Quinta da Capela 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>

... went to a Manuelian monument that was built to impress the ships coming into the harbor, then off to another monument and cathedral, and at last to the Pasteis de Belem where they make 20,000 of the famous Portugese pastry a day. Bruno told us that people aren't fat in Portugal, but everyone has diabetes, and supposedly everyone eats one of these pastries per day. They were really good.<br>We learned that everyone thinks that the Portugese are lazy, and they ...

... 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 ...

Dopo una abbondante colazione alla Casa Chineza, siamo andati a prendere il treno che in circa un'ora ti porta a Sintra.<br>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.<br>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 ...

... My birthday feast. Dancing and talking until the sun rose. Wine from teacups and the high road hike in Cinque Terra. The night Italy won the World Cup and the Luigi saga. 250 steop up to the Lemon Orchard and Smokey the cat. Wine nights and dancing at Rocco's. Willy's pub and slobberface. Sunbathing on the rock in Ischia. Getting lost in Pompeii. The day I decided it was time to leave in Praia de Mira. The mentally ill group at the pousada de juventude ...

... bridge and another 10 KM before a chance to turn around. All of this was wrong. They must do this on a regular basis to silly English speaking tourists. Anyhow, we finally got it right and made it to the hotel. Here we were waiting for the others to be picked up by the tow truck. Finally we all made it together and try to hit the beaches. Apparently the beaches are quite a drive away, but we ended up in a nicer area and were able to walk up and down the beach front and ...

... 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 ...