Good morning readers! It’s super cold today at home, and while I juggle between work and life, I am constantly reminded of how blessed I am to be able to go and travel to places that are out of my wildest imagination. Sintra, was definitely one of those places, where castles look like they are from a Disney or Pixar movie. And as much as it looks surreal, this place called Sintra, is real.
It all started out with a rainy morning as I head off to Sintra from Lisbon. Of the 10 days that rains in Lisbon during the month April, it had to rain that day. I was a little bummed out already, and when I heard that Sintra usually rains more than Lisbon, I grew even more sad. It was only a 30 minute drive, but the 30 minutes was a magical one. The gray clouds slowly disappeared, and the rain disappeared as I entered the Parque Natural de Sintra-Cascais.
The soil on the ground was still a little moist in the park, but I was surrounded by the luscious green exotic trees. Apparently, all the trees in this park were exported from different parts of the world which gives this park a unique experience for those who enjoy hiking up to the beautiful Pena Castle.
Going through wide and narrow trails, I arrived at the foot of the castle, just to realize there is more hiking to do. The castle was nowhere to be seen with all the tall trees and the short me. Except, at some point in time, I saw this red building looming over the hills. It was still a mystery as to what awaits at the top.
It turns out the red building was only part of the Pena Castle, which is actually the monastery. The history behind this castle was quite fascinating. In short, a German king was married to a Portugese queen long long time ago. The German king loved the monastery and started buying all the land around the area (i.e. the entire park nowadays that now belongs to the Portugese government), and expanded the monastery where it became the Pena Castle.
The castle’s architecture consist of a mixture of styles including Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Neo-Islamic and Neo-Renaissance that are distinguished by the different vibrant colours of the castle. Can you guess which colour represents which style?
Every part of the castle looked magical, as if I’ve entered the life found in a fantasy book. Starting from the Pena National Palace entrance…
…to the courtyard…
…overlooking the vast amount of land surrounding the castle…
…down to the details…
…to what was remained from the original monastery after the 1755 earthquake that pretty much destroyed everything…
…and finding a viewpoint from the Pena Castle that overlooks the Moorish Castle…
…everything was magical and surreal.
Heading back to downtown Sintra, I hung out around the National Palace of Sintra before finding my way to another surreal place where the land meets the ocean – want to take a guess where this may be?
If you guessed Atlantic Ocean, you are close. Cabo da Roca, the most western part of continental Europe is just a 20 minute drive from Sintra and it’s right beside the Atlantic Ocean. Distinguished by a stunning lighthouse among the blue sky and a monument indicating the coordinates of this location.
While I only lingered at this place for half an hour, I was absorbed by this magnificent view where the blue ocean was stretched as far as my eyes could see as the waves crashed to the shore. I can definitely live with this.
Finally, I made my way to the beach town, Cascais. Something that I am definitely dreaming of right now, as it still feels like winter at home.
Although the water was way too cold to be swimming in at this time of the year, and rather wavy…
…the temperature was just right for a nice stroll with a cup of delicious gelato…
…and to just relax from the daily hustle.
Hope you enjoyed this magical adventure in Sintra and Cascais as much as I did. Hopefully it warms up soon, so I can enjoy my summer at home. Whenever that happens, I will be dreaming about this place. Thanks for reading!
