A Magic Palace ...
... and Bubbles
Quote of the week
“There comes a time in every woman’s life when the only thing that helps is a glass of champagne.” –Bette Davis
Hello,
I hope you have settled into the new year, whether you are working or in retirement. I am still living on memories from Portugal, which helps during the grey days that is January in the south of Sweden. This week I will be talking about a magical palace, bubbles, and a meeting with Fredrik Backman, author of A Man Called Ove.
A Magical Palace
Sometimes you come to a place and it just turns out to be magical. Difficult so say why. It can be the mood your in, the surroundings, the air, the view, or just that for you, it is magic.
After having seen magnificent castles and palaces in Sintra we had one last palace to see, a little bit outside the village. Rather tired after two days of running up and down the hills, stairs and gardens we slowly approached the palace of Montserrate. Luckily, the entrance was on top of the mountain so you could walk down towards the castle. The only disadvantage, of course, is that on the way back it is uphill again.
History
The history of this place goes back to the 16th century when a hermitage was built here. In the 18th century Caetano de Mello e Castro, Commander of Christ and Viceroy of India, bought it. The estate was devastated by the Lisbon earthquake in 1755. Even so, at the end of the century, British writer William Thomas Beckford became the new tenant, and also restored and improved the buildings and park, before abandoned it some years later.
Even in decline, which I think tell how magic the place is, it was attracted by foreign visitors, mainly British. Even Lord Byron spend some time here in 1809 and expressed his love for Monserrate in his poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage”.
“On sloping mounds, or in the vale beneath,
Are domes where whilom kings did make repair;
But now the wild flowers round them only breathe:
Yet ruined splendour still is lingering there.
And yonder towers the prince’s palace fair:
There thou, too, Vathek! England’s wealthiest son,
Once formed thy Paradise, as not aware
When wanton Wealth her mightiest deeds hath done,
Meek Peace voluptuous lures was ever wont to shun.”
Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, by Lord Byron [Canto the First XXII]
In the mid 19th century a British trader and art collector, Sir Francis Cook (1817-1901), became the owner and received the title of 1st Viscount of Monserrate. Now reconstruction began and he combined Gothic and Indian influences with Moresque themes. The park was transformed and shows species from around the world, as well as beautiful pathways leading past ruins, lakes and waterfalls. Although a magnificent home for anyone, the Cook family only spent their summers here. In 1949 the palace became governmental property. The restoration includes trying to return pieces from the old art collection as well as highlighting daily life of the family.
Today
Today, you enter the palace from a side door. The house is built with a long corridor, through the middle of the house, from the original entrance above the stairs as you reach the house. At the middle is another corridor crossing the other one, creating a rotunda with a fountain. At this place you can look in all directions of the house, including up to the second floor. Along the corridors the various ‘official’ rooms are placed; the dining room, library, salons, music room and ball room. On the second floor the family’s private rooms are situated, not decorated today, but containing an exhibition on the history of the house.
In each of the rooms old photographs from 1905 are displayed, taken by a photographer friend visiting the palace, David Knights-Whittome. It gives a personal look on how the rooms were decorated and how the family lived. Too long to tell here, but the exhibition tells the family and palace story during the first twenty years of the 20th century. Very interesting, especially during the turbulent years of the century.
From the terrace surrounding the house you have a wonderful view over, on one side, a huge, sloping lawn ending in the woods. On the other side a magnificent view over the surrounding landscape. One can well imagine the parties and family gatherings that took place here.
An Art Deco hotel in Sintra
I just have to tell you about the wonderful Chalet Saudade we stayed at in Sintra. The house is from the 19th century and you have a wonderful view over the valley. The owners spent five years to renovate the house, and it is magnificent, with elegant living rooms with trompe l’œil frescoes and romantic gardens with antique water fountains and ponds. All rooms are differently decorated in the art deco style.
Very friendly staff, and a fantastic breakfast at the nearby Saudade café, also in the art deco style, made for one of the best stays in Portugal.
Musings this week
Champagne
As indicated in this week’s quote, it is time to talk about Champagne. Since the sparkling wine is only allowed to be called Champagne in the Champagne region in France, other countries producing the bubbly, spirited drink, have to choose another name. Thus we have Cava from Spain, Prosecco or Spumante from Italy, Espumante from Portugal, Crémant from other areas of France, Sparkling wine from the English speaking countries and Sekt from Germany and Austria.
So why is it called sekt? As can be imagined it certainly derives from the French word ‘sec’ meaning dry. But, there is another story suggesting that it might be Shakespeare himself who is to blame.
The German actor Ludwig Devrient (1784-1832) was know for his roles of playing Shakespeare and Schiller. His most famous role was that of Falstaff in Henry IV. One evening, as he visited his regular tavern in Berlin, he couldn’t help himself but quoted a Falstaff line: “Bring er mir Sekt, Bube - it’s keine Tugend mehr auf Erden?” The English version is: “Give me a cup of sack, rogue.—Is there no virtue extant?” Sekt/sack here refers to sherry. However, as Deviant did prefer champagne the waiter brought him his usual glass of the sparkling drink.
While looking into the story I discovered that there is a ‘champagne paragraph’ in the Versailles Treaty, limiting the use of ‘Champagne’ to the regional area of France. I thought this was a much later introduction. ‘Sekt’ it is believed, became a buzzword at the time, maybe because of Shakespeare’s Falstaff, and from 1925, it is generally used for this wonderful, sparkling, bubbling drink.
Fredrik Backman and “A Man Called Ove/Otto”
Fredrik Backman has made a huge success, not only in Sweden, with his book about grumpy, old man Ove. A Swedish film was made in 2015 with Rolf Lassgård as Ove. Now there is an American version with Tom Hanks playing Otto, as he is called over there. It recently premiered in Sweden, and in connection with this event, Fredrik Backman has visited Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmö for a combined event of interview and movie viewing.
I went to the cinema with a friend. It was one of the rare, rather big cinema salons, and it was full. For 45 minutes Backman was interviewed on how Ove came to be. His writing process, how he gets his inspiration for his literary creations, and the big event of an American version of the film, how it was to meet Tom Hanks, and much more. He is very funny, also in real life. I found it especially interesting when he talked of how he finds inspiration for his characters. He is obviously an observer of life, and I think that is the base for his popularity. We can all recognise the people he writes about, he has seen them in real life. I thought they were typical Swedish personalities, but since he is very popular elsewhere as well, these characters must exist elsewhere too.
I have seen the Swedish version and liked it very much. This was also very good. Tom Hanks is a great actor and he just was Ove/Otto. I thought it would be difficult to make it into an American version since the society is quite different from Sweden. But, I was wrong. The producers/director did a great job. It was funny and sad at the same time. When the film ended, I think not one eye was dry among the spectators. A great evening.
We were also treated with a 10-year anniversary edition of the book, including the author’s comments after each chapters, explaining how he was inspired. Sounds great so maybe I read it one more time, just for the comments. Should be interesting.