Sintra, Portugal

Ola!

For our final day in Portugal we decided to take a day trip from Lisbon to Sintra! It's about an hour away and full of palaces! We went over to the train station to catch the 10:00, but got stuck in a huge line full of tour groups while trying to buy tickets! Because of this, we decided to take an Uber to get there instead. For the three of us, it was a good call and saved us lots of time.

Our driver dropped us off first at the Quinta da Regaleira, a big palace with gardens and wells. We spent most of our time walking through the gardens. The most famous part is called the Initiation Well. It's really deep and now walkable, making for an interesting and mythical tourist attraction. We had to wait in line to see it, but it was "well" worth the wait! While in line, I also got to practice my Spanish with a guy from Galicia who was visiting. From there, the path led us to a river, where we used some stones to cross. There would have been a much longer line and some crowds to walk through the full palace, so we decided not to spend the time inside.
(Here's a guide and a map explaining a visit to the Quinta da Regaleira)

Our driver recommended a lunch place as well, so we stopped there after. Piriquita is located just off the main road in Sintra and has a good variety of sandwiches, pastries, and desserts. We really enjoyed their delicious pastry with a chocolate cream filling. (Look how great the pastries are!)

When we plugged in Pena Palace, we noticed that it would take an hour by bus, car, or foot! Crowds were in full force because of Easter weekend, and we didn't feel like fighting them. Thankfully, there was a luscious, green, jungly path leading there. We loved seeing all of the flowers and greenery along the way and were super excited to reach the top after about an hour. If I ever go back, I'm wearing comfortable tennis shoes and workout clothes!

For Pena Palace, we'd heard that the inside wasn't spectacular. So, we bypassed the long line to get inside and walked around the park and terraces of the castle. It's really colorful and nicely decorated. Our favorite part was walking along the castle walls to get the views and pretend that we were on patrol! However, they're not very well-protected - so it was quite the adventure! I got us some waters and a snack at the cafe on site which we enjoyed before we left. People are incredibly dedicated when it comes to getting pictures, and this time was no exception! A girl sat on top of the bench immediately behind where my mom was sitting and got mad when my mom nicely asked her to move. Instead, she moved to block my mom! We were a little flustered with this, but decided to laugh about it.

We hiked back down the hill and caught an Uber back to Lisbon for a short break. Later, we decided to head out for some dinner and drinks, starting with the Wine Bar close to our hotel. We enjoyed some light snacks and wine before moving further along. We got a little desperate for food (ok, I did) and ended up at a new Irish pub called The Spot Sports Bar for some nachos. As a bonus, FC Barcelona was playing at Camp Nou so I got to reminisce a little bit too. Finally, we walked up to Amorino Chiado for some gelato. I love their flower-shaped gelatos and they had a special promotion going on for Easter that included a little chocolate too. It was delicious!

We spent the rest of our night packing up our bags for our next stops - Dad, back to Denver; mom and I, onto Amsterdam!

Até logo! (Until later)

-A