Óbidos receives thousands of visitors all year round but at Easter the usual festive atmosphere stops for a couple of hours to solemnly welcome its main procession, the Burial of the Lord, which is celebrated on Good Friday night and is followed with devotion by many people dressed in costumes of the time. http://www.semanasantaobidos.pt/
2. Folar de Páscoa
In all the central area of the country, one of the most typical traditions at Easter is to eat the Folar de Páscoa, a sweet bread made with flour, eggs, sugar, and cinnamon. The Folar can be decorated also with hard-boiled eggs and is sometimes also eaten with cheese, ham, and a glass of wine. If you haven’t tried it yet, we especially like the one they prepare at the Atelier do Doce, between Caldas da Rainha and Alcobaça, which has received numerous awards. https://atelierdodoce.pt/produto/folar-de-bronze/
3. The waves of Peniche
Although there are more and more brave people who also dare to ride the waves during the winter, Easter traditionally marks the beginning of the surf season on the beaches of Peniche. The temperatures, both outside and in the water, are beginning to become more pleasant and thousands of surfers start or resume their passion for the waves.
Surf in Peniche
4. Flamingos in the Lagoa
The end of winter also normally marks the time when the wetlands are at their peak and it is easy to see some of the flamingo families that nest in the lagoa de Óbidos during the winter season.
Flamingos in the Lagoa de Óbidos
5. Sardoal
We end with a suggestion that is not geographically within the Oeste region but is very close, and it is perfect for a day trip. Sardoal is a small town on the A23, near Abrantes, with deep religious traditions. During the procession of the Bonfires, public lighting is turned off and there is only light from torches and hundreds of small lamps that are placed in the windows and balconies of the houses. The churches are decorated with carpets of flowers and in the Main Church they put also wheat germinated in the dark, which gives it a particular yellow tone.http://www.cm-sardoal.pt/images/CMS/SemanaSanta2023/cartaz_semana_santa_2023_final.jpg
All cultures appreciate the mixture of simplicity and depth that Chinese proverbs have been offering since ancient times. We especially like the one from Lao Zi that says that a journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.
For decades China has been a disciplined and powerful but very self-centered country. But in the 21st century, for several internal and external reasons, China has taken off as a great global power, moving from an economy based on low-cost manufactures to a more complete one, in which new technologies have great importance. This has generated very powerful companies, with great export strength, which have started to gain a global presence that is more than remarkable. And it has also given rise to a growing middle class, with the capacity to travel and to enjoy previously impossible luxuries.
To understand the economic importance that these new travelers can have, according to the official information from the Ministry of Tourism of Portugal, in 2017 a Spanish tourist spent an average of 89 euros a day in Portugal, while a Chinese one spent 642 euros. That is, a Chinese tourist spent in one day what a Spanish did in a whole week. The pandemic meant a total stop in these trips but they resumed in 2023 and at an exceptionally high rate: in the ten days around the Chinese New Year there have been nearly 2 billion movements of Chinese citizens.
Therefore, it is not surprising that there is a growing interest in Europe to try to re-attract this type of tourists, to offer them something that makes them want to come back again and to recommend the trip to their millions of compatriots. And what attracts this type of traveler most?
In the first place, and surprising as it may seem, the weather. A day with blue skies and cool temperatures, with a light breeze, is one of the elements that can most attract an Asian traveler, who often suffers at home from hot humid days, with a sticky and uncomfortable heat. That is why it is easier to have a more positive experience in the cool summers of the Spanish and Portuguese Atlantic coast than in the Mediterranean ones. And for that reason perhaps the strategy of the Mediterranean areas should focus on trying to attract this type of visitor in the winters, in which its climate is mild and also its occupation is lower.
Secondly, they appreciate very positively the open landscapes, the forests, the big parks, the not too crowded beaches, the mountain trails. In general, the population density in large Asian cities is much higher than in Europe and that is why they would usually prefer to visit a natural park in Europe than a very monumental but very crowded city.
The beauty of the ocean
Third, they like Mediterranean culture very much. Our food, our wines, our lifestyle. That is why they value very positively having experiences that allow them to enjoy these elements first-hand. To be able to go to small restaurants where they serve simple and quality food, fresh fruits and vegetables, seafood and grilled fish. They appreciate gastronomy as a culture, as a way of understanding and knowing better the area and the people they are visiting. That is why it is not strange to see them also in the best restaurants because they look especially for that quality experience.
In this line, immersive experiences are increasingly successful, such as visits to wineries where they can see the whole process of elaboration and end with a wine tasting. Or attending popular festivities and being able to live the atmosphere and traditions with local people, imbuing themselves with the party.
Umbrella Sky Project – Águeda, Portugal
In 2017 the number of Chinese tourists who visited Portugal rose by 80% over 2016 and in 2018 it was again the country that most increased its number of visitors to Portugal. Which is not surprising if we take into account the mild climate, the beautiful landscapes and the great gastronomy of Portugal. And, in addition, compared to European tourism that is very seasonal, the Asian tends to be distributed more during the year, because it does not seek the sun and the beach and enjoys much more a quiet place, without large crowds and cool temperatures. Portugal has all to make the most of these advantages and for the beginning of a beautiful friendship. Or for Lao Zi’s first miles for the journey of a thousand miles that many millions of people could start in the coming years. Will we be ready to welcome them?
There are studies that have calculated that children smile on average 400 times a day while adults only smile between 30 and 40 times a day. There are also several studies that have analyzed that children are much more creative than adults because they see life as a game and are able to imagine playful situations in any scenario.
Fortunately, there are times in adults’ lives when they have the opportunity to recover some of that joy, sharing games with their children, nephews or grandchildren. For that, it is enough to let go, get some imagination and let yourself be carried away by the little ones.
For several reasons, the Oeste region of Portugal is an ideal setting for children. In the first place, because it has a climate that favors all outdoor activities; the temperatures are mild all year round, never too cold or too hot. Second, because it has more than 100 km of coastline, with dozens of beaches, which are, as is known, the preferred scenario for children to play. And, thirdly, because it is still not a saturated destination, and does not have the long queues that always characterize the most typical children’s destinations.
So today our recommendation is that we all fit imaginary cowboy boots and hat, that we take our horses and that we throw ourselves to the great adventure of the conquest of the West.
The route can begin in Óbidos, which with its castle and its walls can be the best inspiration for any adventure. If we need a certain atmosphere to warm up, the ideal moment would be in summer, while the medieval fair takes place, with its famous combats between knights. During those days, costumes are rented and anyone can feel for a few hours the lord of the castle.
Another very appropriate time to go to Óbidos with children would be in December, during Vila Natal, when the whole town becomes a large theme park of games and activities related to Christmas. You can check in the city council website for dates and schedules of these two events: www.cm-obidos.pt
The beaches of the region are known worldwide thanks to surfing. The Praia Norte in Nazaré, with its giant waves, and Supertubos in Peniche, with the World League events, are the most famous but almost all have a surf school and instructors to show you how to start with this spectacular sport. We tend to think that surfing is not suitable for small children but in reality, as soon as they know how to swim well, they can start jumping on the board and at those ages it is when their approach is simpler and more natural and they immediately dominate the movements. For the little ones, the ideal is to start on beaches with little waves, like Gamboa in Peniche, where the veteran Escola Surf Peniche offers its courses.
For those who do not dare to try it, another fun and different beach plan is the Parque Acuático of São Martinho do Porto, a set of slides and jumps that is installed during the summer in the sea, a few meters from the shore.
And for children and not so children, an option that never fails to make you have a good time with friends is a kart race. In the region there are several kart tracks, all quite good, such as the Kiro Kartódromo do Oeste in Bombarral, the Dino Kart in Lourinhã and the Euroindy near Batalha. There is even an option for rainy days, the Indoor Karting Caldas da Rainha, which is somewhat smaller but also great fun. It is advisable to check beforehand the minimum ages, although most of them have different options to welcome the smallest too.
We can continue our adventure in the Jurassic period, looking for fossils and discovering all the secrets of the dinosaurs in the Dino Parque de Lourinhã.
And finally, for those who want to make the most of the boots and hat that they put on at the beginning of this entry and prefer not to bring their own horse, there are also several first class equestrian centers where you can give free rein to the cowboy you carry inside. We highlight the Alfeizerão International Equestrian Center, with very complete facilities and all kinds of services, and the Quintas de Óbidos, which also has magnificent facilities and is gradually starting up after some very troubled beginnings due to the crisis.
With all these elements and a bit of our imagination we have more than assured the smiles of children and adults.
World Wine Tourism Day is celebrated yearly on the second Sunday of November as an initiative of the European network of wine cities to publicize their activities and experiences.
As we have already highlighted on several occasions in this blog, in the Oeste region of Portugal there are many interesting wineries that are worth visiting, in combination with the excellent gastronomy and cultural richness of the region.
In the Torres Vedras area, we especially recommend Adega Mae, which has several internationally awarded wines. And less than a kilometer from there, it is also interesting to visit the Quinta da Almiara, with its modern exterior design.
In the Óbidos and Bombarral area, we recommend Quinta do Sanguinhal, with its excellent value for money wines, and Quinta do Gradil, one of the oldest wineries in the area.
And in the Alenquer area, don’t miss the magnificent Quinta do Monte D’Oiro or the Quinta de Pancas, founded in 1495 and a pioneer in introducing French varieties to Portugal.
Brandy lovers also have an appointment in November with the Aguardente DOC Lourinhã Gastronomic Fortnight, which this year reaches its eleventh edition and is already a world reference. And in the Óbidos area, also stand out the original liquor tourism experiences proposed by Vila das Rainhas around its famous cherry liqueur.
Most of these visits are indoors and, therefore, perfect to enjoy during the autumn and winter months. So, let’s take advantage of these days and fully enjoy this array of wine tourism experiences that are offered in the Oeste region.
On October 1st and 2nd Bom Sucesso Resort hosted the first edition of Eutopia, a cultural festival with more that fifty activities, including concerts, theater, dance, circus or conversations with artists.
The Nave held some of the conferences and a great artistic exhibition, Mercado P’la Arte, that brought to the resort the works of more than twenty artists.
The event was a great success and left everybody looking forward to the next edition.
At Nave Lagoa, not only have we not closed for vacations during the month of August, but we have enjoyed a very special summer, full of culture and diverse activities.
We started the month with a wonderful piano concert in the Central Nave, led by the young master Efrat Berestizhevsky.
The acoustic in the Central Nave is excellent for all kinds of concerts
A few days later we hosted the traditional summer party at Bom Sucesso Resort, which on this occasion was Hawaiian and had large doses of creativity and fun.
Aloha!
The pop band of Juan Cobo and Los Milans delighted us with their original songs and the support of their unconditional followers.
And we ended the month with a sound meditation in which more than 50 people relaxed with the incredible sounds of the gong and the Tibetan quartz bowls brought by Andrea Klimowitz. Quite an experience!
Saramago is credited with saying that Spain and Portugal were like two Siamese twins joined at the back who had never seen each other's faces. The phrase represented well that peculiar relationship of geographical proximity and practical distance that meant that most Spaniards barely knew Lisbon, Porto, the bacalhau dourado and the towels. Today that has clearly changed, there are many more trips between the two countries and relations are closer.
But there is one matter in which the situation of the Siameses is still present: wines. In Spain the sale of Portuguese wine is practically testimonial and, in Portugal, Spanish wines do not
have any presence either. Even though there are wines like the Spanish from Ribera del Duero, very similar in climate and structure to the appreciated vinhos do Douro. Or the Alvariños, which are produced with excellent quality on both sides of the border.
That is why from this platform we applaud and celebrate the initiative of A CAVE, the small pop-up store that has opened this summer in one of NAVE LAGOA’s spaces, with which an
interesting selection of Spanish wines is presented in Portugal, with riojas, riberas, ruedas, cavas, various Galician wines and even some of Extremadura. Little by little the two countries
get to know each other better and wine is undoubtedly an unbeatable letter of introduction for both. Congratulations and long live the wine!
The human being is curious and adventurous by nature. And anyone who visits Cape Carvoeiro, on the westernmost tip of the Peniche peninsula, would probably be curious about some islands that are seen in the distance, about 10 km away. It is the archipelago of the Berlengas, a group of small islets, with three peculiar histories that interweave surprisingly with the present.
In the history of the islands there is a very relevant first date, 1465. It was in that year when King Afonso V issued an order prohibiting hunting in the Berlengas, in what was a pioneering and very novel decision of care and attention for the nature. Anyone who has visited or seen pictures of the islands, and their coves with turquoise and crystalline waters, understands well what King Afonso could see and feel to dictate an order so unusual at that time. The line to the present, and the future, takes us to more than five centuries later, when in 2011 UNESCO declared the Berlengas a biosphere reserve and confirmed what the king’s sensibility valued long before.
In the century following that of King Afonso, in 1513, with the help of Queen Leonor, a small monastery of San Geronimo monks was founded on the islands, seeking a place for their spiritual retreat and to help the victims of the numerous shipwrecks that generated that coast. Saving the distances, is what nowadays also look for the many retreats that in different points of the coast of Peniche offer interesting combinations of mindfulness, yoga, meditation and surfing. We hope that modern history is more favorable to these initiatives because the monastery and the poor monks ended in closure just a few years after its founding because the monastery was frequently attacked by pirates and their members taken as slaves. Surely they were ahead of their time and did not get everyone to see the peace, beauty and spirituality that inspires this Atlantic coast.
The third story connects the past and the present century through sea, football and technology. In 2018 the company Apple shot a short film about a supposed historical rivalry between the football teams of Baleal and Peniche, who preferred to settle their matches on a neutral pitch and chose to move to the Berlengas. You can watch the video in this link. The story, obviously fictional, is aimed at showing the technical excellence of the phone model with which the ad is recorded. But, in a certain way, it allows us to understand the difficulty of those who live from the sea and to value better all those who ventured to sail the waters and discover the mysteries that they hid. It is a story that connects the past and the present through the sea and these special islands. If watching the video makes you want to visit the islands, please note that from June 1, 2022, there is a 3-euro tourist tax, Berlengas Pass, destined to improve the infrastructures and ensure that the number of visitors do not exceed 550 per day.
During the pre-holiday weeks there is a classic that always comes back, together with the lists of the best beaches and the best novels: an article on false friends on trips.
Between Portuguese and Spanish there are many more similarities than differences. The linguist Rosana Ortega says in her studies that up to 85% of both languages is similar or easily understandable. But there is always some word or expression that can confuse us. Some do it in a funny way, like the “calças de ganga”, that a Spanish speaker may think is a shoe with a very low price and are actually jeans. Others, somewhat more complex, like when you hear about “um sucesso espantoso”, that in Spanish sounds like a terrible event, and is in fact a surprising success.
Mothers and grandmothers have always asked their children not to play with food. And it is a field in which, in general, there are usually not so many confusions. If anything, at the door of the Portuguese restaurants, where there is sometimes a “PUXE” sign that confuses both the Spaniards and the English, who may understand push when in fact it means the opposite. But once that small entry barrier is crossed, the menus are usually offered in several languages and also the delicacies are usually known in their original language: caviar, champagne or lobster sound similar in many languages and ensure a more than correct survival in a night of conquest. At least until the bill arrives. Or until the waiter asks if everything is fine and the Spanish responds using the adjective exquisito, which in Portuguese is written with an s, esquisito, and is more commonly used when something has a strange taste.
Actually, the only big problem with the food could happen with the Iberian ham. In that area, involuntarily, the Portuguese may have hit the nail on its head by using the word presunto, a derivative of the participle of the Latin verb siccare (to dry). To Spaniards the term always generates certain doubts and smiles when they see it across the border because presunto in Spanish is the adjective that is used for those arrested criminals who have not been convicted yet.
But, if we think about it, it is the Spaniards themselves who may have fueled this possible mistrust, having traditionally very badly resolved the identification between a good ham and a presumed one. For years, the use of the “Iberian” denomination has been too wide, and sometimes the trial and error was essential to know if we were dealing with a good ham, the Iberian purebred that has grown in the pastures and has been fed mainly with acorn. Since 2014, better official regulations and a code of exclusive colors and terms have been introduced to avoid confusion. Thus, a black seal is used to distinguish hams of 100% Iberian race fed with acorns in the field. The name pata negra is also reserved for these hams. With red seal is identified the pig hams fed in the field with acorn but of mixed race. With green seal, animals fed with feed and acorn. And with white seal, animals fed exclusively with feed.
There will always be those who try to skirt the rules and take advantage of the gray areas but the taste and texture of a good ham is unmistakable and the price is always parallel to its quality, so the best advice in this case is to forget the bargains, the gangas in Spanish, that can end up leaving us a strange taste, esquisito in Portuguese.
We open the forum on this subject using a traditional Spanish proverb: have you ever been given a cat instead of a hare (gato por liebre)? Something that seemed to be a bargain has turned out to be something very different?
Alenquer is a small jewel of the Oeste region, offering various interesting activities to fill a day trip.
Wine has particular importance in the economic and cultural life of the municipality of Alenquer. Therefore, we would propose to spend half a day visiting the city and half a day at one of the wineries in the area.
We begin with a walk through the upper part of the city, going through the picturesque alleys of the Jewish quarter and the remains of the 13th century castle. In this area there is also a fascinating museum dedicated to Damião de Gois and the victims of the Inquisition, located on the ruins of the church where he was baptized and buried. Damião de Gois was a key figure in the modernization of Portuguese medieval culture. The museum includes several documents and interactive installations to learn about his life and work and appreciate his importance as a humanist, artist and royal advisor. If there are not many people on the day of the visit, it is worth staying for a chat with the museum’s curator. This historian did his doctoral thesis on Damião himself, and can offer unique details about his life and times, quite an example of the cultural richness offered by the coexistence of Christian, Jewish and Mozarabic cultures; something that even today, in the 21st century, is so hard to find again.
Less than 100 meters from the Damião museum is also the Wine Museum. There is a representation of the more than forty wineries that are in the Alenquer area, a wine bar for tastings, and a cultural space with explanations and instruments to discover everything that surrounds wine production. If you had not booked a visit to one of the wineries, the museum itself can help organize an afternoon visit to one of them.
At lunchtime, one of the most recommended places is the Casta 85 restaurant, with its pleasant terrace overlooking the Alenquer river.
And for more information about Alenquer, you can check the viveralenquer.pt website, although our recommendation is to take advantage of the fact that the city is not very big, get lost in its alleys and discover for yourself the many secret corners of this little gem.
