Sintra, Portugal - Sept 2024
Participants: Tam & Kev
While staying
in Lisbon we took a day trip to Sintra.Now I'd never heard of
this place before we started our holiday planning, but it turned
out to be a really amazingly bonkers place. First things first,
it's a 40 minute train ride from Lisbon and I think the return
ticket cost less then 5 Euro each.
Sintra is a small town that has 5 incredible castles and
mansions. We only visited 2 and even then only walked around the
outside of them, but this took up our entire day as there's so
much ground to cover and so much to see. It was the home to
Portuguese royalty through the ages.
From the train station there is a hop on hop off bus that takes
you around the sights.
This is the Pena Palace. We spent the majority of our time looking around the outside of the palace and walking through the extensive gardens.
What a crazy place to visit. The Moorish inflence is obvious, but it looks a little like a medieval castle if Disney got their hands on it.
The sculpture under the window is somewhat frightening - made less so when a couple of young English men walked by and I heard one say to the other 'That's what you looked like sat on the loo this morning'. I can't vouch for the accuracy of this statement, but certainly understand the point he was trying to make!
Yep, pretty accurate I'd say.
As I said the grounds are extensive and we walked for 30 minutes or so before we came across this place. It's the chalet of the Countess of Edla. It's quite a romantic story as it was built for the second wife of Ferdinand II. Her name was Elise Hensler and she was an opera singer who was born in Switzerland, but lived in the United States for many years. Apparently the king fell madly in love with her, but they couldn't marry as she was a commoner and also had a daughter by an unknown father. That wasn't stopping old kingy though, they married in 1869 after he persuaded his cousin Ernest II to create a title for her and thus she became the Countess of Edla.
It looks like wood, but is actually brick covered in plaster and painted to look like wood. It was seriously damaged by fire in 1999 and restored and reopened in 2011. I guess that's why it looks so new.
The balconies, windows etc. are covered in cork.
The inside is just as impressive and we were the only people wandering round. I would imagine that not many people know it's there and the walk probably puts some off.
There are all sorts of quirky things in the gardens including this ... er .... whatever it is.
Back in town we stopped at this place for lunch.
We split a chowder in a bread bowl and a bacalhau a bras, which is salt cod, eggs and potato. Both were very nice.
It's a pretty little place with lots of small bars and restaurants.
This is Ginja. It's a sweet cherry liqueur and they sell it in many places. At this place you got a shot of it in a chocolate cup for 1 Euro.
This is the other palace we walked round.
The Moorish fort is up on the hill.
We had a great time in Sintra and it's definitely worth a visit. You would certainly need to stay for 2 or 3 days to see everything there is, but a day trip gives a flavour for the place.