Spectacular Sintra

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I had every intention of getting up early and heading to both Sintra (45 min. away by train) and Belem (20 min. away in a different direction) today, but I dawdled, and didn't get out until 10am.

By the time I got some food, took out some money from an ATM (it took going to 3 different locations until I was able to get some cash!), bought a train ticket (in the very busy train station) and got to Sintra, it was noon. Another 20 min. waiting for a bus, and a long, slow ride up a big hill, and I was finally at the Castelo Mouros. Things do not move quickly in Portugal!!!

Castelo Mouros (Moorish Castle) was built around the 10th century. Obviously it's been restored in parts, but it was neat to see how it was built into the rock. Walking along the walls was quite chilly and VERY windy. I took lots of photos, and once I was done being windblown and chilled, I headed to the Palácio da Pena. It was a 5-10 min. walk uphill to the entrance, and I was moving faster than the cars. They were like a parking lot! I heard afterward that a car had parked incorrectly and blocked the narrow road so no one could pass. (Or maybe a bus couldn't pass, thereby blocking everyone else?)

Once inside the entrance, it was another 10 min. walk uphill to the actual palace. Although it was under restoration (I saw it spelled restauration in the ticket office and thought it was funny), it was still quite beautiful with all its bright colours. I wandered around, and eventually walked through the palace rooms. Unfortunately it was so busy, it was like being herded like cattle through the buildings. Everyone shuffled along, stuck behind all the other slow-moving people, and only being able to get a quick snapshot here or there. (Though most of it wasn't to my photographic taste.)

After the palace I went down to the bus stop to head back to the train station. The line for the bus was massive! I had to wait for a second bus to board as the first one that arrived was filled quickly and there were still lots of people ahead of me!

Standing on a very full bus while traveling downhill on narrow windy streets is not the easiest thing to do. I got out when they announced that we were in town, and I did some souvenir shopping and finally found a post office to mail my postcards from.

By this time it was after 6pm, so there was no way I was heading to Belem. I guess that will have to wait until I return to Lisbon.

Once back in Lisbon, I picked up a few more souvenirs, and headed back to my hotel.
Next stop: HOME!

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