Day 3 - Sintra, Cabo da Roca, Cascais

Today was a small group tour that took us west of the city to the Atlantic Ocean.

Sintra - Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage site encompassing 4 palaces, a convent, a castle and Cabo da Roca. Our first tour today was the Pena Palace.

The area of Sintra is cooler than Lisbon, with dense fog that doesn't burn off til mid-morning or later. As such throughout history the area has attracted the nobility who want to get away from the heat in the summers.

The history of Lisbon is inextricably tied to the massive earthquake and tsunami of 1755 that destroyed much of the city. Prior to the earthquake, the a 12th century monastery stood on the site of what is now Pena Palace. It was destroyed in the earthquake. For many years the church tried to sell the old ruined monastery.

Ferdinand (a German) married Portugal's Queen Marie II in 1836. He became king consort (a title created for him) and hence King Ferdinand II of Portugal. The couple soon fell in love and he wanted to create a Palace for her. He purchased the ruins of the monastery in Sintra with his own money, not the state's funds, and set about building the Pena Palace. When you see pictures of the palace, the old monastery is the lower reddish grey part, and the newer part Ferdinand built is the yellow part. 

Tragically, Maria died before the palace was complete.

With Maria's death, Ferdinand lost his title as king and the monarchy went to the oldest of their 11 children, who were all of the Portuguese royal family. 

Ferdinand eventually got over his heartbreak, met a new woman, remarried and completed the Pena Palace. The new couple moved in and there was nothing the crown could do about it (they tried) since Ferdinand had not used any state funds to buy the land or build the palace.

Ferdinand deliberately included the four architectural influences of the time: Arabic, 16th c. Portuguese Manueline, Gothic, and Romanticism.  You can see all four outside the palace:

Entry Gate in the Arab Style

Manueline Influenced Archery Station

The Queen's Terrace in the Romanticism Style

Inside the palace:

From the palace we went to the town of Sintra for pastries and shopping. Both the palace and the town are overcrowded with tourists. It's hard to imagine what it's like in the busy season.

Next stop Cabo da Roca, the westernmost place on the European continent.

You can see the end of the world from here.

As impressive as the view were the wildflowers:

Final stop of the tour was the seaside resort Cascais.  During WWII Portugal was a neutral nation. As such Europe's elite flocked to Portugal, and Cascais was one of the places they built homes. It was also a hot bed of spies, including Ian Fleming. His first James Bond novel features places in Cascais and scenes that may or may not have actually happened there.

We ended our day back exploring Lisbon as we once again got lost trying to find a specific restaurant for dinner. Turns out it was on the same alley as the restaurant of our first night. They also don't take cards, but they tell you that before the seat you.

Greg had a fantastic grilled seabass, Laurel a traditional cod dish. We did our part to keep Portugal as the top wine drinking nation per Capita.