Kirk “too tall for castles” Stillmak

 Woke up at 7, not rearing to go. Always feel day 3 is the worst and we were dead tired.  But we had a tour to Sintra and are being picked up at 8:30.  But wait!  Changed to 9:30.  We could have used more sleep but all was well. Pako picked us up a few blocks from our hotel.  Interesting character  - As in, he talked a lot in English but didn’t understand many of our questions in English. Or didn’t like to listen to my questions. Hard to tell.  He said he was a professional footballer. Gotta check it out.  So we drove to Sintra.  So glad we hired a car.  We could have not done all the things I had hoped to. He had planned the day differently bc he was not really informed by his company of my plans so we hashed it out and were ok b/c the internet is not right about a lot of things Sintra.  Started off at The Moorish Castle which was amazing.  We could see it from a distance and it was a stunning sight.  

So fun Portugal fact (that we made up) is that the signing is terrible and the maps they hand out are not to scale. But the good part is there are few signs to intrude on the beauty.  I think as an American we are used to over explanations and warnings everywhere to protect us from ourselves.  Here there is more wanderlust and common sense. 

So back to the Moorish Castle. On the drive we saw a sign “Sintra a traffic jam in Paradise”.  The tourism is a huge problem as this town is so small.  The views are spectacular, the wind was chilly and thinking about the sheer amount of work it takes to build these sites are just hard to fathom. Also many centuries and layers of civilization. We never ceased to be amazed.  I did get a bit nervous up there once in a while like where if you missed a step and fell you’d fall right down to the next level.  And who knew the climbs here were going to be the start many climbs.  What a leg day.

Next we were off to the famed Pena Palace. Wow. Stunning color on amazing land high above Sintra. But we did not go inside.  Instead I chose to just “stroll around the grounds”. Apparently the palace is just a place of old rooms with old furniture.  Blah.  But dozens and dozens of sites (no joke) said strolling around the grounds was amazing and we could see most of what we would see from the palace.  So we did see the lands below from the Moorish Castle so assuming it was similar, but the strolling around the grounds was a huge misnomer.  Thankfully we were ok with the hiking.  Not on dirt trails, but well marked, wide paths (enough for cars) but man it a lot of climbing!  Totally worth it.  It’s beautiful with a lot of smaller areas, small lakes and duck homes.  Even have redwoods and sequoias.  We saw quite a few people resting with lunch on the grounds.  This would have been a nice idea.  But we had water! Mostly.

I was so freaking hungry but we were not to be fed.  Our guide had taken it upon himself to decide lunch was to be around 3!  No. But we did agree we (I Lol) could make one more stop before lunch at Quinta Regaleira.  Here is the famous wishing well and more stunning grounds with lovely hidden spots to rest and map that was so not to scale! :)  Lots of tunnels and storage. Some beautiful tile work. 

Lunch.  Off to a spot were most of the drivers take people, which was ok b/c seriously all the food here is wonderful. He recommended we order cheese fish dish for the main so we all ordered it (he had lunch with us) while we noshed on some amazing local prosciutto, cheese, olives and Kirk and I had a local white wine. It was like au gratin potatoes with fish. Kirk and he loved it and I was ok with it.  It was rich and creamy and tasted wonderful but was a lot.  

Jetted out to the western most point of Europe, Cabo da Roca.  Windy as hell and this place actually had a new fence which according to Pako b/c tourists were falling off taking photos and it was now illegal to go past the fence. Of course there were people way past the fence.

Then off to The Park and Palace of Monserrate.  This place is less popular but wow is it beautiful.  We had just over 30  minutes to tour the palace which actually was quite small but the intricate design and work was unbelievable.  The grounds are a bit different than the other places with a lot of grass and open space vs more forest.  A family lived here for a short time enjoying the lakes, horses and property before their war. 

Our driver just waited for us at the end of each stop and drove us to the next.  Winding thru all the tiny roads and small towns was wild.  After a full day in Sintra we headed back to Lisbon by way of Cascais.  Wound thru lot of the coast, where coastal land is a natural park that gives way to very expensive, hidden homes for the likes of Renaldo. Then to Cascais which is basically a touristy beach town and on back to Lisbon.  We were fucking fried but we had dinner reservations in an hour! 

Tasca da Zebra in Chiado. Excellent.  Sat next to a large group of what looked like teens loudly but sweetly enjoying themselves. Headed home, showered and fell into bed. 

We ended up walking/hiking 11.5 miles.  OMG. And everyone in Portugal loves Snoop Dog.