Lisbon, Portugal April 30th

Early this afternoon we arrived in Lisbon, Portugal.
Our excursion today is called 'Queluz Palace, Sintra and Seaside Vistas'
Along the way we saw sights of Lisbon and the ancient aqueduct, which is still used today to transfer water.
Our first stop was in the countryside at the Queluz Palace which is a country mansion build like Versailles in the mid-1700's. There were over 20 rooms that we could publicly tour. From the mirrored walls of the throne room, crystal chandeliers, parquet floors and a room full of one of a kind hand-made Portuguese tiles. We actually walked the entire length of the palace. It is designed to be a long series of rooms that span the width of the building so that there are windows or doors that open on each side of a room to get the breeze through each room. Then out to the huge manicured garden with it's own series of fountains and a waterway running through it.
We then drove through the dense forests to the town of Sintra. Here we could see the old Royal Palace on the top of the large hill overlooking the town. Sintra is just like many of the European cities with a town square, small palace, cobblestone winding streets and many shops along the streets. We were able to find shops with hand painted blue and white porcelain ware and the hand-painted tiles that Portugal is known for. Got a round candle holder (not a stick, more like a dish) , hand painted in blue, white and yellow. We did make a quick stop into the Casa Piriquita bakery (Est 1862) for some tasty Portuguese treats. Pastel de Nata, Pastel de Sintra and Queijadas.
On our way back we had a scenic coastal drive with beaches, large seaside boulders, past the city of Cascais and the resort city of Estoril.
Then back to the ship and still docked in Lisbon for another day of visiting tomorrow...Read more