On Saturday, we got up around 8.30 am and went down to the fantastic breakfast spread. One of the things I knew I would miss after the trip was the lovely hotel and the staff. The shower was blissful, the beds most comfortable, the staff friendly and the breakfast spread my second best! ( the best being my absolute favourite one in Mykonos with the sea view!)
A sat at our table on most days and R could not have been happier. I sneakily fed her lots of fresh fruits, egg and the potato Rostis while she was busy chatting with her friend, so by the time she reached for her nutella pancakes and croissants and doughnuts, she was already full! :)
We then caught the 40 minute train to Sintra from the Campo Pequeno station which was a mere 4 minutes walk from the hotel. The sun was out though there was still a slight chill in the air. We then caught the uber to the Quintas da Regaleira palace. While the palace and the grounds were beautiful the best part was when we had to climb some rock stairs to go through some tubed fairy light lit dark caves on the other side of which were some beautiful stepping stones leading to more stones and a lovely rock bridge! The sides of the cave also had some gentle waterfalls which added to the allure of the place. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience ..
We then went to the national palace, watched the trotting of the horse cart carriages in the roads just below the palace grounds and spent some time at the famous Piriquita bakery. We had their famous Travesseiros that were to die for and also some queijaddas.
We took some snaps of the national palace and moved on to the Pena palace. The traffic was unbelievably bad and the hilly roads of Sintra were back to back jammed with cars so our driver took us through round about fantastically green reaching for the skies tall trees-filled scenic route and we snoozed in the car dappled by the afternoon sun!
The climb to the top of the palace via the fantastic palace gardens was a steep climb but D was game enough to brave it slowly and steadily!
The Pena palace was fantastic and like in many places D's advanced pregnancy led us to being taken straight from the back of the queue to the very front. Nobody complained and in fact most were very encouraging. The castle was very romantic and kids enjoyed the hogwarts-like entrance and the moat and the watch towers.
The view from the balconies over the tree covered hills was fabulous.
We had some light snacks in the restaurant and made our way back to the station.
On the way we stopped at a local restaurant to taste Sintra's famous port wine and nourish ourselves. The kids fought and made up ( yet again!) and we made it back to our hotel quite late in the night.
That still did not stop the kids from getting together in our room for the night..
...to be continued
A sat at our table on most days and R could not have been happier. I sneakily fed her lots of fresh fruits, egg and the potato Rostis while she was busy chatting with her friend, so by the time she reached for her nutella pancakes and croissants and doughnuts, she was already full! :)
We then caught the 40 minute train to Sintra from the Campo Pequeno station which was a mere 4 minutes walk from the hotel. The sun was out though there was still a slight chill in the air. We then caught the uber to the Quintas da Regaleira palace. While the palace and the grounds were beautiful the best part was when we had to climb some rock stairs to go through some tubed fairy light lit dark caves on the other side of which were some beautiful stepping stones leading to more stones and a lovely rock bridge! The sides of the cave also had some gentle waterfalls which added to the allure of the place. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience ..
We then went to the national palace, watched the trotting of the horse cart carriages in the roads just below the palace grounds and spent some time at the famous Piriquita bakery. We had their famous Travesseiros that were to die for and also some queijaddas.
We took some snaps of the national palace and moved on to the Pena palace. The traffic was unbelievably bad and the hilly roads of Sintra were back to back jammed with cars so our driver took us through round about fantastically green reaching for the skies tall trees-filled scenic route and we snoozed in the car dappled by the afternoon sun!
The climb to the top of the palace via the fantastic palace gardens was a steep climb but D was game enough to brave it slowly and steadily!
The Pena palace was fantastic and like in many places D's advanced pregnancy led us to being taken straight from the back of the queue to the very front. Nobody complained and in fact most were very encouraging. The castle was very romantic and kids enjoyed the hogwarts-like entrance and the moat and the watch towers.
The view from the balconies over the tree covered hills was fabulous.
We had some light snacks in the restaurant and made our way back to the station.
On the way we stopped at a local restaurant to taste Sintra's famous port wine and nourish ourselves. The kids fought and made up ( yet again!) and we made it back to our hotel quite late in the night.
That still did not stop the kids from getting together in our room for the night..
...to be continued
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