It is not uncommon for every town to have a special pastry. After a visit to the local bakery for the town’s “aqueijada”, a scrumptious petite flaky pastry flavored with cinnamon, our first stop was the storybook Palacio de Pena from the 19th century. It is a sight to beholden. The drive up to the castle was on a long, very narrow and winding road and quite eventful with its bends and turns which amps up one to a breathtaking image of this mythical residence. It is a so-called “romanticist” palace that looks like it could have been created by Walt Disney and plopped right in the middle of Disneyland. For history buffs, King Ferdinand built it in the 19th century as a summer retreat. The palace features everything a “Disneyland/fairytale” palace needs: drawbridges, turrets, ramparts, domes, numerous intriguing gargoyles, all washed in an array of pastel colors. The exterior has a number of styles: Neo-Gothic, Islamic and Neo-Renaissance. The interior is decorated in gaudy Victorian and Edwardian styles. The interesting fact about the palace is that King Fernando II purchased the ruins of a monastery here and adapted it and added on to for use as a residence according to his “romantic” taste.
We headed to the historical center of Sintra for lunch. Since it was not quite noon, many of the restaurants were not open. One of the restaurant options, was a French restaurant right in the middle of the square-we knew it was going to be a tourist trap;however, we reluctantly entered. Big mistake! In many foreign countries, you pay for any extras such as bread. That is fine with us. We were asked if we wanted bread and we said yes. The waiter then proceeded to bring out bread, olives, cheese and prosciutto. Needless to say, we “dug in” for a whopping $30 “price of bread” plus our mediocre lunch! A lesson learned. . . turn down anything other than bread and don’t go to an obvious tourist- trap restaurant.
Apres lunch, we drove by a few more spectacular castles in Sintra and headed to the lighthouse and rocky bluffs of Cabo de Roca. It is Europe’s westernmost point. We also briefly visited the famous surfing beach, Guincho Beach and stopped at Boca de Inferno (a.k.a Hell’s Mouth). It a chasm located in the seaside cliffs. Especially during inclement weather, the waves strike the cave walls in a violent explosive manner. We continued our drive down the coast to the famous former fishing town of Caiscais which is now a trendy vacation getaway and Estoril which is known for it’s casino.
This evening we listened to some interesting fado music sung by a very masculine but sonsy woman while dining on Portuguese fare of potatoes and fish.
