An Afternoon in Sintra and Some Other Things

About 10 miles from where we live is the magical town of Sintra. We finally went there to do some sightseeing last week. It will certainly not be our last visit and we look forward to taking visitors to explore its wonders. There are several royal palaces, castles, villas, and gardens. Sintra is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The entire area is extremely hilly so it is a challenge (for us) to just browse. We met a fabulous guide with whom we spent about three hours touring around to just see the highlights. Our plan is to now go back and explore each of the palaces and castles in detail.

We also experienced two nights of the most spectacular super moon. The pictures are not great and do not do it justice.

Here are a few pictures from a lovely dinner we had at a nearby restaurant on Sunday. Beautiful place, great food and service. Restaurante Furnas do Guincho stays on the list for potential visitors as well. The dish on the top right is barnacles. They look nasty but taste like clams. They are a very popular dish here in Portugal.

The town of Cascais has become quite busy and buzzy now that it is summer and there are a few tourists around. Last Friday, the beach was busy and a lovely yacht was at anchor. There is a section of several blocks up on a hill in town called the Yellow Street. There are about a dozen restaurants up there and it is a very busy and happening place. And the street is painted yellow.

On Friday, we leave for our first out of town trip since we arrived. We are heading first to the town of Obidos (only an hour away) and then on to Caldas da Rainha (not too much farther) to meet up with some expats for a July 4th celebration. Happy 4th, everyone!