Valley of the almond trees

In January / February when the almond trees are in bloom, the valley and its surroundings turn completely white. There is a nice legend about how the almond trees ended up in the Algarve: Once upon a time ... there was a beautiful Norwegian princess who had just married a handsome rich Moorish king. They loved each other very much and lived in the beautiful Algarve (then Al-Gharb). Despite a land full of birdsong and blooming flowers, the Norwegian princess was very sad. She got homesick for her homeland and especially missed the snow. Her grief also hurt the Moorish king. One day, when the princess was looking with tearful eyes from the castle windows over the green hills and the blue ocean to a glimmer of white, the enamored king could not bear it anymore. A solution had to be found! The king also thought back to his homeland and thus to the white blossom of the almond trees. He had a great idea! He had thousands of almond trees transferred to the Algarve, where they were planted around the castle. The princess was now so sad that she no longer wanted to look outside and kept the shutters closed for ever. But there on that beautiful day in February when all the almond trees were in full bloom, the king ordered that all the shutters of the castle should be open again. When, after the king's insistence, the princess finally looked outside, she did not know what she saw. The fields were white everywhere, just as if it had just snowed. And of course the princess and king lived happily ever after among the almond trees.

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