Sintra

We take the 40 minute train ride from Rossio station in Lisbon to Sintra taking Rick Steves' suggestion to leave early. We are amazed that it is only 5 euros round trip! We take the # 434 bus to the top of the mountain where the palace is. This fairytale castle was built by Prince Ferdinand, a cousin of King Ludwig who built Neuschwanstein. He hired a German architect to build a fantasy castle, mixing elements of German and Portuguese style. He ended up with a crazy Neo-fortified casserole of Gothic towers, Renaissance domes, Moorish minarets, Manueline carving, Disney playfulness, and an azulejo (tile) toilet for his wife. A self guided tour through the palace gives us a glimpse of life there. We have lunch at the palace cafeteria which has surprisingly good sandwiches. 

We walk downhill to the Moorish Castle where one can walk along the ramparts and get gorgeous views. The Castle is surrounded by a huge, beautiful park which has been designed in typical 1800s fashion with fake ruins and monuments scattered throughout.

We walk downhill to,the town of Sintra which has narrow, winding streets. It's a tourist place but charming with many little shops and restaurants. We see a place that serves ginjhas? the cherry liqueur  known I this region. For one euro, we get a taste of the liqueur in a little chocolate cup. It is very sweet so we like it. A gelato stop is also included in our walk downhill back to the train and return to Lisbon.

Our group is arriving for the bike trip. We have dinner with Jeannie and Frank, Jeanne and Bob, Sari and Jim, and Kathy, John, and Susan at Caso do Alentejo, the place we went when we first get here in the Moorish style building not far from the hotel. 

Philipp is arriving by plane tonight from Granada to accompany us on the bus to Élvas tomorrow. We are excited to meet him on the rooftop bar of the hotel after we finish dinner.  We visit and it is very good to see him.

                                         Peña Palace

                                                  Peña Palace

                This guy looks fierce!

                                   Part of Moorish Castle ruins

                                 View from ramparts of Moorish Castle