O Spectacle Wednesday
The concierge at the Marriot gave us terrible directions to get to the Palacio de Queluz. We wanted to go see the Escola Portuguesa D’Arte Equestre. We got lost for a while until we read the directions we had printed ahead of time from Google maps. We parked out in front of the Palace. It was kind of sad to see how poorly the Palace is being maintained. It is currently under construction based on World Wide funds to restore historic places. When we arrived at the ticket counter at the Palacio, I asked the woman if we could buy tickets to the Spectacle. She said that there aren’t shows in August. Many of the riders are on vacation. We were extremely disappointed and a bit irritated because we had driven all the way from Gouveia to Lisboa to see the Spectacle. I told the woman at the counter that they need to update their website since it stated that there were spectacles from May to October. She said that we could still seem the horses being trained if we walked down to the barn.
We walked down to the training facility. We rang the door bell at the barn. There wasn’t any sign on the door, we guessed by the smell that we had the right place. The door buzzed open and we entered. I explained to the woman who greeted us how were extremely disappointed about there not being spectacles and that we were hoping to get to see the trainers training. She said that we could go in and check out the training grounds. She asked where we had left our car. She mentioned that many of the criminals monitor hotels and tourist spots for tourists with luggage. When they see them they follow them and wait for them to park their cars. Afterwards they use a screw driver in the door lock or trunk lock to pry open the car and steal the luggage. My mother had told us a similar story of a family who was visiting Portugal and had had the same experience. She said to move my car and bring my bags in. While I was moving the car, Susan and the kids met a really nice man who was a trainer. “He is a trainer that trains.” (Quote from the Pink Panther the movie. The kids kept saying that over and over.)
His name was Paulo and was such a nice man. He gave us a wonderful tour of the training facility and a great history lesson on the story of the Lusitano horses and even other horses of Europe. It was a great pleasure to spend 1 and ½ hours speaking with him and getting to see these beautiful horses be trained. He was even nice enough to invite us to his friend’s ranch where they train additional Lusitano horse north of Lisboa. After the tour he gave us some great posters and literature. He also showed us a very old book that described the history and instructions text book on the art of training Lusitano horses. The blood line from these horses dates back to over 400 years ago. The blood line traces to even some Lusitano horses that were used in an Opera on the Plaza de Commercio in downtown Lisboa prior to the earthquake of that hit. The traditional horse men and Lusitano horses have toured much of Europe. They have a trip also planned in November to an exhibition in Paris which will feature horses from the 4 famous horse schools in Europe (Vienna, Lusitano, French and Spanish.)
Afterwards we headed north and had a quick meal at the churrasqueira in Fatima. Quick meals in Portugal are an oxymoron. Meaning you can say it but the reality is there is no such thing as a quick meal. We decided we only had time to check out the Grutas. Unfortunately they don’t allow pictures so I don’t have much to show you in the form of pictures from either of the places we visited today.
We got home and hung out in the evening after a nice dinner with our parents. Caldo verde always tastes great even when you are not hungry. We were finishing the day hanging out on the Veranda when we saw this huge fire appear in the distance within only in a matter of one hour. It was a long but nice day. Tomorrow we rest before leaving for Lisboa and our last few days in Portugal.
We walked down to the training facility. We rang the door bell at the barn. There wasn’t any sign on the door, we guessed by the smell that we had the right place. The door buzzed open and we entered. I explained to the woman who greeted us how were extremely disappointed about there not being spectacles and that we were hoping to get to see the trainers training. She said that we could go in and check out the training grounds. She asked where we had left our car. She mentioned that many of the criminals monitor hotels and tourist spots for tourists with luggage. When they see them they follow them and wait for them to park their cars. Afterwards they use a screw driver in the door lock or trunk lock to pry open the car and steal the luggage. My mother had told us a similar story of a family who was visiting Portugal and had had the same experience. She said to move my car and bring my bags in. While I was moving the car, Susan and the kids met a really nice man who was a trainer. “He is a trainer that trains.” (Quote from the Pink Panther the movie. The kids kept saying that over and over.)
His name was Paulo and was such a nice man. He gave us a wonderful tour of the training facility and a great history lesson on the story of the Lusitano horses and even other horses of Europe. It was a great pleasure to spend 1 and ½ hours speaking with him and getting to see these beautiful horses be trained. He was even nice enough to invite us to his friend’s ranch where they train additional Lusitano horse north of Lisboa. After the tour he gave us some great posters and literature. He also showed us a very old book that described the history and instructions text book on the art of training Lusitano horses. The blood line from these horses dates back to over 400 years ago. The blood line traces to even some Lusitano horses that were used in an Opera on the Plaza de Commercio in downtown Lisboa prior to the earthquake of that hit. The traditional horse men and Lusitano horses have toured much of Europe. They have a trip also planned in November to an exhibition in Paris which will feature horses from the 4 famous horse schools in Europe (Vienna, Lusitano, French and Spanish.)
Afterwards we headed north and had a quick meal at the churrasqueira in Fatima. Quick meals in Portugal are an oxymoron. Meaning you can say it but the reality is there is no such thing as a quick meal. We decided we only had time to check out the Grutas. Unfortunately they don’t allow pictures so I don’t have much to show you in the form of pictures from either of the places we visited today.
We got home and hung out in the evening after a nice dinner with our parents. Caldo verde always tastes great even when you are not hungry. We were finishing the day hanging out on the Veranda when we saw this huge fire appear in the distance within only in a matter of one hour. It was a long but nice day. Tomorrow we rest before leaving for Lisboa and our last few days in Portugal.
posted by Carlos at 6:21 AM
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