Saturday March 29

Today, following more confusion with public transportation, we bought train tickets and headed out of Lisbon to go to Sintra, a small town northwest of Lisbon. According to Wikipedia, “Sintra refuses to be promoted to City Status, despite being the center of the second most populated municipality of Portugal.” Silly Sintra. It took about 45 minutes to get there, and right away we could see why everyone recommends taking a day to visit this small town. It looks like pages out of a fairytale book, in stark contrast to the very modern, loud Lisbon.

After arriving, we headed up to Pena National Palace. Dedicated to Our Lady of the Pena, the original structure up on the hill was a small monastery housing a maximum of just 18 monks, built during the 16th century under orders of King Manuel I. The monastery was badly damaged by lightning early in the 18th century and then was nearly devastated by the great earthquake of 1755. The beautiful little chapel escaped damage and still stands today.

Designed by German architect Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege between 1842 and 1854 – it was almost finished in 1842, but King Fernando and Queen Maria II intervened with very specific requests for decorations and symbols. The palace changed hands many times, always staying within the Portuguese royal family. The last royal to stay there was Queen Amélia, who spent her last night there before leaving the country in exile.

The palace is an incredible mix of styles, namely Neo-Gothic, Manueline, Islamic and Neo-Renaissance. There’s a gateway protected by a drawbridge, a clock tower, vault arches, Islamic arches, a cylindrical bastion decorated in the cathédrale style, the restored structure of the old monastery, a terrace with a sundial and a cannon that until recently was fired every day at noon, incredible stuccoes, walls and ceilings painted in trompe-l’oeil, an inner courtyard covered with hand-painted relief tiles, a crazy sea monster that guards the main facade, etc. Its main outer walls are painted as they were centuries ago: in daffodil yellow, strawberry pink and powder blue. This palace, along with Neuschwanstein Castle in Germany, inspired Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland. Photos of the many private rooms are not allowed, but the outside is quite something. The views from its terraces and patios aren’t bad either. And the gardens are beautiful too.

Yellow painted turret and blue tiled facade.

Incredibly detailed entranceway.

Close up of entranceway detail. Cool intertwined snakes.

Giant scary sea monster who guards the entrance.

Handmade tiles depicting one knight killing another.

Me, in another very tiny turret.

The view of Castelo dos Mouros, from the terrace of Pena.

After marveling at Pena for awhile, we headed back down into town and went to Quinta da Regaleira, a private mansion and its AMAZING gardens.

Quinta da Regaleira was built at the turn of the 20^th century and is the creation of private owner Antonio Augusto Carvalho Monteiro and scenographer-architect Luigi Manini. The palace has Manueline, Renaissance and Gothic influences, all of which make it spectacular. The private palace is beautiful, but more impressive are the enormously extensive gardens. Endless ponds, waterfalls, mossy banks, sprawling flowerbeds and grassy patches extend as far as we could see, and walking all through them would really take a day or so. The gardens are also filled with tiny wells, a beautiful little chapel and castle-like constructions that can be climbed and explored. Monteiro and Manini clearly had hyperactive imaginations.

Beautiful pond with a neverending web of tunnels and caves at its edges.

Mom and Dad on the other side of the pond, standing over part of the grotto.

Gorgeous tiny turret thing covered with moss.

Mom playing in one of the mini-castles.

Mom and me playing king of the castle.

A partial view of the outside of the palace itself, which is even more elaborate and particularly decorated than the gardens and grounds.
A view of the chapel from a short distance.


The chapel up close. So beautiful, inside and out.
The little archway visitors can walk through as they leave. Manueline style in every way.After leaving Quinta da Regaleira, we were exhausted so we sat down and had tea at a fancy little place.

Then it was a train back into town, dinner and much-needed sleep.