Today, after a yummy breakfast at The Zenith, we ventured out of the city of Lisbon to visit the towns of Sintra and Cascais.

Paul describes Sintra as the Newport of Portugal, as it’s filled with palaces and castles. While in town, our guide, Joaquim, explained the difference between Portuguese tile and the Moorish tiles, why there are roosters throughout Lisbon, how the country has 2,000 palaces, etc. We tried Ginjha again (a cherry liquor in a chocolate cup) which tasted much better than the Ginjha we tried in Lisbon earlier this week. We also tried travesseiro de Casa Piriquita, a delicious, light and fluffy almond paste filled pastry unique to Sintra. 

We then went to Quinta da Regaleira – a complex with a palace, lush gardens, hidden tunnels, and Initiation Well, an inverted tower used for Masonic and Templar initiation rites. It’s a UNESCO heritage site built at the end of the 19th C.  The grounds were beautiful and it was nice to explore in the shade. 

We then went up the mountain to see the exterior of the picturesque Peña Palace.

For lunch at Adega do Saloio we had white melon with prosciutto, deep fried green beans, vino verde wine, and Paul had black pork with French fries. The waitress told us stories about Ronaldo and his wife who have a home nearby in Cascais. 

A short drive later we arrived at Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point of mainland Europe, followed by a walk down to the water to see Boca Do Inferno (hell’s mouth) which is basically a section of the limestone cliff carved out to make a dramatic sea cave. 

We ended the tour with a trip to Cascais, a resort town with lots of hotels and residences with long stretches of beach. I’ve always loved European beach culture and Cascais would be right up my alley.  

Upon returning to Lisbon, we spent time in the hotel pool and sauna before heading to our 9:30p dinner at Ramiro. Ramiro is a well known seafood restaurant and we enjoyed the shrimp in garlic oil, mussels and lupini beans.

After dinner we strolled down to the waterfront passing a view of the castle at night under the full moon and many of tables still enjoying their dinners close to midnight. 

Reflecting on this segment of the trip, Lisbon made a positive impression on all of us. Lisbon felt like a very livable city — a cool vibe, efficient public transportation, affordable, waterfront, beach and mountains a short distance away, great food, friendly multi-cultural multi-lingual people, and lots of culture. There were museums we didn’t have time to see and many more restaurants we would have liked to try. We will be back!