Sintra:

Sintra.

In doing our homework, we had read that Sintra was a great day trip, and while this information is correct, it’s actually so great that it deserves a night or two.

We started with a trip to our favorite sandwich place, not because we read anything bad about lunch in Sintra, but because we really loved those sandwiches. 

The train ride is only 30 minutes, so we left early and planned on spending the whole day there. Since we only had one day, we decided to tackle the Pena Palace first.

The Pena National Palace

The first thing we noticed about this palace was the colors. It’s just gorgeous. We took the little shuttle bus from the train station, and passed by the Moorish Castle on the way. The shuttle dropped us off at the bottom of the hill, so we had to walk the grounds a bit to make it up to the palace. The palace was originally a monastery, but was destroyed in a huge earthquake in the 18th century. It was left in ruins for quite some time until it and all its grounds, was acquired and converted into the summer palace for the Portuguese royalty. The palace boasts a large variety of styles, along with the many colors and materials.

Tiles

There are brightly colored tiles, mosaics, weird sculptures, stained-glass, and all sorts of fun architecture. The inside of the palace is equally beautiful. I loved the details, especially the flower chandelier.  From the top of Pena palace, we were able to get some photos of the Moorish castle on the neighboring hilltop. We wanted to walk the grounds to the Cruz Alta. On the way there, we took pictures of hidden statues, and once at the top, we were able to view all of Sintra, including the palace. We took lots, and lots of pictures, and had ourselves a little picnic.

Cruz Alta

I was in search of a few other places, so I led Javier on a wild goose chase. Eventually, we found the places I was looking for, one of which included a somewhat creepy image of Christ that was painted on the wall of a grotto. It is a bit dark inside, so it’s difficult to make out the image, but once I shined my light on it…there is was…a little creepy. Afterward, we searched, and found, a few more points of interest, and by then realized that we had, in fact, spent the entire day at the palace. As we made our way to the exit, we walked by gardens and lakes. We stopped to take pictures of black geese with red bills, and gave directions to a little lost tourist. We had no time to see anything else, and since I really wanted to see this old estate, we decided to return the next day. 

Bacterial infections and warts Hyperhidrosis can contribute to bacterial infections, especially around hair follicles or between http://deeprootsmag.org/2013/06/18/chaotic-angelic-many-other-fine-things/ order cheap viagra your toes. Consult generico viagra on line a qualified ayurvedic physician before using this Sildenafil tablet version. Another name for erectile dysfunction is impotency. cheap viagra in uk The most effective impotence cures include the following. browse for info generic viagra – This is a drug that is used by many impotence patients and is much stronger than most of the NXS rifle scopes.

Sintra

Again, we started our adventure with a little stop at our favorite sandwich place. This time, we didn’t need to take the shuttle. We opted to walk to our destination. We took a route through the middle of town. As we were walking through the little alleys, it seemed like we were hitting a dead end. There was a sign pointing to the street we were looking for, but it looked like a shop at the end, not a through street. Well, the shop is the passage from one street to the other. You literally enter the shop from one side, and exit the other. Of course, the shop owner has maximized on this, and peddles his cherry liqueur to passersby. Naturally, we stopped and for a euro were given cherry liqueur in a dark chocolate cup, and it was fantastic!

Quinta da Regaleira

We continued our journey through the cute town, and made our way to Quinta da Regaleira. The Quinta da Regaleira is a private estate. It has changed hands many times over the centuries, and at one point, was owned by a Japanese company. In the 1990’s, it was purchased by the city of Sintra, underwent extensive restoration, and was opened to the public in 1998. We started making our way to the house, and decided that we were hungry, so stopped at the outdoor eating area. A server came over to take our order. We told him that we were just looking for a place to sit and eat our lunch. He told us we had to buy something. We agreed to buy a drink. He then told us that we were not allowed to eat outside food at the estate. So, even if we bought something from them, we still wouldn’t be able to eat our food. Bummer. We had to exit the estate and eat lunch at the bus stop, all the while expecting someone to come up and tell us we couldn’t eat our sandwiches on the bus benches. We quickly inhaled our food and went back inside.

Waterfall

The inside of the house was not too impressive. Very little of it is decorated, and the alchemist lab at the top (which is probably the coolest part of the house) is closed to visitors. The grounds however, were amazing.

We started with the chapel, and made our way to the Regaleria Tower. After walking up and down the tower, we wandered over to the waterfall. At the waterfall, we took loads of pictures and saw people appearing and disappearing from the caves under the waterfall. We walked to Leda’s Cave, and from there learned that much of the estate is connected via underground tunnels, many of which you can still use today! No wonder these people were like little Houdinis! We followed the tunnel to the Initiation well. The Initiation well has a series of steps along the wall, that can take you from top to bottom. We entered the well via tunnel at mid-level. We made our way to the bottom, and found another tunnel.

Quinta da Regaleira

We decided to walk to the top, and stopped to take pictures along the way. The well smelled like earth; stone, dirt, and moss. As we ascended, we enjoyed the play of light and shadow in the well. Once at the top, we tried to take some selfies which included the bottom of the well. We sort of succeeded, but almost broke our backs and slipped backwards into the well in the process. Who knew selfies could be so dangerous? 

We barely scratched the surface of the grounds, and were already running out of time.We had another building we were hoping to get to, but realized that it was almost closing time for all the sites. Instead, we walked back to the train station, this time taking a different route, and made our way back home. 

Pena National Palace

We highly recommend a trip to Sintra. It’s kind of a magical little place. The town itself is very small and quaint. Definitely a huge change from the busy, loud, and yes, dirty streets of Lisbon. The place is so charming, and definitely our favorite part of Portugal. 

To see more pictures of Sintra, click HERE.