I have a treat for you this month if you like lots and lots of pictures from spectacular Portugal locations. We visited Quinta da Regaleira and Bacalhôa Buddha Eden. Let’s start with Middle Earth and finish up on firmer ground.
Quinta da Regaleira is a magical place in Sintra, Portugal. It is about 30 minutes SW of us here in Mafra and is filled with old castles and meandering paths. Ponds and statues are scattered throughout the grounds. Entry fee is 10€ (5€ for us ancients) and well worth the price. Some paths were roped off during this Covid-19 era, but that didn’t lessen the experience for us. It just gave us another reason to revisit later.
I was hungry as soon as we arrived, after an uphill, 13-minute walk from our car. These types of attractions often leave me disappointed in the food department, but that was not the case here. I had a delicious bacalao dish (baked cod stew) and our friend had a tender and tasty beef bourguignon. There were also excellent options for salads and wraps.
We started walking the paths and seeing wonders at every turn. I will let the pictures do most of the talking here. One of the most interesting areas was this staircase to the center of the Earth. Or is it the staircase to heaven? I guess it depends on whether you are descending or ascending.
I remained at the top while I watched my wife and her friend descend into Middle Earth, never to return. Well, not to the top, anyway. I waited, wondering what kind of creatures they encountered down there to delay their return. But I finally got a text that they had exited through a tunnel on a lower level.
Leaving Sintra – Another Perilous Journey
I knew that our car was a 13-minute walk away, as the one-winged crow flies. When parking the car, my doubting wife had asked if I was sure that I could find it when we returned. Of course I can, it’s right next to the cliff and ancient rock wall next to the Sintra Inn.
However, when we left the car and walked to the Palace, I counted no less than three Sintra Inns. And when I Googled it on the way back to the car, they had grown to over a dozen locations. It must be a franchise more lucrative than McDonald’s. And there is no shortage of cliffs and rock walls in Portugal. To make a long story short, it took us a lot longer than 13 minutes to find it.
Although, once we did find it, my wife lavishly heaped praise upon me like I was Magellan finding my way back to the Olde World after picking up spices for the Queen. Yes, I am King of my domain. Relish the moment.
Finding the car was the easy part, though. Sintra is an old town, with narrow, curvy streets that were specifically designed to fool the enemies centuries ago. And now, apparently GPS is the enemy, because our state-of-the-art navigator can never make up its mind whether to go right or left.
We ended up on a winding, tapered cobblestone road, bordered by rough stone walls and jutting stones, with about two inches on either side of the car. I am not lying when I tell you that this was not a one-way street! God help me if there is a car coming in the other direction. I tried to back up as soon as I realized the error of my ways, but the incline was too steep. Besides, I had already scraped our new car on a previous trip to Sintra while trying to back out of another precarious pickle jar.
As I crept along at a snail’s pace, I envisioned myself getting wedged between the walls and airlifted out by helicopter. But, thank heavens, we made it out the other end with nary a scratch, and just prior to another car starting on its way up.
Bacalhôa Buddha Eden and its Taliban Influence
I saw pictures of the Buddha Garden on Facebook, posted by a friend, Terri Kvetko Gonzalez. She was nice enough to let me use some of her pictures for this blog. She is a talented photographer and her husband is an accomplished singer and guitarist. Talent abounds here in Portugal among expats and locals!
Seeing that the Garden was only about a 40-minute drive north of us, I mentioned it in a group text to a few of our friends. A date was arranged for a leisurely stroll and maybe (okay, definitely) some Portuguese wine. The café offered delicious sangria for three euros per generous glass. They sold bottles of the same sangria in the lobby, also for three euros, so everyone stocked up on our way out.
I added some photos of my own below because there were hundreds and hundreds of statues scattered among the 85 acres of luscious gardens. Again, I will let the pictures do most of the talking here, but not without first mentioning the Taliban’s influence on the Garden’s inception.
You may recall, in disgust, when the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan a few years before America’s horrific 911 terrorist attack. They destroyed hundreds of Buddhas which had been carved into mountainsides centuries ago. The tallest one was 165 feet tall and was 1700 years old!
There is a famous Portuguese eccentric, José Berardo, whose vision for Bacalhôa Buddha Eden was inspired by the Taliban’s destruction of the ancient relics. That may be an odd source of inspiration, but oftentimes stomach-turning events inspire others to greatness. Fortunately, being one of the richest men in Portugal, José Berardo was able to pull this vision off.
One other thing that I would like to mention here is that although there are hundreds of Buddhas displayed, there are many nude carvings as well, as I’m sure you noticed. I like to see it as just another slap in the face to the Taliban, but that may be one man’s interpretation.
Residency Update – Agora, Somos Portugueses Residentes!
Now, we are Portuguese residents! Here we are, holding our new residency cards at last!
We had our residency interview at the Serviço de Estrangeiros e Fronteiras (SEF) office in Lisbon. It is one of those dreaded events because you never know which SEF office you will be assigned to or whether or not there will be someone who speaks English.
Sometimes, husband and wife applicants have been known to be assigned to different offices in different cities. It is a crazy, hit-or-miss system, although you have to screw up pretty badly to get rejected.
I compiled everything that I was told to bring. I had our rental agreement, home purchase agreement, utility bills, tax ID, Portuguese and US tax returns, three months of bank statements from our U.S. and Portuguese bank accounts, Social Security statements, pension statements, passports, copies of passports, extra passport photos, medical insurance and even our landlord’s tax certificate. I even bought a new folder to organize it all in.
We arrived early, well, because I am always early. We got called in on time, everyone had masks on and there was hand sanitizer by the door. Cathy was told to wait in the lobby for her turn while I was called in and plopped my stack of files down on the desk.
The person I was assigned to spoke very little English but was super nice. Actually, everyone in the office seemed to be in a good mood. I found that surprising for government workers. Maybe it was somebody’s birthday and there was cake involved.
Anyway, she waved away my stack of papers with a flick of her wrist and asked for only three items; our one-page applications, our passports and our tax IDs. I gave her both mine and Cathy’s, which were normally not allowed to be grouped together in pre-coronavirus appointments.
They took my photo and electronic fingerprints and then called in Cathy to take her photo and fingerprints. Done! Well, almost. I still had to pay. It was 165€ ($180) each. Ran my card for one because, for some reason, they wanted to do them separately. When they ran the card for the second time, it was declined!
Someone informed me later that if you run the same amount on your bank card in quick succession, the second charge is thought to be a mistake. So, they asked for cash and we fumbled through our pockets and purse and dropped all our bills and change on the counter. European currency consists of lots of coins.
After we dumped it all out, we were about one euro short. The lady behind the counter said “Não há problema” (no problem) and reached into her own purse to make up the difference. That was a different experience than our visa application in San Francisco ten months earlier.
In San Francisco, we had to leave the building to get new money orders because we were off by three cents. And not because we were three cents SHORT, rather because we were three cents OVER! But everyone has their bureaucracy stories and that is what makes the residency cards so much sweeter. We are told this is the new, streamlined process and it is most welcome!
Portugal Expat Life or Portugal Immigrant Life?
We have called ourselves expats since moving here last year. Expat is defined as any person who lives outside their native country. It is a broad definition.
There was a discussion on Facebook a while back, where some people were saying that expat is the wrong word to use and that we should be using the word, immigrant. Yes, by definition, the word immigrant does fit. Those who have chosen to come here to live permanently, which would be us, fall into that category.
But I am not changing the name of my website from Portugal Expat Life to Portugal Immigrant Life. Portugal Fugitive Life and Portugal Refugee Life are not under consideration, either. Expat feels right to me.
Great read Bob!
Obrigado, Rita! So glad that we could share the Gardens with you, Rob, Shari and David. That was fun!
Enjoyed it – good stuff Bob 😁
We’ll take you there when you come, Julie!
What an interesting story! I enjoyed reading it and seeing the wonderful pictures!
I’m glad that you enjoyed it, Teri! Even better in person.
Good read and I enjoyed the pictures!
Colleen, it’s hard to take bad pictures there, even for me!
One of our fav places.
“The pair of wells, known as the ‘Initiation Wells’ or ‘Inverted Towers’, consist of ‘winding stair’ architecture, which carries symbolic meaning including the death/rebirth allegory common to many hermetic traditions.”
Legend is that the main well was used initiation rites for the Templar Knights.
If the “applicant” fell off the staircase (No rails back then) after being shouted at he would usually die and thus not qualify.
You mean death disqualifies you? Not even a participation trophy? Railings aren’t a big thing here in Portugal, even now!
Such a happy read this morning. Thank you!
Don’t worry. Be happy!
Description, photos and humor well-appreciated. Thanks for the tour.
Glad you enjoyed it! So many places in Portugal still to explore!
As always, your writing is amazing! Thanks for all your insights and updates!
Thank you, Dave! Felt bad that we missed your visit this year (damn plague!), but looking forward to seeing you and Karen in the Spring!
Fantastic that you are official residents!!! Congratulations 🎉 🎊⭐️👍 And these photos are totally cool! 😎 Can’t wait to visit and see some of these sights in person!
Thank you, Karen! It does feel good to finally be official. Now we need to exchange our driver’s licenses. We are going to have fun when you finally get to visit.
And we will be getting AZ driver’s licenses soon, so we can relate! Fingers crossed the Covid situation allows international travel by next summer!
Great update! Sounds a lot more novel and fun and uplifting and aesthetic than being cooped up in LA during our new Covid-19 resurgence.
The expat life sounds great. I look forward to your next installment. I agree. Keep the title “expat.”
Congrats on the residency cards, and the ease and goodwill during the experience. Whoo-hoo!
Bob, you are an excellent tour guide. You and Cathy have found your little piece of paradise.
You two are seeing some glorious things over there! Congrats on your citizenships.
Thank you, Diane! Not citizens, though. We are still American citizens and we still vote. Portugal residency was our goal and we are happy with that designation, at least for now. 🙂
Beautiful pictures!!! Makes me sad to think we won’t be there this year… but your blog makes me so excited for next year!! Here’s sending you both big hugs!!
We were sad also but we are looking forward to your visit next year! ❤
Quinta da Regaleira is one of our favourite places to visit, we also joke that we expect to see the mad hatter or a white rabbit appear at any time, the whole place reminds me of Alice in Wonderland.
Love your photos, they have made me want to visit again.
Very interesting!