Quinta Do Conde Sintra

... on North Brazil......in fact I think I am rapidly running out of time and will have to be dragged away and on to the plane soon!! <br><br>Thanks to airmiles/lots of travel we're flying Business, so not dreading the 12 hr (ish) flight ....can't wait to tuck in to the free champagne and relax in bed seats etc.....it really is the way to do longhaul travel.<br><br>See you in Brazil!<br>

... village that is one of the few areas to survive the 1775 earthquake. We walked around the old streets and then stopped for lunch. After that we walked back to the hostel and I took a cab to the airport. At 10 pm I was back in Vich.<br>It was a great, great trip, and I am so happy I went and saw Portugal.<br><br>Here are the photos, and I will add more as my friends send me the ones I am in (I am flawed in that I am never in the pictures that are on my camera)<br><br><br>

... like the good students we are). We left Madrid early on Saturday and had all day to explore the city. After checking into our hostel, we tried having lunch at the Barrio Alto. Of course, the tram was broken so we had to hike up the largest hill of my life to get to this area of the city. Of course the view was gorgeous, so it was worth it. Nothing was open when we got there, so we ...

... nel luoghi di interesse. <br>L'autista del bus deve odiare a morte i turisti, l'aria condizionata è al massimo e scendiamo con un principio di congelamento alle mani. Potremmo correre per scaldarci, ma riteniamo più saggio prendere una specie di trenino che porta dall'ingresso del parco al castello, in fondo siamo in vacanza!!<br><br>Visto da lontano il Castello della Pena sembra molto meglio conservato, all'arrivo si notano i ...

... that a "short" walk would turn into a hilly half marathon! We cut our losses and stopped at the next bus stop and continued our trek up the mountain as passengers of Bus 434. Whew! Palacio de Pena was a vacation getaway for the Portugese royalty. If you thought Shaq's house on "Cribs" was sick, you ain't seen nothing yet! They must of been Lakers fans as most of the palace was purple and gold. We'll let the ...

... anticipated. Sintra was the summer playground of the kings and queens of Portugal and there are many palaces and stately buildings here. The most impressive of these is the Palace of Pena, built in an imposing position high on a mountain overlooking not just Sintra but also the surrounding countryside, including the Atlantic coast in one direction and Lisbon in the other. We started our conquest of Sintra by looking through some of the shops. Because Jess was freezing (we had earlier ...

... and I'm sure was teased endlessly about being a lesbian. Story #2 back to the dollhouse. Not much of a story, actually. I built myself a dollhouse, and it was GIANT. Not quite so giant as the one in the front of the museum, but I was no famous dollhouse maker, and it was absurdly huge. I hadn't planned it to be, it just turned out that way. Sure, I glued each wooden roof shingle on by hand, but this dollhouse in the museum has real red clay roof tiles! I did also put wallpaper on ...

... Bear, an old friend with whom I have shared many ocean miles, on my e-mail list while meandering through the Horn of Africa last year. A mutual friend had provided it. The Next e-mail came a few months later. "Want to do a Trans Atlantic? We will probably stop in the Azores on the way to Venice" "Hmmmm. Ok". Most of my favorite trips have begun in a similar abbreviated manner. What is there to think about? We departed Newport Rhode Island one weekday afternoon in May and set a ...

Hello hello faithful travelpodders, I have fifteen minutes to update you. Just to let you know - we found sangria and tapas, but will have to search for nice paella when I head back to Madrid to meet Dad!!!!!! I caught a bus to Lisbon with Gaye and Sush on Monday, and we´re staying in a nice old district called Restauradores....or something like that. Anyway it reminds me alot of Paris, and this morning I went ...

... locals filled their gallon jugs (despite signs warning them of "inconsistent water"), by the ornate Palace Hotel, stopping to visit the "recuperating" Monserrate villa and out to the Cabo da Roca (western most point of mainland Europe). Driving was interesting....One lane, 2-ways, narrow and curving. Leaving busy Sintra on a quiet Sunday morning was a good idea. We had Monserrate to ourselves that morning. It was lonely with its intricate ric-rac ...