Sintra

Sintra is a wonderful little town northeast of Lisbon, known for it’s colorful Pena Palace, Quinta da Regaleira, wonderous villas and quaint little village. We visited the area on our last day in Portugal, unfortunately it was overcast and as we ascended the mountain it started to rain. You will have to look at the photos in the link to see what I had hoped to capture 🙂

This is the area where you park your car…I knew I was in for a photographic treat!
As we walked the winding streets there are so many picturesque scenes to take in, even this abandoned house is beautiful.
I’m a sucker for colorful old doors!
Walking through the narrow streets of the village we came upon this adorable cat sitting upon her “throne”. There was a sign that the locals had posted saying that they take care of her which includes food, necessary medical attention and of course a comfy pillow and blanket to sleep upon.
We arrived early so the streets were still empty, we waited for a very famous pastry shop, Priquita to open so we could taste the travesseiros, translated as long pillows…worth the wait!

The Initiation Well, sometimes referred to as the inverted tower. The well was never used to collect water, it was a part of a mysterious initiation ritual within the Knights of Templar tradition.

While the initiation well is famous, the gardens surrounding Quinta da Regaleira are breathtaking.

The Pena Palace, a very long walk uphill, a bus ride or as we chose a tuktuk is the pièce de résistance of the Sintra visit. I mentioned earlier that we had very bad weather for viewing this beautiful palace, but it was still magnificent even in the rain. I may have to return to Portugal just to see this place in the sun! LOL

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