Tivoli Palácio de Seteais: flowers and good taste
Sintra keeps legends of neurotic kings, romantic writers, goblins and druids . All this is very good and following its trail thousands of people travel each year. I do not. Since I went the first time, I have been guided by smell. What I always remember about this Portuguese city are its flowers . To be precise, they are the flowers of the Tivoli Palace of Seteais .
Fresh flowers are elements that comfort me in a hotel. Like a good shower or the right sheets. It is true that you cannot ask when booking: “do you have wonderful bouquets scattered around the hotel?” . They would brand us, with reason, as morons. But, once there, what a peace provided by flowers well chosen, arranged and displayed. What peace.
In Sintra there are two buildings that must be visited . There are more, but these two are on the basic traveler's checklist. One is the Palacio da Pena, which in its delirium and ugliness is unforgettable. Another is the Seteais, an 18th-century palace converted into a hotel in the fifties and which is part of the Portuguese National Heritage. It has a story that would fill, that fills, books and books. If both are visited, Sintra is caught. Perhaps you have crossed the triumphal arch that joins the two wings of the hotel, built to commemorate the passage of King João VI and Queen Carlota Joaquina. Today is the place to take the photo.
In the Palácio de Seteais is an imposing aristocratic building. They are the frescoes, the furniture, the upholstery, the richness of the rooms. There are more than two thousand pieces that belong to the Portuguese Heritage. But what impresses me the most about it is something ephemeral and that does not belong to anyone: the flower arrangements . This contrasts with everything else, which has been there for centuries.
Catch Sintra at Seteais Palace
Vases and glasses with flowers are scattered throughout Seteais . There are them above the fireplaces, on the dining tables, on the tea tables, on the marble ones, in the bathrooms and in the china cabinets. There are bouquets of gladiolus, lilac, callas and hyacinths. But they are the camellias, closely linked to the history of Sintra, the queens of the party. In the gardens there are white, pink or both colors; they can be enjoyed in gardens and in flower arrangements. The union between the delicacy of the porcelain of the vases and the petals of the flowers justifies the trip.
Perhaps Brad Pitt noticed that when, in those days, he visited the hotel looking for a place to celebrate his wedding with Jennifer Aniston . I don't know if he noticed that floral symphony but I did. And against that, with all due respect to Lord Byron and the rest of the illustrious visitors to the city, there is little to do. A well-placed flower wins even an illustrious writer.
* Sintra is 30 km from Lisbon. Hotel Tivoli Palacio de Seteais. Rua Barbosa do Bocage, 8 2710-517 Sintra, Portugal. Email: [email protected]
Vases and flowers that justify a trip