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

Article source: http://www.iberactive.com/2016/01/casas-do-coro-at-marialva-portugal/

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 19th-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 19^th 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.

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

Walking in the Serra da Freita – must see / must do

Walking in the Serra da Freita – must see / must do.

I'm a little nervous about writing this post. “Serra da Freita” (Freita’s hills) is one of the places that inspired me to start this long walk to become a professional on Active Tourism and I do not know if I will have enough talent in the art of writing in order to fairly reward this site.

However, I feel that this blog will never be complete if it does not have some something written about Serra da Freita.

I've done a lot of hiking in the hills area, repeating the same and doing many others that I never had the opportunity to repeat.

“Serra da Freita” is also an area where I did many other activities besides walking such as climbed, canyoning, hydrospeed and rafting not far from 

here. However, this being a blog of walking, I will confine myself to this theme.

The translation of “Serra” is hills or small mountains and we often use the word “Serra” for the name of a short mountain area. Here I will be writing about Serra da Freita as well as about Serra da Arada.

Frecha da Mizarela

This waterfall, with more than 70 m high, is the business card of Serra da Freita.

Is part of a system of cascades that as a whole exceeds 90m high. This beautiful waterfall landscape and the vision of many other smaller waterfalls is what we can expect when we walk in this area.

Ribeira is a small village that lies at the foot of this system of cascades and the trail that goes along this watercourse could not be more spectacular. Here you will find many small ponds where 

When we walk from Ribeira to Mizarela we can choose between walking along the watercourse as I mentioned or, from a certain point, choose a little "detour" and climb (very easy climbing) some rocks on the right side of the waterfall Frecha da Mizarela. Is a low-difficulty climbing but that of course always requires some care.you can bathe in the crystal-clear waters or simply enjoy showering at the waterfalls.

All the people who made this trail with me felled in love for place, is without doubt a fabulous  hike.

This trail requires us to cross a small pond so we better have our swimming gear with us and a nice pair of rubber sandals.

It’s so fun to walk this trail that nobody forgets it.

A rock giving birth to another rock

Talking about a rock giving birth to another rock looks like we are talking about the “Lord of The Rings” saga but this time it's really true.

There is a rare geological phenomenon which results in the granite rock releasing some crystals that will form new chunks of rock. Apparently, this phenomenon can only be seen in two places in the world, near Castanheira, a village in Serra da Freita and somewhere in Russia. I do not know if whether there will be other places but as much I investigated there is only these two places.

It is very interesting to see the new stones because they look like flattened black eggs and on the mother rock you will find kind of a nest where the “baby” rocks was formed.

See the translated version of Wikipedia at: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pedra_parideira

Tungsten mine - Rio de Frades - Cabreiros - Tabelião

Rio de Frades (River of Friars) is a small village deeply marked by what used to be a tungsten mine.

The tungsten mine’s, today in ruins, began in 1914. This metal hardens the ammunition and makes them more resistant.

These mines belonged to a German company named "Mining Company of North of Portugal", drilled more than 6 km of holes along the river from where they extracted this rare metal to be sold during the first and second world wars.

Nowadays you will only find its ruins and a small highly stratified village, as it was the standard way of living in those contexts of mining communities.

The river with the same name as this village, has fabulous landscapes hidden in its valley. Small turquoise lakes and astonishing cascades are only accessible using the techniques and knowledge to do so.

Walking along the trail from Rio de Frades we will arrive to Cabreiros a charming village with lovely stone houses, a typically village. From here we can go until Tebilhão on bucolic trail, flanked by granite stone walls.

From Póvoa das Leiras to Covêlo de Paivô

After the stone houses of the village (Póvoa das Leiras) there is a trail that leads us to a stone platform path that goes almost until Covêlo de Paivô, downhill always at half-slope.

After this long walk we will arrive to Covêlo of Paivô, but not before crossing a large natural pool ... a bath is “compulsory”. The crystal clear water with small fishes makes us feel like it should be in paradise.Despite not having any proof, this route appears to have been a work of

Romans, is one of those trails that one must put on the list of must-sees.

Arouquesa beef and goats from the hills

The sighting of grazing cattle when we walk is always an interesting moment and here these moments happen often because breeding is a strong source of income to the locals.

Around here we can find mainly cows and goats.

The arouquesa cow breed is highly appreciated and its meat reaches high values on the market is.

Arouquesa cows are docile animals with a candid look and with an impressive pair of horns that easily awakens your deepest sense of respect.

Goats are also very numerous and abundant are also the products t

hat this animal provides us such as the milk to do goat cheese ... nhummy :)

Covas do Monte is another small village with an interesting particularity: is has about 75 inhabitants and we can find here more than 2000 goats coming out every day in the morning to go graze on the hills, a spectacle worthy of seen and living as a shepherd for one day.

Gastronomy

There is no place in Portugal about which there is not a lot to talk about gastronomy and this area is no different.

I would like to point out two typical dishes: Serra da Arada lamb baked in wood-burning oven and the roasted aroquesa veal.

They are both, of course, dishes based on products of the mountains such as the veal aroquesa, the lamb, vegetables and other products, both worked with the traditional techniques and equipment as the wood-burning oven, trays and platters of clay and slowly baking the meat to be tender and without losing their juices and flavors.

Of course the wine we drink around here is the Dão doc but on this spectacular wine I'll write a post one day.

Are you willing to meet the Serra da Freita and Serra da Arada? I hope so:) Here I am to go walking with you in the Serra da Freita and share these wonders.

David Monteiro

Location: Arouca, Portugal

Link to the original article

Mudejar Architecture in Teruel, Spain

Mudejar Architecture in Teruel, Spain.

In 711 AD Moorish troops crossed the Strait that today we know by the name of Strait of Gibraltar and in less than 20 years they conquered almost all the Iberic Peninsula with the exception of some Christian strongholds like the case of Covadonga up north in the Picos da Europa mountain range.

Obviously this occupation brought profound changes to the local Christian Visigothic civilisation. In terms of the architecture, nowadays we can visit some magnificent monuments left by this Muslim people like the Alhambra or the Cordoba Mosque.

This occupation last for around 700 years, if we count the time between the Guadalepe Battle in July 711 AD and the War of Granada that took place from 1482 until 1492 where the Moorish definitely defeated.

Immediately after the Moorish invasion the Christian started a process called "Reconquista", reconquest that had the objective of regaining their lost territory. Apparently it started with a rebellion lead by Pelayo in 722 AD.

Well, from 722 until 1492 is the period of the Reconquista, around 700 years of a slow transition returning to a Christian society and is during this time and this process that a new architectural style emerges, the Mudejar style. It includes both gothic and Moorish architectural elements.

I truly love History and the period of the Moorish occupation is one of my favorite times in the Spanish History so is not too difficult to imagine how much I love Mudejar style.

Teruel is a city located halfway from Madrid and Barcelona, in the province of Aragon, and an extraordinary example of Mudejar architecture. I love to walk here and imagine how life was back then.

It worth to travel here … oooh yes it does. The Mudejar architectural style is classified as World Heritage by UNESCO (please check http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/378) and Teruel an extraordinary example.

There are plenty of monuments to visit in Teruel and there no need for me to list them here because the information is widely available. However there are three monuments that are my favorits:

The Lovers of Teruel - http://www.teruelversionoriginal.es/Turismo/home_eng.nsf/documento/los_amantes_de_teruel

The Historical Archive of Teruel . http://www.patrimonioculturaldearagon.es/archivo-historico-provincial-de-teruel

Torre de San Martin - http://www.patrimonioculturaldearagon.es/bienes-culturales/torre-de-san-martin-teruel

In future posts I will write about walking trails not too far from Teruel.

Have fun.

David Monteiro

Location: Teruel, Spain

Link to the original article

Unknown places to walk - the river Alva dams

Crossing the river Alva dams.

The river Alva starts in the southwestern part of the Serra da Estrela and goes into the Mondego River upstream of Penacova, around 230km north from Lisbon.

At the mouth of the river Alva, and near Penacova, there are a number of small dams that allow a very interesting walk where we can cross the river several times from one side to the other, as we can see in the photographs of the various wal

ks I led there.

With a good knowledge of the region, it is possible to predict the level of water passing over the dams in such a way that it becomes possible to do the crossings without remove your boots off.

An unknown location, which does not come in tourist guides but well worth a visit and the hiking is fabulous, especially if it's finished with a typical regional dinner with dishes such as “Chanfana” or a Lamprey Rice. I will write about theses dishes later.

Let's walk?

I will be expecting you.

David Monteiro