Portugal Vacation - Sintra

7/9/17

Our transfer from Tomar brought us into Sintra early Sunday afternoon, where we learned that Sintra has a bit of a traffic problem.  Their two lane roads are barely wide enough for one car, and our hotel was up a winding road that passed by one of the cities most popular tourist destinations and was around the halfway point of another of their popular destinations.  We were stuck one block from our hotel for over 30 minutes while we listened to angry Portuguese scream at each other outside of their cars until the Alpha prevailed and the Beta driver had to get off the road.

Our hotel, the Tivoli Palace, was a bit of a tourist destination itself.  It was built in 1783 by some fancy Dutch dude and has been operating as a luxury hotel since the 1950s.

Hotel exterior.

Allison attempting to copy the hotel statue.

After dropping off our bags, we walked down the hill to Quinta da Regaleira, a palace full of gardens and underground passageways.  Quinta da Regaleira was built in 1892 and has changed hands many times before being turning into a tourist attraction.  I had no clue that the place was full of awesome gardens and secret passageways until we arrived.  I had only really researched the Poco Iniciatico.

View of the palace of Quinta da Regaleira from
the statue garden.

Allison in front of the entrance to a secret tunnel system
that ended of leading to Poco Iniciatico well.

The Iniciatic Well is located on the grounds of Quinta da Regaleira.  We actually stumbled upon it while exploring a cave system that we thought was completely unrelated.  Imagine exploring a dimly lit cave and walking out into a clearing to see the well.  It was pretty awesome.

Poco Iniciatico.

After finishing up at Quinta da Regaleira, we walked down the hill to check out town and have dinner, before returning to the Tivoli Palace for a nightcap.  

7/10/17

The next morning began with a pickup from our hotel by our tour guide with Sintra Magik.  We began by heading up the hill to see the Pena Palace and the Castle of the Moors.  

The Pena Palace was the site of a 15th century monastery that was destroyed by the Lisbon earthquake in the mid 18th century.  The site was later acquired by King Ferdinand and transformed into his summer home.  It was built complete with a draw bridge and sentry towers, which our tour guide informed us was built because the King thought it looked cool and served no strategic purpose whatsoever.

EVEN THE DUCKS HAD THEIR OWN CASTLE!

The walk up the massive hill to Pena Palace.  Thank God I was less
fat than I was in January or I would have died a painful death.

In front of the draw bridge that was built purely
for aesthetics.

Ugliest statue ever of Triton, son of Poseidon.

More Pena Palace.

Even more Pena Palace.

After leaving the palace, we walked downhill a bit to the Castle of the Moors, which was built by, you guessed it, the Moors.  It was constructed in the 8th century, before being captured by Christians in 1147.  Climbing the walls of the castle give you great views of the surrounding areas. 

Allison and I in front of the entrance to the castle.

Walkway to the main viewpoint.

From the main viewpoint.

"Here honey, take my picture.  I promise I'm not tired and need to sit on
the rock.  It's just a cool background.  Now take 30 more over the span
of an hour and we'll be good to go."

After a quick lunch we made our way up a winding road to Monserrate Palace.  Monserrate Palace is a villa in Sintra that was built in 1789, though the construction continued throughout the 1800s.  A dispute over ownership of the property left it uninhabited for many years, which led to the interior being destroyed by vagrants.  Restoration has been ongoing for years now, and the grounds and Palace are gorgeous.  I would like to return once they have completely finished, as this was one of my favorite places in Sintra.

Ruin of a church.  We later found out it was designed
as a ruin in an experiment to see how it would be reclaimed
by the environment over time.

Exterior of the palace.

Upon completing our exploration of Monserrate Palace and its grounds, we left Sintra and began making our way to Lisbon, to conclude our trip.

Note:  Traffic is Sintra is horrendous.  Advice from our guide was to tell everyone we know to NEVER VISIT SINTRA IN JULY.

Restaurants

Incomum by Luis Santos

Wonderful meal with excellent service.