Grottos and Castles in Sintra

So we slept in a bit and didn’t get out until late morning… I think we’re reset at this point on our sleep schedule. We went to a different part of the train station for the longer distance trains to head about 45 minutes outside of Lisbon to an historic area called Sintra. The ticket situation was a little confusing as the machines didn’t seem to sell the type of tickets we needed. I asked a security guard (who then face-palmed some local who tried to interrupt), and he leaned in and said softly “listen, off the record, everyone is on strike, the ticket counter has nobody working, today you don’t need a ticket, just go on the the train.” A train promptly arrived and he was telling the truth, so we certainly saved a few Euros. The way back was a different story, while it was also free, it was an hour and a half late and a bit crowded.

Sintra was a lovely and picturesque little town elevated from the surrounding area enough that there seemed to be expansive views in every direction. We toured the grounds of Quinta da Regaleira, an historic palace and grounds full of bizarre occult and mythological symbolism. Our time there ran a little long playing around taking pictures, so we had to really hustle to make it to Castelo dos Mouros, a castle high up overlooking the entire area. We made it there about an hour before sunset and powered to the top spire for some really beautiful views.  As the light softened, the clouds gave off little bursts of pink and purple, silhouetting yet another castle in the distance. The grounds of both places were large enough that it felt like a pretty full day but still not too hurried.

We made it back to Lisbon ready for some dinner and we stopped by a place that pushed all the right buttons: crowded, and crowded with locals. Their specialty is bifana, which is a sliced pork sandwich, usually topped with a lightly spiced and tangy mustard, and served on a fluffy and flaky bolillo roll (I know that’s Mexican bread, but that’s my reference). They don’t look like much, but they were fantastic. We also grabbed some local takeaway pasteis and other sweets, you know, just for research and comparison purposes.