Fairy Tales Can Come True

 Another hot and sunny morning and like the nobility of old we were heading for the hills. Sintra, where the rich and famous of the 18th and 19th centuries had their summer homes, is about a 45 minute drive outside of Lisbon.

The alarm (what? on vacation?) woke us up at 7:00 and after our breakfast we made our way to meet our driver at the Hard Rock Cafe, no less - this is a modern city too. Along with 3 other couples we boarded our luxury Mercedes van for the drive into the neighbouring hills. 

Our driver, Carlos, entertained us en route with a history lesson on the kings of Portugal. The last king was a distant cousin of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria - funny how these royal bloodlines all mix together.

While there are other manor homes and small castles in the vicinity, our destination was the Palacio da Pena which is perched like a colourful jewel at the top of the tallest hill and looks like every little girl's dream of a palace fit for a fairy tale princess. My granddaughter Nora would have been enthralled.

A thrilling drive up the narrow, steep and winding road brought us from the valley up to the palace gardens and into a small parking lot, whereupon Carlos asked if anyone had asthma or knee problems, for we were walking uphill the rest of the way! Eek. Thankfully it was a short climb.

A former monastery, the palace was purchased and expanded by successive monarchs and now stands out brilliantly from the surrounding forest. Coloured bright yellow and red with cone-shaped chimneys, crenellated walls and a striking clock tower, the palace is a mix of styles from the Moorish period through to the Romantic era. Inside, the lavishly decorated interior contains airy courtyards, beautifully refurbished bedrooms, and on the walls some of the oldest examples of Portugal's iconic geometric tiles, or azulejos. In some rooms the tiles cover all four walls and the ceiling and have retained their original bright colours. 

It was a lovely visit, and by the time we left the line to get in was snaking a good way down to the gardens.

Descending from the palace we stopped in the small town of Sintra with its by now familiar narrow and hilly cobbled streets. These were too full of souvenir shops and tourists for our taste and at the top of a set of stairs we found a small terrace bar with views out over the mountainside to wait until it was time to rejoin our group.

Carlos then drove us down more narrow winding roads to a countryside restaurant serving regional Portuguese food and it did not disappoint. We feasted on fresh grilled seabass and local wine and all too soon it was time to move on.

Carlos then drove us to "the end of the world", or rather the extreme western end of mainland Europe at Cabo da Roca. Straight ahead to Newfoundland! 

Final stop: the modern and busy coastal town of Cascais, which seems to cater to ex-pat Brits and others. Here were a picturesque harbour and some nice streets for strolling but again, too busy for us, so we treated ourselves to gelato and sat watching the little boats in the harbour till it was time to pile back into the van. It was a very sleepy group that returned to Lisbon after a satisfying day out. 

Tomorrow we will pick up our rental car for our drive to the Algarve.