For weekend escapes, some have the Alps, others have the Carpathian Mountains and Lisboners have the Sintra Park. With a microclimate and the possibility to trek through its gardens, Sintra is the promise of mountainous fresh air. What got us hooked one of these past weekends was the Monserrate Park. Truth is, it took me quite some time (7 years) to finally visit it. I wish we could just secretly camp here one day ;).
We told ourselves that we will have even more escapes to nature now that baby Luca is on board. And this is is what we’ve been doing these past 5 months, searching for green treasures to get Luca accustomed to vida pura here on Earth. Still, we advise you, moms and dads, Monserrate Park is not the place to bring along the stroller, though this is what we did. Bahh. Luckily, our friends also joined us in the adventure of carrying Prince Luca up and down the hilly garden.
The flyer we got at the entrance tells us that Monserrate Park is a 33 hectares botanical garden dating from the Romantic era, gathering species from all over the world. In some places you sense the familiarity of the plants and trees while in other parts you are surprised by the exoticism of the greenery. Palm trees seem to have suddenly landed in between pine trees…the contrast is amazing.
Monserrate gathers inside another stunning palace combining gothic, Indian and Moorish influences. Its architectural styles reflect the eclecticism of the nineteenth century.
What else you can do around? 1. Awake your inner child and roll down the hill in front of the palace. 2. Lay down on the perfectly cut lawn to stare at the sky and the clouds (since we’re back in the Romantic era…).
How to get to Monserrate
Bus number 435 will take you from the Sintra train station all the way to Monserrate and back, passing by the historical center. More about the tickets at http://www.scotturb.com/ (in Portuguese).
Your car or feet can also take you 6 km from the Sintra train station to Monserrate, while you can enjoy the landscapes and the historical buildings, such as the Regaleira Palace or the Seteais Palace.
Oh, and best thing about Monserrate? Few tourists!! Every time I think about it, I know how contradictory the thought is. We are tourists as well. And we want tourists for the economy to grow (and for Edgar to work, naturlich), but then we don’t like them because they ruin the stillness of the place and the perfection of the picture. Sorry, tourist, for reading this!
Below some green photography invasion. Hope you will enjoy Monserrate as much as we did!
