We took the train from Braga to Sintra via Lisbon's Oriente station, which took about four hours in total, so we arrived in Sintra mid-afternoon on Friday. Our hotel was only 650 meters from the train station, but somehow Google Maps thought it would be fun to take a short cut. I've noticed Google Maps doesn't seem to take into account hills when plotting out pedestrian routes and this was no exception. It took us down some narrow streets, at the bottom of which it then directed us to climb some stairs. And climb. And climb. All while carrying our luggage of course.
We stayed at the Sintra Boutique Hotel which was fine but nothing spectacular, though our room did have a view of the Palacio Nacional de Sintra, which was pretty much right across the street. The also brought a lot of people into the area, but the room was surprisingly quiet when the windows were closed. It also had the bonus (as compared to the wine barrels and the pousada) of having a coffee/espresso machine in the room, which was immediately put to use by Kimberley. The helpful woman at the front desk of the hotel recommended that, given that we were starting a weekend when the town is overrun with tourists, that we knock off the National Palace and another place I had on my list -- Quinta da Regaleira -- that afternoon and then hit Palacio Nacional da Pena first thing in the morning as the lines can get quite lengthy.
As was the case with much of the trip, with gorgeous weather outside and since we have already between the two of us seen many castles and palaces, we didn't elect to wait in line to tour the National Palace. Instead, we just took a few pics from the outside and headed on. What's most notable about the National Palace are the two white peaks rising out of the building side-by-side, which are actually twin chimneys in the kitchen.
It will surprise no one who has read the blogs so far (or who has toured Portugal) that the road leading to the Quinta da Regaleira was steep and windy. And once inside, there were even more hills and stairs. The whole thing seemed to be a series of terraced gardens and overlooks with castle-like points interspersed throughout, each of which had a circular staircase inside taking you up to the next level of the terraces.
There were also small ponds/lakes, caves and grottos. Kind of fascinating. And a good leg workout. One of the articles on Sintra or maybe it was a guide book noted that it was like a fairyland or a place where you would expect a hobbit to appear at any time and I couldn't agree more.
The next morning we took the advice to arrive at the Pena Palace early to be there when the doors opened at 9:30. There was a bus that left pretty much in front of our hotel at 9:15 but the helpful receptionist at the hotel had also noted that you could taken an Uber (which she charmingly pronounced YOU-bur), so we tried that out. We watched the driver's approach to us on the app with a bit of apprehension as he seemed to be taking a very circuitous route to get to the hotel. We learned later that there are a bunch of one-way streets in the area. So after he picked us up, we ended up doubling back and coming nearly to the hotel again as we ascended. And ascended. And ascended. Very narrow, winding roads and I am glad we didn't think this would have made a good hike! We arrived at the entrance around 9:15 and the line was already really backed up. Kimberley waited in entry line while I went up to get in a different line for tickets. There was a regular ticket booth, but also a series of three kiosks you could use. Except two of the three kiosks were non-functional. The line was really slow and Kimberley was nearly to the gate when I finally got my shot at the kiosk only to discover (after a failed attempt) that it would only take debit cards or a credit card with a PIN. Doh! Fortunately I actually did have my debit card with me and it worked like a charm.
Once inside, there was a long -- you guessed it -- steep road up to the palace. You could pay EUR 3 per person for a bus transfer to the top, but what's the fun in that (especially if you're a tight-fisted accountant and you're already nearly used to all the hill climbing)? So up we went. And I think walking up made for a better experience as you caught glimpses of the palace through the trees in certain spots.
It really is quite a stunner, particularly with the bold colors and all of the interesting details. They also had a variety of tiles, both flat and three-dimensional and one of the latter seemed to be some type of war scene or coat of arms. And there were amazing views of the area extending to the sea.
After we had a coffee at the cafe, we headed out on the trails through the surrounding woods, including up to the High Cross -- a cross at the highest point of the property, as the name might suggest.
One the way down, we took a sort of off-road trail to try to get closer to a stone figure we saw from the palace but didn't seem to be on the regular trails. We found it, but on the descent back to the regular trail, I wound up skidding on loose dirt and falling on a combination of my rear and my right leg that was bent fully back -- the right way, to be clear, but not a position where all of your body weight should be on the joint in that position. Ummm.... Was able to get up but was in excruciating pain. And, oh yeah, still had to hobble down the hills on cobblestone paths. They were less than charming on the way down in my state. I made it, though, and was able to also hobble with suitcase back to the train station (not the scenic route with stairs this time) and we headed to Lisbon for our final night.
The only thing I wish we had had time to see in Sintra was Castelo dos Mouros which, as its name suggests, is a moorish castle. I had read about it and thought it would be interesting but the receptionist had noted that there wasn't much to see and you could see it from Pena Palace. Um, maybe we could have seen it from a particular view if we had done the tour of the Pena Palace, but otherwise didn't see it other than from the city center where you could see it high on the hills, but not close enough to get a good picture.
