TWO DAYS IN A RURAL AREA #2 ... SLIDE-SHOW

The morning was gorgeous, yet a bit hot. However, I didn't give up going hiking at the Royal Hunting Reserve, a few kilometers away from Mafra town.

The Reserve  was created by king João V as a leisure park for the royal family, between 1744 and 1748: with an extension of 819 hectares (2050 acres), it is encircled by a 12-kilometre long wall (eight miles); it was the ideal space for the Court to hunt, with woods occupying almost all the area.

With the proclamation of the Republic (1910), its name was changed to National Hunting Reserve.
It was open to the public in 1975, and has passed through some hard times, namely with the great bush fires of 1981 and 2004.
The park displays a rich flora, with cork oak trees, eucalyptus and willows, among many others, and fauna: deer, wild boars, foxes, wolves, eagles, owls, etc. I was disappointed as I didn't encounter any of these but deers and fallows, only. It's still summer and perhaps they were hidden somewhere far from the humans' sight.

A stream crosses the reserve but it was almost dried up. I saw beautiful vegetation along its banks. A plastic bin hung from a tree caught my attention. Later I was told that was an automatic feeding trough that spreads cereals during the summer months. Interesting to see a lime-stone kiln that was very well restored. I didn't see anyone else than me, probably people don't go hiking under hot sunshine. I admit, it was not very comfortable, yet I did enjoy the day but returned back home feeling some disappointment. I had been told that deers in the mating season were easier to photograph as they don't care much about humans: we do not groan as they do!   

 

   

~~ HAVE A GOOD WEEKEND ~~

THE COUNTESS'S CHALET AND PARK - SLIDE-SHOW

Yesterday, when I opened my bedroom’s window and saw the dense fog descending over the bridge, I was very upset. My day’s schedule was going to be totally damaged, I thought. However, by noon, the sky had cleared up and the sun was shining strongly. One hot day, again. Great! My decision of having lunch in the park that surrounds the partially renovated Countess Edla’s chalet would be perfect.

Early in the afternoon, I reached Sintra town and could find my destination up on the hill, thanks to the huge stones seen here and there. Glad to have chosen the right path, through cool shadows alternated with the rays of hot sun. When I parked the car, it was really hot but soon I chilled out by walking under the shade of the trees.

After laying a big stone – geologists call it nefeline syenite - for lunch that tasted particularly good, feeling a soft breeze, breathing the scents of nature, I went for a long walk through the park.

The goats didn’t seem to like my camera, the horse, either. I waited for several minutes until he might move further from the electric wire fence but he never co-operated with me. I didn’t get into the Chalet. The restoration works of its interior are not yet concluded.

The Chalet, was originally built (1868) by a Portuguese king for his lover, the Countess of Edla, a famous Swiss-German opera singer, who later became the king’s official wife. It is a building in Romantic style, made of stone and lime, but with simulated wood exterior walls decorated with cork tracery. The Chalet looks like it was designed for a Disney movie!

I left the park, thinking how that Countess’s life would make a good movie or perhaps… opera.

It was not late, yet, and from there I drove to Regaleira Palace for tea… a magical place that is full of masonry symbolism, from the entrance to everything outside and inside it....

The day ended with a gorgeous sunset and now I am enjoying a beautiful moonlight over the river.

Have a nice weekend!

THE MYSTERY WAS OVER .... SLIDE-SHOW

Normally, on sunday, I always go for a walk longer than the usual on week days. Yesterday, I took the direction towards a Lisbon surrounding beach where whenever I passed by car, I saw some bird on the top of a weird structure that had been intriguing me. Not easy to have the car parked nearby.

Caxias beach, despite its privileged location close to Lisbon is a quite place that lies along a riverside road. People can reach it either by car or train. It's about 12 km far from my apartment. The temperature was very comfortable and I knew well I could reach it by going on foot. I did it along a pedestrian alley by the riverside and here and there I stopped to take a photo.

Once at Caxias, I saw the mysterious bird a bit far from the riverside. I walked towards the town center and found an entrance gate to a park - I had thought it was a park - , I didn't hesitate and decided to visit it. It was not a common park but the Royal Estate of Caxias. After reading the information board at the entrance, I understood why it's called the Royal Estate. During XVIII century, several Lisbon surrounding areas went under a great landscape transformation, mainly farms and recreation gardens - Estates - of which the Royal Estate of Caxias is one of the examples.

In that Estate, the then Royal Family used to organize  strolls, games, as well as the reherseal of plays, dances and music performances, all these on hot days, when they could enjoy the cool breeze blowing from the Atlantic ocean.

The garden, clearly influenced by the French landscape architect Le Nôtre, is the most distinguished element of the estate, and so is the Cascade at the top of which the mysterious bird was dominating the overall area. At first, it seemed to be a stork but looking at it more carefully I realized it wasn't a stork but an egret, the wings of which flapped in the breeze.

The mystery was over!

 

A HUGE WINDOW TO LISBON - SLIDE-SHOW

Last Saturday, here, in Lisbon, It was a beautiful day and not so hot as today (41ºC - 105ºF). I took a ferry boat and went for a walk along the other side of the Tagus riverside. Once full of life, with fishing factories and warehouses, where a large number of workers used to work, it's nowadays a kind of dormitory area that has become a bit run down, though still offering one of the  best views over Lisbon.