Lisbon - Day 4 - Sintra

 I think the main reason we chose to go to Portugal was because I saw a picture of Pena Palace in Sintra, which is located a easy 1 hour train ride from Lisbon. 

Tony and I got up early Sunday, had our breakfast, and walked to Rossio Train Station, which is a wonderful looking building in the heart of Lisbon.  Built in the ever present manueline style in the late 1800's, it is a beautiful facade.








Once inside the station, it is modern and convenient, though it would be nice if the automatic ticket machines could actually dispense tickets as opposed to only adding fares onto existing tickets.

We boarded the train for Sintra (one leaves every half hour it seems), and away we went.

 We arrived at Sintra Train Station (the last stop), and took the shuttle bus up to Pena Palace.  This was a good idea, as it was on the very top of he highest hill in the area. 









We walked the rest of the way up, and thereit was in all its romanticized colors.  It isn't an old palace, but much like Neuschwanstein in Germany, it is an 1800's rendition of what a fantasy castle might have been. 

 It is an outrageous mix of Moorish and Manueline styles. 

 Parts of it are covered in Portuguese tiles, while other parts are painted stucco.

Yet somehow this bizarre combination comes together and works to make the most unique palace I've seen so far in my travels.

There's even some sort of troll or fairy guarding the entrance to the main courtyard.

 They wouldn't allow us to shoot any pictures inside the palace, but to be honest, it wasn't as spectacular as the exterior.

 And the views from the palace were spectacular!












Thankfully the weather was excellent that day.

From Pena Palace, we walked the couple blocks over to the Moorish Castle.  This is a real ancient fortification that has been restored ongoingly since the 1800's.

It was fashionable then to have ruins on one's property, so I'm guessing that the builders of Pena Palace helped to reconstruct the Moorish Castle.

How authentic it actually is to the original castle, as it was fashionable to have romanticized ruins on your property in the 1800's, I don't know, but it is a wonderful structure to wander around.   

       

It reminded me a lot of a Portuguese Great China Wall.


















 It was a bit of a hike, but Tony and I climbed all the way to the very top of the castle.

 
As opposed to waiting and taking the shuttle bus, it was such a pleasant day, that we decided to walk all the way back down into town.  It was a beautiful walk through wooded forests.

When we got back into town, I convinced Tony to try Ginjha (the cherry liqueur), which they were serving in chocolate cups for a euro.  He actually said he liked it.

We then hiked over to see Quinta da Regaleira, a beautiful manor house on the edge of town.  It is another piece of Manueline architecture, and reminded me a lot of The Haunted Mansion.

The grounds are beautiful, and made for a nice stroll. 

There is a beautiful grotto complete with waterfalls, caves, and mock castles. 

The warm sun felt wonderful, so we paused at the small manor cafe and had a pleasant Bica (espresso) before catching the shuttle back to the train station. 

That evening we walked down to the road along the river and found a small hole in the wall restaurant.  It wasn't very busy, but after a busy day, we were in the mood for something low key.  We had a beer, grilled chorizo, and rotisserie chicken.  All of it was very affordable - under 20 euro.

We were walking back to our hotel and found a Port Tasting Room.  We'd wanted to try some port wine - we were in PORTugal afterall. 










We tried a Ruby, a Tawney, and a specialty Artisan Port,  made by people stomping it with their feet. 

Tony, of course loved the very expensive foot stomped port, but at over 170 euros a bottle, we weren't about to buy it.

Instead we bought the more affordable Tawney Port from the same manufacturer.  It was a very pleasant way to end a very busy day.

 That and a baked apple pastry. . .