Loitering with intent in Lisbon 17

Not much longer and we'll be jetting off to Barcelona, now that our holiday in Lisbon has nearly come to an end. You would think that after a week in the city we would have explored every nook and cranny twice over, but heavy rain curtailed some excursions, while poor planning on my part meant we had to visit Belem twice to see everything. And, as we wanted our time in Lisbon to be relaxing, some days we didn't leave the flat until the crack of noon.

We were tempted by the many possible day trips out of the city, such as the palaces at Quelez and Mafra, the Roman ruins in Evora, the medieval town of Obidos, the monasteries in Tomar and Batalha or the seaside charms of Cascais and Estoril. Maybe next time? In the end, we took only the one trip out of Lisbon, to the fairy tale town of Sintra, where whimsical castles and sublime ruins poke out from the forests and mountains.

As a cool mountain retreat, Sintra has long been a favourite of aristocrats escaping the heat of Lisbon. For years it was a haven for wealthy English eccentrics as well, such as Lord Byron and William Beckford, and it remains a honeypot for visitors today. Even on a Thursday afternoon in early November, the bus from the train station into town was busy with tourists.

After leaving the town centre, our bus began to tackle the seemingly endless series of switchbacks up the mountainside. Some bends were so tight, the bus had to back up at times to make the turn. Going round and round in a nonstop spiral while stuck in an airless cylinder alongside dozens of rubbernecking tourists very nearly made me ill, but at last we pulled up to the gates of the Pena Palace.

Originally this mountaintop was home to a monastery which was ruined in the disastrous earthquake of 1755. Nearly a century later, King Ferdinand hired a German architect to rebuild the monastic site, embellished with a romantic royal palace. From the gate it was a steep walk uphill through the woods, until we stood breathless under the colourful and extravagant spires and domes crowning the rocky mountaintop.

The blue sky is deceiving; we could see dark banks of cloud heavy with rain blowing off the sea and heading our way.

At the time, several tourists wearing plastic rain slickers (those cheap ones that are a step above from being mere bin bags) were trying to navigate the cobbles of the palace's courtyard with Segways. A minute later and the gale hit full force, whipping right up a shrieking woman's poncho and nearly sending her off the precipice. Catastrophe averted and our 'good for the wind' €5 brollie in hand, we dashed for the entrance.

Photos are not allowed inside, but we did sneak this one of the small tiled cloister of the old monastery at the heart of the palace.

Notice how the sun has returned? It didn't last and during the rest of our tour the palace windows rattled with the rain and wind. There wasn't much to see other than some hideous furniture in the otherwise surprisingly plain rooms. One highlight was a chapel that served as a showroom for King Ferdinand's personal stained glass collection. At the end of our tour it was very much a case of 'was that it?'.

Back out in the courtyard (now cleared of any Segways and screaming women), we noticed a sign pointing towards a turret at the cliff's edge and decided to take a closer look. This turned out to be the entrance to a walkway atop the exterior walls which took us around nearly half the palace along a narrow circuit of the battlements and guard towers.

The stones were wet and at times we were looking hundreds of feet straight down the mountainside, so we had to tread carefully as the gales lashed at us. It was well worth it though for a close-up look at the palace and the stupendous views (when the weather co-operated).

 

 

Between breaks in the rain we could see over to 'Castle of the Moors' which was treated by King Ferdinand as a folly in his back garden (albeit one whose foundations are a full 1000 years older than his Pena Palace).

Retreating into the depths of the palace, we had a quick bite to eat in the rather posh cafeteria that was the only dining option. Indifferent bread and stale spongey cake (more like blocks of styrofoam) bookended our plates of tasty roast pork which came with rice, but no chips or runny fried egg like we had come to expect. It was a bit dear (€25 for the pair of us), so I suggest packing a lunch or looking elsewhere.

The clouds cleared briefly and it took us less than ten minutes after leaving the Pena Palace to walk down the road to the Moorish castle. Like the castle in Lisbon, the ruins are overly clean and tidy; the pile of stones proved too ruined for King Ferdinand's tastes so he had the castle restored to an extent. Despite this, historic features remain like caverns that were carved to store grain, the scant remains of a Moorish graveyard and the walls of ruined church that was no doubt initially a mosque over 1200 years ago.

The walls sprawl over a huge area and there is much climbing involved; we passed on tackling the highest reaches and spent maybe a half hour scrambling around enjoying the view.

Though not as high up the mountain as the Pena Palace, the Moorish castle sits directly over Sintra and a marked trail indicated it was only 600m into town (most of it straight down). 

We found the bus waiting for us outside the gates, which dropped us off in the heart of the town among the many shops and eateries touting for the tourist trade.

Time for one last palace, this time the national palace or 'town palace' as it's called, the distinctive conical chimneys of which can be seen in my photo above.

As the property of the state, the palace still hosts dignitaries even today and is guarded by a swarm of policemen, but the attendants gave us a friendly welcome and encouraged us to take photos inside what  proved to be a building even more eccentric than the Pena Palace.

For instance, there was the swan room with its gorgeous ceiling and graceful chandeliers...

a chapel tiled floor to ceiling with flying doves...

and the famous magpie room, where each bird holds a scroll in its beak with a phrase that translates as 'for honour.' The story goes that King John I was caught by his wife cuddling up to one of her ladies-in-waiting. Supposedly he had the ceiling painted with as many magpies as there were ladies in the court, both as a warning about their gossiping and as an apology to his wife.

Yet another room has a ceiling which features sailing ships at sea.

Some of the rooms are decorated with lovely tiles, many of which are more than 500 years old yet still look almost good as new.

Fanciful ceilings and lavish painted tiles come together in a large room which has an ornate dome featuring aristocratic coats of arms above walls depicting a royal stag hunt.

By contrast, visitors can peer into this quiet little room nearby, its worn tiles giving a clue to its role in a sad episode in the palace's history. 

It was here that King Alfonso VI was imprisoned after being overthrown by his brother. Alfonso had been partially paralysed during an illness as a child which had also left him mentally unstable; his wife claimed he was impotent and his marriage was annulled. He spent the last seven years of his life in this room and died here in 1683 soon after his 40th birthday.

This is just a taster of some of the many rooms to be seen; I've created a gallery on my Facebook page soon with even more photographs. 

Back outside and the small garden surrounding the palace was untidy and overgrown in places with weeds. Although there weren't many plantings to admire, there were many quirky details which caught my eye.

Definitely worth venturing out for the day from Lisbon, even with all the rain!

INFO Sintra is easily reached by train from Lisbon's central Rossio station (in fact, it appeared to be the sole destination for all trains leaving the station during our visit, so no chance of catching the wrong train). Rossio can be entered through these horsehoe-shaped doors.

During weekdays there should be a train every 20 minutes, so you can turn up when you like and go. The journey takes about 40 minutes. I'm unsure of the fare because we paid using the credit on our Viva Viagem travel cards.

You should find a bus waiting outside Sintra station which is the very last stop on the line, after Portela de Sintra. At the time of our visit, we paid the driver €5 for a ticket which allowed us to hop off and on the bus as it went around town, then up into the mountains to the Pena palace and Moorish castle. When we visited, a combo ticket for the Pena palace and Moorish castle cost €12 and could be purchased from a machine at the Pena palace gates, which saved us time queuing at the ticket window. For another €2 there is a small bus which takes visitors to the Pena palace's front door. Admission to the national palace in Sintra was €7.

More information planning your visit to Sintra and all its various sites can be found here; there is plenty in town to keep you occupied for a full day or two.