Sintra, The Summer Palace Hill Retreat For Royalty And The Rich. 15 October 2013

             Our third day of tourism involved catching a bus from Cascais up to the summer retreat in the hills of Sintra. Something akin to the hill stations of India. We thought that this was going to be an easy days visit but turned out to be the most exhausting and fascinating of all three days. We arrived in Sintras historic town centre to find a large white imposing building which turned out to be the Royal Palace on Republic Square. It was the residence of the Portuguese Royal Family for about 8 Centuries. The interior rooms were stunning and many of the Royal Families artefacts were in the various rooms. 

Sintra Town Centre With Moorish Castle On Hilltop
(Many Similarities With Darjeeling!)

Entrance Hall

Gallery

 Dinning Hall

Entertaining Gallery

National Palace Entrance

      Another stop on our circular bus route up to the top of the hill at 500m above sea level delivered us to the entrance gate of Pena Palace. We then had a hard, long climb up the hill to the Palace which is a magnificent example of Portuguese romantic style. It was originally a monastry that was obtained by Ferdinand 11 and built in 1839 incorporating the monastry. It was designed by a German and built by Don Ferdinand 11 who was a Duke of Saxo-Coburg-Gotha origin who married the Queen of Portugal. It is a weird and wondereful Disneyland style palace and is a must to visit if in Lisbon. 

Pena Palace Entrance

Ginny Under The Internal Palace Entry

Ginny With View From Pena Palace

Walkways Around The Turrets

View Of Moorish Castle From Pena Palace

Internal Courtyard

Dinning Hall

Detailed Marble Work In India Room

Palace Exterior

Palace Kitchen

Detailed Ceiling Work

Queens Bedroom

     After a bite to eat at the Palace, we walked down to the Moorish Castle of muslim foundation which was once attacked by the King Sigurd 1 of Norway in 1109. It was never attacked again and surrendered when Lisbon fell to the Crusaders in 1147. It is a wonderful castle and an excellent example of Moorish defences.

Moorish Castle Walls

Moorish Castle

Ginny Resting On The Ramparts

View Of Pena Palace From Castle

Moorish Castle

     It was a mad dash back by bus to Sintra as we still had one more visit to the Park and Palace of Monserrate. We had time for a quick and well earned beer in Sintra before our bus. Monserrate is fascinating for its British connection. It was transformed in 1856 into a summer residence for the Cook family by the British Architect James Knowles, it is a unique testimony of the 19th century eclectism. Francis Cook was a textile millionaire , 1st Viscount Of Monserrate and owner of one of the greatest private art collections in Britain. He conceived the present Romantic Palace and gardens as a family summer residence . It was breathtaking and the gardens were stunning although the recently planted rose garden by Prince Charles and Camilla required some pruning! Shattered, we returned to Cascais and enjoyed a meal out again.

Guy With Ice Cold Beer.

Monserrate Palace

Monserrate Palace Gardens

Main Hallway Ceiling

The Corridors

Main Hallway Ceiling

Music Room Ceiling

Main Hall

Entrance Hall

Ginny Doing A Diana At Entrance

The Drive Up To Monserrate

On The Tourist Trail In Lisbon 13 - 14 October 2013

      The next 3 days were to prove exhausting but worthwhile as we became professional tourists visiting all the key features of Lisbon and Sintra armed with maps, guide books and camera. Our first visit was a bit of an accident but very worthwhile and strongly recommended. It was to view all the famous old carriages in the Carriage Museum at the Palace Riding School. The building was fantastic and the carriages large, ornate and glamourous. Who says that bling has just been invented?

The Palace Riding School And Carriages

Ginny Wants One Of These As Kisti Two's Figurehead!

Carriages In The Old Riding School

      We then viewed the Maritime Museum set in a lovely old building at the end of the Monastry of Hieronymites. The Portuguese were the first great navigators of the world and if they had managed to keep the countries of all their discoveries, they would be a very rich nation.  Guy has always admired the early navigators of Portugal for the fantastic achievements of discovery they made, especially Vasco Da Gama under the leadership of Henry The Navigator. They were great navigators but not good administrators or fighters. The Maritime Museum is excellent and makes our Falmouth Maritime Museum that we visited earlier look like a small annexe! 

Guy Admiring Statue Of Vasco Da Gama
Complete With Seagull On Hat

Hieronymites Monastry Entrance

Henry The Navigator

Map Of Portuguese Discoveries

The Royal Barge. QE2 Was The Last To Use It

Maritime Museum Entrance

     After a quick Ronnies Burger, it was time to explore the magnificent Hieronymites Monastry built from the rewards of the navigators discoveries. A stunning building with a very peaceful priory for meditation. We also found time to visit the Monument To Discoveries and the Bethlehem Tower, both large landmarks as you come up the river to Lisbon. This first day of tourism was exhausting but fascinating. It was early to bed that night with very weary feet.

Maritime Museum & Hieronymites Monastry

Hironymites Monastry In Belem Area

Monument To The Discoveries With Lisbon's April 25 Bridge

Monastry Interior

Vasco Da Gama Tomb In The Monastry

Monastry Cloisters

Monastry Dinning Hall

Cloisters Walkway

The Bethlehem Tower

     Day 2 of tourism and it was to prove another interesting day. Our aim was to spend a day discovering old Lisbon visiting Alfama, Medieval Lisbon, the Baixa and its squares. The first was the Praca do Comercio with the equestrian statue of Jose 1 and the Triumphal Arch all at the original site of the Royal Palace before the fateful earthquake of 1755 which did much tremendous damage to the city. We walked through the straight lined streets of Baixa (designed by a military engineer of course) to the Praca Dom Pedro IV, the heart of present day Lisbon.

Ginny At The Praca do Comercio

Guy At The Praca do Rossio.
They Love The Wavy Floors

     The next was a hard climb up zig zagging streets to the Castelo de Sao George. This castle is of Arab origin and sits on top of the highest hill providing outstanding views. It was attacked by a French noble who became King Afonso Henriques in 1147 with the help of a powerful army of British Crusaders and Franks to help snatch it from the Moorish troops. The battle lasted 17 weeks but was instrumental in pushing the Arabs out of Europe. It is a must visit if in Lisbon

Monument To King Afonso Henriques

Ginny Inside The Castle St George

The Ramparts Of Castle St George

The View Of Lisbon From Castle St George

    Next was a walk down through the narrow winding streets of Alfama (a contrast to Baixa's reconstruction) to Lisbon's Cathedral. Another stunning building dating back to 1195. They have been digging up the cloisters and found Roman and Arab settlements hidden under the central courtyard garden. This visit was to conclude our second day in Lisbon, so with weary feet again, we caught the train back to Cascais to recover on Kisti Two.

Archeological Priory Dig

The Cathedral Interior From Above

Cathedral Interior From Ground Level