Report and photos courtesy of Hans Lamers
On Thursday, July 14th, a group of Royal British Club enthusiasts and friends boarded a bus at the casino in Estoril for a daytrip to the Buddha Eden Garden and for some wine tasting at Quinta do Sanguinhal. For Nicky and Derek McIvor, it was their first ever RBC excursion.
Situated on a 35 hectares portion of Bacalhôa’s Quinta dos Loridos near Bombarral, in the heart of the Óbidos region, the garden was conceived by Madeira-born José Berardo, one of the wealthiest individuals in Portugal.
The Berardo fortune traces its origin to South Africa, thanks to the re-refining of old mine dumps in and around Johannesburg. Known locally as Egoli (Place of Gold), the rain-washed white mine dumps were once symbolic of the city. Today they are no more.
Buddha Eden Garden is José Berardo’s response to the destruction by the Taliban in 2001, of Afghanistan’s enormous stone Buddhas in Bamiyan, an act of cultural barbarity that wiped out the late-period Gandhara (Indo-Greek) masterpieces carved into the cliff.
Inaugurated in 2007, the garden pays homage to peace, using images that depict the traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices of Buddha. It is the largest oriental garden In Europe. Commissioned in China, some 6.000 tons of marble and granite went into the many carved statues on display. There are also 700 blue Xian terracotta warriors, each one different from the next.
The Pagoda Lake, watched over by the ‘Thirteen Buddhas of the Dead’, has dragons all along its banks and abounds with KOI (Japanese carp). The ‘Staircase of the Golden Buddhas’ leading up to the 21 metres tall ‘Giant Buddha’, is the focal point of the garden. Further north, the ‘Fireplace Viewpoint’, surrounded by soapstone statuettes, offers a panoramic vista of the estate. The many cherry trees and the Japanese maples complete the oriental feel of the place.
Featuring pieces from the ‘Berardo Collection’, the Modern and Contemporary Sculpture Garden was added in 2012. The African Sculpture Garden, established last year, is dedicated to the Shona people of Zimbabwe. Under the shade of 1.000 palm trees, it has over 200 sculptures, many of them soapstone, iconic of their country of origin.
Buddha Eden is unlike any other garden in Portugal. Some may label it an extravagant theme park, but it is a lot more than that. The peace and tranquillity of this unique and special place really does enchant.
After a pleasant lunch at the restaurant, it was off to the nearby Quinta do Sanguinhal for culture with a difference – viticulture.
Abel Pereira da Fonseca founded Companhia Agrícola do Sanguinhal that to this day, still administers the family owned quintas. A marketing maverick, Fonseca established one hundred stores in Lisbon, all selling Portuguese wines. Fernando Pessoa, prolific writer and one of Portugal’s greatest poets, him with the over 70 ‘heteronyms’, became a supportive customer. Unlike pseudonyms, the fictitious names behind which some writers hide their identity, heteronyms are fabricated characters, each with their own physiques, biographies and writing styles.
The wine estate oozes old world charm.
The two wines that solicited the most comments were ‘Cerejeiras Seleccionado Rosé‘ and ‘Quinta de S. Francisco Licoroso‘. Naturally, the anecdote that Portugal invented rosé wine (Mateus and Lancers), but that nobody in the country actually drinks the stuff, featured prominently. The Licoroso mimics the best of a ginja de Óbidos but is made from grape, rather than the sour ginja berry.
Thanks go to the RBC’s Selwyn Kennard and Pat Rodrigues for the behind the scene organisation of the trip.
