Sinta

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Today it is off to Sintra from Lisbon. We took the metro to the Entre Campos station, we then saw lots of people heading towards us, we figured they must have come from the rail and were heading to the metro. We headed in the direction they were coming from and there was the train station. We did not have to leave the building. We purchased our ticket from the agent, he just added money to our metro card. The train comes every 15 minutes and takes about 35 minutes, Sinatra is the end of the line. When we reached Sintra we went out the door and turned right. You will see a bus stop for bus number 434. There was a line so it was hard to miss, across the street was a ticket machine and a long line of people waiting to buy a ticket. There is no need to wait in line the bus driver will sell you a round trip ticket for 5 euros. The bus makes three stops, first is the National Palace of Sintra in downtown Sintra then the Moorish Castle then the Palace of Pena. We stayed on the bus and got off at the Palace of Pena. We bought tickets for all three sights at the Palace of Pena so we did not have to wait in line again and we got a discount. If I come back to Portugal I would spend the night in Sinta and on day two visit the Capuchis Convent, Monserrate and the National Palace of Queluz. The beaches are supposed to be nice but today was not a beach day. We liked the Palace of Pena a lot, it was a monastery until religious orders were abolished. King Ferdinand was hunting in the area when he saw Vasco da Gama's ship returning from India. He took it as a sign from God and turned the monastery into a palace. He lived in the older part of the monastery and planned to move into the newer addition but his queen died before the new section was completed and he decided to live in the old section. The palace is very interesting and is furnished. We bought the audio tour and I recommend getting the audio tour. We ate lunch in the Palace restaurant and I recommend it over the busy outside cafe.

We then took a short walk downhill to the moorish Castle. The military castle was built around the 10th century by the Muslims that occupied the area. The castle is ruins only but has lots off castle wall walks. Do not visit here if you cannot handle a LOT of up and down steps. This place is a workout. You also need to bring a light jacket, there is a lot of wind up here and some days it is foggy.

After visiting the castle we caught the 434 bus in front of the Moorish Castle, when the bus pulled up to the Palace of Pena the line was around 80 peopl. We were glad we were already on the bus.

Next stop was the National Palace of Sintra. This is a furnished Palace right in town. We toured the Palace then walked back to the train station. On our way back to our hotel we stopped for pizza, happy to eat anything but fish. This is the last day of our trip. It has been six great and varied weeks and we are ready to go home.

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