Sintra and Lisbon Walking

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Woke up bright and early, had a quick breakfast at the hotel, and took the 30 minute train ride to Sintra. This little town is the Versailles of Portugal, being home, as it is, to the many palaces of Portugal's recently extinct royal family. It's also a very pretty town, perched on several hills covered in thick trees. I first started at the palace at the absolute top of town, called Pena Palace. Of the 3 in town, Pena is actually relatively new, dreamed up by a Romantically-inspired prince in the 19th century. It's therefore a sometimes weird collection of styles and designs, from Arab gates to almost pastel colored walls to Disneyland-like towers. Incredible views as well.

Next hiked down about ten minutes to the ruined Moorish castle walls. These date from I think the 12th century or so, and provide a nice, if exhausting, walk. They also show how Portugal, along with Spain, was once ruled by Islamic Moors. Great views again here, especially back up to the Pena Palace. Then walked down the wrong road for awhile, and veered off down a little forest path until back-tracking and continuing to the main square in Sintra, where the National Palace is.

This place is far older than Pena, and I think more lavishly decorated inside, with great tiled rooms, which the Portuguese are famous for, intricately painted ceilings, and the westernmost room in the westernmost palace in Europe, with views out to the Atlantic. A nice place to end. Done in Sintra, I got the train back to Lisbon, had a nice coffee at probably the biggest Starbucks I've ever seen, and then started exploring the town.

Lisbon is mainly just great for walking, with its major sights simply strolling its streets and watching its people. Speaking of which, I've noticed how extremely diverse Lisbon is ethnically for a European city. Tons of African immigrants live in Lisbon, coming from Portugal's past colonies in places like Angola, Mozambique, and Brazil. Another striking feature of Lisbon is how precisely ordered its streets are. This is because of the massive earthquake of 1755, which leveled the city, drowned it in a massive tsunami, and then caught it on fire for like a week. Afterwards they had to rebuild fast, so Lisbon is extremely grid-like downtown, with straight streets and square squares. In Europe, that can sometimes be pretty rare to find.

Tomorrow I continue in Lisbon, going down to Belem, and then the old sailor quarter in Alfama.

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Photos

Walking Up To Pena Palace
Looks like a fairy tale castle.

Main Entrance at Pena
Never seen a yellow tower at a palace.

Dramatic Setting
Walkways like this stretch around the entire palace.

Part of Moorish Castle
This is maybe ten minutes down from Pena.

At Moorish Castle
That's Portugal's flag in the tower.

Moorish Panoramic View
Literally walk from this tower up to the one in the far distance, on the other hill.

Pena Palace from Moorish Castle
Really shows you how the palace sits on top of a hill, all alone.

Cat Drinking Water
Was just sitting here and it jumped up and started drinking. Very friendly.

Tiled Wall at National Palace
Tile is very famous in Portugal, coming down from its link to Islam. Actually reminds me of the tiles I saw last year in Istanbul.

Tiling in the Stag Room
Also at National Palace.

Stag Room
This is the westernmost room in the westernmost palace in all of Europe.

Rossio Square in Lisbon
Main square in town. Designed like an old Roman racetrack, which is used to be. Lisbon is older than most people think.

Still Ruined Church
Never fully finished rebuilding as a monument to the 1755 earthquake. It happened early in the morning, when most people were in churches, like this one. Some 90,000 people they say died, mainly from churches collapsing on them.

On the Shores of Tagus River
Goes out to Atlantic.

My Hotel
My room is on the uppermost floor, but looks the other way.