18 October 2022 - Sintra

Miles driven today = 0

Total Miles to date = 2,443

There is a bus stop for the No.730 bus right outside the campsite gates, so this morning we hopped aboard, jumped off at Benfica Station and within an hour of leaving the van we were pulling in at the end of the line in Sintra.

As soon as we left the station we were inundated by tuk tuk drivers and bus tour reps trying to flog us tours of all the sights but we had done our homework and knew that there would be more than enough stuff to keep us interested for the day within walking distance of the station.

First photo opportunity was at the Camara Municipal (Town Hall) which to my mind looked a bit like a lego version of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.

We wandered up the road to the historical centre which clings to a steep hillside.

From the outside the National Palace at Sintra doesn't look particularly exciting but there has been an important building here since the 11th or 12th centuries, at a time when the Iberian Peninsular was under Islamic rule courtesy of the Moors and this building has been used as a Palace by Portuguese Royalty from the 14th century to the end of the Mornarchy in 1910.  We paid up and went inside.

The "Swans Hall" is the first major room we came into.  So called because of all the paintings of the birds on the room's ceiling.  In the past this room hosted banquets, religeous feasts, public receptions and funeral ceremonies.

Viewed from a courtyard, these are the 33 metre tall kitchen chimneys which took smoke and cooking smells away from the palace.  The shape of the chimneys has become synonymous with the Palace and are used as a stylised emblem.

This is the Magpies Chamber, again because of the painted ceiling.  The painting is thought to be among the oldest in the Palace, dating from the early 15th Century.  The reason for the magpies is unclear although the red roses in their beaks possibly allude to Queen Phillipa who was Lancastrian by birth.

In the Gold Chamber the Sovereign would receive dignitories.  He would also sleep here surrounded by servants or family members who slept on the floor.

Examples of ceramics.

Tapestries and paintings.

An astrolonomers' globe of the constellations.

Examples of the many different ceramic tiles found throughout the palace.

The Heraldic Hall is a huge room measuring 12 metres square with an octagonal ceiling, which was constructed in 1517.  It contains the coats of arms of Portuguese nobility of the time.

King Alfonso VI was thought to have been imprisoned in this chamber during the last few years of his life.  The ceramic floor dates from the 1430s and is thought to be the oldest in the Palace.

The King's Chapel was surprisingly simplistic and the ceiling appears to have Islamic influences in what could easily be a throwback to the Palace's Moorish beginnings.

The kitchens at the base of those gigantic chimneys.

The huge chandelier in the Manueline Hall.

Sintra buildings viewed from the Palace.

The royal bathroom with obscured stained glass windows.

After a spot of lunch we continued along the road to the Quinta da Regaleira.  This started out in the 19th Century as a relatively humble farm house but over the years the house was given a more palacial makeover and the grounds became what can only be described as one enormous folly.

The grounds cover a huge area snaking up the hillside.  Everywhere are towers and turrets.

Some of the buildings are incredibly ornate whereas other are simply built into the rockface.

You can clamber up into turrets for views across the treetops.

Secret staircases take you into hidden grottos.

Top of the list for me was the Initiation Well.  An 88 foot vertical shaft with a spiral staircase taking you down to the bottom.

Lisa really doesn't like spiral staircases.  If there is such a thing as a phobia of spiral staircases then Lisa definitely has it.

The view looking up from the bottom of the well.

You exit via a labyrinth of tunnels which bring you out of one of several exits including one underneath a waterfall.

The Quinta da Regaleira has its own Chapel built between 1903 and 1909.

Inside the house some of the rooms are equally as grandiose.

There are also a number of biographies of the various people who were involved in its design and building.

After all that our feet were pretty much dropping off.  There are a number of other sites to explore around Sintra but you really need at least 2 days to do them justice.  The Moorish Castle at the top of the hill was only occassionally visible through the low cloud and the garishly painted Pena Palace is also reckoned to be well worth a visit but there is only so much we can do in a day and we have another big day exploring Lisbon planned for tomorrow.

19 October 2022 - Lisbon