Sintra - Portugal's Disneyworld

Today’s plan was to spend the day in Sintra, a small resort town about 30 km NW of Lisbon. It was the summer getaway of Portugal’s kings and anyone wealthy enough with a desire to live amongst royalty. Getting to Sintra meant a 2 km walk to central Lisbon; a 50 minute train ride; a tourist bus to one of the main sites, Pena Palace; and a 15 minute uphill walk to the Palace entrance. This really did feel like Disneyworld, not only because of the extravagant castle but there were so many people. It must be wild during tourist season. We first explored the whimsical exterior of the 19th century castle and then John noticed black clouds approaching so we went indoors just as heavy rainfall began. The inside has been very well maintained and English descriptions in each room were helpful. We spent about an hour admiring the displays and imagining the lifestyle of royalty in that era.

By then the rain had let up a little so we headed back down the hill to the bus stop. Within minutes there was another downpour that drenched us. There were about 100 people waiting in line for the bus so we had to wait about 20 minutes for the 2nd bus. I had planned to see more of Sintra but we were both wet and cold and it was still raining, so we got the next train back to Lisbon. John’s knees were troubling him today, more so than usual as he actually agreed to take the Tylenol I offered him. He normally refuses because “it causes liver damage”. I find it interesting that he isn’t overly concerned about the potential liver damage from drinking beer, wine or scotch! And that was the soggy end of our day trip to Sintra.Read more