-
Christmas Season Activities!

As Portugal is deep in the crisis, one cannot help but wonder what that will do for tourism and for Christmas season.  Like many other cities, to save money, Sintra has opted to have no public Christmas lights in the streets. This does not mean, however, that there is no Christmas animation - quite the contrary!  The shops all have their own window displays, and some of them are quite creative, I might add!
And there are MANY concerts and programs happening, some free, some paid, some in Sintra, some in Lisbon.  Some are for children, some for families, some more for the grown folks. In this blog I will basically just list the events, and add links to sites with more information.

I will start with Sintra.
Parques de Sintra have programs for the whole family!
Natal Saloio (Country Christmas) on December 4th at Monserrate
Natal Real (Royal Christmas) on December 11th at Pena Palace
Natal Franciscana (Franciscan Christmas) on December 18th at the Capuchos Convent.
In addition there are creative workshops on candel making and a musical theater Pinocchio!
For more information, see www.parquesdesintra.pt (clique on the green dates of the agenda on the right of the homepage)

As Christmas is for families, there is a Christmas Land set up in the library's garden with Santa's house and elves, a small market and various events.  It is open 8-11/12 (13h-18h); 12-16/12 (10h-12h30 and 14h30-17h30) and the 17, 18, 22 and 23 /12 (13h - 18h).

Also, there are the traditional Christmas Concerts in the local churches, still the 11th of  December at 16h at the church of São João das Lampas and 18h at the church of Queluz. On the 17th, the concert is in São Miguel - the church next to Olga Cadaval Cultural Center -with the famous Rão Kyao - and the last concert is in our Historical Center, São Martinho, on the 6th of January with the Chamber orchestra and the Opera Group of Sintra.  http://www.cm-sintra.pt/NoticiaDisplay.aspx?ID=6406

Also not to miss is the Sleeping Beauty Balet, performed at the Olga Cadaval Cultural Center on the 9th of December by the Russian Classical Ballet Company. More information from  http://www.ccolgacadaval.pt/

Great news are the discounts that we have with the local horse and carriage company Sintratur!  As always, we offer discounts of 5 and 10 euros off their trips, and this special Winter Season special there is a great deal: An hour and a half Jingle Bell Ride in the Sintra countryside for  55 euros instead of 70, hot chocolate and cookies included! Advanced booking is necessary for this ride, price is per carriage, upto 4 people.  More information from www.sintratur.com.


Lisbon is about 30 kms away and there is a lot happening! This is really just a list:

Cirque du Soleil show 'Allegria' 21/12 - 8/1 at the Atlantic Pavillion  near the staion Oriente
Grand Strauss Gala 23 - 30/12 at the Tivoli Theater
Russian Army dance and choir performance 27&28/12 at the Tivoli Theater
Cambio de Tercio - Nuevo Ballet Español 1-11/12 Casino de Lisboa
Romeo and Juliet 10, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22/12 at the São Carlos Theater
Alabama Gospel Choir 29/12 at the Tivoli Theater
Christmas concerts in churches starting Dec 4th until December 22
'Divino Sospiro' or Bach's Christmas oratorio 18/12 Belém Cultural Center
Mahler's 9th Symphony 7/12, aslso at the Belém Cultural Center

More information of all of the above, see www.visitlisboa.com


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned houses

-
Image
When you walk around Sintra and Lisbon you cannot but notice and wonder about some beautiful old buildings that look like they are abandoned and/or falling apart. It saddens many to see the potential of these houses going to waste just sitting there with broken or boarded up windows, roof half falling and the garden overgrown. Right across the street from us there is one such building and a few times a week I tell people the story of it. As the high fencing and basketball hoop lets you guess, it was 'Escola Academica' still about 20 years ago when we were building and moved here; a small private school. Once a beautiful building, full of life, the school mistress retired, the school lost its license, and for awhile after the death of the old school mistress, a family lived there with no rights to rental. When they were successfully evicted, we thought the house would be soon sold and were looking forward to new neighbors - with no luck until today. Many people wanted to...
Read more

Chalet Biester - the film set for Johnny Depp's 'Ninth Gate'

-
Image
Just a bit above the village, in our view, there is a mansion called Chalet Biester.  Its black roof with turquoise trimming causes a lot of questions and awakes the curiosity of many Sintra visitors.  No, it cannot be visited; yes, it is a private house.  No, I don't know who lives there now; yes, it is where the Roman Polanski  thriller ' The Ninth Gate' was filmed, starring Johnny Depp.  There and a bit of everywhere in Sintra. The Chalet Biester as seen from our pool, circled in red Chalet Biester photographed from the Casa da Vista deck Ernesto Biester, a Portuguese journalist and playwright of German origin, famous in his time,  ordered this mansion to be built in around 1880 from the architect José Luis Monteiro.  Its interior was conceived by the famous Italian that worked on Quinta da Regaleira, also in Sintra, and the sceneries of La Scala Opera in Milano, and theater São Carlos in Lisbon: Luigi Manini...
Read more

Oh, the wonderful Pastries and Bread!

-
Image
As I have mentioned before, I frequently walk in the mornings with my dog; up and down the hills, into the forest and mountain roads. Recently there has been an extra burden on my walks. It is lent, the 40 days between Carnival and Easter. Tradition says you give up something for those 40 days that is like an addiction. Some people give up coffee, others chocolate or cigarettes. I decided to give up bread and pastries made with white wheat flour. And this is the reason that climbing up the 400 meters to town is now doubly difficult: the bakeries and pastry shops open their doors even before Pandora and I take off from home, so we walk up to town with the irresistible scent of freshly baked goodies lingering over the town center, calling my name - which I am patiently (more and less) ignoring. Sintra is famous for its pastries. The pastries of Piriquita, travesseiros , are famous all over Portugal, and people cue up to buy them to take home by boxes. These long, sugar coded ...
Read more