We were spending the night in the small town of Azoia. It’s about 15km outside of the better-known town of Sintra. The place we were staying was once a windmill and it was really cute. We each had our own little suite with private bathrooms. There was also access to the common areas of the home, making it very comfortable. That night, we walked into the little town and found a great restaurant Maria Wine and Tapas. It’s a small little place with great food and hospitality.
Our hosts put out a nice spread for breakfast. After enjoying our meal, we headed over to the town of Sintra for the day. Sintra is known for having many castles/palaces to visit. We found a parking area and called for an Uber. For a larger group (like ours), we were told it was better to get around with a couple of Ubers than the bus. There are many places where tourists are not allowed to drive cars and our drivers (Will and John) would agree, they didn’t want to drive those roads anyway. There is a bus, but tickets are expensive. A lot of time is wasted, waiting for the bus, buses already full, etc. So, the Uber worked out fairly well for us. Part of our group ended up having an issue getting back to the parking lot at the end of the day. Apparently, we chose a parking lot that was further out of town then normal. They were having trouble getting an Uber driver and eventually a tuk tuk driver took pity on them and got them to the parking area.
Just one of the reasons not to drive in Sintra.
Our first stop was to the Quinta da Regaleira. It’s a large mansion built in the late 19th century. The owner was said to be quite eccentric, and the grounds include a chapel, extensive gardens, and the infamous initiation well. There are a number of theories about the purpose of the well, but no one seems to truly know why the owner had it built.
Initiation Well 
One of the many caves 
Mosaic floor in the mansion 
Part of the ceiling 
Gothic style mansion
After the Quinta da Regaleira, we made our way to the National Palace of Pena. Pena Palace started as a monastery in the 8th century, it was expanded throughout the years. After being damaged in the 1755 earthquake, it was left in ruins until the 19th century when King Ferdinand II restored it to its former glory.
Yep, I was wall walking. 
Can I help you???
For dinner, we again went to Maria Wine and Tapas. Pedro and Jorge had treated us so well the night before. Again, Pedro made us an excellent dinner and Jorge kept us entertained. It was another pleasant evening and less than a half mile walk for us. So, it was an easy choice. Go, if you ever find yourself in Azoia.
Will, Pedro, Jorge and John
It was time to make our way to Lisbon. We headed out that morning to Cabo da Roca. It is the Western-most point on continental Europe. It was a beautiful morning, so that made for some gorgeous views. Our next stop was the Boca do Inferno (Hell’s Mouth) in Cascais. A cave carved into the rocky shore by the pounding waves of the Atlantic.
We drove further on into Cascais and spent a couple hours there walking around and having lunch.
Mansion turned library 
From the front 
Historic rock bridge 
Then it was on into Lisbon and time to check-in to our apartments there. This time it was two 2-bedroom units in the Chiado district. Lisbon Best Apartments is the manager and they treated us quite well. They even delivered a birthday cake for Stella as she was celebrating a birthday while we were there.
We had tickets for the Hop On/Hop Off bus and we hopped on the next morning. They offer a couple different routes and so we started with the Belem or Red line of the bus.
Pink Street 
Jerónimos Monastery
We hopped off to do our boat tour as the weather was supposed to be getting worse later in the day. There was no commentary on the boat, but it did take us around a number of the highlights to see along the river Tagus.
Instead of a Duck Boat you can take a Hippo Trip.
There’s the 25 April Bridge, which does resemble the Golden Gate Bridge quite a lot. It was built by the same company that built the Bay Bridge.
The Belem Tower, Cristo Rei (Christ the King), the Discoveries monument. It was a nice way to get a different viewpoint of those things off the river. The Belem Tower, built in the 16th century is a fortification that was the point of embarkation and disembarkation for the Portuguese explorers. Monument to the Discoveries showcases 32 individuals important Portuguese navigators, cartographers, warriors, colonizers, missionaries, chroniclers, and artists.
Belem Tower 
Cristo Rey 
We received a surprise when getting back to our accommodations. It was Stella’s birthday and the apartment’s property management had dropped off a cake. It was a surprise and very thoughtful of them.
We didn’t have a lighter 
Spooky 
Out for a birthday dinner with a sparkling candle
The next morning, we were back on the HoHo bus. Since we had gotten a 2-day pass. This time it was a different route of the more historic section of Lisbon (the castle route) and therefore on a much smaller bus. We got off at the castle stop as that stop looked like a nice place to find a place to eat and explore a bit more on foot. We were castled out and didn’t want to do a tour of the castle itself. Wandered around to find another overlook and the flea market. It was interesting to see what items they have for sale. We even found one vendor that had a NM license plate. I guess it went with his Route 66 memorabilia.
Flea Market 
The Reverse Serenade 
Random Street Art 
The next day in Lisbon was a rainy one. So, we opted for some indoor activities. The first stop was the tile museum, Museu Nacional Azulejo. The Portuguese are famous for their tile clad buildings that depict religious stories, animals, fascinating designs or virtually anything else you can think of. The church inside the museum was truly a site to see. There is even a landscape made from tile that provides a view as to how Lisbon looked before the devastating 1755 earthquake. The museum is set in a former convent, the Madre de Deus Convent. The church inside is Portuguese baroque style.
From there we went over to the Lisbon Aquarium. It was really well done, but a little pricey. We did enjoy seeing the variety of marine life there.
Jellyfish 
Time to move on from Lisbon. Our first stop on our drive was over the Vasco da Gama bridge. It is the longest bridge in the European Union at almost 7.7 miles long. Driving on, we stopped at the small town of Montemor-o-Novo for lunch. We had an excellent lunch at the Patio dos Petiscos. The Iberian black pig tapas was on the table when we arrived. Will and I having had this sliced cured meat before weren’t passing up this opportunity to feast on the acorn only fed pig. It’s not cheap, but oh so good. Most of us seemed to either pick the pork cheeks or in my case the veal steak for lunch. Both dishes were excellent.
The town is also home to a castle as during the 15th and 16th centuries it was the usual residence of the Portuguese King. It was great to explore the ruins on our own and just walk around without a mass of people. There were also some great views of the surrounding countryside as the castle was located at the top of a hill.
We drove onto Evora. This time, we were staying at a B&B located on a farm. The owners were very kind and welcoming. We really enjoyed the coffee made by Wim. The Galão is one shot of espresso with 3 quarters of foamed milk. We also were fond of the dogs. Well, Larry wasn’t too fond of the Irish Wolfhounds. They are huge and very intimidating at first. There were also a couple of dachshunds, a Labrador, and a few donkeys.
Wim and Monique also have cork trees on the farm. Portugal is the world’s largest producer of cork. We learned that they trim the bark from the trees only once every 9 years. Cork trees are long lived trees of about 800 years, however harvesting the cork bark shortens they life span of the tree by about half. It takes about 40 years after planting a cork tree to get a good first harvest of cork from the tree. It is really a long-term investment.
We did some sightseeing of the town of Evora. The town has a lot of history. It was raining off and on throughout the day, so we didn’t see as much of the town as we had planned but did walk by the Aqueduct and the Roman Temple.
We also found the Chapel of Bones. Yes, the walls are lined with real human bones. It was the Franciscan friars that wanted to convey a message of humanity’s fragility and temporariness in this world. The bones came from graves in the local area. The chapel was built in the late 16th century.
There was also a display of nativity sets from around the world on the upper floor of the chapel. Some were quite interesting.
The next morning, we were off to Lagos for our last 2 nights in Portugal. A rainstorm was headed our way and had already caused flooding in Porto. So, since we had a little extra time, we headed to the Ponte de Piedade. It’s a scenic viewpoint in Lagos of some sea caves. Glad we made the stop as the weather began to turn that evening.
The house had a small pool. The pool was a little cold, but I took a dip anyway. It was very refreshing and cooled me off from the hot humid weather.
As promised, the storm did arrive the next day. We were supposed to do a boat tour of the local sea caves, but the Capitan had already canceled due to unsafe sea conditions. So, Will and I decided to take a walk on the beach before the rain came. It was a red flag day for sure. The surf was up as well as the wind.
In the afternoon, we headed over to a nearby winery. It was nice to sitting back inside drinking wine while the storm was raging outside. The St. Francis Winery is a young winery, having opened in 2008.
