ManWomanDogVan: March 2020

We have arrived to Sintra on Monday, 9^th March. We had been warned that parking in Sintra with a motorhome near the tourist area is not an easy feast and should wait with trying to find a spot until the evening, after the people have gone. This proved to be true; in fact while we were checking out the area during the day, the police stopped and escorted us (very kindly) to a parking area. We did not stay there, thought, as it was a pay-parking. Instead we drove out of town, up the hill, to the forest.

We were hoping to visit Convento dos Capuchos, a convent in the woods but unfortunately it was shut for renovations. Instead, we went for a walk. The forest was full of large boulders making it an interesting landscape (could not see where the boulders could have come from BTW) and we also discovered the ruins of an old house that we rather liked.

In the evening we drove back to town and found a great parking spot, walking distance to the castle and with a recommended Indian restaurant on the corner. We have decided to treat ourselves to a dinner out there and it proved to be a good decision. We were pretty much the only guests and the food was great!

I have not realised until now that Portugal was a popular destination for Indian emigrants. Interestingly, until at least a few years ago, due to a legal loophole, people from ex-colonies of Portugal could give up their Indian passport and get a Portuguese one instead, thus becoming EU citizens.

The following morning we have walked up to the Park and National Palace of Pena. This is a very popular tourist destination and despite the steep entrance fees there was a long queue at the ticket office event thought we got there reasonably early. Good news is that they also had ticket machines and so we managed to get a ticket quite quickly. As there is a charge even for visiting just he grounds and since dogs are not allowed at all anyway, Hamish stayed out with Harley and I went to see the castle and the gardens on my own.

There was obviously an awful lot of effort put into creating the castle and it made me feel I was in…Disneyland. Yep. A Disney castle, at least from the outside. Lots of terraces, and turrets and stuff and all painted up in many colours….none of it seemed real. The views were great, thought. The inside tour took about 30 min. With a few exceptions the rooms seemed to be quite small, but with original decorations and furnishing, some of which was exquisite.The grounds were extensive, with some lovely walks and pretty lakes.

There is a Moorish castle practically next door and I would have liked to look at that too, but time was getting on, and again, entrance fees were more than I liked. So I have walked down to town thru the forest instead (a very pretty walk) to meet up with Hamish and Harley. We had our lunch in a carpark/park then wondered around some more in town, waiting for the barber Hamish has found earlier to open in the afternoon.

Shave done, we found our way back to the van, and set off to Boca do Inferno. We found the perfect parking spot with a see view, 5 min walk away. We were there by sun-set, which is the best time to see the sea-arch cliff formation. A very impressive sight and we took many pictures, of course. We went back there again the following morning as depending on the weather, you may be allowed quite a way down on the rocks...but you better not be squeamish! Once described as the world’s most evil man, Aleister Crowley (also made famous by Ozzi Osbourne's song "Mr Crowely") faked his own death here.

There is a large viewing platform but there are also many visitors so getting a great photo without other people in it is not easy. As a tour guide pointed out, fatal accidents happen quite often when people try to take the “perfect” picture…so it did freak me out a bit when a family tried to take their perfect picture of their toddler son sitting on the stone barrier by himself with a great big drop down to the see and rocks below him.

Lisbon was next on our list. We spent ages looking for a suitable place to stop in town without much luck and we even considered to just give it a miss and move on. Eventually we found a great place across the river just above the ferry port, with a great view of Lisbon. It was quite late on the day by the time we parked up, so we just had a little walk around the ferry port then settled down for the night.

We were told by the ticket office that the ferry captain may or may not allow Harley on – apparently there is no clear policy on that. We took the chance, bought the tickets and got on the ferry without any issues to Lisbon the following morning. We walked around town, slowly making our way to the castle (Castelo de S. Jorge) on the top of the hill. Again, Hamish has decided to sit it out, while I went to look. Really, there is no castle as such, only the walls still stand. But the walls do stand forming an interesting maize dotted with little turrets. You can walk all the way around on the top of them admiring the views. (And there is definitely a VIEW to be admired!) The gardens are relatively modest in size but really pleasant and provide home to many peacocks. They can wonder around freely and they do not seem to be bothered by all the people around. If anything, they are happy to show off their beauty. In Hungary there is actually a folksong about a peacock that flow up onto a tree. And there they were, peacocks on the tree.

Hamish and Harley were waiting for me outside the castle and we have decided to go for lunch in a seafood restaurant, Cervejaria Ramiro, as suggested by a friend. (The restaurant was mentioned by Rick Stein recently as the place to go...). The restaurant was great! (If a bit on the pricy side.) Since we had Harley with us, they have put us upstairs all by ourselves. More precisely, they sneaked us upstairs, using the back staircase that is not for guests. We had great service and great food (so I was assured by Hamish – I am not really a seafood person). All the staff was also really interested in Harley, and ended up taking pictures of him/with him, lol. After lunch we wondered around town some more, before making our way back to the ferry and then to the van. We really liked Lisbon; the old houses, the atmosphere and would be happy to go back again sometime.

We spent the night at Alcacer do Sal, a little town with a great view of the river before moving to Villa Nova de Milfontes for a couple of nights.

March 2020 - Part 2 Map