Portugal, Spain and Dubai Day 3 Lisbon and Sintra Portugal 18th Sept 25

We woke at 8am! Normally we would be high fiving, but today we were being picked up at 9am! This meant we were a “little” rushed, but we made it with minutes to spare.
Fernando, our driver met us in the lobby and told us Luis, our guide was running a little late due to some unexpected issues, we drove down to a Metro Station stop and then drove around for a while until he appeared. We were on our way to start our day by 9:25am.
Some fun facts to start this blog.
Lisbon is a light city due to stone used in building, Porto is dark for the same reason, different rocks.
The marque who rebuilt Lisbon was/is a very disliked as a person but his work in rebuilding Lisbon is undeniably remarkable.
The Lisbon aqueduct was finished just prior to the 1755 earthquake. It survived the earthquake. It has the highest gothic arch in the world. It was used until the 1960s to help with Lisbon’s historical water shortage issues.
Now for today. We headed west to Sintra, the by-gone summer playground/refuge for the monarchy and the wealthy. Sintra has relatively high humidity but its closeness to the coast keeps it cool.
We drove up to Pena Palace, (Palácio da Pena) it is an iconic landmark and fine example of romanticist architecture perched on Sintra’s highest hill. It stands out from the surrounding area not only because of its location at the highest point in the district, but for its vibrant colours and fairy-tale eclectic design. It is now a museum, more or less a time capsule marking the time near the end of the Portuguese Monarchy. We toured the outside of the Palace and also through the Royal rooms within. It was interesting to see their daily use rooms, from offices (for both King & Queen), to dining rooms, dressing rooms, bedrooms, etc.
The Palace has an interesting history, it started ”life” as a chapel that was expanded into a Monastery. The Monastery was severely damaged in the 1755 earthquake, leaving it as a ruin. In 1838, King Ferdinand II, acquired the site after becoming enchanted by the ruins. He had the Monastery transformed into a Palace, blending a rich diversify of Gothic, Moorish, Manueline and Renaissance styles into his own Romanticist vision. The Palace was recognised as part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Sintra’s Cultural Landscape in 1995. Today the Palace is a very popular tourist destination.
We were amused at the definition of Romanticism our guide gave us, he said it was orderly but wild at the same time. (That describes Deb pretty well )
We left the Palace at around d 12:20pm and had a walk through historic Sintra town. The town was established to service the needs of the Royal, rich and famous who lived in the area. It was an interesting stroll. We stopped off to sample two of the areas iconic “ foods”. First we called into Piriquita, established in 1862, and sampled their Travesseiro de Sintra (a pillow pastry stuffed with a mix of sugar egg yokes, water and cinnamon) and their Queijades (a thin crisp tart filled with a mix of cheese, eggs, flour, sugar, butter & cinnamon). Both were interesting, we enjoyed the pastry, but the fillings left us undecided. Next we dropped into Bar do Binho – The House of Port – est 1927. Here we tried a nip of Ginja (sweet & sour cherry liqueur) served in a fine 70% dark chocolate cup. Deb initially didn’t want to try one, but once chocolate was mentioned quickly changed her mind. Local etiquette says you sip the liquor 3 times then eat the chocolate. At the same time, we both put the whole thing in our mouth!! It was very tasty.
We then headed to Roca Cape, the most westerly point of mainland Europe. (It was pointed out that Portugal also lays claim to the overall most westerly point of Europe, Monchique Islet in the Azures) There is a Monument on the point marking the location and its significance, there is also a Lighthouse. We got pictures!!
We then drove down the coast in the direction of Casais and stopped for lunch at Restaurante O Faroleiro. We had a whole red snapper cooked Portuguese style. It was delicious and came with potato and onion, cooked in its own juices. We washed it down with a glass of Vinho Verde (which translates to green wine, from the green pastures of the Portuguese North West)
After lunch we drove down to Casais, described in our tour notes as “a quaint fishing town”. This it was definitely not. Think more the holiday/beach house location of the rich and famous. 5+ Star Resorts abounded, mansions everywhere and luxury Apartments. Not our sort of holiday spot, all glitz and glamour without substance. We got dropped off at the old Citadel and walked along the foreshore. It was awash with tourists.
After our walk we got back in the car and drove back to Lisbon along the coast road by the Tagus River. We had a very enjoyable day.