Lubertadventure: Bussaco Palace Luso

We had agreed, some time ago, while planning this whole odyssey, that we would treat each other to a special experience as a mutual birthday present – we are both Leos. That present was a night and a dinner at the Bussaco Palace in Luso.

This legendary Palace was built for the last King of Portugal in 1885, converted into a deluxe hotel in 1917, and is nowadays one of the most beautiful and historic hotels in the world. It truly is a palace, and you definitely get the feeling you are staying with, or amongst royalty.

The royal palace is surrounded by formal gardens in the center of 250 acres of magnificent woods. The Bussaco Forest is renowned by arborists worldwide for its incredible array of exotic trees collected from all over the world by Portuguese Navigators.

We checked in to find our room was not ready, so we strolled through the gardens and pathways, marvelling at the sights and drinking in deeply of the scented air.

Returning to the palace, we felt as if we had entered a Disney film. Listed in the '1000 Places to See Before You Die´, the palace is an amalgam of overwhelming eclectic architecture - a flurry of excesses, a hotchpotch of styles - of stone carving, pinnacles, turrets, gargoyles, twists, pillars, arches, tiles, marble and nautical references. Ceramic tile frescoes tell the story of Vasco da Gama's voyages in stunning relief.

Our room had a panoramic view of the gardens and castle walls. It definitely showed its age as a grand old lady, but it was comfortable, clean, and proudly proclaimed its history and heritage in its furnishings and ambiance.

We dined in the spectacular outdoor terrace, and unfortunately, although the service was good and the atmosphere very romantic, my pork was so salty that it was inedible, which detracted from an otherwise perfect night. To be fair, I requested that the entree be removed from our bill, and it was, along with a complimentary dessert.

We would definitely recommend a stay here for at least one night as a celebration of a special anniversary or birthday. It is NOT an ordinary experience. To do justice to the beauty of the place, some of these pictures were downloaded from the web.