The city of Sintra, Portugal was our last day-trip of our holiday. This destination was recommended by my friends, Amy and Jill, and a random American man and his enthusiastic wife that we met in a restaurant in Seville.
Sintra is just a quick 40-minute train ride away from Lisbon. It is the home of several national palaces, a Moorish castle, and various other palaces. The majority of the buildings were built in the 19th century, and host a variety of architectural styles. Sintra has become a UNESCO World Heritage Site. And when you get a load of these pictures, you will understand why.
From the train, we got our first glimpse of the Moorish Castle, high on the hilltop above the city of Sintra. Turns out I actually didn't get a picture of our first glimpse of the castle, but the photo above does the trick and capturing our awe. Except in this photo we are above the castle... When we arrived on the train, we were below the castle. First we had to hike up the hill. I'll save you the suspense... Our day in Sintra was a 25,000 step day, about 16km of walking.
Castle of the Moors.
The Castle of the Moors was beautiful. The only thing that would have made it better was if more of the castle inside the walls had been left intact, or had been recovered. The outside walls are the most prominent remaining structures of the castle, and there were a few small artifacts left in a limited museum-like display room.
It was hella windy in Sintra. This was probably the coldest day of the trip (and by cold, I mean it was 19 degrees... so not too shabby!), but the windy made it a bit uncomfortable. This was the first time that I brought a jacket with me and actually used it!
Tom and I, windblown.
As we made our way around the walls, we were treated to some nice views of the city. We also had some nice views of the ocean in the opposite direction, and a National Park.
The very top of the Moorish Castle also provided us with a vantage point of our next stop, the Pena National Palace. The Pena National Palace was the summer residence of the Portuguese monarchs during the 18th - 19th century. From a distance, it was a very intriguing looking place. Bright colours, interesting architecture...
Pena National Palace.
Up close was another story... Up close, I felt like I was passing through the gates of Disneyland. Nothing like bright red, yellow and blue paint to make a place feel like the ultimate tourist attraction.
Gates of Pena National Palace.
Tom and I made a full circuit around the palace, peeking in nooks and crannies, and holding on to railings in the gusting wind.
We toured through the to royal residence where kings once slept! And trailed behind an English tour guide. I'm not sure if the tour guide worked for the palace, or if she was giving a tour to a specific group, but we fully took advantage of her English monologue.
Plaster ceiling in the palace.
One of the things that surprised Tom and I in the palace was there seemed to be a good deal of effort that was put into making some of the rooms appear more splendid than they actually were. For example, there was a room that contained fake wood paneling. The walls were literally painted to look like wood paneling. Or, there was another room that where the walls were painted with a series of columns and arches, in an attempt to make the room appear larger than in actually was. This was the main difference between the palaces we saw in Spain, and what we saw in Portugal. In Spain, the palace and adjoining rooms WERE huge. In Portugal, there seemed like there was a concerted effort to make rooms APPEAR huge.
Nonetheless, it was still an interesting visit. One of the most interesting tidbits we picked up is that after the passing of King Ferdinand in 1885, the ownership of Pena Palace passed to his second wife Elisa Hensler. There was an uproar about the ownership, and in 1889, the property was purchased by the Portuguese state. At least, that is the story we eavesdropped out of the English tour guide. Wikipedia says that Elisa abandoned Sintra to move in with her daughter. The first story is so much more dramatic!
A backwards glance at the palace.
On our way out of the palace we headed into the Pena Park behind the palace. There was a series of small lakes (ponds) where we watched some black and white swans patrolling the perimeter.
A swan patrolling a pond outside Pena Palace.
All in all, an easy day trip, and some unique sights. Who doesn't love castles and palaces!?
Next post will be my last on our trip: Final Stop, Lisbon.
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