Lisbon; Sunday, 18 November, 2007

An early breakfast and out to Sete Rios and the train to Sintra. Having arrived we caught the bus up to the Palácio de Pena and had a wander around the wall walk before heading inside to look around the palace. It was noticeably much quieter on a Sunny Sunday in November than it had been on an August morning.

After looking around the palace we then went for a walk through the grounds of the park. This was something that I had not done when I visited the first time, and it turned out that it had been a mistake to miss them on the first occasion as the grounds are as spectacular as the palace, offering stunning views from rocky outcrops back over not only the surrounding countryside, but also close up to the palace itself.

The walk eventually brought us out at the bottom of the gardens, below the Moorish castle, and by a bizarre duck house built in the style of a middle-ages castle. We walked up the roadside path, which meandered through the trees up to the castle. After stopping to purchase tickets, we walked down to the castle to have a look around. Unfortunately, at this point, my friends vertigo kicked in, and I can understand why, as there are sheer drops either side of steps with no handrail, and trying to explain that they have been standing like this for over 1000 years without any issue, doesn’t appear to make sufferers any more likely to respond positively.

We walked back from the castle to the bus stop, where we waited for the next bus, which was 10 minutes away. When it arrived it sailed past absolutely packed to the gunwales so we waited another 20 minutes for the next bus. This one turned up packed, three people got off, and then got straight back on again, the bus then pulled off, without having picked anyone up. At this point we decided it was probably best to forget trying to use the bus to get back down to Sintra centre, so instead we walked back towards the castle, and followed the path down the hill to the town. The walk down is quite strenuous over un-even and rocky paths with large steps and a steep incline. Thankfully, we were walking downhill; I dread to think that it would be like to climb back up in the opposite direction.

About 40 minutes after leaving the bus stop (and probably an hour before any of those waiting managed to get onto a bus) we arrived back in the centre of Sintra and made our way towards the station. We caught the train back into Lisbon, and stopped off at the hotel, as my friend wanted a quick rest before we headed out for dinner.