Fairy Tale Castles

A few weeks ago, we visited the charming town of Sintra, a favorite day trip of Lisboans and tourists for its charming streets, colorful houses, quaint shops, and cool restaurants. Long the home of Portugal’s monarchs, Sintra’s fairy-tale castles and marvelous historic mansions incorporate several architectural styles and gorgeous gardens filled with exotic plants and flowers.

We met our visiting friend, Carol Hansen, and toured the 19th-century hilltop Pena Palace with our personal guide, Carlos. The lavish palace was commissioned by King Ferdinand II and includes a mix of Gothic, Manueline, and Moorish styles. Every aspect reflects passion for the ideals of Romantisim. The palaca sits on a hilltop surrounded by a beautifully landscaped park filled with exotic plants and flowers. Charm abounds. In the background you can see Lisbon and the wideTagus River as it flows into the Atlantic Ocean.

Before our tour of the Pena Palace, we were puzzled by two huge cone-shaped chimneys reaching for the clouds above the town square. After a traditional lunch, Carlos provided the answers when he took us to the Sintra National Palace, once the residence fo the Portuguese royal family. The ceiling of the enormous kitchen consists of the two tall coned chimneys that reach more than four stories above the kitchen floor. Mystery solved.

Photo below of some of the many stoves, ovens and pots required to prepare daily banquets for royalty and guests.

The massive ballrooms and reception rooms at Sintra National Palace are filled with opulence and elegance showing off the power and wealth of the royal family: beautifully carved furniture, gorgeous tiles, intricate ceiling frescoes, and decorative details. All tiles in the enornous ballroom were hand-painted. Royalty kept their money in the "bank vault" drawers of the intricately carved chests. The man in the negligee? We could find no information about this curious painting.

On the Home Front

We have been back in Alcobaça for six weeks and making it feel more like home. We painted several walls with warm earth colors to soften the traditional stark white walls and to give our rooms a bit of “cozy.” The weather has warmed, and the days are now perfect. Wildflowers decorate the roadsides, and fruit trees and gardens are starting to bloom.

Below, a view from our bedroom window onto our garden and the neighboring homes. On the left you can see the rainwater cistern with its cicular walls.

Tim installed our three Lyman Whitaker kinetic wind sculptures, which we shipped from Utah five months earlier along with favorite art. The gentle movement of these copper sculptures provides a balm for the soul.

The many bulbs I planted in February promise a colorful garden by summer. Yesterday we harvested a cabbage I had planted in September – the sweetest cabbage we ever tasted! That gives me a strong incentive to expand our vegetable garden. We hope to grow perennial artichokes and asparagus, as well as the usual annual veggies.

We are enjoying our twice-weekly Portuguese classes and study on our own most days. Today we hiked a loop trail starting from our own house that goes by the nacimento (birth place, or spring) of the Alco River. The flora is much like Santa Cruz and Mendocino counties in California (without redwood trees). Like a walk through our California past.

Visa status

We have separate appointments with the immigration services in the coming months to complete the process to secure our residential status in Portugal. Crossing fingers all goes well.

Staying in Touch

We appreciate our friends and family who email, call and message us through FB, Skype, and WhatsApp. Thank you! We cherish you, our friends.