Lisbon

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I spent the morning at Sintra, a town located about 40 minutes outside of Lisbon. Sintra has several sights of historical interest, including the last royal palace of the Portuguese monarchy before it was replaced by a republic in 1910. The Pena Palace was built by a romantic monarch who mixed several different styles - Gothic, Moorish, Disney - to create an architectural confection that is fun to view from the exterior (see photo). Unfortunately the interior is soley viewable as a very crowded, one-way tour through only mildly interesting rooms. So I enjoyed seeing the outside of the castle, but the slow shuffle through the inside was a disappointment. Fortunately the cafeteria provided great views and a tasty lunch to make up for it!Also in Sintra, I visited the Moorish Castle (see photo). Mostly a ruin today, it has been a site of human occupation since the Stone Age and there are some interesting educational displays, including grave sites from Moorish and early Christian times. The best part, though, is the views from the castle (see photo). In the afternoon, I went to see the Gulbenkian Museum. I had never heard of this museum before, but it is considered Portugal's top art museum. It has a relatively small collection, but what it has is of high quality including art from ancient Mesopotamia through the early 20th century. My favorite is a life-size Egyptian cat tomb that used to contain the bones of an actual cat (see photo). I haven't decided where to go for dinner yet tonight, but I doubt I will top last night's entree. I had pulvo arroz (literally: octopus rice) and it tasted really good (see photo).

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