Vila Nova de Milfontes to Queluz Palace

Oct. 22:  We are back in Lisbon.  Our Southern Portuguese circle is complete.  And tomorrow morning, we will cross the big pond called the Atlantic Ocean.  But there’s still a lot of ground to cover before I sign off for a while.

Last night, we did a little ritual.  I think it evolved because the weather was yucky, so we were holed up inside.  But honestly, it’s a good one, so even if the end of your vacation takes place when the weather is nice, consider this ritual anyway.

We took turns each naming two favorite experiences from each area.  Sometimes we couldn’t resist a third, but in short, we ended up with four or five favorite highlights per region.  What we realized was that, when we went through our four regions and eighteen top favorite moments, was that fourteen of them were spontaneous.  That may mean a riff off of a planned activity, but one that had a spontaneous component or interaction.  Perhaps it is to say that all of our planning brought us to the right place, but what was to unfold, could not be predicted.

In Paris the winners were:  meeting Adeline and her husband in their tea shop after eating at yam’Tcha; Victoire, our guide in the catacombs; witnessing the negotiation between the hacky sackers and the Algerian rapper; and reuniting with Benjamin at L’Atelier when he exclaimed “how could I forgot la madam?”

In Lisbon the winners were:  dinner at 100 Maneiras; exploring the Alfama district; strolls in all sorts of settings through the many praças and miradouros; the awesome array of azulejos all over the city; and the too good to be true spectacle at Feitoria.

In the Alentejo the winners were:  exploring the aqueduct in Évora; meeting Hortense in Arraiolos: Cornelius Hummel and the Waldorf crowd by the megaliths; soaking up a slice of Alentajan rural life at lunch plaza in Arraiolos; and bushwacking to get up the rocky promontory overlooking the the Guadiana Rio.

In the Algarve the winners were:  walking with Carla in Sagres; hanging like royalty in our Palace; Miguel and the Ria Formosa exploration; and successfully relying on grocery isle healing for myself.

We woke up at Casa  do Adro da Igreja.   We still hadn’t checked in from yesterday and figured it would be polite to do so before going for a walk.  The owner and hostess, Idalia, greeted Dan and directed him to the table on the terrace.  So we went with the flow and sat down.

A beautifully arranged and more than ample fruit platter arrived.  Then the toast and confiture.  Then a platter with three fresh wheels of cheese, jars with cereal and yogurt.  I was already thinking I would appear rude barely eating the food, so I took a couple bites of fruit.  No sooner than I had and a plate with eggs and bacon arrived and a heaping pile of buttered toast and a heaping pile of fresh sliced bread.  OMG.  This was food for a week, if not more.  It was like everyone had their own personal buffet!  Dan took one for the team and tried to eat a bit of everything, minus the cart of food, to be polite.

She was a very nurturing hostess.  First she was concerned I would get too cold sitting outside, although the temperature was very nice for me.  Then I had started to cough and she came outside and poured me some water in a glass and assuring me that this should help.  It was completely obvious that she is so passionate about her B&B.

The Rio Mira flows into the Atlantic at Vila Nova de Milfontes and that’s where we decided to walk.  The way the river opened up and the waves violently crashed against the black rock formations along the shore was a perfect way for us to start our day. The sky was mostly overcast yet there were spots where the clouds were sparse and backlit.  The sun cast a warm glow that dappled the scenery.  We had read that Vila Nova de Milfontes was one of the prettiest spots on the Alentejan coast and we could believe it.  Our whirlwind tour of this sweet little spot surely did not do it justice.  So if you find yourself in the Alentejo, do consider staying here for a few days.

We returned to the hotel and Dan checked in and out while I packed the car.  In the ten minutes he spent with Idalia, he was totally touched by her backstory and generosity.  The bed and breakfast is in a seventeenth century home and the walls are three feet thick.  The building was one of the first homes in the village.  When Dan thanked her for wonderful hospitality, she said that her hotel was her heart, that she lived for her guests.  She started the hotel 20 years ago when she inherited the property from her parents, which had been in her family for 60 years.   Reflecting her commitment to her guests, Idalia handed Dan a little snack for the road as he left.

Dan thought he would remember the devious route that her husband had led us on to get us to the hotel.  But alas, he did not.  So we asked Ms. Google how to get back to the highway.  A couple turns and Ms. Google in her computerized voice told us “you are on the fastest route.”  Uh, I don’t think so Ms. Google.  We are stopped in mud, head on with a front end loader five times our size on one side, a construction truck coming at us from an angle and another car that followed us has trapped us from behind.  The car behind us backed up so we could and we took a totally diverted route to get out of the village.

It took us a couple hours to return to Lisbon.  The first half was on lovely country rolling hills.  And then we hit mega power plants and oil refineries and we knew were fast approaching the city.  We finally got our chance to go over Ponte de 25 Abril, which is the “Golden Gate” Bridge.  From what we could see, we were lucky to be driving, as there did not appear to be any pedestrian walkway.

We checked into the Pousada Donna Maria I,which was right across from Queluz Palace.  In fact, it was the lodging for the Queen’s guard.  This being our sixth pousada, we have learned that they all have a common theme, but each one is charming in its own unique way.  This one is decorated with pink tones, velvet textures, and dainty flower motifs.

We got a quick lunch at a restaurant next door and headed across the street to the Palace.

The Queluz Palace was converted from a hunting lodge in 1747 to become a summer palace for the Portuguese royal family.  It housed a succession of Portuguese royalty until 1807 when they fled to Brazil under the threat of Napoleon’s invasion.  They returned in 1821 and it continued as a summer palace until the early 1900’s when Portugal became a republic.

We had read that Queluz is Portugal’s Versailles, but we don’t think the comparison is appropriate.  Queluz is really quite charming, but if one has expectations that it will meet the grandeur and scope of Versailles, they will be disappointed.  Perhaps the Lonely Planet’s description as a powder-puff, fanciful cousin-once-removed is more appropriate.  In any case, if you have the opportunity, do go and visit.

The décor was Baroque and Rococo style, which are both very ornate and potentially even gaudy.  Through the years, it mixed and matched different style and materials until the point where it has become a mélange.  For instance, the mélange includes furniture inspired by Louis the XV; Brazilian hardwood floors; and paintings ranging from neoclassical up through the empire style which was inspired by Napoléon and Josephine, his wife.

The Different Artistic Influences in Queluz Palace

The property currently occupies 37 acres, most of which are gardens.  As you may expect from a European garden, there were Italian designed fountains, rows of well-tended hedges, and fruit orchards. The most striking outdoor feature was the Flemish style canal that was lined with azulejos.  We have seen plenty of tiles in our last two weeks, but this display was absolutely the most elaborate.

 

We were impressed that the government continues to work to maintain and restore the buildings and grounds.  For example, during our visit they were in the process of repainting the exterior of all of the buildings.  For years the buildings have been painted a traditional pink.  However, it seems that recent research has determined that the original color was more of a blue.  So the painters are hard at work.

One surprise was how few people were visiting Queluz Palace today.  It’s a Saturday and the public transportation runs here and we saw but a few people during most of our time here.  At one point, a pod of 50 people schlepped through with a tour guide yelling loud enough to wake the dead, even though they were all equipped with electronic ear pieces.  She was an old fashioned guide, as one of the guards explained to us.  But seriously, aside from the pod, we saw less than 25 people the rest of the day. 

We retreated to our own palatial quarters across the street while the rain settled in and marked the arrival of autumn in Lisbon.  After a short break, we walked around the neighborhood looking for a place for dinner. The handful of places, well, they didn’t speak to us. To be honest, the food in Portugal was a great disappointment, with a few notable exceptions. I held back from mentioning such each time we were disappointed, as I wanted the blog to be uplifting about what ultimately is a superb place to visit.

The interesting aspect to this is that the raw ingredients were good – the seafood, the fresh vegetables, and meats, particularly the pork. But the way the food was prepared did not capitalize on the ingredients. It was rare to have anything with herbs or spices in it. And often the food was drowned at the end of preparation in cold mediocre quality olive oil.  It would be fine to sauté or braise with, but it was not suited to be the primary ingredient. And furthermore, the olive oil was rarely balanced with vinegar or lemon juice, so dishes that should be light, like grilled fish, ended up being very heavy. In short, the food was often just mushy and lacked flavor. 

In other regards, Portugal stole our hearts. The people were welcoming and open minded. They were humble and proud of their heritage. The climate was very inviting – what’s not to like about the Mediterranean? The landscape was charming – cork oaks, olive groves, rolling hills, the ocean. The architecture was enchanting – European for sure and furthermore it was distinctive to Portugal, particularly the Manueline. The pace of life was very sane, or it felt that way to us. The country was steeped in interesting history – from the Romans, to the Muslims to the monarchies in the Age of Discovery on up until modern times. And the amount of music that permeated the streets and neighborhoods was uplifting.

There was a bountiful assortment and variety of things to do to – which tended to blend the above elements into what felt like a well-integrated travel experience.

So on our last evening, we opted for taking an evening walk and retreated back to our palace and had a quiet dinner via room service.  We were comfortable and it gave us a chance to recount our days here and laugh about some of our adventures.

 

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SHERRI’S PILLOW UPDATE!!  While I was in Arraiolos I admired the rugs, but I also took note of the pillows done in the same style.  Knowing I was relocating to Portland I held off on ordering anything.  Fast forward to summer of 2017, I emailed Hortense pictures of my living rug and she designed pillows to match.  Didn’t she so an awesome job!

 

CARLA’S PROJECT UPDATE!!  Dan and I like Carla so much, we enjoyed staying in touch with her about her projects.  In February of 2017 we got this email from her:

Dear Dan and Sherri!!

My friends and I already did the project in Telheiro Beach-do you remember the one where we saw cars on the edge?

It was quite a heavy work and some of us worked there (as volunteers) from 8h30am until 17h00pm. But we felt very happy and it is so great to see how positive it was. We really hope that this turn an example for our local entities that should do more about conservation!

I attach some pictures for you to see it. It was an amazing project with many people volunteering-even a French boy on holidays came to work with us during a week!

We finished everything about a week ago and a lot of plants are already growing there! It is amazing how nature can happen. We were also very lucky because we had rain in the right moments.

I also wanted to write and tell you the Portuguese government canceled the oil & gas exploration on-shore and one of the off-shore contracts. Anyway, they signed another one in the Vincentean coast 🙁 But we are already organizing different actions 😉 We´ll fight for good! 

It is so crazy to have this contracts when we have more and more studies about our active fault lines…

Lots of Love and Thank you SO much to be in touch,

Carla