Portugal!

Next stop on our spring 2015 trip was the magical town of Sintra, Portugal. 

We arrived very late at night, as our flight from Bordeaux departed over seven hours behind schedule! We flew on an airline called TAP Portugal. TAP, we were told later, stands for, "Take another plane!" I will definitely remember that the next time we go to Portugal! 

We stayed in a guest house called Chalet Saudade, a newly restored, old chalet, one of many built as vacation homes for wealthy Europeans, in a style imported from the Alps. It is built on a hillside, with two floors on the front and a total of five down the back. We got lucky, and managed to get the best room in the place! I have more photos of Chalet Saudade on my Flickr page.

(Click on photos to see them enlarged.)

We originally decided to include Sintra in our trip plans because I had seen an article featuring one of the small Portuguese town's many tourist attractions: the "Initiation Wells" at Quinta da Regaleira.

Quinta da Regaleira is an estate that has changed hands several times, but in 1892, it was purchased by a wealthy Brazilian business man, and from 1904 to 1910, he had the huge estate turned into something that reflected his interests and ideologies, including mysterious buildings that supposedly held symbols of alchemy, Masonry, and the Knights Templar. 

There are two of these "wells" on the estate, but they were never used as a source of water. Instead, these underground towers were used for ceremonial purposes that included Tarot initiation rites. The two wells are joined by underground tunnels. The smaller one, often referred to as the unfinished one, is interesting, but very primitive in its design.

The larger well is much more impressive, and if it weren't for the other tourists climbing up and down the stairs, it would have seemed pretty spooky. As we walked through the tunnels that lead to the well, we could imagine dark, hooded figures, carrying torches, slowly walking and chanting...

From the Chalet Saudade, the main town square was a good walk up a curving road, along which there were about a dozen sculptures installed. Some good, some weird, and all were interesting at the very least.

Another one of the main attractions of Sintra is the Pena National Palace, built between 1842-1854, by an amateur German architect, hired by King Ferdinand. Apparently, this designer had knowledge of the Romantic style castles built along the Rhine River, and the colorful finished palace looks like something Walt Disney might have built.

From the ramparts of the palace, we could see the countryside for miles, all the way to the Atlantic Ocean far below, including the Castle of the Moors, another popular tourist attraction, but one we didn't have time for.

We toured the inside the palace, going past living quarters and work spaces, and were surprised by how small the bedrooms were. One thing not lacking though was elaborate ornamentation of all kinds. Intricately carved wood furniture, ornate three dimensional wallcoverings, hand-blown glass chandeliers.

 After the palace tour, we wandered the acres of lush gardens and small lakes for a couple hours, until my camera battery died, which signaled it was time to head back to the chalet and dinner.

Two of the dinners we had in Sintra were especially memorable. One was at a "traditional" restaurant called Apeadeiro, where our dinner consisted of very large portions of delicious traditional dishes, a bottle of Portuguese wine, and included free desserts and a bottle of port at the end, all for the equivalent of about $40! One of the best things about Portugal is that it is very inexpensive.

The other dinner was at a very modern, upscale restaurant across the street from the chalet. It was called Incomum, and it was one of the best meals I can ever remember eating. Including a bottle of wine, dinner ended up costing only about $70! When we were nearly finished, a older British couple (imagine imperial United Kingdom people of wealth, living in India) arrived and struck up a conversation with us. They had lived all over the world, apparently, but for the last 25 years, have resided in Mexico. They asked us where we were going next, and we told them we would be visiting Sam's cousin in Paris for a few days. They enthusiastically encouraged us to take a trip to Bruges, "If you like Venice, you will love Bruges!" So, while we were in Paris, we did just that, but I will tell you about it in another post!

On our last full day in Portugal we hired a driver to pick us up in Sintra, provide us with a short tour of Lisbon and the beach towns along the way, and then drop us off at the airport hotel, so we could catch our flight the next morning. First stop was Guincho Beach.

Guincho is a beautiful, clean beach that is very popular during the summer. Had we been there a month later, our driver said, we would not have found parking so easily. It's a great place for surfers of all kinds, and as you can see from this photo, the water is gorgeous!

From there, we stopped briefly in the coastal town of Cascais, a suburb of Lisbon and one of the richest cities in Portugal. It was nice, but we were anxious to move on to Lisbon.

In Lisbon, we stopped to see the Belém Tower, the Monumento Combatentes Ultramar memorial honoring fallen Portuguese soldiers, and the Monument to the Discoveries, celebrating the Portuguese "Age of Exploration" in the 15th and 16th centuries.

Our last stop that day, before checking into our hotel, was the Port Wine Institute's tasting room. I don't have any photos of the place, but it is a very interesting establishment. You can have a glass of any of the many different port wines produced in Portugal, making it possible to try some very expensive, aged ports, at a fairly reasonable price. They also sold snacks, and there were several rooms with multiple seating areas made up of cocktail tables with comfortable leather sofas and chairs. It seemed like a fun place to go for a "happy hour" type meal with friends. 

View of Lisbon from the Bairro Alto (Upper District) near the Port Wine Institute.

That evening, on the advice of our guide, we took a taxi to a restaurant where we were told we could have a meal and enjoy the best Fado performance in Lisbon. Well, it turned out to be an extremely crowded venue, filled with large tour groups, who didn't seem to care about the show. Although some of us in the audience tried to hush the loud, rude groups of tourists, the noise continued, and it was very difficult to hear the music! I felt embarrassed for the singers, and as we left, I apologized to one of the young female singers for the crowd's disrespect. She smiled and thanked me. Next time we're in Lisbon, we will make an effort to find a more intimate venue to enjoy the famous folk music of Portugal!


(If you'd like to see more of my photos from Portugal, check out my Flickr album.)