Having gotten our feet back on the ground in Belém with Ken and Elaine we took a trip up to Sintra to visit three castles there: the Moorish castle, Quinta da Regaleira, and the Pena Palace. Kathy and I had been before, but hadn’t visited the Moorish Castle, and the other two are worth repeat visits. We were transported by our guide, Carolina, who picked us up at the apartment and took us around the sites.
The Moorish castle is indeed spectacular, traversing the hilltop above the town, with great views of the valley below and of several other palaces. But on a warm day it is indeed a certain amount of hard work!
From there we went to Quinta da Regaleira and grabbed a bite of lunch before Ken and the two of us set out to find the “initiation well” (we call it the well of souls) and check out the gardens while Elaine took a breather. We then toured the interior of the palace, which is great, though they’ve apparently closed off the upper floor since our visit last year.
From there we went back up to the Pena Palace where we’d only booked exterior tickets. Kathy and I had been inside last time and in the interest of time we decided to forego it now. Unlike last year, the wall walk around the perimeter of the palace was open, affording spectacular views from the parapets.
From Pena we took a small detour to see the lighthouse at Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of continental Europe.
Finally we headed back home and Ben prepared a low-key dinner so that our tired crew could unwind and recover.
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