A Day Trip to Sintra, Portugal

On the weekend, we took a day trip to Sintra: a charming town just outside of Lisbon. Sintra is like the Hamptons of Portugal: it’s a great place for wealthy people to escape Lisbon’s summer heat. In certain historical periods, the royal family lived in Sintra year round.

Our tour started in Pena Palace: the most colorful, iconic structure in Sintra. It was a foggy day when we visited, and the gloomy weather made an interesting contrast with the cheerful yellow walls.

The monastery that’s attached to this castle was constructed in the 16th century. But, it fell to ruins after the earthquake in 1755. In the 1800s, Ferdinand II – husband to Queen Maria II – bought the land around the monastery, and constructed the castle in her honor.

Apparently at one point, a very rich woman paid a great deal of money to be buried in the monastery. The monks, who survived on donations, accepted this deal. But, when Ferdinand II acquired it, he moved her somewhere else. Her tomb is still here but her body isn’t. What a rip-off! She must be pissed.

Ferdinand was a King consort, rather than the power-wielding sort of king. The fact that he is just the queen’s husband is depicted with this sad and rather creepy-looking lion. Zoom in on him, I’ll wait.

Sadly, Queen Maria II died in childbirth before Ferdinand could finish the castle. Without his love, he lost heart in the project. He sort of hastily finished it, and so certain sections are a lot more detailed than others.

The inside of the castle is filled with royal furniture and portraits and such. But, it was mosh-pit-level crowded. We made it about 10 minutes in there before fleeing at the first available exit.

It turned out that just about everyone was inside, and no one was outside, so we had some fun photographing the fog.

If I ever went back to this castle, I would spend a lot more time exploring the surrounding forest and gardens, because they were just gorgeous.

After Pena Castle, we headed over to downtown Sintra, which was super pretty and had some fun little shops. Definitely worthy of a few hours of strolling.

Our last stop was Cabo da Roca, which is the most western point in continental Europe.

Gorgeous gorgeous fog. Man, I love fog.

And that’s our very last weekend trip of the trip! In just four more days, we’ll be back in snowy Canada.