A Day in Sintra

We had an extra day in Lisbon and had heard great things about Sintra, which is right outside of Lisbon, so we decided to give it a go! I'm so glad we did because it was beautiful. It's an easy train ride from the center of Lisbon and we arrived in Sintra mid morning.  We spent the first hour walking around and checking things out. 

It reminded both of us of a small Italian town, with winding and cobblestone streets and little shops and restaurants interspersed throughout.

Anybody need an orange?

After lunch, we decided to give the Quita da Regaleira a look. Guys, this place is so cool.  One of the reviews on TripAdvisor described it as a huge playground for kids and adults. I'm not even sure what it really is.  I think a castle with a large garden, but who even knows.  Regardless, it was beautiful.  It reminded me of the Secret Garden. There are underground tunnels, waterfalls, towers to climb up and a castle to explore.  You could probably spend the majority of a day there if you really wanted to, but we limited ourselves to about two hours.

I spy Mike!

Baby Maximus and I in Portugal!

We walked around the castle and, like always, got ideas for our future home. #wishfulthinking

After the castle, we headed back to the train.  There is another castle at the top of the mountain that you can explore.  There were lots of tuk tuks around offering us a ride up to the top for only 5 euros, which we may have considered, but I was tired and it seemed like a lot of effort to basically go to another lookout.  Plus, by this point, Mike really wasn't feeling well.  We headed back to the hotel, siesta-ed and ventured out for a quick dinner and gelato before going to bed early.   What a day!