A Trip to Portugal (page 4 of 11)
Day Three – Sintra
We woke up Sunday morning, had breakfast at the hotel, and packed our bags. We went to Rossio station, which was very close to our hotel and served as a station for the network of commuter trains that link Lisbon with its
suburbs. I was extremely impressed with this system. The trains were very clean and ran regularly. We bought tickets from a machine and boarded the train. The ride to Sintra was uneventful.
Sintra is a small town around forty minutes west of Lisbon. It’s divided into a number of sections. The new town is where most of the locals live normal lives supported by the tourist industry just a few miles away. There’s a brand new train station in that part of town, but we bypassed it for the older station. The older station is located between the new town and the historic center of town. We got off the train and took a cab to
Casa Miradouro, our hotel for the two nights we stayed in Sintra.
Our original plan was to spend one night in Sintra and then spend one night in Obidos at the pousada there. Pousadas are historical sights that have been converted into state-run inns. The pousada in Obidos is a medieval castle. Unfortunately, it was booked by the time we made reservations. Instead of staying there, we decided to stay in a nicer place in Sintra and attempt a day trip to Obidos. Casa Miradoura admirably filled the gap left by the pousada. It’s located 500m from the historic part of town, but it’s down a very steep hill. The owner is a Swiss gentleman named Frederic Kneubuhl who is understandably very proud of his property. It’s an old house that has been converted to an inn. The room was spacious and immaculate. We had a great view of the surrounding countryside from our window, and the small staff was extremely friendly. If you have a little extra money and don’t
mind staying a little walk from town, I can’t recommend this place enough. It was really great.
We dropped off our bags in our room and headed up the steep hill to the the center of town. Located in the middle of Sintra is a sizeable palace called, appropriately enough, Sintra palace. Unfortunately I don’t have a great grasp of European history in general or Portugese history specifically, and it’s going to show as I try to describe the context of the sights we saw. If I say anything that makes you wince, I apologize in advance. Corrections are welcome. Anyway, the palace in the center of Sintra has been used on and off by Portugese royalty for centuries, and was occupied until the 19th century. It had some very interesting touches, including themed rooms with ceilings made up of panels painted with swans and crows. There was also a gigantic kitchen with two chimneys that tower over the palace and the town. Perhaps most spectacular about this particular palace was that it still contained azulejos from the 15th and 16th centuries. Well worth a visit.
After the palace we decided to head up to one of the other major attractions in Sintra, the remains of a Moorish castle. We hit the turismo for a bus schedule, and had our first setback of the trip. We also asked for info about getting from Sintra to Obidos and Peniche,
our next scheduled stop. The staff there told us that the only way to get to either is to go back to Lisbon and take a bus. We didn’t really want to backtrack to Lisbon for a day trip, so that put a damper on Obidos. We decided to just spend an extra day in Sintra and not worry about it.
We cought the bus outside the turismo and took it up another
steep hill to the site of the castle. A quick aside here about bus drivers in Portugal. This was the first truly insane driver we had, although not the last. The street up to the top of the hill was extremely curvy, and narrowed to one lane at many places. There were mirrors strategically placed along the road so that drivers could see if other cars were approaching. This guy was flying up the hill and honking before he entered the curves to warn oncoming traffic. I’m sure he was a professional, and was excellent at what he does, but it was a little scary. And, as it turned out, almost par
for the course for bus drivers we had. These guys made NYC taxi drivers look like your grandmother. No kidding.
The Moorish castle is about 2km from the city center, all uphill. Not much remains of the castle itself, but there are enough walls that you can get a sense of the outline of the castle. The thing that makes the remains of the castle one of the greatest sights in Portugal is the setting. Since the castle itself is no longer there, nature has started to take over the ruins. Small bushes and grass grow everywhere, even in the inside of the rooms. In addition, the outer wall of the castle is intact. We walked along the top of the wall and looked out at the surrounding forest and the countryside beyond. The
misty, grey weather contributed to sense of magic. The whole place felt somehow apart from the world. One of the highlights of the trip.
We decided to trek down the hill by foot, which turned out to be a good choice. Lots of beautiful small homes made for a very pleasant stroll. We
saw one home that had a plaque claiming that Hans Christian Anderson used to live there. I have no reason to doubt he did. The most interesting thing we saw, however, was a fountain of sorts. It wasn’t a fountain that spouts; it was a couple of faucets built into a wall of tile. The faucets must have been connected to a spring somewhere because there were a dozen locals filling up large bottels of water from the faucets. I felt a bit like an intruder, but we just took a quick look and continued on our walk.
When we got to the bottom of the hill we split a pizza and a salad at the italian restaurant accross from the palace. Overpriced and nothing special. We took a look in some of the shops in the main part of town and
stopped into Piriquita for one of their famous queijadas and a cup of coffee. Again, the pastry was okay and the coffee was awesome. Stick to the coffee. We wandered back to the turismo to ask something that I have now forgotten. The guy working there (who was not there before) told us that if we wanted to see the Pena Palace, which is the third major attraction in Sintra, our window was closing. The last bus that would get us there in time was leaving in three minutes, and the palace is closed on Mondays. At this point I was exhausted from walking up and down all the hills, but Edie wisely encouraged me to suck it up. I did. We caught the bus and went back up the hill.
Pena Palace is located on the same hill as the Moorish castle, but they’re on different peaks so they’re each visible from the other accross a small valley. The palace is one of the most bizarre structures I’ve ever seen. There’s a
clear moorish influence, but the palace itself looks like a cartoon, both because of the bright colors and the outlandish design. Taking pictures was forbidden in the interior, but it contained extremely lavish and cluttered rooms. It’s difficult to feel bad for the decline of the Portugese royalty after seeing such opulance. Words can’t do it justice, so I won’t try.
Seeing the palace truly did exhaust me, so we went back to the hotel for a
little rest before dinner. We successfully held out until 8 before eating. We went to a very friendly restaurant at the edge of the historical center of town. Edie and I both made the mistake of ordering the steak. The steak itself was pretty good (although too rare), but I usually don’t eat red meat. At all. It had been months since my last burger, and while dinner was good it gave me an upset stomach for a few days. Well fed, we went back to the hotel.
Before going to bed for good, we wanted to go ahead and get a room in Peniche. I’m extremely shy on the phone to begin with, but speaking on the
phone in a language I don’t know really scares me. Edie, being the sweetheart that she is, volunteered to call. She asked the man who answered the phone if he spoke English. He replied, ”Nao, francais?” Edie said, “Yes! un momento” and handed me the phone. In a triumphant moment, I took the phone and proceeded to make a reservation in French. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mme. Thomas, and to let her know, wherever she is, that I retained at least that much French over the past six years.
That done, we did go to bed. I couldn’t resist including that anecdote. I’m still so proud.
