First full day in Lisbon and what did I do? I left the city to go to Cascais, Cabo da Roca, Sintra, and Pena Palace.
First stop was Cascais which is a beautiful beach town. We were set free for about an hour to wander around and get a snack. I stood by the beach for a bit watching a yellow lab run in the water and then come out and role in the sand. Funny dog. I then wandered around the marina area taking pictures until it was time to go back.
Next we headed to Cabo da Roca, which is the western most point of Europe. The drive there and the cape itself reminded me of driving highway 1 in CA. Although not as scary. 😊 We walked around and took pictures. It was super windy out. So much for spending any time on my hair this morning!
We then headed to Sintra. There we had 1 hour 45 minutes. So my first stop was lunch. I saw an outside table perfect for 1 and sat down. I had a cod and rice dish.
After lunch I walked around Sintra taking in the views. I then started walking where it seemed everyone was going and ended up at the Quinta da Regaleira.
The Regaleria is a beautiful “house” designed and built in the late 1800s, It is an eclectic-revivalist architectural ensemble, with a particular focus on the Manueline, Renaissance, Medieval and Classical styles or so the internet says as I didn’t have time to go in. Instead I needed to head back and meet up with the rest of the group to go to our final stop, Pena palace, a castle that sits on top of a hill in the Sintra mountains. The palace started as a monastery, but was was mostly destroyed. Then in 1838 King Ferdinand II bought the monastery and land surrounding it and began building the castle for his wife, Queen Maria II. However, two months before the completion of the castle, the Queen died giving birth to her 11th child. In 1910 it became a national monument.
After the tour, I walked along the water. I even sat for awhile and watched as people walked by. Then I headed up the steep hills back to the hotel. Lots of outside time today and the weather was beautiful!
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