Went on a day trip to Sintra today. Sintra is a town about 30kms away. We got the train which was a bargain €1.65 each way. Why aren't trains at home this cheap? We visited a really cool castle when we were here. It is Palácio da Pena which is this brightly coloured castle high above the town. The architecture was a little bizarre in places (think cartoon castle) but I really liked it. We also explored the town, ate another custard tart and visited the National Palace. This is a medieval palace with 2 of the largest chimneys you have [View Full Entry]

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Went to Sintra yesterday. A 35 Mins train journey from the Rossio station took me to the Sintra station. From the Sintra station we took a 2 way hop ticket for the bus #434, which took us to the Pena park and palace. The palace is on a hill and park around the palace. After visiting the palace we had long walk inside the park. The map given at the entrance was helpful. You just need to follow the map. The walk inside the park is so good. Lot of trees and quite surroundings. You can have perfect romantic walk. The [View Full Entry]

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Hi Friends and Family, We were going on a day trip to Sintra. Sintra is the former summer residence of Portuguese royalty and a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1995. It boasts two extraordinary palaces, a semi-tropical garden and a Moorish castle with views over Lisbon! We took a train from the Rossio station in Lisbon and 45 minutes later, we were in Sintra. Apparantly, its a common commuter route as trains leave every 15-20 minutes! We bought a Day Rover ticket for €9 as we wanted to go to a few places including the famous Caba da Roca. We waited [View Full Entry]

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After the rugged walk through the Moorish Castle we get to the fairyland atmosphere of the Palace of Pena! The artist king consort Don Fernando II completed contruction of this fanciful palace around 1852, on the site of monastery. Convent of Our Lady of Pena 1503. Earthquake of 1755 did serious damage to the monastery and it falls into decline, Don Fernando purchases it and it becomes the beautiful palace it is today. Royal families lived here from Fernando's reign thru Don Manuel II in 1910. The rooms are furnished as they were at that time. Cozy arched ceilings, rooms with [View Full Entry]

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"Are you with the feeling that you will return?" That's the question the receptionist asked me when I checked us out of the hotel, just outside Lisbon. My answer "yes. of course!" And that was before we had actually been into Lisbon. Before we had seen the wide Tegas River, and watched young sailors in their little boats manuver tight cirlces, while a tanker passed under the bridge. Before we walked down narrow cobbled streets passing little ladies in their bathrobes on their way to the neighborhood bath, before we had stood by the most dramatic coast line we had ever [View Full Entry]

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SINTRA-UNESCO'S SECRET GARDEN I've always wanted to go to Portugal...I don't know why, but something always drew me to this country. Maybe it's because of it's heritage and history, of all the travellers that have gone through it, maybe it's the combination and just perfect mixture or cultures and races, maybe all of the above, anyway I always knew I'll find in Lisbon a home away from home. The first thing that gained my attention was similarity. Of all the places I've been to and all the people I met, the Portuguese are the most similar and compatible to Greeks. Easygoing, [View Full Entry]

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After a late morning, we got to see our beautiful hotel during the daylight. After a brief walk around the grounds (includes a monastery and golf course) we started off to Sintra. We started off with some croissants and hot chocolate at a cafe on the main square. We then toured the Palacio Nacionale which was a residence for Portugal monarchs. There were some beautiful rooms with painted tiled walls and painted or engraved ceilings. Deb then shopped for azuelos (painted tiles) while the boys grabbed more croissants and bread from a pastry shop. While in Sintra, it's hard not to [View Full Entry]

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After a night in the abandoned house, where I woke up every two hours or so, I set out to the woods with my mind set on the coast. The beach, the capes, something. Unfortunately, after walking in circles up and down the hills, with my now even heavier backpack, I set up camp not far from the fence I had climbed over a couple of hours ago. Deers are everywhere! I even saw the skeleton of one in the valley below. It sure freaked me out a bit, but once it was confirmed deer and not human it calmed my [View Full Entry]

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After spending a few nights at Bruno's place I headed to the coast. Plan was to camp out in the woods but instead I walked upon an abandoned house somewhere between Cabo da Roca and Colares. Cars pass frequently outside my newfound bedroom. Since insects and other creatures are all over the place I put up my tent. There's a squatted house just next door which I spent a few hours outside cooking my food and waiting for the guy living there to come back. That place was a habitat of rats making a lot of noise and the guy living [View Full Entry]

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Sintra was gorgeous. Most people take a day trip to Sintra from Lisbon, but I stayed for 3 nights, which was probably one night too long. However there is plenty to see there so I kept myself busy. It also forced me to slow down a bit qwhich I am trying to do before I hit London and start interviews for jobs, finding a house etc. I stayed in a hostel which was right near the train station. Sounds great in theory as it is not far to walk, however it also meant the dorm room was incredibly noisy, with Sintra [View Full Entry]

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