day I was going to lead tours there or even to climb to its summit, the Almanzor.
When I read the book I was fascinated by the description of how the earth shacked when we made love with Maria, I admired the strength of Pilar and I could only imagine the mountains landscape in my dreams. One have to realize that back then there was no internet where I could go browse about Gredos, the closest thing I had was the local public library and there was not many books about such a place.
Anyway, this mountain range is like a mini Alpes, it really looks like it but in a much smaller scale. With its snowed granitic needles and its "U" valley one have the sensation of being in much higher mountain.
The highest summit is the Almanzor with 2,592 m (8,504 ft). If you want to know more about the origin of the name Almanzor, please visit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almanzor
Sierra de Gredos is a lovely place to go for a walk, both during the winter or summer time.
Although during the winter is usually completely covered with snow, the walk from the parking area called Plataforma until the mountain hut Elola is well marked and there is always quite a lot of people doing it, especially during weekends.
But if you want to climb to the Almanzor summit or similar, you better know what your doing or hire a mountain guide. I can't remember how many time I climbed this summit with clients and quite often we find people in trouble during the way up without proper guidance … please don't do that.
Just the walk until the mountain hut is already a wonderful memory and in the mountain hut you will find something very important: beer :)
Have fun.
David Monteiro
Location: Hoyos del Espino, Spain
Article source: http://www.iberactive.com/2016/01/sierra-de-gredos-spain/
Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Bicycle ride near Lisbon - Portugal
A wonderful bicycle ride always looking at Lisbon on the other side of the river Tejo (the Tagus).
Lisbon is crossed by the river Tagus. One can't imagine the city without thinking about the river as well.
But, like being part of the city it acts also like a barrier, not very often we think about the other side, with the exception of those that live there and have to cross the river to Lisbon to work.
For those who live in Lisbon, like myself, we look to the river and what do we see? "The other side" … well not just the other side of the river, you have to say it like with Darth Vader voice … yes you get it right.
In fact, for most of us, we just don't think much about it.
But … I started to wonder what if I design a bike trail connecting two of the several ferries that crosses the river to the "other side"?
Well, one of the ferry goes to a place called Montijo and another ferry connects Lisbon to Barreiro.
So I did it.
I started to investigate single dirt trails, way from the roads as much as possible and closer to the river banks.
The result was a 38 Km trail, very beautiful, pretty flat and with a lot of interesting and unexpected nice views over Lisbon.
After doing it with customers I also did a small video to share here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbTUjxP1se0
Enjoy the ride.
David Monteiro
Location: Montijo, Portugal
Article source: http://www.iberactive.com/2016/01/biking-near-lisbon-portugal/
Monday, January 4, 2016
River Ébron canyon – Spain
I love to think that there are trails that have a different objective than the walk itself and this one is a perfect example.
The river Ebron it's an interesting case of a river that starts and finishes in the same river. It's a tributary of the river Turia and in the same river has its mouth.
In its short path, the river Ebron crosses a canyon that was named "Estrechos del Ébron" (the Ébron strait) and it was built here some funny iron infrastructures that allows people to walk in the canyon without wetting their feet.
Exactly, you will be able to walk almost on the water. The maximum height is about 1,5m high.
Funny isn't it?
To access to the canyon area the trail was equipped with some iron structures that helps you "climbing" some rocks … very easy.
In the way in will find some places where you won't resist having a bath in crystal clear waters.
Be sure to came here during a hot summer day because is the best time.
The canyon walls will provide the necessary shade and the water will be refreshing.
This is what I call a walk with a hidden agenda :)
Have fun.
David Monteiro
Location: Tórmon, Spain
Sunday, January 3, 2016
Visiting Sintra - what to do/visit?
What to do and where to go when visiting Sintra.
Sintra is internationally known for its deeply romantic environment, by its palaces that seem to have come out from a Walt Disney fairy tale but actually they tell very real stories and they are also carriers of our past until present days.
Please check: Romanticism http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romanticism
Every time I go to Sintra I have the fantasy of imagining elegant 19
th-century gentlemen strolling along the streets of Sintra with their mistresses (yes, mistresses) carrying small umbrellas that one can never know if they were meant to protect their holders from the sun or from some indiscreet looks. At the evening, for tea or for dinner, the secret couple receives at their chalet the gentleman's best friend and his adorable lover.
th-century gentlemen strolling along the streets of Sintra with their mistresses (yes, mistresses) carrying small umbrellas that one can never know if they were meant to protect their holders from the sun or from some indiscreet looks. At the evening, for tea or for dinner, the secret couple receives at their chalet the gentleman's best friend and his adorable lover.
I believe that this lover’s net is part of the Portuguese who soon learned to enjoy the works of Eça de Queirós, a Portuguese writer of 19th century that wrote a famous novel called “Os Maias”, among many others, and we had to learn about it during high school. Also Sintra’s warm summer together with the haze that often hangs on these surroundings, are elements that helps to create this mystical and romantic environment.
Walking in Sintra is effectively immersing yourself into the romantic atmosphere of the 19th century. This century was so important to Sintra that I cannot imagine how this place would be like without the events that happened during the 19thcentury, to better explain myself I list some important events occurred during that period of time:
- 1808: signing of the Convention of Sintra which put terms to the first French invasion
- 1808: Lord Byron stayed in Sintra
- 1838: Ferdinand II acquired the convent of Nossa Senhora da Pena (actual Pena Palace) and the Moorish Castle
- 1858: Major rebuilding works on Monserrate
- 1887: Lisbon-Sintra train line was inaugurated
- 1892: barons of Regaleira sold Quinta (farm) to António Augusto de Carvalho Monteiro.
In this very synthetic list we can see important references to buildings/monuments considered today as great monuments of Sintra and events that are closely linked with the romantic image we have today of this village, as an example please notice the time spent in Sintra by Lord Byron the author of a famous version of Don Juan and many other works that promoted Sintra as a romantic village.
In 1992 the cultural landscape of Sintra was classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO and this was also another crucial step to Sintra’s promotion. Nowadays Sintra is a “must see” place when considering a travel to Portugal.
Sintra is not far from Lisbon. Is less than one hour by train from Lisbon, taking the train at Rossio train station, right in the Centre of the city. The train is a very simple, fast and economic way to reach this village as opposed to driving that can turn to be annoying because sometimes is difficult to park or even to arrive to the historical center of Sintra.
When in Sintra, please go to the Tourist Office, the employees are incredibly friendly and very professional. They will show you many options for your day.
The great difficulty will be: what to select considering to have only half day or one day?
Well, being this a blog of walking is also a blog of cultural options as well. Anyway, is probably expected to find here some information’s about walks in Sintra. I am sorry, but the walks in Sintra hills and woods do not fascinate me as much as the monuments that are a must see of beauty and diversity as also I love the walks in Sintra village as well.
I know that most of Portuguese people you will talk they will refer the walks in Serra de Sintra (Sintra's hills) but, believe me, Sintra’s monuments or village you won’t find them nowhere else.
There are so many to see and not having all the time in the world, what to select?
I do not know what to answer because it depends on what each one loves to see but I will try to summarize the most important things of each place for those who have between half a day to one day to spend here.
The focus will be on the following monuments/places: Pena National Palace, Sintra National Palace, Moorish Castle, Quinta da Regaleira and the village Sintra itself.
Please forgive me for leaving out other spectacular monuments but a selection had to be done.
The time it takes to visit a monument will depend on the interest for detail, the background history and many other elements. One photographer can take easily half an hour in a place where a relaxed walker will stay only for a few seconds.
However, there is a general idea of the time it can take visiting each site and is what I will refer during this post.
I am not going to detail what we can see in the monuments because you can find plenty of good information in the internet. I will give you a general idea of you can expect visiting each place and the time it will take to visit so you can better organize your time.
Pena National Palace
We can divide the space in two: the Palace and the Park.
The Palace takes between an hour and a half to two hours to visit and another hour to the Park.
The Palace, despite its existence while chapel that contradictory sources point to the end of the 14TH century and others for the 16th century, is in the 19th century that begins the construction of the spectacular monument we see today.The interior is like a fairy tale, full of color, full of nooks and a fabulous example of a moment built in a certain time in History when wealthy families begun to receive guests at their home and give more value to socialization. Also major changes were happening in the intimate dynamics of the family life – the architecture of the palace was quite innovative at the time in what family dynamics was concerned.
D. Fernando II bought a former convent and built the Palace from the convents structure. He was the regent king, married with queen D. Maria II. We was born in Vienna, Austria.
The Palace is the vision of a foreigner perfectly fitted to this country with both modern and classic concepts brought from Northern Europe.
The Park is quite nice for a relaxed walk. You will see some lakes, high points that serve as a lookout and a collection of very interesting trees and plants.
Walking in the Park, there is a point not to be missed is the Giant, a statue from where you have a fabulous view of the Pena Palace and the surrounding area.
Sintra National Palace
Is one of the ex-libris of Sintra appearing in many photo brochures, is very easy to recognize by its two huge chimneys. It is located in the center of most tourist part of the village and therefore, maybe because of that, is also known as “Palácio da Vila” (Village’s Palace).
In addition to being a spectacular place and all its merits, you may want to choose it for more practical reasons: it’s right in the Centre of the village, it is very accessible.
The visit takes about an hour and a half and what I find most amazing in this monument is that during the visit we feel we are in a space that brought to the present days bit of every moment of its existence and, considering that its exists since the 14TH century, with major renovations in the 15th century, we have the sensation of walking through history.
Also important is the fact that it was a Royal Palace, it has sumptuous spaces and full of meaning, as the room of the coat of arms.
Despite the immense beauty of many of its rooms, the kitchen is a fantastic place and maybe one of the funniest sites because we can see inside these chimneys that mark the landscape of the village.At the top of this post you can see an outside photo of this palace.
Moorish Castle
As the name implies, is a castle built during the Moorish occupation period. However, although with not very strong evidences, some people believe that before the Moorish period this place would have initially been holding some Visigoth’s constructions.
With a military objective, is located in the highest area of the outskirts of the town and, as such, we can have a great view from the top of the Castle, providing excellent photos being the Pena Palace, perhaps, one of the most photographed spot from here.
Is a medieval castle and so a Spartan environment and their wall and towers are what is there to see.A visit to the Castle takes about one hour and a half.
Quinta da Regaleira
I must say that I love Quinta da 
Regaleira for a good number of reasons. In addition to being an extraordinary monument represents also a dream made reality, a dream of someone who was neither King nor Aristocrat, was a merchant, a living proof that personal fortune can be used to make long-lasting works.
Regaleira for a good number of reasons. In addition to being an extraordinary monument represents also a dream made reality, a dream of someone who was neither King nor Aristocrat, was a merchant, a living proof that personal fortune can be used to make long-lasting works.
With a ten-minute walk from the historic centre of Sintra you will arrive to this place and the visit takes between two to three hours.
At the end of the 19TH century Quinta da Regaleira was bought by Carvalho Monteiro from the barons of Regaleira and after that he built this magnificent palace with the technical support of the Italian stage designer/architect Luigi Manini.
For the monuments visits I strongly advise that the visitors are accompanied by a guide or some information that will guide them. This visit is undoubtedly one monument where guidance will make a huge difference, without it you will not enjoy the charm of a story that seems to have come out from a fairy tale.
Within the Quinta da Regaleira there are many points of interest such as the Regaleira Tower, the Palace, the chapel of the Holy Trinity, the Initiatic Well and the wood.
Is, without doubt, one of my favorite places.
Sintra
This village presents itself as an exponent of romanticism while urban cluster and is, by itself, an excellent reason to visit.Reserve about two hours to walk in the village. For your guidance and better time management, at the tourist office you can collect some urban walks leaflet.
Whatever the route you will take, there are some points you should not miss, they are:- Taste the traditional small cakes: "Queijadas de Sintra” (Sintra’s cheesecakes) and the "Travesseiros” (Pillows) - traditionally are sold at the Periquita coffee shop;- Other traditional cakes but less known: "Fofos de Belas", "Agualvas” and " Nozes Douradas"
If you are going to have lunch or dinner then look for some restaurant where you can ask the local dishes: “Leitão de Negrais”, Roasted Lamb, Southampton of pork “Mercês” style, Sintra's Veal or one of the many grilled fish.
Please be aware that the purpose of this post is not to do an exhaustive description of the monuments or places but help you, giving information to help you decide about what to see/do during a visit to Sintra.
About every monument you will find a lot of literature on the internet.
Enjoy your day.
David Monteiro
Location: Sintra, Portugal
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