I know, you're asking...."what, Portugal again?" Yes, I'm always behind on our travel posts it seems.
I just needed to do this last COMC (Clearing Out the Memory Card) post to finish up our trip to Portugal. (Believe it or not, I still have stuff on Belgium and Japan yet to finish) Instead of staying in Lisbon proper on our return trip from Rome, we took the train into Rossio Station and headed out for the 40 minute trip to Sintra, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
We spent our last two nights in this wonderfully atmospheric town. And while our experience with the cuisine wasn't that great, the town is beautiful.
From what we saw on our walk from the train station......
To the view from our hotel room......
To wandering the side streets......
Walking though the little streets in search of a snack or a meal was fun. everything just seemed to be tourist oriented food; even what was recommended by our hotel as being "really Portuguese".
To be perfectly honest, I kind of knew this. But I wanted the Missus to really enjoy Sintra after all the day-trippers had left, when the town was at its romantic best. Which meant staying in the town. It was a nice little break before our return.
Our dinner the first night was at Tacho Real. It was nice, but really nothing special.
Though walking around Sintra after the tourists are gone was wonderful.
The next morning we awoke and had a hefty breakfast and headed on our way.
Up the hill. Where the avenue became a smaller street......
Which gave way to a gate (where admission is paid), then trails, past an ancient Moorish Castle......
And finally to our destination; Pena National Palace.
Originally the site of a monastery, Ferdinand II commissioned the building of a Palace in the Romanticist style.
It is one of those places that is vividly unforgettable.
From the colors, to the restored rooms, to the view.
And yet, you never quite get the romantic beauty of it all until you climb up the neighboring hill.
It's quite an easy task....to let your mind wander; imagining the comings and goings, the intrigue, the stories that this structure could tell. Of how Amelia, the last Queen of Portugal, spent her last night before being sent into exile at the Palace.
The views are stunning and there are many trails on the park grounds.
We were glad we visited and stayed. We got to visit the palace and the park grounds before the buses of tour groups arrived.
We spent our last evening in Portugal walking around Sintra, picking out a little Wine Bar/Tapas place off the usual tourist trail.
A couple of glasses of wine, some small bites....it was a nice relaxed way to spend our last night....
We had started this trip with a pastel de nata and a pork sandwich, so it was probably appropriate to just end it with a low-keyed and laid back meal.
Thanks for reading!
all those tiny side streets sound fun to explore!
Posted by: kat | Saturday, 04 July 2015 at 06:45 PM
It was Kat!
Posted by: Kirk | Saturday, 04 July 2015 at 08:32 PM
Beautiful photos, especially of the old castles.
Posted by: caninecologne | Monday, 06 July 2015 at 10:54 AM
Hi CC - Sintra is quite stunning!
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 06 July 2015 at 11:48 AM
Great. Never heard of Sintra before. Beautiful pics.
Posted by: Ed (from Yuma) | Monday, 06 July 2015 at 01:32 PM
Sintra is quite beautiful Ed! Makes for some pretty nice photos.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 06 July 2015 at 04:15 PM
I've always wanted to go to Sintra, it seems like such a beautiful ancient city surrounded by moss and green forest. Pictures of the palace you went to and Quinta da Regaleira always seem so surreal.
Also clicked on the video and wow, as a Brazilian Portuguese accents from Portugal are the craziest. It's like speaking Portuguese but your mouth isn't opening all the way. I'm sure we sound equally odd to them.
Posted by: J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats | Monday, 06 July 2015 at 04:30 PM
Hi JS - For some reason, it seemed like Brazilian Portuguese was much more "melodic"....you could tell the difference; almost like two different languages.
Posted by: Kirk | Monday, 06 July 2015 at 05:45 PM
It really is. In a related story I was in a fabric store with my Mom somewhere in Toronto and two older ladies were speaking quite fast. I was fascinated as these two European looking ladies were speaking fluent Mandarin! I pointed it out to my Mom and she listened in on it and arched an eyebrow "that's not Chinese". I listened again and realized she was right "True I think it sounds like Russian now". My mom practically thwacked me over the head: "It's PORTUGUESE. Your native language. They are Portuguese"
oops.
Posted by: J.S. @ Sun Diego Eats | Wednesday, 08 July 2015 at 01:49 PM
That's really funny JS! The Missus thought it was Russian too the fist time She heard it.....
Posted by: Kirk | Wednesday, 08 July 2015 at 02:34 PM