Curia is a village resort known for its fine water which had been said to have medicinal properties.
Back in the day many Portuguese, and foreigners, took vacations there to relieve themselves from various illnesses and to breathe the pure air of the countryside. I guess you could call it the 1900's equivalent to a spa-vacation, or a retreat in a back then luxurious country side scenery. Pompous hotels were built in the village that was and still is easily accessed by the country's main roads and served by a train station.
A couple of weeks ago I finally surrendered to it's charms and took the kids there for a visit. To be honest I followed my cousin and her husband. We all loved it. We visited a park that is open to the general public for a small fee. The huge park was part of an old hotel and it many facilities. There's a café and you can rent paddle boats to take a quiet tour on the artificial lake (we had a race of course, ahahahah).
You can visit part of the hotel and take part of the expositions, the permanent and the temporary ones. The building is quite impressive and I loved the mixture of Art Nouveau and Deco in the building and the surroundings. Being abandoned for many years but still in good shape you can almost get a "Shinning" experience when you wonder around, the quiet piano almost played on itself when we passed by, the old bathrooms and heavy doors contrasting to the beauty of fine details on the stairs and chandeliers enhanced the Shinning-feeling. I loved it! Totally recommend a visit.
I know there are many options for those who want to stay and enjoy the place for a few or more days and do not want to check in at the still working neighboring grandiose hotel. Me, I just have the luxury of having Curia just over half an hour from my nest in Aveiro.
Here are some of mine impressions from Curia, hope you enjoy :-)
I really appreciate having unique things, especially when I can be involved in their creation. This one has a special place in my heart. This has been my Summers heart project.
Last Easter I was wondering around my grandparents (mothers parents) annexes with my aunt when we found the casted iron pieces of my childhood bed. That bead had been my bed until way in my teens and before that it had been my fathers single bed and even before that it had been his grandfathers bed. So as far as I know this casted iron bed is at least has old as my grand-grandfather Chico (from Portalegre, Portugal) born 1907. This bed is probable at least 100 years old.
When I was a child I the bed got a coat of white paint all over, I guess it was fashionable that way then. Still today there are few people from my parents generation that appreciate the original beauty of this dreamy piece of furniture. I knew I had to get this family clenod back and give it a new use restoring its glory.
This is how it looked like when we found it.
It looked abandoned, had lots of rust and the detailed flower arrangement was all blurry due to the white coat of paint it got on the 1980's. Such a shame... So my uncle helped med with the welding and the treatment it required before painting. He also followed med to a "big Swedish furniture company" to by a large bed structure (my husband is quite tall) with but no head piece attached to it and the madrases. Me being a controller freak that methodically tackles a task like putting a bed together and my uncle that is the most impulsive person I know and kept asking for a hammer putting that bed structure together could have been a really funny sketch material.
The bed structure served well already during Easter. Still it lacked the head piece. That was the fun part of the project. So I took it to my grandparents (fathers parents) basement and carefully painted it with several coats of metal paint with quality brushes. I prepared the basement carefully so no dust or anything else got stuck on the paint during the long drying process.
Here's the final results:
I hope this family clenod can be loved by many more generations. Next time I will try to find worthy bedside tables, I'm hoping I get to paint them myself so they match the bed perfectly and had another uniqueness to the room. After that, maybe the lamp?
I confess I like trains, though I really do not care about the details as trainspoters do. I just enjoy the ride and I would like to share one of mine experiences with you.
The train museum at Macinhata do Vouga - a must if you like trains
The Vouga-Line (not to be confused with Volga, totally different rivers in many aspects) has a couple of tracks that serves the populations on the interior of Aveiro's district and connects them with one another and the coastal line. It was commissioned and built on the beginning if the 1900's and has had it's glorious days. Nowadays some kilometers of the old tracks are re-qualified as bike and tracking tracks through the breathtaking and bucolic landscape of the region.
Every Summer (since a couple of years back) the Portuguese train company organizes historical journeys on one of the old machines (don't ask me any technical details on that, ahahah) and the whole thing is lovely. The whole thing takes about five hours of train traveling, folk music played live at the train, guided tours, theatrical history telling at the train museum at Macinhata do Vouga, and so on. I have heard some local people complaining about the price of the tickets, but considering all that is included and the journey I found it quite cheap. In any other European country you would not be able to do such a complete trip under at least 100 to 150 €, while this journey costs 30 € for adults and 16,50 € per child. Really cheap!
The train was recovered tastefully and you can see the love and care on the details.
window detail
luggage shelf detail
door detail
seat numbers as it was in the old days
The kids enjoyed the ride. We had several pauses and were not on the train for five hours. They really loved the train ride, the music act, especially my boy because he got to play with the family group that performed in the train. They also enjoyed being on the museum, even if the theatrical historical revival was not their favorite part (although I love it!) and the guided tour on Águeda. Actually they loved Águeda, the Agitagueda festival was on its peak and they loved all the umbrellas, ballons and graphic art all over town (by any means we must visit Águeda and the festival again!).
By the way the train was packed! The nationalities our co-passengers were diverse and the guides explained all they could in English and sometimes in French too. Even the theatrical interpretation was explained in English and French, at least on the visit we attended.
As I explained, the train rides the interior of the region, it does so with no rush, actually it is quite slow, so you get to see a lot. Many people living by the areas the train rides through waved at us with big smiles. I guess they too enjoy reviving the old train as it was on the old days, shining and clean from the graffitis the new train has endured.
At Machinhata do Vouga they had a local product's little market and I bought a straw hatt and we ate local delicacies that were being cooked right there.
Both me and the kids felt like the whole ambience was party like and we truly enjoyed the ride. We will probably do it again soon.
So if you are in Portugal during Summer and want to see and do something different and experience a Saturday afternoon visiting the interior of Aveiro's region just let yourself ride the historical train and leave all the organizational questions to the professional guides and just enjoy. :-)
See a bit more here:
If you search on you-tube for "comboio historico vouga" or "vouga historical train" you will find many videos about this journey.
So let me introduce you to my friend, the car I have in Portugal, the Agila known as Alface.
I am the proud owner of this green wheels. Love to drive it slowly through Portugal having a good exercise every time I spin the steering wheel because the assisted steering motor is broken. Stil I sit on the drivers seat as a queen on her throne. And the kids love the car too.
Alface visits the mechanic more times than I wish I visited a spa per year...
Maybe I could visit the spa more often if I didn't had to send Alface to the mechanic that often. Stil, so far Alface only let me down once... Last year on my first vacation day I drove on a nail and got a flat tire. The images speak for themselves. You can have your laugh at my expense now... I am laughing now, almost a year later. I hope Alface won't let me down on our approaching encounters...
Lighthouse at Praia da Barra - Aveiro region, Portugal winter 2016
Let me share one of my hidden gems with you, a visit to the lighthouse at Praia da Barra in the Aveiro Region.
View from the lighthouse
View from the lighthouse
The lighthouse is open to the public for three guided visits on Wednesdays starting 13:30, last visit starts at 16:00. I recommend it if you are somewhat fit, because it implies climbing the staircase of the 62 meter tower. So, all in all, more than a couple hundreds steps up... More information...
staircase at the lighthouse
I am afraid of heights and the visit was a challenge to me, but in spite of my fear of heights it was worth all the excitement and the stair climbing. The guide knew a lot about the light house and explained all the history and technicalities fluently in a couple of languages and kept the group's interest all the way.
(details from the lighthouse)
Just make sure you are there early on high season because there is a limit to the number of visitors due to safety reasons. The views are gorgeous, and that was on a bad weather day. Besides you can take a gelatto on the ice cream cafe or shop on the cafes and shops on the "praça" (square) outside the lighthouse and the main street.
One of the shares surrounding the lighthouse
You can also surf on the beach to the left of the lighthouse or have a quiet sea bathing on the shelter beach (Praia da Meia Laranja) in front of the lighthouse, take a walk on the "paredão", fly a kite... Well, there are so many things you can do there. The only downside is the parking, but as it is manly bad on weekends on a Wednesday you should find a good parking place. By the way the gelatti on the ice cream cafe are delicious. ;-)
I have been many times in Lisbon and find it easy to travel around the city and visit my favorite spots. The subway (Metro) works fine, buses and trams do it too. If you wish to visit the coast line all the way to Cascais or Sintra take the trains for those destinations from some of the stations they pass by.
1. Buying subway tickets
As soon as you get out the airport exit doors, turn right and walk until you see a Metro sign.
You will see the tickets machines lined up to one of the walls. Sometimes there's a queue line, please respect that.
First you have to buy the subway card and then you have to fill it with tickets. Chose the kind of tickets that suits you best (one travel, a full day, week, and so on). There are several zones too, check them here.
The subway card expires only after one year from the day you buy it, so save it! Maybe you can givit away to someone else traveling to Lisbon. Or, maybe you have an excuse to travel to Lisbon soon again :-)
2. Mosteiro dos Jerónimos
So... One of the main turist attractions in Lisbon is the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos. The tickets queue is usually painful to watch, specially on hot Summer days. But what many do not know is that right beside the Mosteiro dos Jerónimos you can find the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, there you can buy a "two in one" ticket and visit both places and there is almost never a queue there. Actually the Museu Nacional de Arqueologia is an hidden gem in Lisbon with a smal but wonderful permanent exposition on egyptian, roman, celt and other culture's artifacts. Totally worth a visit before you take the great quest that is visiting the enormous Mosteiro dos Jerónimos.
Mosteiro dos Jerónimos' queue on Summer
Museu Nacional de Arqueologia - practically no queu
3. Chose your cup of tea but indulge yourself time for surprises
There are loads of thing you can do, see, eat and experience in Lisbon. Many may be fun for you and many may not be quite your cup of tea... Do your homework, chose carefully what you want to see and do, most important if you only have a few days to visit the city. For example I almost never go to Bairro Alto, the music and ambience there may be loved by many, but it is just not my thing, so I chose to spend more time in other places, for example the Museu de Arte Antiga. Search for your interests but leave some time for surprises. Ask a local about their favorite spot in the city and visit it and it may be a really nice surprise that you can't find in a travel guide. :-)
I have not done near of what my ambitions for this blog were initially. Then my focus went a totally different road when I was faced with my cervical cancer diagnostic late August. I really wanted to blog about that but not here. Oh no! This blog is about the things I love to do in life and the cancer did not deserve to take that spot here. So I created it's own blog: https://mycervicaljourney.blogspot.com
Now I feel I really want to go back at publishing here about the things I love and love to do. If you are reading this don't take it personally, but I really do not care if someone is reading my blog or not. For me it is just a lot of fun writing and presenting the things I love to do: traveling, DYI and various other subjects.
I have been taking pictures of subjects to write here since 2016!!! So I will begin by doing just that!
I take at least a couple of trips to Portugal per year to visit my family and to see more of my country. On 2016 we ended our trip to Portugal by staying a couple of days in Lisbon as we sometimes do.
I try to see something new and go to some of my favorite places. On 2016 we:
* Meet my good friends Ana and Gonçalo and their son
* Went back to the Oceanário
* Visited the Archeology Museum (love it!)
* Went for walks at Belém because the tower was being reconstructed
* Took walks on the Expo 98's park, the kids loved the flags.
* We stayed at an hotel that had a pool on the roof on the tenth floor or something (I hated it everyone else loved it)
Lisbon is not that hard to navigate. The subway system works fine and you can get around even when there are tourists everywhere. On that occasion Monsieur Hollande, the formal president of France was visiting Lisbon in hot July when we had loads tourists, Portugal had just won the European Championship of football (the real one not the kind that is played with your hands, ehehehe)... and even then, when streets where closed to traffic and not even the buss could drive their normal route and armed forces (due to terrorist threat) were all over Belém armed to their teeth, even then we managed to walk a bit and take the train and subway back to the hotel. So, there was order in chaos.
I will soon be giving some practical advices on how to "navigate" in Lisbon.
Here are some pictures from our trip to Lisbon 2016:
