<my musings>
I’ve heard it said the middle finger gesture is actually the Massachusetts state bird. Maybe it’s a more universal gesture and, in case you don’t have great eyesight, it’s often accompanied by multiple horn honks (& those ain’t tweets).
</my musings>
We have a car to drive from Lagos to Sintra, but once we arrive it’s clear we will park the car for the duration of our three night stay. The streets are steep, winding and very narrow.
We luckily find the turn to our B&B, Quintas Das Murtas – quintasdasmurtas.com. If we miss the turn it’s a one way 8 km loop to get back. Our rooms are cute and decorated like an historic house deserves. I love these old boutique hotels with large skeleton keys. Laundry is a 1km walk, so we load up and find another nice self-service laundromat, complete with preloaded soaps. It’s clean and tidy, just what I hope for in a laundromat. We load up then explore the area in search of a snack. FYI, this trip we are noticing more waiters & chefs soliciting diners, promising all sorts of sumptuous meals. Most have been subpar. Tonight we were promised the best Mexican food in Sintra. The nachos are topped with canned cheese-whiz! Tom’s heart was broken..and a lesson learned. We collect our clean clothes and hike the 1km back to our lodging. It takes twice as long because it’s STEEP!
On Mothers Day we take an uber up a very steep climb to the Pena Palace park entrance, then wait 45 minutes for a bus to take us up the steepest roads to the front of the Palace. It’s a colorful place, but lots of lines and waiting. To be honest, though the history is interesting, we all feel a bit underwhelmed. Our ride back down ends in another traffic stoppage. Some clueless driver has parked so a public bus cannot get by, nor the cars behind it. We get out and walk the final stretch to our lodging. I find a throne along the way and pause to try it out.
Later we find a spot for dinner. We are still searching for our favorite foods. But we do meet some new friends, Karin & Stefan from Nuremberg. Later as we return to our lodging, we see Stefan at the front door! It so happens they are staying in the same Bed & Breakfast. In the morning we connect with them over breakfast and exchange WhatsApp numbers and vow to stay in contact. By the way, if you’re traveling internationally or have friends outside your home country, WhatsApp is an excellent way to keep in contact, via texting or even phone calls without international charges.
Today is our last day in the area and we have to choose between visiting Lisbon or taking a deeper dive into Sintra in a tuk tuk tour. We opt for the latter. Pedro @AskMeAboutSintra arrives at 1PM in his electric tuk tuk and we motor off. We stop for a brief history of the National Palace of Sintra with its unmistakeable silhouette. It has two enormous conical chimneys jutting skyward, which we learn were made so large as to hold an entire cow for cooking all at once. Maybe a sign of luxury during that age. Today we’ll take a nice filet charred on an infrared burner.
Pedro shows us the Beister castle, which is beautiful and has expansive and pristine gardens. Across the street is a smaller mansion where their gardener lived. As Faramir says in Lord of the Rings, “The Shire must truly be a great realm, Master Gamgee, where gardeners are held in high honor.” We work our way through the winding, narrow streets into a more rural area to get a glimpse of Montserrat. Our next stop is a little park that hasn’t made anyone’s “must see” list, where we admire a serene pond sprinkled with lily pads.
When Pedro hears Tom and Steve discussing wine, he pulls up to what looks like a dilapidated warehouse under construction. We enter between scaffolding and see a large room full of wine casks. No tasting for Tom and Steve but they buy a bottle for later. Back in the tuk tuk, Pedro motors the rest of the way to the beach where we enjoy a coffee, a Why Not, and the views before we head back to Sintra.
After our tour, Pedro drops us at Quinta da Regaleira where we explore the mystical, beautiful gardens. The spiraling Initiation Well is particularly popular with the visitors and once we enter, it seems obvious why. It is a tower built in reverse..someone actually conceived this. Photos hardly do justice, but I still try. All in all, one of our best days so far!
The next morning we schlepp our bags down the cobblestone steps to the car. Once Tom starts the car, he notices the gas tank is near empty. It was over a half tank when we arrived and we didn’t drive for three days: someone had siphoned us! In a gated parking lot with security cameras.
A short stop to fuel up and were on our way north to Nazare, home of the giant waves.
<more musings>
Where in the world are the worst traffic jams? I doubt they are in the US, where the roads (and vehicles) are typically much wider.
Considering Lisbon has recently restricted access to the ubiquitous tuk tuk, we are certain our choice to stay in Sintra was the right one for us. Even though I feel a bit remorseful being part of the tuk tuk traffic jams in Sintra, I’m sure Lisbon would have been much worse.
</more musings>
Hi Julianne, thank you for your detailed and interesting information about your explorations round Sintra and the excellent photographs. And fun to find our names contained 😄 looking forward to your upcoming story
Lovely greetings Karin
Hi Julianne, thank you for your detailed and interesting information about your explorations round Sintra and the excellent photographs. And fun to find our names contained 😄 looking forward to your upcoming story
Lovely greetings Karin
We loved meeting you two and look forward to more shared travels and friendship. 😎
My favorite adventure is when you hired the guide and he took you to the reversed tower…I have to wonder what the ‘ Initiation’ entails…
The photos you took at that site are perfect.
Continue to explore and enjoy❤️
It was a special day and we’re glad we made the choice to stay and explore Sintra. You would have loved it Julie. The Initiation Well has some sort of ties to the Masons. I need to research that….