PORTUGAL & SPAIN - FIRST STOP : SINTRA

My first trip to Europe! I was sooooo excited. We planned to start in Lisbon (Lisboa in Portuguese. The Mozambicans speak Portuguese, also as Mozambique  was once colonised by the Portuguese.) I was looking forward to practising my new language skills.

We left on TAP (Portugal's Airline) and flew overnight for 10.5 hours. Left at 10:45 pm and arrived at 9:30 am. I got even more excited after I woke from my evening slumber to see the flight map showing where we were!

Having had a good night sleep in our business class seats, we were ready to collect our rental car and head to Cascais on the western coast, where Mr. O's brother and his wife were waiting for us. As Mr. O. was handed the keys, he asked... "and what side of the road do you drive on?" "The right!" Argghhhh! We were going to be driving down the "wrong side of road" on a freeway! I kept reminding Mr. O. to keep left and keep me out of the gutter!

After getting lost  and having to ask three times for directions, we eventually found our accommodation and family. we immediately freshened up and headed off on our first day of sightseeing!

First stop was Palacio Nacional de Sintra. An old royal place in the middle of the town. It was built in the 1440s. The two big chimneys tower above the big kitchen

Palacio Nacional de Sintra

                                         

They even use the tiles to name the streets, squares and buildings

The banquet hall.

A tiled wall telling a story from history

This small square in the Palace was called "Fountain Diana"

The view from the palace.
 Can you see what is on the hill in the distance?

Leaving the palace and imagining what it would have been like
to arrive by horse and carriage in long dresses, or balls where people
once came and danced the night away in all their finery.
Who has walked up and down these steps in past and recent centuries??

Can you pick it? This man is pretending to be a statue!
There were lots of "Street Theatre"people like him!
Sometimes, they caught people unaware and really
surprised them!

Can you see what this shop sells? Mr. O. says there is a person in there!
Can you find him?

Narrow lane ways full of locals and tourists 

Our travelling companions-
Brother-in-law, Pete and Sister-in-law, Shanne!

And us!  ;0)

 After lunch, we headed off on sightseeing venue #2, Quinta da Regalia. This was the summer palace of the Carvalho-Monteiro family. It dates back to the 1600s. This palace has huge garden space with lush vegetation, waterfalls, underground caves and a subterranean tower!

Third stop of the day was Palacio da Pena. This palace sat high on the hills of Sintra. We drove up some of the way, then we walked to get a bus to go up the narrow, steep driveway. Once we got up to the top...WOW!  This place has a mixture of architectural styles and colours. It would have been very grand when people lived there.

Then last stop of the day! Mr. O. was castled out by then! Pete, Shanne and I did a quick tour of  Castelo dos Mouros (Castle of the Moors). It had a massive wall built around it. As we arrived, there was a knight standing there! We later learnt that we arrived just after they had finished secretly filming an episode of THE AMAZING RACE!

What a day! And that was only the first of three weeks!