Fort and House on a Hill

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Geo: 38.7985, -9.3881

OK, since I forced HP to admit he fried his clippers, he made me do the same about today. I am the tour guide 99% of the time but the author refuses to write until I confess about my mistake. I planned a half day in this cute little place called Belem for tomorrow. On the train back from Sintra today HP was reading about where we were going tomorrow and discovered that all the sights are closed on Monday. I am getting old, details used to be something of a specialty for me, but now I am just good at drinking wine. (Bird)

Now Bird is threatening all of us; she implies "maybe I'll also get bad at cooking and not cook"...the horror!

On to the activities of the day, which include a whimsical trek through a Moorish Castle constructed in the 9th century (yep, long before you were born Granny), and a palace of the Portuguese royal family. The guy who largely made the palace what it is was a contemporary of King Ludwig, who built Neuschwanstein (the castle that Walt Disney patterned his hallmark theme park after), and they were even cousins. The palace had a previous life as a 16th century monastery.

Most authorities agree the palace is superior to the castle. Well, being the contrarians that we are, we again beg to disagree. They are markedly different, but equally good.

Sorry folks, we are becoming a bit picture happy; just view what interests you.

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