Day Trip to Sintra, and our Penultimate Day in Lisboa

We were a tad worn out by the pace of the first few days here in Lisbon, but that did not stop us from our planned day trip to Sintra - although it did make us far more realistic about how much we would try to see when we arrived.

We did start the day at our favorite cafe, Bread 4 You. Best cappuccino EVER:

(Not to mention best bread and marmelade sweet cake...)

We made our way to the Rossi train station and awaited the train - we have loved using the Lisbon Card to ride all forms of public transit with no ticket lines at all.

Peter patiently awaits our train to Sintra, a 40 minute jaunt WNW of Lisbon.

We spent the train ride reviewing the 3 major site options - the National Palace in the town center, the Moorish castle ruins that brood above the town (WAY above) and the Pena Palace at the very highest point of Sintra above the Moorish Castle. By the time we arrived and experienced the absolute crush of tourists (hey, this is October, what are all of you doing here???) we had decided to only tour the National Palace and walk around town. Based upon our energy level, it was a great choice. 

The National Palace at Sintra - commonly identified as having two chimney towers reminiscent of Madonna's bustiers :)

It was great to have audio guides and we spent more in-depth time than usual at the Palace knowing this was our focus of the day.

The ceilings we extravagant - this is the "Swan Room"

 This room had 136 magpies painted on the ceiling - won't bore you with the backstory.

One of nearly 100 gorgeous desks in the palace - I'm a freak for all those cubby-drawers!

A view of the royal kitchen - and believe it or not, those crazy Madonna towers are the exhaust for all the open fires they stoked in this room! Awesome kitchen.

Many rooms led out to garden courtyards like this - with incredible views like this:

The walls of the Moorish castle ruins loom overhead.

We finished our palace tour and strolled through the rather "fudgie" (our term for tourist trap) streets. The press of tourists made us glad we decided to limit our visit to the National Palace only, and some intermittent rain showers sealed the deal.

We had a relaxing train ride back to Lisbon and our villa apartment, which looks like this:

We are in the blue villa - three stories, one room per level with a balcony off the third story bedroom.

The main entrance at the top of the stairs.

First floor - stairs are always a good workout!

The balcony has been well-used to enjoy the great views and great weather.

I'm looking down at Peter taking this picture way below the villa...

At the bottom of these stairs! You can tell there is LOTS of terrain in Lisbon.

Today (Friday 10/14) is our last full day in Lisbon before we meet our Experience Plus! bike tour group on Saturday morning and head for Elvas. We decided to do Rick Steves' walking tour of the Barrio Alto neighborhood, so after stopping for coffee, bread and croissants we started the tour. One idea led to another, and after 6 hours of nearly continuous walking and sightseeing (registering over 8 miles on my Fitbit) we felt as if we had used this day to the fullest!

Crazy optical illusion created by this mosaic tile pattern in the Praca de Figueira near Rossio train station.

There are so many stairs...

Did I mention stairs?

Peter communes with Hernando Pessoa's spirit - he is Portugal's most beloved poet and a VERY unusual writer.

Lots of street life and pedestrian activity that is not common in the U.S..

Peter's rapid sketch of the Triumphal Arch in the Praca Do Comercio. Great people-watching for me!

We decided to keep on hiking and made it up to the Castelo de Sao Jorge. It is a peaceful, lovely setting far above the city with fascinating layers of human habitation starting with the Romans.

Amazing views of Lisbon city center from the castle walls.

We returned to our lodgings and decided we were done for the day! So now it is time to pack and prepare for our bike adventures. Hopefully I will be able to report in often enough to keep this blog interesting.

Before I wrap up, I also wanted to let you all know that Peter's new left knee (installed January of this year) is holding up amazingly well. He is covering every step and every stair! All the credit goes to his supremely diligent pre- and post-operative physical therapy. The hard, hard work is paying off. Yay Peter!

See you in Elvas, let the biking begin!