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"Cabo da Roca" ~ Edge of the world

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After sitting in the courtyard of St. Martin's Church for a while I continued on until arriving where I would conclude my walk.

The National Palace was as deep into Sintra as I could go, as it is its very center. I did not enter, but instead took some time to look over the town, and the paths I had cut through the hills.

I was pleased to find a vertical rail here on this balcony, as it provided a perfect support for my phone as I set up a quick shot.

To capture this shot I sat my bag on the stairs of the palace and situated my phone onto my bag at the desired angle. The palace just didn't captivate me as much as the color of the town did. It's a much more beautiful backdrop.

I left the city center, making sure to cut through Parque da Liberdade on my way back to my residence, and after doing so I was back there in an hour with about the same amount of daylight left.

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Sintra, Portugal

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After making my way down to a road that looped around a restaurant I snapped a picture of an old car, walked around the loop, and headed back the way I came, keeping an intersection in mind that I'd need to return to. Once I made it back to the intersection, I continued past it, seeing the way back to my residence on my left, and ahead of me, more sights to see.

I went that way for twenty or thirty minutes, minding my gait as I continued down. Gravity wanted to quicken my pace but I took deep breathes and deliberate steps. Bends in the road and narrow or nonexistent sidewalks required focus and surefootedness, which I had in spades.

Eventually I would come to a stretch where the road widened and through the sidewalk large trees rose on either side, looming over me and shading my path as I neared what turned out to be Parque da Liberdade.

This enormous, multilevel park sloped off to my right, beyond a stone border that separated the road from the stepped park. I passed the view of its interior on my right and approached the entrance, where an old municipal building stood. I looked around the courtyard where the entrance was, and turned my gaze back the way I came and up, peering from under the arch of the buildings columns and toward a high hill.

I would return to the park later but first I would make my way deeper into the town proper, having proudly navigated my way to areas of interest without a guide or aide of locals. As I paused I could feel the journey up till now pulsing in my soles, yet I soldiered on, content to extend the time it would take to return as I had plenty of daylight left and complete clarity on how to get back. Beyond the park were roads full of fellow tourists, mostly on foot like myself. Amidst the chatter and bustle and sound of car engines I heard during my stroll through the streets, I thought I detected music being played from a car or a shop. But as I neared Sintra's Myths and Legends center, I realized it was the sound of a church organ coming from St. Martin's next door. I took this video, carefully avoiding capturing two tourists who walked up on my right.

To be continued...

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On the grounds of Quinta da Regaleira

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This day was spent hoofing it. In fact, many times during my walk I wished I'd had hooves, to better negotiate the steep hills and inclines.

My residence was on a hill that I had originally arrived at by Uber. I remember feeling the drag as gravity pressed me back against the seat of the ascending car. A talisman had hung around the rear view mirror and went from hanging straight down to leaning toward the back as well.

So leaving on my own and returning under my own power was a different story and required great effort. And the many paths that the car had cut through to deliver me were not remembered, so at the base of a cobbled hill, I was completely on my own. When I got down the driveway and around the corner this view, and this set of stairs greeted me.

Some ways I went down led nowhere, or places I didn’t want to go. So I would just have to suck it up and walk back up the way I came. I walked down ( and sometimes up again ) for nearly 40 minutes before I ever even saw other tourists, or people in general. I was getting away from the residential areas and entering the commercialized ones. There were shops and inns that I passed, and people.

Once I got to the bottom I realized I wasn’t far from a square I’d seen on approach. I made my way through there, and to a road where I could go left or right.

I recalled the way the car I’d ridden in had turned from there and decided on the opposite way. I had that intersection in my mind now and could find it again when I needed. I would first turn right then straight ahead.

I continued that way past an abandoned inn done up in the style of an old castle. The grounds were overgrown, the windows were broken and the paint was faded. I continued past as other, still functioning inns and businesses cropped up on either side of the road. The buildings began to regain the color I had grown accustomed to.

Much further down, the road curved into a loop, the bend of which was hidden by an island of a restaurant in its middle. An old car appeared in the distance, from the back of the loop. I took out my camera and snapped a picture as it approached.

To be continued...

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My mother birthed me,

between our mountains

and this sea,

so this place feels like home.

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An imposing shot of a tower at Pena Palace, a grand, multicolored monument that rises above the treetops of Sintra, making it visible all the way from Lisbon.

The line for this place was harrowing, so I saw what I could of its exterior without waiting the hour and a half. I'll see more when I return ;)

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Exploring Alfama

Alfama, one of Lisbon's oldest neighborhoods, dates back to the Iron Age. This area sits on a hill overlooking the Tagus River and walking its steep, narrow streets left almost as much of an impression on me as the beautiful view.

Miradouro de Santa Luzia is a popular spot to take in the view. Food and drinks are sold nearby but the music is always free. A short walk from there is Castelo de São Jorge. The original castle was destroyed years ago in a massive earthquake so what stands is actually a restoration of the Moorish construction

Peacocks were first brought to Portugal as trophies in the 15th century and flocks of them still inhabit the castle.

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I snapped this shot of a municipal building when I was on my way to dinner with fellow travelers I met while exploring Lisbon's castles and coast.

Dinner for me was a Tom Yum Chicken and Lemongrass Risotto. By this point in my stay I'd had fish, squid, and octopus, and was fine just getting chicken and rice. So it made me laugh that they stuck an enormous prawn on it! As if to say, "No, you WILL have seafood!!"

Tom Yum is a type of Thai soup that's usually cooked with shrimp or prawns, so the topping actually made sense and tasted great. The chicken was prepared with kaffir lime leaves, galangal, lime juice, fish sauce, chili peppers, and lemongrass~ which of course matched flavors with the risotto.

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Lunch with New Acquaintances

Fried Cod with onions, peppers, olives (for some reason), and fried potato slices. I never thought I'd come to Portugal and essentially order Fish n Chips but it was delish!

One member of the group, Tina, ordered a bottle of Vinho Verde for us to try, and when it came out, this one did too. A complimentary bottle for the table.

Little did our waiter know, He served an Alva 'Alvarinho!'

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Postcards from the Edge

Warm weather destinations not only offer travelers the option to pack lite by neglecting bulky attire but they also provide a greater variety of activities they can comfortably take part in. Indoor. Outdoor. On or even under water. Now I didn't get out on the water, and I certainly didn't go under it, but I did get out over it, and I honestly couldn't get over it! I took a jeep out to Sintra's coast with a few travelers from around the world, and one who happened to be from my neck of the woods: a delightful South Carolinian named Breanna.

You never know who you'll be assembled with when you sign up for these things, but this group was a gift, and Breanna was a blessing. A feel of the familiar amidst the foreign :)

If I had my way I would stay all day. No art. No architecture. All nature.

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Among the towers and tunnels peppered through the garden of Quinta da Regaleira is a cave which holds a fountain and a sculpture of the mythological Queen Leda, who was seduced by Zeus after he took the form of a swan.

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Quinta da Regaleira

This site looks ancient but it's actually a 20th Century villa that was constructed in the early 1900s.

The aesthetic harkens back to a much earlier age with its stonework mimicking old castles of the region and extensive layout filled with unique (and sometimes hidden) features.

This spiral staircase on the site descends into "The Initiation Well," a structure nearly ninety feet deep with no clear purpose. The number of esoteric and alchemical symbols incorporated into the Quinta inspires speculation that this, and other areas, may have been used for occult practices.

At the base, where you see the pink compass, you come to a cave with a series of tunnels that lead out of the space...eventually.

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Exploring Quinta da Regaleira, a four-hectare estate located near the historic center of Sintra, Portugal, believed to hide symbols related to alchemy, Masonry, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians. 

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Exploring Lisbon’s city center.

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From Sintra to Lisbon, what I saw of Portugal was a country full of color. Buildings in blue, homes of different hues, and a castle covered in canary.