After another gorgeous sunrise from our castle room veranda, overlooking the marina it was off on the narrow and windy roads to Sintra. Sintra is a UNESCO World Heritage town in the hills several miles north of Cascais. It has at least 4 palaces, beautiful parks, and incredible food. It is also quite popular with locals as well as tourists so you can’t see it all and have to pick and choose where to go. We started at the #1 site to visit, The Palace of Pena. From the exterior this looks more like a Disney creation, but is actually a combination on an older monestary and a newer design commisioned by King Ferdinand II. Besides the majesty of the castle itself there were beautiful hiking trails which we took advantage of to hike to the highest point in Sintra. We then attempted the National Palace downtown and also the Palace of Quelez but alas, no parking was to be had and the crowds and traffic were overwhelming. We drove just a few kilometers to the Palace and Park of Monserrate and were not disappointed. This evetually became the home of Sir Francis Cook and the grounds were converted to a beautiful arbortetum. We had lunch there and were surprised to find that the cafeteria had food from one of the best cafes downtown. We drove back to Cascais on the backroads that took us along the coast past the dunes of Guincho where the Atlantic broke in huge waves on the shore, and finally the Mouth of the Inferno cliffs near Cascais where the waves rolled in and sprayed in spectacular fashion. A fantastic dinner and then another stoll through the Lumina show.
