Sintra the magical town near Lisbon














 Good that I didn’t trust the weather forecast and toured Sintra after 40-min train ride anyway. The road surface dried out pretty quickly so I and my new friend from czech met at Lisbon train station had no problem walking around to Palácio Nacional da Pena. We didn’t get in to see just another palace, but got in Castelo dos Mouros (millennium-old Moorish Castle, founded under Islamic rule, occupied a then strategic position for defending the maritime access routes to the city of Lisbon). 


The rain started pouring when we were taking a break with a French mother/daughter pair I met at Lisbon train station as well. We parted separate ways after the rain then I ventured down the wet trail towards Quinta de Regaleira, a beautiful architecture of a palace, gardens and the famous initiation well. I watched a documentary before and saw enough from outside to skip the touristy crowds. 


My last stop before the 2nd downpour was Palácio Nacional de Sintra on the way back to train station. 


It was 4:30 pm back in Lisbon so I had an early dinner at a restaurant near the train station, a buffet including red fish, pork chops, chicken, vegetables, coccus, etc. (freshly prepared for only 7.9€). I was so full and took a nap before hostel 8 pm free sangria time.

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