Portugal: Sintra

Castelos de Mouros, The Moorish Castle.

Last November, I went to Lisbon and Barcelona on a quick trip out of he country.  What a wonderful trip that was!  After spending a couple of rainy days in Lisbon, we thought it'd be a great idea to check out Sintra, just outside of Lisbon, hoping to escape the rain.  No luck.

Our first stop was the Castelo de Mouros [Moorish Castle].  Charming, old, and scared the crap out of me. I've mentioned before that I have a hard time walking without spraining my ankle.  The cobblestones here were almost the death of me [not to mention my fear of heights].  I clutched onto the rocks as I walked through the castle.  

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I actually walked these steps. I cried with every rickety step, praying to Jesus that He wasn't ready to call me home.

But wait. What did I spy from the Castle but a colorful vision across the valley:

It looked pretty colorfully spectacular from where I was standing so I decided to take the bus onto the next location, Pena National Palace.

Pena National Palace was awash in colors and stunning, even in the dreary, rainy day.  The colors popped off of the otherwise grey background.  I was amazed at how many people were out in the rain. I tried to stay as dry as possible, but the kitten hiding in the drainage in the photo above is probably the smartest living thing in town.

One other thing that I noticed while walking around Sintra was the amazing detailed tile work that was done.  I can't fathom making each one of these things over and over, even WITH a form. I felt compelled to take it in and photograph it, especially since someone went through the trouble of creating it!

After we left the Palace, we started meandering through Sintra to find the train station. [that's Jen-ese for I got lost].  It didn't matter how long it took since every path was so charming, if a little wet.  [sorry to harp on this subject but I'm from LA...I don't know what those fat drops of water falling on me really are]

My favorite stop during my "meandering time" had to be the bakery.  Although I never took any photos of my favorite cookies, Broas de Mel, I still have the memory of it to tide me over until my next [non-rainy] visit.