Sintra

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Sintra

Unlike our start to Evora, we drove straight to our Pensao (Hotel Jardim) in Sintra. This was some hilly terrain, trees shading the curving streets. We stayed at a charming old house–a villa really–with 12 foot ceilings, 10 foot doors, old pine floors, french doors opening onto a small veranda of green wrought iron, and a bathroom with a western window opening out to the castle–which allowed you to bathe privately in the sun. The grounds had a romantic old pool, long and thin, surrounded by cedars, mountains, and a garden. It was peaceful and quiet. Obrigada!

We unloaded the car, packed our backpacks and hiked up, up, up to Castelo de Mouras. After we passed the house lanes by Santa Maria–tiny lanes and short houses tucked into the alleys, we got into dappled shade, passing moss-covered rocks and big trees. Up, up, up. Sweating, aching calves. Up, up, up! Finally arriving at the Palacio de Pena grounds to look up and see this eye candy of a castle.

Along the walk up, up, up to Pena Palace
Along the walk up, up, up to Pena Palace
Bryan & Carol at Pena Palace
Bryan & Carol at Pena Palace

Pena Palace is–to this day–my favorite of all castles! It was described in tour books as a “crazy casserole”. It is all different styles–Gothic, Moorish, Victorian, Bavarian, lots of Neptune and sea themes too. Colors of bright yellow, deep reds, vivid blues–tiles, stucco, bricks. Red steeples, golden domes, yellow turrets. Windows of all shapes and sizes–each with elaborate carvings. A little of everything.

Pena Palace Window Moorish
Pena Palace Window Moorish
Pena Palace window Gothic
Pena Palace window Gothic
Pena Palace Window Neptune
Pena Palace Window Neptune

Inside we saw it’s “charming intimacy” in each of the rooms. One room–a teak room with white gothic reliefs had a chandelier resembling a morning glory vine in full, dripping bloom. Other rooms were filled to the brim with tapestries in rich colors. Rooms were painted deep teals, or terra cottas, or covered in blood-red damask. Some walls were covered in mosaics or in frescoes of art nouveau ladies. The queen’s room was a dizzying relief pattern, repeated on the walls and ceiling in carved and colored detail…and mimicked by the lace, feathers and ornate chairs filling the room. There was an inner courtyard, with verandas all around and cool tiles, shaded ferns and bubbling fountains. The dinner table was gushingly set for 12 with 7 glasses at each place setting. There was too much to see. I bought the book to absorb it all. This was originally a monastery, about 500 years ago. Later (in the mid-1800s) Dom Fernando decided to turn it into the fantasy that it is today. Rumour is that his mistress (later his wife) buried all the jewels in the Pena Palace garden. Buried treasure or not, the place is a treasure.

Pena Palace medley
Pena Palace medley
Pena Palace Moorish
Pena Palace Moorish
Pena Palace view from the guard house
Pena Palace view from the guard house
In Sintra
In Sintra

The first morning in Sintra, I sat out on the veranda gazing at the misty valley and the narrow blue-tiled pool below the villa. The place seemed quite mysterious and serene. We picknicked in our room one afternoon. Wine, cheese, and the good old stand-by: frango pastries.

Pena Palace tiles
Pena Palace tiles

We would end our two days in Sintra by driving the “ring”. Driving was interesting….One lane, two-ways, narrow and curving. Leaving busy Sintra on a quiet Sunday morning was a good idea. We went past the Arab Fountain where locals filled their gallon jugs (despite signs warning them of “inconsistent water”), by the ornate Palace Hotel, and stopped to visit the “recuperating” Monserrate villa before going out to the Cabo da Roca (western most point of mainland Europe).

The Arab Fountain
The so-called Arab Fountain

We had Monserrate to ourselves that morning. It was lonely with its intricate ric-rac decorations around the exterior, peeling paint and overtaking vines. The grounds were lush with old, giant trees–one 10 foot diameter trunk had bundles of broom-like branches hanging down to the ground like a giant umbrella. We explored a crumbled chapel with tree roots taking over. The place made me feel inconsequential. I wondered if I sat really still on a stone, how long before a tree root enveloped me?

Monserrate
Monserrate: Lovely and Lonely

Our next stop would be Obidos on our way to Tomar and Buçaco.