10/5/2015
The town of Sintra is a 40 minute train ride away from
Rossio, Lisbon’s train station. It’s a relatively small train station compared
to other European cities, so it was painless finding the platform as the
platform was right next to the ticket gates. The tickets were a pain in the ass
to buy though. Since we already deposited 0.50 euro for each of our Viva Viadem
metro passes, and we’d purchased 24 hour day passes the day before, you cannot
reload your Viadem card until the 24 hour window has passed. Stupid, right? The
only way to buy a ticket then is to get a new Viva Viadem card for 0.50 a
piece. Nonrefundable, of course. I really think they should’ve thought this
through before implementing such bureaucracy. It makes no sense whatsoever; you
should be able to use your Viadem card whenever without having to purchase a
new one!
The main reason we wanted to go to Sintra is because there are a number of Portuguese castles in the region. We bought a combo ticket online for a 5% advance ticket discount that allows us access to Sintra National Palace, Pena Palace (the most famous of the three), and the Moors Castle. As all three are situated on a steep mountain, you can buy a hop-on, hop-off-like bus ticket. The 434 bus only runs in one direction though, so if you want to skip the first stop (Sintra National) and ride to Pena first, you’ll have to walk back to Sintra on your own. Believe me, you do NOT want to make that walk. It’s a ten minute bus ride up a very windy, very steep road that—at times—can only accommodate one vehicle. Even though it’s a two lane street. Seriously, you’ll be squashed like a bug if you tried to squeeze in with the bus on that road. One car had to reverse up the hill so the bus could pass. Yikes.
 |
| Sintra National Palace. Ugh just look at that line! |
The line for the bus was crazy long, so we didn’t get seats
on the way up. It was much like the tram yesterday to Belem—if they know that
many people are going, why not have more buses? There’s only one that comes
along every 15 minutes. So while we got lucky and got on the bus on our first
go, there were people who couldn’t get on and had to wait for the next one.
Our first stop was Sintra, though nobody got off with us.
Everyone’s going to Pena, apparently. I got all happy; I thought that meant
there wouldn’t be much of a line at Sintra. Boy was I wrong. It’s busier than
Disneyland on a summer day! The line wound along the entrance all the way down
the stairs. Why? Because there were like twenty massive tour groups! The
entrance is also the exit, and happens to be very narrow, so they only allow a
certain number of people up and down the stairs at any given time. Which means
they ration out how many people can go in at once. Handicap friendly, they are
not.
We had a pretty strict schedule we wanted to adhere to,
because we wanted to cram in 3 castles in one day. We’d never attempted this
before, so we were nervous if we’d get to see everything we wanted to see in
such a short time. I started getting antsy in line, but we were still on
schedule. Finally, we were admitted in and went up the staircase.
We felt like we were being herded and cattle-prodded along
the palace because there were just so many tour groups. In order to ever get a
move on, you had to get in front of the tour groups and make sure to stay in
front of them or you’d never get anywhere. Thank God we didn’t pay for
audioguide or we’d be stuck in the palace forever. There’s just an endless
stream of tour groups coming along. First one in German, then English, then
French. The doors are so narrow, only one person can fit in at a time. They
really need to think of a more efficient way to do this. I wonder what it’s
like during summer time!
Again, they didn’t do a very good job of explaining the monarchy,
so it was hard to connect which monarch lived when and was significant in what
way. We did learn that Afonso I, after defeating the Moors and driving them out
of Portugal, became the first king of Portugal. His father is Henry from
Burgundy, and I was kidding that Afonso must’ve been a younger brother who had
to seek his fortune far away from home. Cuz God knows he ain’t getting anything
from his father.
And Ferdinand is Queen Victoria’s cousin on the Saxe-Coburg line.
 |
| The Swan Room |
Sintra is known for its two ginormous white Moorish
chimneys:
These were needed to let all the hot air out from all the cooking in the kitchens. The two kitchens directly underneath these chimneys are vast.
The ceiling of this tower is gilded with the coat-of-arms of 72 noble families, with the one in the very middle the royal crest:
Angel noted that, to make all 72 families fit on the ceiling, some had to be cut down in size (like the ones in the corners). She said if she were one of the families that was on one of the smaller plates, she'd be pissed. Only Angel.
I replied that if she took this complaint up with the king, her head would most likely be chopped off.
We saw the room where King Afonso VI’s brother kept the king
prisoner, a tiny little bedroom smaller than Angel’s:
His brother locked Afonso up because Afonso and his wife could not conceive. His brother threw Afonso into this room, and took Afonso’s wife for his own. We found this hilarious. In England, if a couple can’t conceive, it’s usually the woman’s fault (Anne Boleyn, anyone?). But in Portugal, apparently it’s the man’s fault. Ye-ah!
 |
| The kitchen. Up above is the famed chimney |
 |
| The chimney. Interior view (duh). |
Again, not sure why Portugal can't figure out how to accommodate more tourists. Like the tram yesterday and the bus today, if they know there's a lot of people coming, couldn't they open up more modes of transportation? For Sintra Palace, there's only one staircase to enter and leave the palace. Which means you have to wait about 10 minutes for them to even let you exit the building! It's like two-way driving on a one-lane street. They'll block off the exit for a few minutes to let a certain number of people go up, then they'll block off the entrance to let people come down:
 |
| Sintra Palace |
Next up is Pena Palace, which is shrouded by an enormous park with gorgeous landscaping. It's like it's own botanical gardens in here:
Pena Palace used to be a monastery, but when King Ferdinand came
along and ascended to power, he had it converted to a summer palace. We kept
commenting that Pena Palace looks a lot like Ludwig’s Hohenschwangau. The
architecture, the various ramparts and towers, the bright yellow paint are all
reminiscent of Ludwig’s childhood home. As it turns out, Ferdinand drew
inspiration from the German princes when designing his palace:
We noticed that a lot with Portuguese castles. One castle
that we didn’t have time to go to is billed as Portugal’s Versailles, although
we could see it from the top of the Moors Castle. We could also see a “chalet” that
was built in the French style, along with a villa that was Tuscan. On top of
that, the Moors Castle walls were reminiscent of the Great Wall of
China…sensing a trend? #justcopyeveryoneelse
The first running shower in Europe was also installed in
Pena Palace:
There was another reference to sanitation and cleanliness somewhere we went yesterday…they seem to be very proud of their sanitation here.
There’s a gorgeous pink room in the palace that is
reminiscent of Marie Antoinette and the rococo style…unfortunately, they chose
to decorate it with dark brown leather chairs and sofas.
And this guy:
Why? Whyyyy????
If it were me, I’d have gilded chairs and mirrors up the wazoo in there!
Angel's just a tad obsessed with the dog molds:
We walked along the beautiful terraces at Pena with their
colorful Moorish columns. It was friggin windy—it was like St. Michel all over
again. The wind howled so loud, my eardrums were ringing. Mom’s head started
hurting, so she waited inside while we explored the great outdoors. Dad was so cold,
he got an espresso shot to warm up. Oh, pardon. Nespresso. I should just buy him the damn machine. Everywhere he goes, he just laps it up!
 |
| Look at that wind! This tower faces a steep drop cliff-side, but you can't see it because the fog's so heavy. |
 |
| The twisted troll on top of the entrance reminds me of Angel muahaha |
Like our experience at Neuschwanstein, it was so goddamn foggy, we couldn’t see a thing beyond the columns. You’re supposed to see a breathtaking view of the town of Sintra way down the mountain (since Pena Palace is situated on top of the peak), but you couldn’t see two feet past the fog.
 |
| Look Jack, I'm flying! |
 |
| Spot the troll! |
So this is what Pena Palace is supposed to look like on a clear and sunny day (which, like usual, we did not experience):
Angel had the brilliant idea to overshoot the Moors castle
first and go directly to Pena, then walk back to Moors to explore at our
leisure, as Pena is the more touristy landmark. There weren’t a lot of people
at Moors because it got even windier and the whole experience is outdoors. It’s
like climbing the Great Wall of China in Edinburgh in 100mph winds with steps as
narrow as the Tower of London. Don’t trip, Angel (for those who don't know, she's the klutz in the family. She ran into a door last night...and then blamed the door).
So we walked the 200 m from Pena down to Moors. We had
memorized the route from riding the bus up to the Pena Palace, which was good
because there were no signs. Some idiot yesterday (aka Jen) said, “If you can’t
see 200 meters in front of you to walk from one place to the other, you’re an idiot.”
Clearly she’s confused about who the idiot is….Score: Fog 1, Jen 0.
 |
| Moors Castle |
Moors Castle was originally built by the Moors in the 11th
(XX?) century as a watchtower. But since the Moors were driven out of Portugal, the
place fell into disrepair. King Sigmund of Norway saw the place while he was
sailing in the Atlantic (tells you how far away you can see the place), and
liked it so much, he stopped by for a visit.
Consort Ferdinand, married to Queen Mary II, chose the Moors
Castle as a pet project to “rehabilitate.” It had been in ruins and he promoted
the site as “romantic ruins,” in line with the gothic inspiration so popular
from the mid-to-late 1800s. He would come up here to draw and paint, and got
quite good at painting human figures on porcelain plates. Politics and
international affairs was not his forte; he was very much a Marie Antoinette.
Also a running theme here, we’re finding.
We climbed along the ramparts—some of the steps are
extremely steep, and it doesn’t help that the wind nearly blew us off our feet
a couple times. I was taking a picture of Angel and I almost toppled back, the
wind hit me so hard. But there was an older couple in their 60s or 70s climbing
the stairs in front of us. If they can do it, so can we. And finally, we got to
the very top. Where—on a good day—you can see Pena Palace. But the fog was so
heavy, we couldn’t get much more than a faint outline of something looming in
the mist. Didn’t know what was behind the veil. Could be a dragon, for all we
know haha.
 |
| Town of Sintra down below |
 |
| Kinda looks like Great Wall of China, doesn't it? Even has its own bonsai trees! |
 |
| You can see Pena Palace enshrouded in mist on the other mountaintop |
 |
| Pena Palace |
 |
| Ducking from the wind. The wind's so hard, we were getting blown over! |
So when the Moors first started building the fortress, they took advantage of the natural landscape and just sorta built on top of it. You can't see, but on top of the gigantic rocks below, they've built a tower, which just seems sooooo unsafe in earthquake-prone California:
Guess they didn't have to deal with earthquakes :T
 |
| Comfy Stone-Age couch! |
 |
| Look how cute Mom & Dad are, huddling in the rain! |
Thanks to Angel’s brilliant plan, when we got on the bus at
the Moors Castle stop, there was almost no line and we got seats. When the bus
drove up to Pena, the line of people to get into the bus was some 50-people
strong. The seats were occupied pretty fast, and not everyone was able to get on. They'd have to wait for the next bus to come along, which completely sucks.
Because it’s cold. And sprinkling intermittently. And humid.
One of the Portuguese tour guides said to her English
client: “This is Portuguese weather! Isn’t it lovely?”
Today was the day Jen had no toilet paper. She complained in
the morning about being left with only 3 sheets (although there were
technically more rolls in the cabinets…she just didn’t know about them). Oddly
enough, every restroom we went to in the palaces today had the same issue – but
only in the stalls Jen chose. I think someone is trying to tell her to kill
fewer trees…
We came back to Lisbon where it was a clear, humid day.
After a quick hop back to our apartment to use the loo and freshen up, we went
out again to go eat dinner. It was pouring rain by this time! Ten minutes
hadn’t even passed, and all of a sudden, we walk ten feet and we’re drenched to
the bones. My feet were wet, my jeans soaked and dragging me down like ten pound
weights.
Screw this, we decided. We hopped onto the metro and rode one stop to Case do Sobre for the Mercado de Ribeira.
We got the same things as
last night (because they still didn’t have either the suckling pig with potato
puree or the tuna tartare!! Grr!). Slow-cooked egg with potato puree, truffle
sauce, prosciutto; beef tartare; salmon tartare; along with some new things.
Filet mignon sao Paulo at Cafe de Sao Bento (a perfectly
cooked filet mignon with a thick, creamy sauce reminiscent of cream mushroom—the
beef was so so tender and deliciously rare, the sauce we were this close to licking off the plate.) This is a Portuguese specialty:
Beef & pork croquette (how they make it so silky, I wanna know!):
Duck croquette:
A slice of almond cake with a sugar pudding layer on the bottom at Miguel Castro e Silva (another famous Lisbon chef):
Cute plate!
A slice of cake made with dates and drenched in a sweet eggy syrup:
Angel liked the date one better, but they were both way too sweet for us. Looked delicious, but didn’t live up to the hype, sadly enough.
 |
| Queijadas |
Afterward, we trekked back home with the intention of
stopping by Landeau Chocolate for their famed chocolate cake. They were closed,
boooo. So we walked back to our apartment, but Angel saw Padeira Portuguesa.
It’s literally a 2 minute walk from our apartment. How come I never knew???
Until the last day! We dropped in to buy some favorites: Angel loves their
custard-stuffed donuts and I love their queijadas. They baked it better at
this store than Belem. The upper crust is slightly crunchy, which adds
texture to the cake.
We walked down to Rossio to buy Dad his stone soup, because he
didn’t want to eat anything at the Mercado and his lien se hen nang kang (rough
translation: facial color did not look good. Otherwise known as: he was throwing a hissy fit). We’d
bought him Portuguese stone soup yesterday, and he loved it. It’s a
tomato-based broth chockful of meat, cabbage, and all these other ingredients
that Dad really likes. You should’ve seen how wide his smile was when he was
all fresh from a shower, happily eating his soup and browsing the internet in
the comforts of our cozy apartment.
This was him at the Time Out Market…just for contrast.
No comments:
Post a Comment