FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Sintra, Cascais & Belem

It was great to be back under the wings of a guide! We had organised a day tour with Eugenia who would take us on a tour that would see us explore a Zuess-like palace, cast our eyes over the Atlantic like Vasco da Gama and sample plenty of sweets and seafood along the way.

Eugenia met us outside our apartment and gave us a mini history lesson on Lisbon as well as showing us key attractions along our short walk to our minibus. We were off to the hills of Sintra, primarily to visit the whimsical 19th century Pena Palace. Another country meant another session of history, geography & architecture.

The original monastery on the Pena Palace site started with a familiar story. Shepherd boys found a statue or image of the Madonna...the tale spread and a small monastery was built, which was later replaced by a bigger one, which was later replaced by rubble when the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755 hit. Decades later King Ferdinand II decided to rebuild the site and expand it into an expression of his love for many different styles and cultures. It was now the period of Romanticism after all. Having Gothic styles next to Moorish, Renaissance, Indian and others sounds a bit kitsch, but it all works in a colourful collection of mini-towers, staircases and decorative features that would not be out of place in a Dr Zuess book. All this and a wonderful view over the Sintra Hills back towards Lisbon.

We were given a quiz upon returning to the bus and scored sufficiently well for Eugenia to reward us with a short stop at the local village for some local snacks and shopping. Queijadas cheese based tarts had everyone delighted and confused. They are Sintra specialty and are not too sweet, but each of us were convinced that they must contain coconut of various other ingredients when, in fact, there are no added flavours at all.

Former train station

What?!! A line. They must know we had to practice for Disneyland rope drop. 0852. Opening time of the castle 0900

The line behind us within a couple of minutes

You are able to walk up the hill to the castle. We opted for the very bumpy and adventurous shuttle bus. It was like a mini theme park ride...Beware if you have a bad back

Our first glimpses of the "Romanticism" architectural style of Pena Palace

The former monastary which had been turned into living quarters for the monarchs. No photos inside unfortunately which was a shame as the interior was completely furnished in the style of the period

Moslem influences seen in the first fate

Second gate. Eugenia did explain the meaning of EVERY single feature of the gate. Glad she didn't quiz us on this later!

The courtyard, former cloister

Gorgeous tiling

Ola!

Expansive views from the top

Other than the chapel, the only place where we could take photos. The kitchen!!

Stained glass windown imported from Germany in the chapel. Vasca Da Gama with tower of Belem on the left

Archway under the "new" section of the Palace

Time for a treat!

Cheese "Tarts" or queijadas

NO coconut says Eugenia!

Delicious say the children! There may have been a fight for the last one...

Cape Roca is the westerly "Land's End" point of continental Europe. A monument marks the spot where the Portuguese explorers looked out over the Atlantic planning their adventures. This immediately reminded me of a Keats poem:

"Then felt I like some watcher of the skies

When a new planet swims into his ken;

Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes

He star’d at the Pacific — and all his men

Look’d at each other with a wild surmise —

Silent, upon a peak in Darien."

A bit of googling later that evening revealed that the poetic inspiration was way off the mark. Firstly, Cortez was a Spanish Conquistador - not Portuguese. Secondly, it was the wrong ocean. Thirdly, Darian is in present day Panama. A bit more googling made me feel much better as Keats was wrong too! Cortez never went to Panama. He only made it to Mexico. It was Balboa who went to Darian. Ha, Keats shouldv'e googled it too! Either way, we looked out over an ocean.

It was twoish by lunchtime so we would've enjoyed flavoured cardboard. We had much better than that at a wonderful cliffside seafood restaurant with views out over the Atlantic, Meste Ze. On a long trip, with a big family we still have to be someone budget savvy so we ignored the lobster tanks and ordered four shellfish rice share pots between the 9 of us. The friendly waiter suggested that three would be plenty. He was absolutely correct. The shellfish rice was delicious especially with a crisp, dry white for the four drinkers. Eugenie gave us a restaurant tip: Appetizers such as olives, cheese, bread etc are usually placed on the table without being asked for and may be eaten or ignored. If eaten they must be paid for so it is wise to stick to what is ordered or politely ask so that you don't get hit with a bill of 1 euro per olive at the end. The total bill with tip and wine was still under 20 Euro per head so for high end dining it was still quite reasonable.

Completely satisfied, we rolled on to Cascais. This is the seaside town that was preferred by some of Ferdinands descendents to the cool hills of Sintra. It is now an active fishing town and also a popular winter residence or retirement destination for many Europeans escaping the cold. There is a pretty beach and many restaurants. We meandered past these out to a large jetty which was bustling with the activities of professional and amateur fisherman. We were lucky enough to see a decent haul of fresh octopus come in on one of the boats. Interestingly the most popular fish in Portugal is actually cod which is not even found in its waters. Having tasted various forms of the sardines I have to agree with them.

The cliffs and light house of Cape Roca

Damn that person for not moving

Lunchtime. By the ocean. With the sun out. I think we took this for granted at home.

Portuguese seafood rice. No NOT spanish paella!

I don't want to be the one having to row...

Octopus haul

Our final destination was a quick visit to Pasteis de Belem to collect 15 pastel de Belem known to us affectionately as simply Portuguese tarts. They lasted about 3 minutes. Jernonimo's Monastery and the Tower were closed as it was a Monday (hence the Sintra visit on this day), but despite their beautiful features they only attracted a sideways glance as we powered through the tarts. Portuguese tarts can be found everywhere in Lisbon, but these are the original and, at the time of writing, still the best. We will keep trying others, however, just to be sure.

We were taken back to Lisbon via a ppicturesque, meandering coastal route. A simple dinner at one of the local Portuguese Restaurant saw us done for the day!