Portugal 2
Since Leslie and I had an extra day in Portugal, we decided to take a day trip to Sintra, a small town about an hour's train ride from Lisbon, on Friday, April 22. Sintra was absolutely gorgeous; it's located up in the mountains, and the lush, semi-tropical vegetation of Portugal encroaches on everything there. The city's location and beauty made it both a strategic vantage point for surveying the surrounding countryside and a favorite vacation spot for Portuguese kings throughout the centuries. Today tourists flock to see the numerous churches, several palaces, and old Moorish castle which are located here.
When Leslie and I first arrived, it was raining, so we hiked uphill to the center of town and had some lunch in a cafe while we waited out the weather. Our fist stop after the rain let up a bit was the Palacio Nacional de Sintra, located right in the center of town. Its most impressive features were the ornate tile work which decorated nearly all of its rooms and the spectacular views from its windows of the mountainside below. Another interesting thing about this palace is that the tour actually takes visitors though the kitchen; I'd never seen the kitchen during a palace tour before. After that tour, Leslie and I walked by the clock tower; it originally dated back to the 15th Century but was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1755. Next we got on board the town's special tourist bus, which takes visitors around to see the attractions located a bit farther from the center.
Our first stop was the Castelo dos Mouros, the Moorish castle, built by the Arabs in the 8th Century directly on top of the mountain. It fell definitively to the first Portuguese king in 1147. Today huge boulders line the path to the the castle, and vegetation grows wild all over it. Much of the castle is in ruins, but the outer, crenelated walls still stand, and visitors are allowed to climb the steps to the tops of the ancient towers. The towers are so high up that if you're there when it's cloudy, the swirling white mist of the clouds block everything from your vision but the castle itself and the person (people) accompanying you on your climb. It creates the sensation that you've slipped into some sort of time warp and are cut off completely from the modern world. If, on the other hand, you're there on a clear day, you can see the countryside stretching out below you for miles.
The touristy bus also went to the Palacio Nacional da Pena, which we only saw from a distance, and the Palacio Nacional de Queluz, which we didn't see at all. We did walk by the Parque da Pena (Pena Park), which had some fun spiraling hedges, and a Moorish fountain, built in the Moorish style in 1922.
After we made it back to Lisbon, we walked through the Bairro Alto to see the Elevador de Santa Justa, an ornate elevator which leads up to the funicular. Numerous cities (including Lyon) have funiculars, which are kind of like metros/subways but travel above ground and generally in a diagonal direction as they take passengers up and down a hill. That evening we had dinner in a nice restaurant, then returned to the bars we'd seen near our hostel the night before. Unfortunately, no one was out, despite the fact that it was a Friday, so going out in Portugal was a bust for the second night in a row. At least the bars we visited on our second night had fun decor (One was done up in a retro 70's motif.), so we didn't feel as though we were eating lunch at sumer camp.
On Saturday, Our last day in Portugal, we decided to go back out to the beach, so once again we got on the silver train that travels up and down the Portuguese coast near Lisbon. This time, we stopped on our way to Cascais in Belem, another suburb situated nearer to the capital. There we visited the Mosteiro do Jeronimos (a monastery), and saw the Torre (Tower) de Belem. By the time we made it to the beach, it was rather chilly and very cloudy, but we were determined, so we laid out reading for about an hour while shivering under our jackets. Just as we decided to give up and began gathering up our things, the rain which had been threatening all afternoon started falling in sheets. We were completely soaked by the time we found a small cafe in which to wait out the storm.
That evening we took our train back to Madrid. It was mainly uneventful. Once again, we had seats in a regular car, but this time I got the window and Leslie slept in the luggage rack.
When Leslie and I first arrived, it was raining, so we hiked uphill to the center of town and had some lunch in a cafe while we waited out the weather. Our fist stop after the rain let up a bit was the Palacio Nacional de Sintra, located right in the center of town. Its most impressive features were the ornate tile work which decorated nearly all of its rooms and the spectacular views from its windows of the mountainside below. Another interesting thing about this palace is that the tour actually takes visitors though the kitchen; I'd never seen the kitchen during a palace tour before. After that tour, Leslie and I walked by the clock tower; it originally dated back to the 15th Century but was rebuilt after an earthquake in 1755. Next we got on board the town's special tourist bus, which takes visitors around to see the attractions located a bit farther from the center.
Our first stop was the Castelo dos Mouros, the Moorish castle, built by the Arabs in the 8th Century directly on top of the mountain. It fell definitively to the first Portuguese king in 1147. Today huge boulders line the path to the the castle, and vegetation grows wild all over it. Much of the castle is in ruins, but the outer, crenelated walls still stand, and visitors are allowed to climb the steps to the tops of the ancient towers. The towers are so high up that if you're there when it's cloudy, the swirling white mist of the clouds block everything from your vision but the castle itself and the person (people) accompanying you on your climb. It creates the sensation that you've slipped into some sort of time warp and are cut off completely from the modern world. If, on the other hand, you're there on a clear day, you can see the countryside stretching out below you for miles.
The touristy bus also went to the Palacio Nacional da Pena, which we only saw from a distance, and the Palacio Nacional de Queluz, which we didn't see at all. We did walk by the Parque da Pena (Pena Park), which had some fun spiraling hedges, and a Moorish fountain, built in the Moorish style in 1922.
After we made it back to Lisbon, we walked through the Bairro Alto to see the Elevador de Santa Justa, an ornate elevator which leads up to the funicular. Numerous cities (including Lyon) have funiculars, which are kind of like metros/subways but travel above ground and generally in a diagonal direction as they take passengers up and down a hill. That evening we had dinner in a nice restaurant, then returned to the bars we'd seen near our hostel the night before. Unfortunately, no one was out, despite the fact that it was a Friday, so going out in Portugal was a bust for the second night in a row. At least the bars we visited on our second night had fun decor (One was done up in a retro 70's motif.), so we didn't feel as though we were eating lunch at sumer camp.
On Saturday, Our last day in Portugal, we decided to go back out to the beach, so once again we got on the silver train that travels up and down the Portuguese coast near Lisbon. This time, we stopped on our way to Cascais in Belem, another suburb situated nearer to the capital. There we visited the Mosteiro do Jeronimos (a monastery), and saw the Torre (Tower) de Belem. By the time we made it to the beach, it was rather chilly and very cloudy, but we were determined, so we laid out reading for about an hour while shivering under our jackets. Just as we decided to give up and began gathering up our things, the rain which had been threatening all afternoon started falling in sheets. We were completely soaked by the time we found a small cafe in which to wait out the storm.
That evening we took our train back to Madrid. It was mainly uneventful. Once again, we had seats in a regular car, but this time I got the window and Leslie slept in the luggage rack.