Quinta da Capela Sintra

... of the open windowed tram! We were served glasses of port wine and sampled a famous pastry here called Pasties de Nal de Belem which was a delicious custard cup of yum with cinnamon. I was glad we couldn't find more of those things:) Back to the ship and a hunt for a bottle of Port to take home. We are definitely sharing that one!! The end of another amazing day here in the Atlantic...yes that's ...

... vandaag,...


sorry voor alle filosofen die dit dit lezen,.. maar F*ck it,... ik ben een genietertje en geen denkertje,... ik ben geen naïef kieken, maar ik ben geen hersenenbrekertje,... ( tenzij het over sudoku’s gaat)...


Ik ben een dame van het HIER en NU en nu voelt alles goed,... en sorry voor de hersenen maar die mogen effe rusten en mee genieten van de vitamine D.....




van dieptes naar hoogtes,... het elastisch systeem,...

... atoombommen van antonio die leidden tot gênante stiltes,...beetje FREAKY vent,... nee hier blijven we niet,...


dus weg,... en dan onderweg,... onmiddelijk een lift,... van porto naar lissabon,... we werden zelfs afgezet voor de deur,... samengepropt in een auto met een burgie en twee leerkrachten,... frans/ portugees,... even dutten,... frans/ portugees en dan thuis,...


om onszelf te belonen gingen we in een plaatselijk restaurant ...

Dopo una abbondante colazione alla Casa Chineza, siamo andati a prendere il treno che in circa un'ora ti porta a Sintra.
Quando eravamo stati nel 2003 (o era il 2004?) ci eravamo innamorati della Quinta da Regaleira, una villa tra stile manuelino e riferimenti massonici, un giardino spettacolare con cunicoli sotterranei; avevamo poi visto il Castello dos Mouros, o meglio le sue rovine sparse in un bellissimo parco.
Quest'anno ...

... a half to do all the hiking up. At least there was a public fountain at the bottom where I could get a drink - not a drinking fountain, but a town fountain with drinkable water. : ) I grabbed lunch (salted cob with potatoes and onions - typical dish of the area and really good, plus it came with some kind of bean soup that was amazing!) and then headed to Quinta de Reglaria. SO COOL! It was this rich old mans ...

The day began with more baggage drama. I rang the airport again, they told me it would be delivered this morning. An hour later I rang them again and told them the courier had not contacted me. They said they would ring them and ask them to call me straight away. Hal an hour later I rang them again. Still no bag. They would contact the courier again. Half an hour later I rang them again. Finally, at 10:45 with my plans to visit Sintra today in some doubt, the bag arrived. Hooray!! I put on ...

... of Lisbon which was absolutely incomprehensible. I walk in and first thing I see? A giant dollhouse. I was in heaven! I wished it were higher off the ground, because my knees are old and creaky, but oh well. Only later did I realize everything was so low because children are their main clientele. Ha! The size of this dollhouse actually reminded me of the dollhouse I made when I was younger - in 7th grade - which coincided with the year I took wood shop! Ah, two good side ...

... villages of Amarante (where we sampled the best 'pasteis de Belem' (delish sweet custard tarts)ever and Lamego, before heading to our first camping ground in the spa village of Luso - a rather civilised little place in the middle of the Bucaco forest. Next day we were down to see Coimbra, Portugal's most prestigious university town, with lovely marbled streets and interesting little alleyways that wound up the hill to the rather grand university campus (well,partly ...

Today I saw something that I have wanted to see for some time. I saw the other side of the Atlantic. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. When I arrived on Saturday I was able to get downtown only one hour after my plane landed. That is always a good sign. I thought that I would be able to walk in the sand but that turned out to be impossible. While I was wandering I found many beautiful monuments. Lisbon is amazing. It's clean for a ...

... see this eye candy of a castle. Pena Palace is--to this day--my favorite of all castles! It was described in tour books as a "crazy casserole". It is all different styles--gothic, moorish, victorian, bavarian, lots of Neptune & sea themes too. Colors of bright yellow, deep reds, vivid blues--tiles, stucco, bricks. Red steeples, golden domes, yellow turrets. Windows of all shapes and sizes--each with elaborate carvings. Inside we saw it's "charming ...