Sunday, 18 August 2013

The stuff of fairytales...literally



The Moorish Castle

Pena Palace

Pena Palace estate

 Pena Palace estate


While we were in Lisbon, we decided that it was worthwhile making a daytrip out to Sintra – a town about 40 minutes away.

In short, Sintra is a UNESCO listed town choc-a-block full of Romantic era castles, estates and palaces ranging from the 8th-19th century. It is quite literally the stuff of fairy tales, with Hans Christian Anderson (The Little Mermaid, The Nightingale, Sandman, The Princess and the Pea, The Ugly Duckling) wrote many of his stories.

One defining feature of Sintra is how brightly coloured all the buildings are. Unfortunately for us we happened to be there on an incredibly misty, drizzly and overcast day. We could barely see a meter in front of our faces. On the one hand it was a tad disappointing given how spectacular the views are supposed to be. On the other, however, it created an incredible atmosphere, particularly when visiting the old Moorish castle ruin, and then the forest surrounding Pena Palace.

It had a full on horror movie vibe. We wouldn’t have been surprised to see some dead people poking their hands up from a lake.

It was amazing!

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