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Published: November 11th 2006
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Buses…we don’t need no stinking buses
Sintra…a Portuguese King’s Paradise Last night we decided today would be our first out of town adventure. It served multiple purposes, (1) to see the beautiful town of Sintra and explore its castles and palaces, (2) to give me a little experience with the European metro and train system, even if it was a commuter train.
To get to Sintra we had to head north via metro and then transfer to one of Lisbon’s many train stations called Sete Rios. From there it was a short 35 minute train trip to our final destination. I was pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to use the train system. Of course, this trip is only a test for what’s to come, it will be much more difficult with my 40 something pound pack on my back. Consider that foreshadowing for many adventures to come…
Once in Sintra we decided that it was definitely time for a meal. We had eaten nothing thus far throughout the day, and since it was close to noon, we were both hurting for food. Thus, we entered a small food bar/restaurant and had
Sintra from the Moorish Castle looking way down
A view from the top to give you a picture of our trek up . . . a decent and inexpensive meal while watching the 2006 Beach Soccer World Cup. Extremely interesting stuff this beach soccer - because they play on a shorter field with a smaller number of players. The field is so small the goalie can throw the ball to almost anywhere on the field. We watched Uruguay beat France in final jeopardy overtime.
Now’s when it gets interesting, I had challenged Kel that we should not take the bus up to Pena Castle. It’s a short two mile walk which I figured would do us both good and give us our daily exercise. I’ll let Kel take it from here….
I am so freakin proud of myself! Today, I hauled my booty-licious butt all the way up to a very cool place called Pena Castle. It’s kind of a cross between Disney World’s Cinderella castle and a normal gray one - apparently the king who built it was a bit of a kook, so it’s giant and on top of a hill . . . and yellow and pink and purple. Funny mix. As for the walk up, it was like 2.5 miles - solid 1.2 hours with a couple breaks -
at a serious incline - for all you treadmill types, definitely level 5+ or over 50% grade. People were cruising past us in buses, cars and even motorcycles but we trudged on. We actually came across 6 different people (2 groups) that started up the hill with us but quit about 25% of the way . . . they just weren’t made of the right stuff, I guess. HAHAHAHA! For anyone that knows my personal (lack of) penchant for serious exercise, I know you are as proud of me as I am =) With all the walking to and fro train stations, castles, etc, Mike estimates we walked between 5-7 miles. HAHAHA again!
We wandered around Pena Castle for a while taking pictures and ducking into fun alcoves and turrets - I almost did a Rapunzel scene, but truly, my hair is just too short. Turrets bring out the dramatic soul in me. After Pena Castle, we headed back down the hill to the Moorish Castle. I chose to rest (aka pant and drink Powerade) at the entrance while Mike charged forth and checked it out. Apparently, this castle brought out his little kid in him. He described it
as “the castle all boys want” aka one that’s made for serious, old fashioned battle. Swords and moats and arrows and battle cries were what this castle was made for - austere gray rocks on the very top of a hill with views of rampaging invaders from every turn. Too cool.
Back to MT for the rest . . .
After the Moorish castle we headed back to town. What took 1.2 hours on the way up took 0.75 on the way back down. Once back in town we hit the Palacio National which was the king’s palace in the 16th century. The palace is kinda funny looking with two large funnels sticking out of the top which turned out to be smoke stacks from the kitchen. From what I understand, these stacks were highly functional if unorthodox. Since we couldn’t take pictures inside the place (or Pena Castle) you will just have to image what two giant funnels look like sticking out of the ceiling above you.
After this final tour, we headed back to the train station and backtracked our way to Lisbon. We started this morning at about 10am and returned here about 6pm.
Its been a long tough day but well worth it. Tonight we feel like we deserve a good meal (you know how we love food) so we will probably splurge a little. I assume, later we will crash into bed…hard!!
A Quick Note to a Concerned Friend Last night while checking our email we got a note from my friend Brian Schiller. Brian, for those of you who don’t know him, is the consummate traveler. After undergrad he spent some time studying in England and has traveled much of Europe. Many of his characteristics make him a very good traveler, namely his patience, intelligence and strong sense of sarcasm and irony.
Brian commented sarcastically that we were doing too much and not chilling out as much as we should. In response to Brian’s comment I wanted to assure him, and you all, that we have and will get more rest. Tomorrow we plan on going to the best local art museum and then we plan on sitting around reading at a café. That should catch us up on our rest, and make you all rest easier that we aren’t going to wear ourselves out. Thanks
for your concern Brian…even if you were just being funny!
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Bruce / Daddy
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Kel, It sounds like you and Mike did a terrific job climbing to the castle. 2.5 miles uphill is a really good physical accomplishment. Who knows what opportunities you guys may have when you return in world class condition. The olympics might be a bit of a stretch. Love, Bruce / Daddy