Sintra, Portugal: A Step into Portugal's Past

Today, some new friends from my hostel and I journeyed to Sintra, a coastal town about half an hour outside Lisbon. The first place we stopped was Pena Palace, a magnificent Romantic construction set atop the hill overlooking Sintra. Built at the turn of the 19th century as a summer residence for the royal family, the palace has significant Arabic and Indian influences, as you can see from the photo above. These influences were also seen inside the palace, which made the tour of the inner rooms quite worthwhile.

The Pena Palace is not only famous for the palace itself, but also for the extensive (and hilly) gardens surrounding it. The western edge of the gardens features a steep climb to the top of the hill, but the resulting view of Sintra and the Atlantic was an excellent reward! Not featured in this photo, but worth mentioning, is the fact that looking eastward from this point, one can see what's left of an eight-century medieval castle, which was originally built to protect the residents in the area from seafaring warriors.

After Pena Palace, we drove to nearby Sintra for lunch and a quick look around, then headed to a 'private residence': a four-story, thirty plus room house with marble architecture and an extensive grounds. This house was built from 1898-1910 for a rich Brazilian lawyer who immigrated to Portugal, and, because of his interest in ecology, he had extensive gardens built, taking into account the fact that the site his house was on had natural caves. Though the house and gardens were pretty, the caves with their watery ceilings and network of lakes were definitely the highlight—some were so dark we had to use flashlights!

We then drove to a truly remarkable site: the westernmost (and perhaps the windiest!) point in Continental Europe. This column, with the ever-present but not pictured cross on the top, faces directly west at the edge of the Atlantic, and gives the coordinates of the location as proof. It's the closest I'll be to home for the next two weeks!

Our final stop before heading back to Lisbon was the beach. Unfortunately, we didn't have much time (and the water was very cold), so I didn't get to swim, but I compensated for the lack of swimming with an abundance of gelato. It was a great day, and a great way to see a bit more of beautiful Portugal before heading to Spain. After being here for four days, I can say that Portugal is highly underrated, and I am supremely glad that I had the chance to explore it.