We took a walk along the riverfront before packing up and heading to Sintra via train & then bus. The bus route took us by Cabo de Rafa on the coast. The views were magnificent, the cliffs were massive, the curves were constant and our bus driver was terrifying! He'd speed up every little chance he got & then slam on the brakes when he met a vehicle, got behind a bicyclist or needed to take a sharp curve. Our knuckles were white & our nerves fried when we finally got to Sintra. One couple had pushed the stop button much earlier because their son was as what's as a sheet. We hailed a cab to our bnb and our host me us there. It's a cute little apartment with a tiny kitchen, bathroom, living room & 2 bedrooms. (We have roommates but only saw them a few minutes twice.). The place is way over decorated with old stuff that belonged to her mom & gma. The frig is a tiny one probably about 50 yrs old. We arrived hungry so the first thing was to find Lucy & then off to find the old city center where the Nat'l Palace was. We toured that immense and impressive palace with two cone shaped chimneys located in the kitchen. The Royal family lived here for 8 centuries. Then we walked around admiring the homes with fancy tile work, bright painted colors and spring flowers blooming in their yards. On our walk back to our bnb, we stopped for a de Nada & another Portuguese pastry, then a groc store to pick up some breakfast food. It was Sat night so we called the kids & heard their news. Always a treat.
Sun morning we took off to get train tickets for tomorrow & hop on/off bus tickets for today. We didn't have much luck & got a bit frustrated till we found the visitor center & got the info we needed. Then our day of visiting historic buildings began. First we went to the Moorish Castle which sat high above the city & was really a fort. Next we got to the Peña Palace. We got in a huge line & had to wait an hour to get in…luckily we had a shady spot to sit while we waited. The golden colored palace was humungous with lots of impressive carved ceilings. It was fully furnished with ornate furniture, wall hangings & even the dining room table was set for a royal dinner. Next stop was the Regaleira Palace…built like ones in fairy tales. We were hungry so we ordered sandwiches at a cafe with a fabulous view of the palace. Our bnb host had told us to be sure & get the audio so we did which gave us probably more than we wanted to know about the architecture. The chapel was especially beautiful. But it was the endless gardens with so many flowers blooming, water fountains & paths surrounding this palace that was really special. Loved it. Finally, we made it to the last on of the day, the Monserrate Palace. The two long golden hallways lined with pillars with intricate archways made this palace our favorite. There were two domes with red stained glass which cast a gorgeous glow over the main rooms. Also a billiard room, library, kitchen & huge banquet room reminded Rog of the game of Clue. We were shipped by the time we got on the bus back to the center of town. We'd been climbing up & down, in & outside of all the palaces. The walks were uneven & there'd been hundred of steps. We felt like we'd spent the day like mountains goats! Exhausting! Sintra is quite an amazing place. Why'd they build so many palaces in one area??? And why did we think we had to tour them all?!
