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SINTRA
We entered the city of castles and rain ...
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Not far from hot Lisbon is the small town of Sintra. It is located in the cool mountains and is famous for the fact that the Portuguese kings and rich people hid here from the summer heat. There are six palaces alone in this town! The most ancient of them is the Moors Castle, built in the 9-10th centuries. Its battlements on the rocks are clearly visible from everywhere.
Getting to Sintra is easy. Every half hour, an electric train leaves from Lisbon Rossio Station. And what was an additional convenience for us - the transport pass in Lisbon also applies to electric trains to Sintra. We came here for a couple of days, and we had plans: to have time to see 3-4 palaces and visit Cape Roca (the westernmost point of Europe, where all of Europe is only eastern). These optimistic intentions did not come true, since the weather in a place like Sintra can change all plans beyond recognition. But more on that later, but for now we landed at the station, among the fragrant greenery and went to throw our things at the hotel.
The first challenge for travelers in Sintra is the vertical streets. For example, the navigator shows that it is 1.5 kilometers to the hotel, we happily estimate that it takes 15-20 minutes to walk to it, and then it turns out that 60% of the road is just steps up, and the remaining 40% is a pavement that also goes up ... As a result, even a short distance takes a lot of time and effort.
The hotel was small but welcoming. In this hall, we spent a wonderful evening with our neighbors from Italy and Germany, sipping delicious Portuguese wine with the owner of the hotel, Giorgio.
The first in Sintra, we chose to visit the Pena Palace, when you still visit the royal palace, where everything has remained the same as in 1910, when the last queen of Portugal, Amelia Orleans, left it ...
Want to see how kings lived? Here are some of the interiors of the Pena Palace. Photos below are clickable
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There is a beautiful park around the palace. It took us several hours to watch it.
Photos below are clickable
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The next item on the program was the Mavrov Castle. Beautiful, majestic and graceful.
The first day resulted in acquaintance with two palaces and one large park. We overcame many ups and downs, drank coffee at the very top of the Pena palace and took a picture of one of the creatures that inhabit the park - went to our hotel
The next morning we were awakened by the sound of rain, we looked out the window, and there it was not just rain, but a mad downpour. We waited for its completion, but it only intensified. Realizing that we will not be able to see Cape Roca and the remaining 4 palaces, we doomedly went to the station. By the time we got there, we got soaked through. Frozen, drenched and chilled, we left this wet city. At parting, we could not even see the palaces on the tops of the mountains, as they were hidden by dark and low clouds. Goodbye Sintra. We'll see the rest of the sights next time ...
We would be glad to receive your comments on this article. If you have been to Sintra or are going to visit this city - share your impressions in the comments. Reposts and likes will be greatly appreciated.
Vitaly & Nataly
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