Christmas Vacation and Rachelle Part 1

Our niece Rachelle came for a visit  2 days after Christmas and as usual we filled up the time with day trips and since it was Christmas break we had planned a  6 day vacation to Portugal.  We felt we owed her something since she kindly brought with her a suitcase full of Christmas & Three Kings' Day presents we had ordered online.

Segovia

The day she arrived we took her to Segovia, and as always we got a picture in front of this magnificent cathedral.

We have been to Segovia several times already and had thought we had seen it all, but that was before we stumbled upon this Jewish Necropolis.  

 The hillside was full of these cave style tombs. 

This one, in particular reminded us of the tomb of Jesus.

From the Necropolis, we had fantastic views of the castle and city. 

The next day after church we wasted no time and headed out to a very popular live nativity 20 minutes north of us in Buitrago. 

 Buitrago de Lozoya

Our friends, (kids pictured here) were warned to arrive early as they only let 2500 people in each session.  We began in this plaza, appropriately named the Plaza Belen Viviente (the Living Nativity Plaza) just outside the city walls. The 11th century Moorish city walls were restored in the 15th century.

We finally began moving after an hour and a half of standing in the Plaza, after it became dark, after we were all freezing, and after it became entirely crammed with people. Yes we began moving, but barely, much slower than baby steps, more like snail steps.  The group of 2500 people had to move around the walls, into the city, up the ramp into the castle forming a single file line to follow along a 1,300 meter course, of 39 different scenes, while waiting for nearly each person to snap photos of each scene.  No wonder it moved so dang slow!!!

Half our kids were crying loudly of freezing feet, hands, etc. by the time we finally made it to this first scene.  We were wondering how the over 200 of Buitrago's residents including several children were not freezing to death.  They must have had battery powered heaters under their chairs.  

 Some 15,000 people come to see this event each year.

  It appropriately ended with the stable and baby Jesus.

This view is just outside the lower walls as we were walking back to our cars after a very late night, especially since we were to leave for Portugal the next morning and we still had to finish packing.  

Portugal

This was our first stop on some random country road where we stopped for lunch.

Evora

The Chapel of Bones

The  construction of the "Capela dos Ossos" was guided in the 16th/17th century (16th or 17th- there are conflicting records)  by a Franciscan monk who, in the "Counter-Reformation" spirit at that time, wanted to express the message of life being transitory. Above the entrance it appropriately says "We bones that are here, for yours await".

By the 16th century, there were as many as 43 cemeteries in and around Evora that were taking up valuable land.  Not wanting to condemn the souls of the people buried there, the monks decided to build the Chapel and relocate the bones.

However, rather than placing the bones behind closed doors, the monks, (including the Franciscan monk) who were concerned about society's values at the time, thought it best to put them on display. They thought this would provide Evora with a place to meditate on the brevity of material things in the sure presence of death.

 
The immediate view as you enter the Chapel gives you some idea of its scale and the sheer number of bodies that are placed here - some 5000 corpses.

The purpose of this Chapel is made clear by the following translated poem, written by Father Antonio da Ascencao, that hangs from one of the pillars:

Where are you going in such a hurry traveler? Pause... do not advance your travel; 

You have no greater concern Than this one: that on which you focus your sight.

Recall how many have passed from this world, Reflect on your similar end, 

There is good reason to reflect If only all did the same.

Ponder, you so influenced by fate, Among all the many concerns of the world, 

So little do you reflect on death; If by chance you glance at this place, 

Stop... for the sake of your journey, The more you pause, the further on your journey you will be.

(translated by Rev. Carlos A. Martins)

Understandingly, many find this place extremely creepy, I was just relieved that the "desiccated" child corpse that normally hangs by chains in the chapel was not present during our visit.  However, at the end of the Chapel, above the altar, it reads in Latin  "I die in the light" and "The day that I die is better than the day that I was born." which was somewhat uplifting in a weird way.

Templo Romano de Évora

This Roman temple, which would have been one of several in the city, was built in the 2nd century AD.

This temple was used for various purposes throughout the Middle Ages including an execution site during the Inquisition and a "slaughterhouse" up until 1870. 

Catedral de Évora

The Romanesque Cathedral of Évora, is one of the most important Gothic monuments of Portugal. 

It was built beginning in 1186, about 20 years after the Reconquest.(notice the adorable little old lady at the top of the stairs on the left)

She moved about as slow as possible.

The Interior of the Cathedral.

The Courtyard of the Cathedral.

The Roof of the Cathedral.

Evora's main plaza: We learned here that you can make Christmas trees out of absolutely anything. 

And in case you needed more proof.

We are not sure what this castle like building is next to where we parked our car, but it was picture worthy. 

 "Cromelech Menhirs"

I won't add more information since this, placed at this prehistoric monument, says it all.

As you can see it was getting dark and we still had a 2 hour drive from here to our hotel just past Lisbon.

 

 

Lisbon

This is the Cristo Rei monument and shrine overlooking the city of Lisbon. It was inspired by the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil).  We snapped a couple of shots as we were driving over the troll, I mean toll bridge. 

Speaking of tolls, they were expensive, especially for us since our mini van was measured as a "class 2" vehicle along with the delivery van sized vehicles instead of a "class 1" like our friends' mini van.  We paid nearly twice as much as they did.  

Unfortunately, this statute was all we saw of Lisbon due to car issues.

  Sintra

We all were taken by Sintra's charm and beautiful architecture from every viewpoint.  (I wish I could post all my pictures, but I had to draw a line somewhere and there are still perhaps too many.)

The first attraction was an estate that included beautiful gardens named the "Quinta da Regaleira" This and the following pictures were taken along the way.

 

What kid could resist this?

Several times during our walk to the gardens we thought we might have already arrived since there was so much natural beauty along the way. 

Quinta da Regaleira

This property was purchased in 1840 as a summer retreat by the  Baroness da Regaleira, hence the name "Quinta da Regaleira" (quinta=estate)

After the Baroness's purchase, it was transformed with an elegant chapel and a palatial house.

From the 1840's to the mid 1900's the palace,  and the gardens received numerous additions and alterations.

The interior of the palace was incredibly elegant.  We were free to explore 3 of the 5 levels.  There are tunnels that go throughout the property from this palace. 

This is a poor picture of the beautiful study.

As we began to explore the grounds we came to a cave like entrance and walked in to find ourselves faced with 4 different paths to choose from.  This dilemma was consistent throughout the grounds.

The first path we choose, surprisingly led to this upstairs chapel room.

The chapel includes a crypt with a subterranean passage that leads back to the palace.

Around every turn and up every stairwell we ran into more incredible architecture and beauty.

This place had plenty of beauty, but we imagine the springtime would be breathtaking.

This is a "subterranean tower" well 27 meters down into the earth.

There were various entrances and exits. This doorway is where we entered at the top, we ultimately exited at the bottom.

From the bottom, it's symbolic of looking up towards the light of heaven.

After a short trek through one of the caves we arrived here. As you can see, the boys discovered and explored it first.

This is the way out?  Kamree is leading the way, Kaiya is on the bridge above and Morgan rockclimbed his way into the background.

This place has respectively been described as Alice's wonderland. (don't miss Kamree on the bridge, no she is not a fairy)

This place was a labyrinth of different paths, tunnels and passageways.

One of the many tunnels with another unknown destination. 

One tunnel/pathway led to this "unfinished well".

Can you find Rachelle at the top?

We all had so much fun exploring this property.

One tunnel/pathway led us out to this group of trolls.

.

This is the view of the Moorish castle from the gardens

"Portal of the Guardians"

This was just seconds after Kamree lost her 2nd front tooth. (too bad she didn't loose it a week earlier so they could both ask for their 2 front teeth for Christmas)

All 9 of the kids!

That was not your Romeo!

Morgan really thinks he is this cool!

This entire property was enchanting.

O Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo? 

(and to the right is the hopeful gardener)

Aaaaw!

One of the underground tunnels led us to this duck pond.

We worried that we wouldn't be able capture the true beauty and charm of this magical place.  These pictures really don't do it justice. 

 Looking at the map was useless since we were mostly led in the direction of the fastest kid.

 "Promenade of the Gods" Fortune, Orpheus, Kaiya, Venus, Flora,  Ceres, Pan, Dionysus, Volcan, and Hermes.

We explored the Quinta da Regaleira for about 3 hours, yet we still didn't quite see it all.  We sadly only had 4 hours on the meter and we had a 10 min walk back.  

 After all that feet time these girls took a much needed sun nap.

 The kids, well all of us were so famished that we didn't think our meager sandwiches we had in the car would be sufficient so we instead ate at an underground Portuguese buffet.

 I think this was taken after several plate fulls from the buffet(it was quite delish).

Moorish Castle

After lunch we headed to the above Moorish castle which was originally constructed  during the 8th to 9th century to protect its Muslim population.


It was a little tricky driving to the castle parking. Our friend had to get out of her car to help them squeeze in a little to make it through these narrow roads.  We burnt our clutch here (we initially thought we would need to replace it in Portugal), after riding it on this hill since our brakes weren't feeling too safe.

 It was about 20-30 minute walk up to the entrance from here.  

Fortunately, as usual, there wasn't a lack of interesting things to see along the way..

...including this house where Hans Christian Andersen stayed while visiting cousins in Portugal.  

After his visit he stated, "The most beautiful and celebrated part of Portugal is undoubtedly Sintra."

 As I remember, this was about halfway.

 These are the lower walls, we are nearly there!

And this is just outside the walls.

The castle is an irregularly planned military outpost that follows a 450 meter perimeter along the top of the mountain above Sintra.

Besides the view of Sintra you can see the beautiful countryside and coastline from these walls.

Morgan and Rachelle with the amazingly, beautiful Pena Palace in the background.
 

This is obviously a better view of the Pena Palace.  We are not sure if it is even possible to find this viewpoint, unfortunately due to the lack of daylight we were never given the opportunity to find out. 

This palace was constructed between 1842- 1854 to simply serve as a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family. 

And more or less this ended the first half of our trip.

Next stops: Cascais, Lourinha, Obidos, Peniche,  & Caceres