Visiting ancestor homes in Portugal with Granny

June 9th 2012
We met my mother in Lisbon and spent the weekend in Sintra visiting houses of ancestors.

The following pictures were taken while travelling through the streets of Lisbon from the airport to the hotel to meet my mother.

Lisbon Bull Ring, under which is a shopping centre and outside which they showed the Eurocup matches on big screens.

The Marquess of Pombal Square



The prime minister from 1750 to 1777, first Marquess of Pombal and first Count of Oeiras (title of Nobility granted by King Joseph I 1759), Sebastiao Jose de Carvalho.



Jacaranda trees.
Native to the Americas and Asia but introduced to Africa and Portugal so when I said I had never seen one before, my mother told me they were right outside the hospital I was born in.

Cristo Rei, the Statue of Christ across the Tagus river from Lisbon in Almada.
 It is a replica of that in Rio de Janeiro and was built as thanks to God for sparing the Portuguese from WWII.

Museum of the City Almada showing the evolution of the city.
Use to be the city home of my great, great, great Grandfather, Admiral Sartorius.

English sympathies were on the side of the Liberals in the Portuguese Civil war and Captain Sartorius accepted the offer to lead the Liberal Fleet and helped win the Portuguese Civil war. He was later reinstated in the English Navy and became Admiral. He lived in Portugal (his city house above) for a number of years while raising a family.

Unfortunatley we arrived too late to visit inside.
so we sat outside ......

the boys with their maternal grandmother...

and had an ice cream enjoying our time with granny.



We drove west for about an hour, leaving Lisbon to find our B&B in Sintra.

Sintra

Arriving at the B&B, Quinta de Sao Thiago, Sintra.

Quinta de Sao Thiago was the country property of
Amiral Sartorius

Are we using the correct door?

The owner of the house now, is a concert pianist and composer. We are being shown around by one of her daughters.

Dinner at a local pub where they showed the Eurocup match Portugal v. Germany.

The boys and other visitors watching the match while they ate.

While granny and I sat to the side and caught up.

Seteais Palace, Sintra, by night.

June 10th 2012

Breakfast at Quinta de Sao Thiago

We met two Germans also staying in the B&B.

Other interior views of the house:


many sitting areas

Main sitting room.

Opposite view.

After breakfast we investigated the B&B grounds and found the tenns court.

View of Monserrate from the same rose garden.

We also found the swimming pool.

Did you forget to change your clothes?

Is it warm enough? A little colder than the weather in Madrid.

They're back with their trunks.

Sun or no sun we're still swimming...

and having fun..

Is it more fun in or out?

Now they're swimming!

Feeling refreshed?

While the boys got changed..

After swimming and tennis we found a small Chapel for Sunday mass.
The rooves of Monserrate can be seen in the distance center left.

The small chapel,  monument 45, after the congregation had left.

Outside the chapel.

Palacio da Pena on top of the 10km long Serra de Sintra, Monserrate rooves and the chapel to the right.

Palacio da Pena.
The castle is on top of the granite mountain range, Serra de Sintra which protrudes into the Atlantic to form the Cabo da Roca.

After mass we met some parishioners that were interested in our family history and wanted to see our old family photo albums showing Monserrate in its original state.

On our way west to the Light house at Cabo da Roca..

Cabo da Roco -western most lighthouse and headland in Europe.

Windswept picture taken by Charley.



Carpobrotus edulis and Ice plant are amoungst many of its names.
Native to South Africa, its an invasive species, and if I had known that snakes like to hide in it, I might not have been walking through it.

The light purple Carpobrotus edulis is considered more of a pest than the yellow.



From Cabo da Roca looking down at the Atlantic.



The iceplant loves the rocky windswept cliff.

Looking North West.

The boys with the Cabo da Roca monument in the background.

I just glad that there was a fence between us and the drop.

The most Western European Cliffs.

Harry, Charley and Granny.

Two scientists were out on the rock and the boat came to pick them up as they finished their investigation.

38°47'N 9°30'W

Cabo da Roca monument - Billy, Harry, Charley and Granny's  proof of reaching the most western tip of Europe.

Fiona and Billy's proof.

 

The Portuguese have some beautiful tiles.

We decided not to eat here but they had some beautiful souvenirs that we browsed through and purchased a few.

On the theory that it was possibly less expensive we ate lunch in a small cafe further in land.

After lunch we visited Monserrate. One of Admiral Sartorius' sons, Euston, married one of Sir Francis Cook's daughters, Emily 1874. Sir Francis owned Monserrate but later we believe that Euston and Emily owned it for a while. The photo captions in blue are for photos from the albums of the family members who visited Euston and Emily in 1904. Actual photos are not shown in this blog but in my own file.

Out of all the beautifully trimmed gardens the boys found the stepping stones across the small waterfall in the wild.

Monserrate grounds but haven't reached the main palace.

Ice Cream break for Billy.

and coffee for Granny.

Many paths in the grounds of Monserrate.

Can you see the fish?

Monserrate Palace.

Three generations outside Monserrate four generations after our family lived here.

Family photo of 1904 shown outside the Palace (in own file).

Harry's photo of Billy, Fiona, Helena and Charley standing infront of the Triton Fountain and the south Tower.

 

Triton Fountain outside the South Tower of Montserrate Palace.

Triton Fountain taken from the South Tower entrance in 1904(in own file).

The boys to the side of the main entrance.

Same view in 1904 with the Peacock and Peahen instead of the three boys.

Euston Sartorius' signature was written above in the album(in own file).



Looking out from the front patio on to the vast grounds.

Front stairway to the lawn.

Looking up in the octagonal hall.

The centrepiece of the octagonal hall is a fountain in alabaster.

A 1904 picture of the same hall (in own file).

 

The music room (northern tower) boasts of its excellent acoustics but no proof was permitted.
Gilded floral motives cover the decorative plasterwork of the dome.

Looking down into the Octagonal Hall.

The boys testing the steepness with their rolling speed.

Granny looking at the bottle brush tree Pohutukawa (New Zealand) known as the New Zealand Christmas Tree.

The boys found a great fir to climb.

 Trees planted by Edward VII and King Carlos (in my file.)

Looking back at Monserrate with the bottle brush to the left view.

Towards the lily pond.

Back towards the house.

Taken from the bottom of the hill also from a slightly different angle around 1904.

The North tower hidden by the bottle brush, the main hall dome and on the right is the South Tower.

Rose garden to the left inaugurated by The Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall on 29 March 2011.



The lily pond.

Lily pond 1904.

Use to be the Chapel of Our Lady of Monserrate.

The roots of the tree on one side of the Chapel searching for the soil, a wall below.

Finding our way out of the grounds.

After visiting Monserrate we found our way back to our B&B.

The boys playing their recital pieces for Maria Teresa.

Maria Teresa Braddell, owner of the house listening to Harry play.

Maria Teresa who often holds concert recitals, playing one of her very own pieces for us.

Saying goodbyes.

Leaving Quinta de Sao Thiago

Last look at Quinta de Sao Thiago.

After a very long and filled day in Sintra we are back in Lisbon for an early morning flight.
Bull Ring. Europacup soccer played on the big screen. Shopping mall underneath.

Lisbon Hotel near to the airport.

While Granny and I could enjoy European food, the boys could finally have their Burger King request. We very rarely visited fast food restaurants while staying in Europe.