CASTLES IN THE AIR

On our last day in Lisbon, before moving on to Porto, we took a little side trip to the town of Sintra -- "a fairytale romantic city of castles, monuments, and palatial estates." Our first stop was the ruins of a mountaintop fortress built by the Moors in the 9th century.

The gardens were every bit as amazing as the ruins.

Mounds of Bleeding Heart

It was starting to rain by the time we got to this level, and the stone paths had become quite slippery, so I stopped and got a cup of hot tea instead of climbing to the tippy top. But not my crazy hubby! I think he regretted it later, but at least there were no injuries.

From there a bus took us to Pena Palace, a Romanticist summer retreat for the royal family, which King Ferdinand had built on the site of a monastery that was destroyed in the great earthquake. Well, the bus took us as close as it could get to the palace. Which wasn't actually all that close. Then there was quite a long hike, uphill all the way, in the pouring rain.

Although I was loathe to admit it at the time, it was probably worth having to spend the rest of the day in soggy clothes. Especially when we stumbled upon a delightful place near the train station, where we could have lunch before departing. Half of our group went into the more formal restaurant side, and the rest of us went next door to their wine bar.

All ended up pleased as punch with their choices!