PlanetSKI is in Portugal (again) – Part 2

16th October 2024

Portugal has no mountains worth talking about, receives little snow, has no famous skiers or any indoor slopes. And yet we are visiting. Why? NEW

This summer on PlanetSKI we have been reporting on a few of our travels outside of the ski season and they have had, somewhat to our surprise, had many thousands of views, great feedback and growing interest.

It seems PlanetSKI readers are in interested in more than just our winter ski travels:

So, we are now in Portugal, partly to write copious amounts of winter copy ahead of the season without any distractions, and also to re-charge the batteries ahead of the rapidly approaching winter season of 2024/25.

We have been to Portugal before in October for these reasons.

Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

Now we are back and this time we thought we’d tell you a bit about PlanetSKI’s autumn hideaway – Lisbon.

See here for Part 1 of this rolling blog:

PlanetSKI is in Portugal – Part 1

Update:

Like in the mountains much is dependent on the weather on a city break and plans need to be adjusted accordingly.

We had planned to head out of the city and go to the Atlantic seashore.

‘Severe storms with heavy rain and strong winds’ my weather App said as I awoke.

Outside it was pouring with rain.

And I mean pouring.

Similar weather in the mountains means if I go out skiing while it is chucking down with snow I stay low and keep to the trees where possible.

If skiing is off the cards, then it’s a nose round the resort visiting alpine museums and the historic side of the resort, before heading to a bar or two.

Or maybe three.

We adopted a similar strategy.

First it was time to head inside to museums, churches and exhibitions of Lisbon, so we started at Sao Vicente de Fora.

It is all three rolled into one.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

Nothing could quite prepare us for what lay behind this facade.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

Again, Lisbon reminded us of Innsbruck.

Innsbruck, the Tirol. Image © PlanetSKI

If you know the monastery in Engelberg, Maximillian’s tomb in Innsbruck, the churches of Aosta and the alpine museum in Zermatt then roll them together and you’ll be about half way there at Sao Vincente de Fora.

It was quite simply stunning.

The church was completed in 1627 and designed by the Italia architect Filippo Terzi.

The church is joined to the monastery of Sao Vincente de Fora that was founded in 1147 by the first king of Portugal – Alfonso Henriques.

In the 16^th century Felipe I of Portugal (who also happened to be Felipe II of Spain) reconstructed and expanded the building.

Further development took place with inlaid marbles and glazed tiles installed.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

It houses the Royal Pantheon.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

The tombs of the last members of the Portuguese royal family are inside.

An unkown female figure is mourning the death of King D. Carlos I and his son, D. Luis Filipe who were murdered in 1908 when the monarchy was overthrown and a Republic established.

There was no area out of bounds, and we spent more than 3-hours wandering its church, cloisters and corridors as the rain battered down outside.

As the weather eased so we headed to the roof top for some magnificent views of Lisbon and beyond.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

Below is the neighbouring church of Santa Engracia.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

It was to be our next port of call (it was nearer than the bars) as the weather was picking up again with strong winds.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

It was a far simpler affair than Sao Vicente de Fora, but beautiful nonetheless.

It is notable for its cenotaphs of the Portugese figures of Vasco da Garma, Afonso de Albuquerque and the wonderfully named Henry the Navigator.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

Now we promised in Part One of this blog that we’d tell you a bit more about Henry the Navigator.

Dom Henrique of Portugal, Duke of Viseu (to give him his correct name) was born on 4th March 1394.

Henry was the fourth child of King John 1 of Portugal.

He was a central figure in the early days of the Portugese Empire and in the 15th-century European maritime discoveries and maritime expansion.

Through his administrative direction he is regarded as the main initiator of what would be known as the Age of Discovery.

Henry was responsible for the early development of Portuguese exploration and maritime trade with other continents through the systematic exploration of Western Africa, the islands of the Atlantic Ocean, and the search for new routes.

He died on 13th November 1460, aged 66.

After finding out about Henry the Navigator it was time for the second part of Plan B.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

The next day the weather cleared and we headed to the Torre de Belem, a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Lisbon, Portugal. Image © PlanetSKI

There are several UNESCO sites in the Alps including:

The Aletsch glacier in Switzerland
The fortifications of Briançon in the French Alps
5 regions of the Dolomites in Italy
The city centre of Salzburg in Austria

The Torre de Belem was built as a fortress by Manule I.

Work began in 1514 and it was completed in 1520.

The stone fortress is a symbol of Portugal’s seafaring prowess.

It is near the stunning Monastry Dos Jeronimos, which was also commissioned by Manuel I.

It was financed by a tax levied on spice, precious stones and gold.

We mentioned the wonderfully-named Henry the Navigator earlier, well here he is again.

Another symbol of Portugal’s seafaring prowess.

Once the site-seeing was done where better place to relax than the nearby Botanical Gardens?

And then a sundowner on the roof top bar of The Pollux in the Alfama district in the city centre on our final night.

And in case you are wondering about the prices in Lisbon a large beer, medium size glass of white wine and a bowl of olives came in at €10.

If only there was a mountain range nearby then Lisbon would be another perfect city and ski destination to match Innsbruck in Austria, Aosta in Italy, San Francisco in the USA or Istanbul in Turkey.

No matter, it is the perfect destination for PlanetSKI to write, re-charge and update copy for the winter ahead.

And post about a fabulous European city.

Next we’re heading south by rail to the Algarve to lock ourselves away for a few days and write more winter copy/features for PlanetSKI.

Eat you heart out all you alpine rail rides.