The Moorish Castle of Sintra

They say there is a castle in the sky. Well I am not sure if anyone has said that but I like the Hayao Miyazaki film and visiting the Moorish Castle in Sintra definitely makes you feel like you're in the sky.  

I headed to Sintra on the train from Rossio Station. I should have just gone to the ticket window and purchased a ticket but I decided I would do it for myself. For some reason my zapping card said it was full so I just got a new one with a return ticket to Lisbon on it. It cost €5.00 so it would have been €4.50 if I had not had to get another zap card. The train ride if 40 minutes and is really easy. Rossio is the station you get on at and Sintra is the last stop on the line. Leaving the packed train, I exited the station and hurried towards the 434 bus to take the Pena Circuit for €5.00 which would take me up the hills to the Moorish Castle and back down again. First on the bus, I snagged a seat but sadly had to wait about ten more minutes for everyone else to get on the bus.

Winding up and up through Sintra, the bus making a series of crazy hairpin turns for a bus. Once having to reverse so it could turn enough to get around a corner. I would not want to be driving car through here let alone a bus so kudos to the driver. Reaching the Moorish Castle entrance, I paid €8.00 to get inside and happily wandered along the marked path. Coming across a seemingly friendly cat. I stepped to pet it. All was going well until it decided to turn on me. No thanks. Departing quickly from the feline, I continued up to where the walls of the castle started. Along the way I admired all the big rocks. It sounds silly but I was pretty impressed with the rocks.

Starting to climb the wall, I looked over and saw the other side of the wall and had to take in the size of it. I'm no expert on castles but these walls were very impressive. I climbed higher and higher, thinking that the stairs at Primark had prepared me for this day. One of the things that amazed me about the castle was that there were no safety railings. Nothing to stop someone from losing their footing and falling to their death. I am generally not afraid of heights but I had to hold on to the stones a few times when the wind got strong.

The views of the surrounding countryside and the National Palace of Sintra were amazing. Felt like I was on top of the world, or at least Sintra. Admiring the views, the sunshine and making use of the selfie function of my new camera as I snapped away.

The Moorish Castle is a military fort built around the 10th century by the Muslim populations that occupied the Iberian peninsula. It acted as a control tower for the Atlantic coast and land to the north, serving as an outpost for the city of Lisbon.

The beautiful Pena Palace below. Her stunning colours look a bit dull here but my last time to Sintra was spent roaming the gardens, horse riding and enjoying the inside of the palace.

Running out of walls to climb, I headed back down to the bus stop to take it down to Sintra. I really enjoyed the Moorish Castle and was glad I got to get back to Sintra to enjoy it. I highly recommend doing it with the Pena Palace if you have time. The Pena Palace is very big so you should allow yourself a lot of time to explore it. They are the closest to each other so are easy to access. I would recommend also the Quinta da Regaleira which is amazing and closer to the historical centre of Sintra. That place is like a magical land with inverted towers, tunnels, caves and lakes. 

Lisbon, how I love you.

Leaving Liverpool in the pouring rain and landing in Lisbon is the sunshine was a perfect start to the morning. The night before my flight I had tossed and turned struggling to sleep. The excitement of the start of my travels keeping me awake. After landing and passing through passport control I high tailed it towards the metro. Getting on after loading up my little metro "zap" card with a few rides. Transferring lines like a seasoned pro, I got off at Avenida metro stop and successfully found my little studio that I would be staying in for the next week. Let inside by my host Christina, I quickly dropped off my things and headed out to explore the city.

Sintra Wednesday

The first time I had ventured to Sintra, I had gone with the amazing tour company We Hate Tourism Tours. They had  a van and guided us into Sintra and took us to the Monserrat Palace, a beautiful palace in Sintra that has won awards for it's gardens. This trip to Sintra, I was on my own. I really wanted to see more of the beautiful palaces,  in this magical place. I woke up, ate some waffles at the hostel before walking over to the Rossion train station and took the train to Sintra. It was a rather straight forward journey and soon I had arrived. I picked up a ticket for the bus that would take me up to the Pena Palace, my destination for the day.

Arriving at the palace, I paid for my ticket and declined the little bus that could take you to the door of the palace in favour of hauling myself up towards the palace. The normal price to enter the palace and gardens is €14 but as I arrived at "happy hour" between 9:30am and 10:30 am I got in for €1 less.  When I finally reached it, I was blown away by its beautiful colours and architecture. 

Graffiti Garage in Lisbon

One of the things I had noticed by walking around Lisbon was the amount of graffiti the city had. You found some art on every wall you came across in the city. I really quite enjoyed it as it was artistic not just a random spray of paint. I had read about a parking garage that was filled with graffiti on every floor and found it at Chão de Loureiro. At its bottom is a supermarket and inside is a lift you can take to get up to St Georges Castle. As I was coming from the top part thats where I started. Going from floor to floor to the bottom.

It felt a bit weird to be wandering around a parking garage snapping photos then going down the stairs to the next level but it was an experience with the different graffiti on display on each level.

The one above blowing the bubbles I would say is my favourite. It is truly a painting on the wall.

I was alone in the garage until I reached the bottom where I came across a few guys also taking photos of the art. The bottom portion of the garage seemed to be a mix of all the artists from each floor.  If you are in Lisbon I would recommend checking out the garage if you are in the area. It doesn't take too long and I would suggest taking the lift to the top and then going down to avoid having to walk up the stairs. Unless you like stairs, then take the stairs.

Mosteiro dos Jerónimos

While I enjoyed the amazing weather in Belém, I crossed the street from the Monument to the Discoveries and headed to the Jeronimos Monastery. The garden and fountains in front of it are quite lovely and you could even have a nice picnic lunch if you wanted to.

The exterior of the monastery is quite beautiful and I admired it while munching on the pastel de Belém. The crumbling pastry was very delicious and I think you should believe the hype on them and stop in for one. You  can get one to go or maybe a few. The place is also very large and you can sit down and enjoy your pastries with a coffee. I popped inside to use the toilets and the place fits a lot of people.

The Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and I highly recommend a visit. I used the combo ticket I purchased with the Torre Belém to skip the large queue that had grown outside of it when I arrived. The construction of the monastery and church began in 1501 and was completed a hundred years later in 1601. That means that the building is over 500 years old if you count from when it got papal permission in 1496 to be built.   My visit was very enjoyable and I loved the architecture of the monastery.