Where: Sintra, Portugal
When: August 21 - 22, 2012
With: Dave
Heading south towards Lisbon, we made a slight detour west towards the water for the tiny hill-top village of Sintra. This beautiful little piece of land has been sought out for centuries, first as the ideal look out for Moorish sentries protecting their land from invaders (top left) and then as a seaside home for the royal family (top right).
Approaching the village at the base of the hill, we drove our car up through narrow cobblestone streets, dodging tourists, in search of our hotel. It was important to get the directions right because the road was one-way...if we missed a turn, we'd need to go around the whole mountain and start again. Luckily, we made it in one try. We stayed in a beautiful old bed and breakfast that had stunning views of the landscape around the town.
After dropping off our bags, we set out into town to start exploring. This required an extremely steep incline uphill that made our shins ache and convinced us that we could eat whatever we wanted for dinner.
The first stop we made was at the National Palace, where its double cone chimneys make it an iconic sight in the old part of town.
Inside the 14th century palace, each room had a unique story. One king had the ceiling of a room painted with his daughter's favorite animal, the swan, because he missed her so much after she had been married off to a Belgian prince. Another king had the ceiling of a room painted with magpies after he'd been caught kissing a lady that wasn't his wife and his court wouldn't stop gossiping about it.
A lot of the rooms had Moorish tiling along the walls in the shape of ears of corn. This was meant to represent Portugal's wealth and prosperity after the discovery of America.
The grandest room in the palace was the Stag Room. It was a big octagonal room with windows on every wall that arched up high over your head in a big dome of gold gilded artwork. The ceiling was decorated to commemorate all the noble families that supported the king. All the crests of Portuguese nobility are included, save for one. There is one blank panel in the room, and it was meant as a slight to one family that had attempted to stage a revolt.
One of the most unique rooms in the palace is the one you can see so easily from the outside: the kitchen, with its two giant chimneys. The design of the chimneys was meant to vacuum suck the smoke and heat out of the room. This would be very necessary when using the spit that roasts an entire cow.
After the palace, we set off through town and up yet another hill to find the Quinta da Regaleira, an old mansion built in 1912 that is surrounded by an extremely eclectic garden.
When we could tear ourselves away from exploring the gardens, we ventured inside the mansion. The rooms were still decorated very similarly to how they would have been back in the day, with photographs displaying how the room would have been laid out. My favorite room in the house was the library with mirrored floors.
Once we were gardened out, we started heading back into town. Things had become noticeably less hectic as the day trippers were starting to make their way back to Lisbon. We were able to just appreciate the sleepy, narrow roads of the village.
The owner of our hotel recommended an authentic restaurant for dinner that was a bit out of the main center of town. We had to walk a bit to get there, but the pathway was beautiful, lined with trees, artwork, and gorgeous views all along the edges of the mountain.
The restaurant was pretty good. We had an authentic meal of seafood stew and house wine. Night had fallen, and we started to make our way back to old town under the moon, with the silhouette of the palace in the distance.
We headed back to the hotel (downhill this time, thankfully, after my glass of wine). We sat up for a bit longer with a glass of wine on our balcony, looking up at Pena Palace on the hill top, shrouded in fog.
Walking around this palace, you really felt like Disney characters were going to pop out at any moment signing autographs.
Of all the architectural elements of this castle, the most predominant had a very distinct Portuguese/Moorish influence, with archways, domes and tiles all over the place.
The views of the Moorish castle that shares the hilltop with the palace were beautiful from this point, though it was so windy, we thought we'd be blown off the edge.
Plus you also get a great view of Pena Palace (it was crazy to think we walked here from there -we got our workout in for the day, more port please.)
We walked all the way up one side of the walls and then down to the other side, just like Moorish scouts, making sure that no one was mounting an invasion.
After feeling perfectly safe that no one was invading, we thought it was time to descend again and head back to town. For such a small mountaintop and village, there were a lot of really cool things to see here.
When: August 21 - 22, 2012
With: Dave
Heading south towards Lisbon, we made a slight detour west towards the water for the tiny hill-top village of Sintra. This beautiful little piece of land has been sought out for centuries, first as the ideal look out for Moorish sentries protecting their land from invaders (top left) and then as a seaside home for the royal family (top right).
Approaching the village at the base of the hill, we drove our car up through narrow cobblestone streets, dodging tourists, in search of our hotel. It was important to get the directions right because the road was one-way...if we missed a turn, we'd need to go around the whole mountain and start again. Luckily, we made it in one try. We stayed in a beautiful old bed and breakfast that had stunning views of the landscape around the town.
After dropping off our bags, we set out into town to start exploring. This required an extremely steep incline uphill that made our shins ache and convinced us that we could eat whatever we wanted for dinner.
The first stop we made was at the National Palace, where its double cone chimneys make it an iconic sight in the old part of town.
Inside the 14th century palace, each room had a unique story. One king had the ceiling of a room painted with his daughter's favorite animal, the swan, because he missed her so much after she had been married off to a Belgian prince. Another king had the ceiling of a room painted with magpies after he'd been caught kissing a lady that wasn't his wife and his court wouldn't stop gossiping about it.
A lot of the rooms had Moorish tiling along the walls in the shape of ears of corn. This was meant to represent Portugal's wealth and prosperity after the discovery of America.
The grandest room in the palace was the Stag Room. It was a big octagonal room with windows on every wall that arched up high over your head in a big dome of gold gilded artwork. The ceiling was decorated to commemorate all the noble families that supported the king. All the crests of Portuguese nobility are included, save for one. There is one blank panel in the room, and it was meant as a slight to one family that had attempted to stage a revolt.
One of the most unique rooms in the palace is the one you can see so easily from the outside: the kitchen, with its two giant chimneys. The design of the chimneys was meant to vacuum suck the smoke and heat out of the room. This would be very necessary when using the spit that roasts an entire cow.
After the palace, we set off through town and up yet another hill to find the Quinta da Regaleira, an old mansion built in 1912 that is surrounded by an extremely eclectic garden.
The gardens goes up the side of a hill, with towers, turrets, and tunnels connecting the tiered layers of trees and flowers in a giant maze.
In the center of the garden, there was a waterfall and pond, with small stones that connected the hidden tunnels underneath and arched bridges over top.
The tunnels connected to this tall underground tower with a winding staircase that took you to the top of the gardens.
When we could tear ourselves away from exploring the gardens, we ventured inside the mansion. The rooms were still decorated very similarly to how they would have been back in the day, with photographs displaying how the room would have been laid out. My favorite room in the house was the library with mirrored floors.
Once we were gardened out, we started heading back into town. Things had become noticeably less hectic as the day trippers were starting to make their way back to Lisbon. We were able to just appreciate the sleepy, narrow roads of the village.
The restaurant was pretty good. We had an authentic meal of seafood stew and house wine. Night had fallen, and we started to make our way back to old town under the moon, with the silhouette of the palace in the distance.
The restaurants that had been overflowing with people just a few hours earlier were now completely empty. We took advantage of the quiet night, and settled in for one more glass of port.
We headed back to the hotel (downhill this time, thankfully, after my glass of wine). We sat up for a bit longer with a glass of wine on our balcony, looking up at Pena Palace on the hill top, shrouded in fog.
The next morning, we got up early to make the journey all the way to the top of the hill to explore Pena Palace and the Moorish castle.
The first stop was the palace. Pena Palace was built in the 19th century by German-born Prince Ferdinand. Ferdinand had a very romantic idea of what his castle should look like, and decided to combine several architectural elements to create a whimsical pastel fairyland on top of the hill overlooking the sea.
Walking around this palace, you really felt like Disney characters were going to pop out at any moment signing autographs.
Of all the architectural elements of this castle, the most predominant had a very distinct Portuguese/Moorish influence, with archways, domes and tiles all over the place.
After exploring the inside of the palace, we decided to explore the grounds. Surrounding Pena Palace is another large garden. However, these gardens seemed less garden-like and more forest, with lots of overgrown trees and windy pathways.
At this point, we'd had our fill of gardens and started the descent down the hill towards the Moorish Castle. Built in the 8th century, it was pretty crazy how much of it remains in tact.
As you approach the castle, archaeological sites and old walls surround you. This place is still be excavated and the preservation of the hilltop is still in full swing. So rare to visit a place that isn't done yet.
The views from the top of this castle are stunning.
Plus you also get a great view of Pena Palace (it was crazy to think we walked here from there -we got our workout in for the day, more port please.)
We walked all the way up one side of the walls and then down to the other side, just like Moorish scouts, making sure that no one was mounting an invasion.
Up the other side of the wall, with Pena Palace in the distance.
A lot of walking and climbing.
At the top
After feeling perfectly safe that no one was invading, we thought it was time to descend again and head back to town. For such a small mountaintop and village, there were a lot of really cool things to see here.
Next stop, Lisbon!
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