Sintra, Portugal

From Guicho we took the scenic route to SIntra.  It was a beautiful drive along tree lined roads.  we were not familiar with many of the trees but recognized  the Eucalyptus trees.  The road signs were good and we managed to find a parking lot outside town.  We had been told not to drive our camper into the skinny roads of Sintra.  We were parked by the bus station in some kind of municipal parking lot.  We drove in to an unmanned ticket gate, pulled out the ticket and parked.  

It was a long walk to town, we asked for directions and a lovely Portuguese lady walked us further than her destination to direct us to the tourist information office where we got directions to the 3 main attractions of the town. I also inquired about a camp site in case we needed to stay in Sintra.  She marked on the map the location of the campsite.  She did not know the name and said it was near a football stadium.

Outside the tourist office Dick was chatting with a girl on a motorized pedicab.  It was called a Tuk Tuk, more expensive than taking the tourist bus to the Palace de Pena but for the fun of it we took the Tuk Tuk.  The young girl was a photography student working for the summer.  Her cousin owned the service and she could not find a photography job so she took this job.

It was fantastic to see the Palace de Pena.  An old convent later converted to this Disneyland type of palace.  It was a foggy day, which added to the appeal of the scenario.  It was also cold and windy.

                             

                               

                                

The Moorish fort was built around the 10th century by the Muslims that occupied the Iberian peninsula.  It's panoramic views of the Atlantic coast, the Sintra hills, and surrounding fields made it strategically located to defend the nearby area and the maritime access to Lisbon.  It involved a lot of walking up steps for us but worth the hike up.

                                     

                      

                                           

                                                          

The third attraction we saw was the Palace Quinta da Regaleira.  We hurriedly saw this palace as it was nearing closing. It had a Initiatic Well that sunk 27 meters into the earth and was accessible by spiral stairways.  It was dark so we did not go too far down.

 We had a long walk back to the car and discovered we had left the car unlocked and we had lost our parking ticket.  We needed the ticket to swipe at the gate to leave!   Fortunately an English speaking lady helped us call the 800 number for help and she got us out of there.  What a guardian angel!  Parking was a deal, all day for €1.50.  How lucky nothing was stolen from the unlocked car.  

Our day was not over, we still had to find this unnamed camp site.  After having to stop a gazillion times for directions we found  someone who knew exactly where it was and we finally got there!  But yikes, it was basically a parking lot so had no bathrooms.  We were charged €5.00. 

Fortunately, the sports bar nearby was open, but only for 10 more minutes as it was almost 10:00 pm.  Dick originally did not want burgers and we started to drive out to find a restaurant.  I convinced him to turn around as it was so late in the evening.  We went to the hamburger  place and they had the best hamburgers we ever tasted.  Mine was a salmon burger, it was delicious.  Dick had a beef burger with fried eggs and it was outstanding.  The cook and the waiter stayed open waiting for us to finish our meal.