What's the weather like?

While a big part of Europe is covered in snow - this is what our forests are covered in right now!

It has been awhile since I 'blogged' and have wanted to do so for awhile now! It has been a busy season, more so than usual in February. Casa do Valle is in those Gift Voucher Packages called Smartbox and 'Life is Beautiful', and the last few months we have been very busy with people coming to spend a night away from routine - which is great for us!

An interesting issue has been raised and I have noted, which is 'What's the weather like'.

One of my sisters gave me for Christmas a bit over 4 years ago a 5-year agenda/diary. I am now in the last year. Every day in 5 lines I write what has happened: Lots of paperwork, shopping, first fresia of the year bloomed, ate the first cherries/plums/pears/figs.... and very importantly - what the weather was like. In the last 5 years there has not yet been a fool-proof pattern in January/February.

The old people around say that if the weather is good during Carneval, we will have rain for Easter. And vice versa. That has been true. The rain fall in this region normally is the following: in the winter it rains. Most of the years, November more than December and February more than January. And these are the 4 months of most rain. Yet normally, when it rains it is not days on end - sometimes we have two days of rain, then a week without, etc. And the other old saying 'Abril, chuvas mil' (April, thousand rains) does not mean that it is the heaviest month of rain - just that there are lots of short periods of rain. And traditionally, after April, VERY little rain until October again. Temperatures vary from the low of 2 to the high of 22. Normally, the difference of the daytime and night time temperatures is roughly 10 degrees,

Looking at my agenda, certain things are constant. In February, there are always two weekends with warm enough weather to have a long lunch out on the veranda. In February, my daffodils and fresias start blooming. In February, also the jasmine and the phitosporum flowers start giving their scent - the magnolias and camellias are in bloom... The days are getting noticeably longer, and I always wonder if I should wear a long sleeved t-shirts under my windbreaker for my morning walks.

What to pack? Always a windbreaker and something warm, even for the summer evenings. We are blessed with cool nights, and even when the temperatures are over 30 in the summer months, it can get cool at night - the mountain and the Atlantic do their duty and we sleep peacefully! For this reason I also say that be prepared for all kinds of weather. Sintra is not your #1 beach destination, be it clear. Though it has beautiful beaches they are warm enough to suntan only in the summer - great for walks though, especially in the winter. There are plenty of things to do in Sintra but do not plan all of your activities for the good-weather days. If you are the kind who only is happy in perfect weather, then, think twice when you come to Sintra in the winter!

This brings me back to the beginning - the one-nighters in the winter. The ones who have come to relax and to escape the daily routine, who want to have a nice dinner out and visit a few monuments, the ones who don't mind bringing along an umbrella and walk wearing a windbreaker or a rain coat - and get positively surprised when the weather is suddenly 20 degrees and sunny, the ones who enjoy the gardens and flowers, the mountain and the nature - those are the ones who enjoy their Sintra experience during any month.