Sintra Castles and Palaces

Sintra, Portugal

I've recovered from the brutal trip over ther Atlantic enough to awake before dawn..and put my boots on...and walk on down the hall...and brave the cold wind to try to take a picture of the sunrise over the river Tagus. Over 3 million people live in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area. That's the 11th most populous city in Europe. Over 27% of all the Portuguese live here.

I figure out how to but train tickets before Mrs. Phred awakens from her dreams..

We board the train and head for Sintra.  In 1809 Lord Byron wrote "I must just observe that the village of Cintra in Estremadura is the most beautiful in the world."

First we visit the Quinta da Regaleira. It's a collection of gardens, grottos, statues, chapels and  a flighty 19th  century mansion built by a rich capitalist....

Before lunch we hit the Palacio National de Sintra. It's a bit of a disappointment as palaces go.

Up on the hill is a 9th century huge fortress built by the Moors during the dark ages. The name of this one is the Castelo Dos Mouros. We take bus number 234 to get to the hilltop castles.They found a necropolis here and a bunch of bodies...

This is the view looking down at the Palacio National de Sintra from the Moorish fortifications.

The highlight of the day is the Palacia Da Pena. The pictures I took don't begin to do it justice. After the Republican Revolution of 1910 it was classified as a national monument and transformed into a museum. The last queen of Portugal, Queen Amélia, spent her last night at the palace before leaving the country in exile.