Just a few more days in Portugal

One of the advantages to staying in one place for 2 weeks, is we have come to know our surroundings and notice the small changes that have happened just in one week. So on Tuesday, as we walked up to the Internet service (see photo -not an internet cafe, but actually a city office offering free access as well as computer classes) to post the previous blog, some new changes: the fuschias have now completely opened, as have the lantana.











Then, lo and behold, in the center of the main plaza of Obidos, right in the praca (square) in front of the Church of Santa Maria (one of the many churches in this very small village) a sculpture of a high heel has appeared – no explanation, no name of piece or artist, but suddenly I feel even more at home…




So Tuesday was a very relaxing day. After our internet, and the excitement of the appearance of the “shoe” we did visit the tiny Obidos Museum. Mostly art and artifacts that had been in the various building and churches of Obidos. While most of the art that is around is from male artists, there was actually Josefina of Obidos, one of the few known female artists of her time (she was from Spain, but lived most of her life in Obidos and is buried in one of the churches –she died in 1684) and one of her paintings was in the museum. While her painting was thematically (religious) similar to the male artists, it definitely had a “softer” touch. Now we need to go back to Santa Maria Church (by the shoe) and take a closer work at her piece there.

While I had read a synopsis of Portugal’s history prior to the trip (which Jim has now read and is remembering the details much more readily than I), it all is making more sense as we see things along the way. And interesting little side stories. For example, when we visited the church at Alcobaca we saw that there were two tombs, facing each other. Turns out that King Pedro I (then the prince) was forced into a marriage and not allowed to marry his true love (Ines de Castro) even after his first wife died (although he claimed that they were secretly married while living together in Coimbra after his wife’s death). His father had Ines killed. After his father died and Pedro became King, he had her assassins executed by having their hearts torn out. He then had her corpse exhumed and crowned, and required his court to kneel before her and kiss her decomposed hand. He arranged for them to be buried, facing each other in the Church at Alcobaca. Now, if that isn’t true love…

Wednesday we headed off to Sintra. Before I go on, let me mention about the driving. One always has a few options. There are non-toll roads that lead everywhere – we often choose those not just to save money, but because they lead from town to town and we get the feel of the area. But they do take forever so we have tended to rely on the toll expressways one direction. Everything is usually well marked. Except yesteray. We headed on the toll expressway toward Lisbon, fully expecting to see an exit for another toll expressway to get us to Sintra. It was there, just not marked with the expected “Sintra”. So past it we went and we ended up on a very congested slow road through the edges of Lisbon, and the first traffic jam that we have encountered. So, a much longer trip that we expected. Fortunately we had found a Miles Davis CD here at the house, so Miles entertained us over our "miles".

Whereas the area we are in (referred to as Oeste or Estramadura) is rolling hills, rural (orchards, crops, vineyards) as well as coastal, the area west of Lisbon (Sintra included) is very lush and elegant. Sort of like going from Sonoma county to Carmel. Sitting high on the hills of Sintra (much like Hearst Castle sits on the hill) is the Palacio da Pena. When we arrived it was shrouded in fog – so it looked all the more like the storybook castle. From the ticket office we walked up (rather than taking the tour shuttle), a cobble stone, forested street (you can see the Birds Of Paradise as well as the many boulders – unclear if they landed that way or were piles of leftovers from construction of the castle).

Then, at the top of the road is this amazing structure (built in the 19th century by King Ferdinand to be their “summer” palace). Eccentric, surreal and fascinating. Not allowed to take photos inside, but it was actually quite "simple" compared to the over-the-top exterior (and compared to all the gothic and baroque stuff we’ve seen) and intimate (the interior style of the time). King Ferdinand was the “artist” king, and he placed his own portraits within his works. Sort of like finding Waldo…After his wife’s death, he married his mistress, an opera singer Countess Elda. Building the castle was his lifelong dream and he died the year it was completed. The castle is in the middle of a forest/park/arboretum. It was all quite stunning.

I think I look quite at home at a castle....

Looking out from Sintra you can see the entire surrounding area, the river (Tagus I think) opening up to the Atlantic (where Columbus sailed out…) and the Atlantic coast. Also can see a Moorish Castle, as well as the statue of The Warrior.



We then drove down to the town center. We were starving and one of the first restaurants was an Indian/Italian restaurant (Sintra is filled with tourists, so I guess they want to please everybody) so we had a nice Indian meal (nice long vegeterian menu for Jim). We weren’t able to go through the Sintra National Palace as it is closed on Wednesdays – but it was not a very pleasing structure (you can see the two conical chimneys) from the outside. So off we headed to the “newer" section of town to visit the Modern Art Museum. On our way were a series of sculptures along the sidewalk

- this is one I don’t think that you’d ever see on the streets of AnyTown, USA! Here is another sample – they all appeared to be leading to a sculpture museum (Anjos Teixiera?) that was under reconstruction.

Then right across the street from the erotic sculpture, in stark contrast, are these animal sculptures in the Parque Da Liberdade.

We walked through the park/arboretum and happened upon this soccer field – sure beats carting the lounge chair to the Sports Park! There was also a lovely Japanese garden with classical music.

We did find the Museum of Modern Art - unfortunately the normal collection was not available for viewing because of a special exhibit of ceramics and then a whole floor of international political cartoons. Judging from the cartoons, apparently, Bush was not well liked internationally... My personal favorite though was a group of financiers, labeled “subprime lenders” looking at “Mayhem” “Death” “Destruction” etc and commenting “Amateurs!”

Just to give you the “flavor” of Portugal here are the custard pastries we have grown to love, are also available everywhere (okay, sister-in-law Marianna, we want you to start experimenting – it is like a custard pastry, but the crust is a little more like a puff pastry than a pie crust…)
That is all for now. I need to go eat a pastry….