Pancakes at goodnight hostel are freshly made, not fluffy ones but are big flat disks of creamy cakes that is a great start to the day.l
I have taken the recipe for home, looking at the ingredients it doesn't seem very different from my recipe at home. Maybe Lisbon has more cream in their milk. Have to try it out once I'm home.
Our trip takes us away from the city of Lisbon and into a small nearby area called Sintra. This was on the high recommendation of our hostess at the backpacker. Magda who is originally from Poland, said this is the one of her favorite place in Portugal. She recommended we take a 45min train there to visit the Palace of Pena and the Quinta da Regaleira.
When we got to the train station, it appears many of the other travelers were also going to Sintra, most were tourists. Tourist are easily identifiable by their shorts, drink bottles and straw hats.
The train took us into the higher into the mountains to a countryside like station. Most people rushed out into the station looking for area map. Turns out ALL the train passengers were tourist.
The Parks and Palaces of Sintra is quite special, due to the moorish and christian influence, this comes across in much of the architecture and designs.
We purchased a bus ticket for route 434, this route takes us to most of the castles in Sintra. A two way ticket cost 5 euros, it is quite expensive, but never try to walk or drive the route, the roads are incredible narrow and winding. What is a two way ticket? It means you are entitles to getting off twice and one extra to take you back to the station. This worked out perfect for us as we only intended to see two places anyway.
Our first stop, the Palace of Pena. The palace was built for Dona Maria II, Queen of Portugal in 1826-1818 and 1834-1853. It is a fine example of 19th century Portuguese Romanticism and the integration of natural and built heritage.
The palace is built on the mountain top with a steep and winding pathway. I was nearly out of breathe by the time we got to the top. Here is the first view as soon as you step out of the bush path.
This was the entrance, note the beautiful geometric patterns of the entrance way.
Beautiful Portuguese tile facade of the Palace.
This is a Triton, an Allegorical gateway of the Creation. Half-man half fish figure.
View of the country surrounding Pena.
The inside of the Pena prohibits photography, therefore I have no photos to show you. On display is many Portuguese furniture and art work from the 18th to 19th Century. There was a beautiful set of wooden furniture that was so elaborately carved at first I thought it was woven cane furniture and not wood.
Inside was also a room with furniture and items from China and Japan from the 19th century.
Here is us on the upper balcony. Distinctive Moorish dome can be seen in the background.
Us in the restaurant at the lower level of the palace. I had a chicken sandwich, but Martin and Vincent had a Brie, honey and walnut sandwich tat sounded delicious. Must try making one when we get back home.
Our next stop is Quinta da Regaleira. This is less frequented by tourist due to it's location and its popularity, however Magda assured us it is well worth the visit, in fact this place is her favorite in Sintra.
I think after the visit this has also become my favorite out of the two Palaces we have visited.
Why? Because of all the fun hidden passageways!
Here is the Chapel, built with a complex iconographic programme developed around the life of Mary and Jesus, the cool part is that there is a secret passageway that leads to the main house. Unfortunately we were not able to find the passageway.
We actually found another one which lead to a dead end.
This was the main house. Inside is a small museum dedicated to the architecture and design of the whole place. In fact we found out that the whole house down to the smallest detail like the furniture was designed by a single man Luigi Manini.
Perhaps influenced by his theatre and stage design background, the entire house is dramatic and full of elegant design as well as hidden doorways.
In one of the upper levels was a fake library with mirrors inserted into the edge of the floor, from the doorway, it appears like the bookshelves were extending below us, the platform appears to be floating in mid-air.
View from an upper window.
Only 4-5 people can stand on the small platform, however due to the narrow and winding staircase going up, there was a lot of going up and down the stairs giving way to other people before we could get up onto the turret.
A secret door in one of the darkened corridor.
The garden of the house was designed with the intention of being an image of the cosmos, Which is revealed though a succession of magic and mysterious places.
There appeared to have been in the past some form of initiation rite that takes place inside this garden.
Here is the fount of abundance. Apparently not flowing at the moment. Reflects the current ongoing economic crisis don't you think?
A tunnel path leading to the Regaleira tower.
This is the Lake waterfall.
Beneath the waterfall are some of the hidden caves and passage ways.
The stone steps are actually over water, the green moss makes it appears on camera like solid grass, but it's not!
Me at the entrance to the caves. Most of these are not lit, so you can imagine children screaming when the adults decides to spook them.
We found the tunnel leading to an unfinished well.
Then we found the way to the completed initiation well. It's quite spooky.
It's actually a subterranean tower that sinks 27m into the earth. There is a spiral stairwell around this structure. The exit leads to a secret stone door.
Here is another exit/entrance to the cave. This is the Guardian's gate.
Opposite the gate was a tree with many books on it. Symbolizing a tree if knowledge perhaps?
The garden was very large, due to our train and bus time, so we were only able to explore half of the garden. A fun and magical place that would be perfect for adults and kinds alike!
We took the train back to Lisbon and it was already 6pm. In the evening we have to take a bus to Sevilla, therefore we have a slight rush to get some food before heading out again.
We ended up choosing a restaurant on our backpacker's street. Rua Dos Correiros. We choose this place and the dishes appeared reasonably sized and well portioned.
Here was our dinner. Portuguese fish paella, roast pork and pork and clam stew.
It was an okay dinner, however when the bill came we were quit shocked and horrified. There were four appetizers that came with the table, we were told we would pay for whichever dish we ate. Thinking it will only be a few euros per dish, we tried out two of them.
When the bill came we were horrified to find the small fish cakes were 10 euros and the small serving of jamon 6 euros.
On top of this was an extra service fee of 6 euros!!!
In total we had to pay what we estimate of at least 15 euros!!
This was terribly overpriced, a valuable lesson for us, always ask for the price of the appertiser, it could easily be more expensive than the main dish!
We later indignantly told our hostess at the backpacker. She agreed that she would never advise on eating in this street! So, fellow travelers, be warned! Make sure you know what you have to pay before entering the restaurant!
That night we had to take a late bus into Sevilla, from 8.45pm until 5.15am the following day. We reached the bus station and thought we got lucky, the bus was only half full. We divided ourselves up to each take a double seat and settled in for a comfortable ride.
Regrettably the "comfortable" part of the bus ride did not last long. Turns out there was a second stop at the airport. The bus was in fact packed!
The ride reminded me of the seats in Swiss Air when we went over from HK, but in actual fact the bus had a wider seat so it was even more comfortable than the flight. One of the most uncomfortable aspect of the ride was not the seat but the heat. I think the driver was trying to maintain a relatively similar temperature to the outside, so it got quite warm with everybody on the bus.
We arrived in Sevilla at the early hour of 5.15am, look out for the next post as I blog about my experience in the city of bull fights and flamenco!
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Location:Plaza de Ponce de León,Seville,Spain
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