Sintra

On Monday, I was flying solo in Lisboa.  My two friends caught an early morning flight back to Madrid, and my train didn’t leave until 9:45 that night.  The sky was overcast, and it soon began to rain.  And it would keep raining that whole day, sliding back and forth between mist and downpour.  After a quick breakfast, I walked around a bit more, listening to Panda Bear and taking in the way the colors popped and the rainy sheen of the sidewalks. 

I decided to investigate the possibilities a little day trip.  I first checked out the ferries, which go to places around the bay of Lisboa, but I had also heard a lot about Sintra.  I knew it was close by, so I made my way to the Estação de Caminhos de Ferro do Rossio or the Rossio train station, located in the Rossio square near the center of the city. 

Trains head to and from Sintra about once every hour, and the round trip ticket was about 4 euros.  The train ride is around 40 minutes and takes you outside of Lisboa, offering you a glimpse at life beyond the city center, to the magical little town of Sintra, located right on the edge of the large Sintra-Cascais Natural Park. 

From the train station, you can walk into the town.  Cobble stone streets, small narrow alleys, story book houses and churches combine to create a sense of skepticism, as if part of you expects to see Mickey Mouse or maybe a peasant or lord come out from around the corner. 

There are plenty of options for food and drink in the village itself, and since the main monuments of Sintra (the Castelo dos mouros, the Pena National Palace, and the Sintra National Palace) are all several kilometers away, you’ll probably want to stop for something.  I had a stellar fillet of black grouper paired with a local white wine at Restaurante Tulhas, a cozy tavern with a menu specializing in fish but also offering veal cutlets and other terrestrial treats. 

Post lunch, I decided to try and go to see some of the monuments,.  Like I said, they are outside of the town itself, so I started following signs, walking along the sidewalk when it was there and on the side of the road when it wasn’t. The whole area is extremely lush and green, from evergreens to more tropical vine-y crawlers punctuated by occasional Moorish tiled fountains. 

and dramatic Gothic architecture.

Hiking by myself in a misty forest in Portugal was exactly as good as it sounds.  At least at first.  But as the rain started to pick up, and as I was still nowhere near any of the monuments, the euphoria started to diminish, and then my shoes started to take on water and the waterproofness of my jacket reached its saturation point.  There’s nothing that can put a damper on a good time quite like literally becoming the proverbial wet blanket. 

By the time I finally got to the entrance of the Pena National Palace, the last tour had just left, and I also didn’t realize that the entrance fee was close to 15 euros.  Having spent a lot of money already on the trip (primarily on shellfish), I wasn’t trying to drop that kind of coin.  I cut my losses and called it a day, spending 5 euros to take a bus back to the train station

  

Once there, still sopping wet, I changed into slightly dryer clothes in the bathroom of the train station, a lovely experience I assure you.  I made it back to Lisboa on time to catch my train back to Madrid, but my shoes were water logged and squishy for the entirety of the 11 hour ride.

Moral of the story:

While I do encourage you to be impulsive and improvisatory in your travels, it always pays to do a little bit of research about a place before going there so you don’t end up out in the rain.  Also an extra pair of shoes (or even sandals) is never a bad idea. 

And you should definitely go to Sintra because it looks like this when it’s sunny: 

Above photo from:  Catavino

All other photos by Tyler Simnick