Snow In Portugal

Serra da Estrela, Portugal

I read that Portugal received its first snow of the season this afternoon, unseasonably early. There wasn’t much, not enough to call it a true snowfall and it was at around 1,700m, but it was snow nonetheless!

Do I miss snow? Do you mean, do I miss the treacherous driving, slippery sidewalks, and hazardous holes covered by snow? Do I miss the lack of visibility caused by blowing snow? Do I miss the flight delays caused by lack of de-icing equipment? Do I miss shovelling the sidewalk or driveway? Do I miss that lost time scraping ice off the windshield or clearing snow off the car or around the tires? Do I miss having to buy antifreeze or devices that help get my car out of a tight spot when the tires can’t get a grip on the snow or ice?

No. Not at all. Nope. Hell, no. For seven winters in Toronto I did whatever I could to avoid buying snow tires and paying for tire storage, remembering when I lived in Vancouver and never had to do any of that.

Snow is great if you don’t have to travel in it.

Besides, I know where to find snow in Portugal if I want to have a look at it, make a snowman, and then go home: Serra da Estrela or Trás-os-Montes — the high mountains, basically. These photos are all from Serra da Estrela, Portugal’s peaks (on the mainland), taken February last year. Our timing happened to be just after a large snowfall, and we were greeted by high walls of white that day at around 1,900m.

For more Serra da Estrela photos, have a look through the album.

February 16, 2014
Album: Serra da Estrela, Portugal

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