CASA DO VALLE

This entry has been written by Charles Lund, an American traveller who stayed with us in October.  An avid golfer, Charles wrote about his experiences in some of the golfcourses near by and within a daytrip from Sintra.  If you understand anything about golf, his writing will be a great help in choosing the courses and planning your days around golfing activities.   Penha Longa Atlantico I was able to get an email reply and my name on the tee sheet to play this Robert Trent Jones, Jr. course without having to pay in advance or provide a credit card number to hold the time.  I arrived at the course about an hour early and it was part of a large hotel complex.  The area for the course and the hotel was in some undulating terrain which was well forested, with lots of pine and oak trees.  I’ve played a lot of Robert Trent Jones, Jr. courses and his courses often have a large number of spectacular holes, with a couple of quirky holes that don’t seem to fit, but are needed to make up

I prefer the latter. I always loved autumn, and autumn like we are having is great. It is finally summer here in Sintra. July and August were OK, but not like our usual summers, more windy and even rainy. September was great - 25-30º daily, sunny days, cool nights. And it is continuing, at least for another 2 weeks. The pool temperature is still 23º and the pool is very frequented. But it is clearly fall . The fall of the leaves, the fall of the petals of the boganvila all over the lawn, The days are getting shorter, the morning traffic has started earlier as the people travel to work after their holidays. The fruits are different, it is time for grapes and melons. We here at the guest house are preparing for cold. I have gone pine cone picking (great for starting fires, and there is a wood heated tile covered heater in room #3), we are ordering, and cutting, firewood, checking that the heaters work - and it all seems so strange as the temperatures hit the 30's in the