Buçaco and Brownie the tour guide
What an amazing place! The Buçaco Palace Hotel Luso–how do I begin to describe the 260 acres of ancient trees and immaculate gardens, lots of trails to walk through the forest, and an ornate, luscious old hotel with gargoyles and icing-carved details all around?
We walked and hiked this place for days. It used to be a monastery, where silent monks planted and tended the gardens. Stations of the cross little houses are hidden on the trails–coated in vines, filled with life-size clay figures (some broken), and among 300-year-old trees. There are quiet places to sit and meditate in the cool shade among sunbeams sneaking in the canopy of trees. This would turn out to be a highlight of our trip…primarily because of a little brown dog with extra toes. We called her Brownie.
On our very first hike, we were greeted steps out the front door by this scrappy little caramel-colored girl dog with floppy ears, extra toes, brown nose and beguiling amber brown eyes. She let us pet her, and then turned briskly away, walking ahead and looking back at us to follow her. We did. We kept up with her, up the steep rocky paths into the woods and up to a stunning view down to the hotel. Each time we followed her into the woods, we traced our journey on the trail map the hotel had given us–but never once needed the map to find our way. We just followed Brownie as she walked the paths to some of the most stunning and isolated viewspoints. She came back for us if she got too far ahead and waited for us while we stopped to admire a tree or a view. This went on for 2 days. We took her, and “Joe” the German Shepherd, breakfast, lunch, and dinner scraps as payment. We walked in the mornings, afternoons and evenings too, playing with Brownie in the hotel courtyard and letting her guide us to see all the trails at Buçaco. This dog was happy, sweet, independent and playful. I wanted to rescue her–take her home and began to work it out in my mind. I knew though that she would not be happy on a 6 ft. leash in a 1,000 square foot apartment in Chicago with 3 other dogs. We ate a lot of meals outside in order to share them with Brownie and Joe. They gave us great happiness, and I think they enjoyed our company too.
The hotel was so beautiful, empty foyers, empty stairwells–massive and marble. It was filled with chandeliers, stained glass, and wood work. And our bathroom! Spacious! The toilet, tub and sink seemed lost in the big echoey room.
We spent most every waking moment out with the dogs. There was a cascading walk of 10 terraces (steps numbered: 8-16-16-16-15-15-15-14-14-13) with a fountain running between the dual walkways. There was a 357-year-old cedar (planted in 1644 and now supported by an iron gate and cords tying it to earth) and a massive Tasmanian eucalyptus planted in 1876–and I do mean massive, straight-as-an-arrow and at a horseshoe bend in the road. The trunk couldn’t have been circled by 7 people holding hands…maybe 8 or 10.
One afternoon, we went out to walk and Brownie was nowhere in sight. We called, whistled…nothing. We began our walk–distracted and dampened by not having Brownie with us. As we neared the mid-point of the walk, Brownie raced past us on the path. Instantly brightening our day with her spunky look back at us. One day we went to nearby Coimbra for groceries to picnic with and picked the dogs up McDonald’s cheeseburgers…THAT was a hit!
On the final morning, we found them curled together beside a hedge. Stretching and smiling as we brought them breakfast scraps. We took a long slow walk to the Coimbra Gate enjoying both Joe and Brownie’s company that morning. I cannot describe the sadness I felt driving away that afternoon, looking back in the rear view mirror as the two of them sat by the steps of the hotel wagging their tails at other guests. Right before leaving, I met another lady who had saved her bacon for them too. 🙂
I wonder where they are today. And if they are safe, happy and healthy. They were angels.
As all dogs are.
To see a 2:21 video of Portugal, that ends with Brownie and Joe: Portugal-QT