We are on the third leg of our jaunt from the Lisbon Port and our guide has been giddy about Sintra! The temperature and weather has taken on wild swings……….from a warm, balmy, coastal morning at Cascais to the freezing and blowing winds at the Cabo da Roca, our small group is eagerly awaiting to see our finds in Sintra! Sintra is the Garden of Eden of Portugal. Here is where the kings wanted their summer palaces to develop large gardens of flowers and fountains amid the lush green forests, with the Sintra Mountains as a backdrop.  As we entered the village, which has been declared a Unesco World Heritage Site, the bus could not even find a good spot to drop us off. There were people, people everywhere! Bumper to bumper bodies reminding me of Venice, Italy in the summer. The only view you get is the back of the head of the person, two inches in front of you! What a disappointment…… but it must be a very nice place, because everyone is here on this Sunday afternoon!

Maybe a little port would make navigating the crowds easier!

Hmmm no……. maybe a roasted chestnut?

Definitely not this way……

This area is less traveled today…… let’s go this way…….

This little street looks right up my alley!!!!

Or a nice glass of wine or mug of beer would be good here!

Or a visit to a hat shop might be just the ticket…….

The architecture is fabulous if you can get far enough away to photograph it…….

I think we should go up a bit…… to the castle in the middle of the square…….

The first castle was built by the Moors in the 11th century……….. and then the castle was taken by the Christian King Afonso Henriques and the Crusaders……. and remodeled and remodeled and added on to…….

There are three other palaces in Sintra and many fine estates…… but they will have to wait for another day! But, we could look out over the village from the Sintra Castle.

Sintra looks like a fairy tale village to me…..I wish I had more time here……….maybe on a Monday or Tuesday! Or a week or two!

It is time to head back to the ship and settle in for the night. It has been a great day with many adventures and definitely a spot in the world I could come back to! So much to see and do, but so little time in this day!

Goodnight from the Seven Seas Explorer!

I hope you have enjoyed the posts from the port at Lisbon…… We’re on to Andalusia in southern Spain!  See you there!