Hello,

        sometimes the road less travelled is less travelled for a reason. today I went to Sintra. It is about 30 ks outside of Lisbon. I won´t bore you with the history of the place. I´m sure that you can find all you need to know on the Internet.I decided to the Palace of Pena a miss. If you know anything about Ludwig of Bavaria you´ll understand why.  I went to see the Castelo Mouros. The Moorish Castle.

The first thing I noticed was the difference in temperature between Sintra and Lisbon. Not hard to understand why the Monarchs lived here in the height of summer.  

After walking to the center of town from the train station I saw two signs for the castle. One had a car on it.  The other,  a walking figure. I started to walk. It was so quiet. Just the occasional sound of birds. I walked and walked. Didn´t see anyone else.  Stopped for a welcome drink of water at a working well.   The path was getting steeper as I ´walked´ up into woods. My Korean friends will understand the irony here as I hiked up the mountain. The zigzag path through the woods was getting stepper and stepper. The only sounds were the  slap of my sandles on the stones and the occassional bird.    There were some palms at the bottom of the woods,  sequoias, ginkos, thick ferns,  yew trees and a host of trees that I did not recognize.  As I went higher  I was encountering boulders as big as buses. Just as well the path edged past them.    It was however, peaceful and I was the only person on the less travelled path. Looking back down it was no wonder!!!!!!  

 I came to a very steep part of the path and as I looked up I could see stone walls. The walls were the foundation of a church that was built in 1143. It was built to commemorate the reconquest of the castle by King Alphonso Henriques. I continued up and soon came to the walls of the castle. I had climbed 410 meters!!!!!!!

The castle is  unbelievable. The walls are like the Great Wall Of China. Looking  almost like the backbone of a dragon, the walls  cross the ridges of the mountain and seem to say ´if you want us,  come on up and take us´   Built in the 9th century by the Moors it is a marvel of construction.  I was there quite early and as the mist cleared you could see Lisbon in the distance. I still can´t believe that people not only climbed and built the place, but it was captured and then recaptured.  It was truly amazing to walk the walls and then to stand on the highest battlement of the Castle Keep looking down at the world below. Amazing!!!!!!!!!

I spent about an hour poking around. Up one wall, around the royal tower and into the remains of the Knights quarters. Back along the wall.  Once in a while with the green flag with Arabic characters would flutter in the breeze.   Must admit that looking at the flag and peering over the walls I was oblivious to the rest of the world.

 

Decided to take the road down. Even that is a series of sharp bends on a steep serpentine route. I passed a few people walking up. They looked all done in. Um, try the other path I thought.  Once back in town I had a bowl of soup with Portuguese ham on a baguette washed down with a half bottle of local white wine. As I sat there looking out over the square I thought about those soldiers who had climbed, built, fought and died for the castle. Had to raise a glass.

 

Even now I still can´t quite believe what I saw. See if you can find it on the Internet. I think that you will be as amazed as I was

 

Wandered around the town and found the wine bar that I read about. Not a patch on the one in Belem but still not bad.  Sampled two white ports. Chatted with the ´barkeep´. Had a glass of red and headed back to the train station.   I saw some incredible flowers as I was walking along. They had long red stems and leaves that had a single red vein. The flower is almost in two parts. A green bulb at the end of a very thin stem joins a red Chinese lantern shaped flower that has four red petals. These surround a purple sheath  that houses five smaller pink shoots. 

I also saw a long thick shoot that has green leaves with black dots on them. The leaves are shaped like a slightly curved upside down hand and  are purple at the tips.They cover a

small white flower that I was told is called Orchadia.

 

I sat on the train well contented with my day. Haven´t decide upon supper yet. I´l let you know.

 

Should tell you about yesterday as well. Had a later than usual start. It was around 9.30  when I finished coffee. Ambled down to the main square. Took a ferry across the river just to see the other side. Bit disappointed that the ferry was a totally covered thing. The other side was not great so I took the same ferry back again. Decided to go to Belem and have some wine. Got there at 3.30 and left at 9.30!!!

Sampled some good wines

A Dao Cabriz reserva 2006. this was a blend of Tourga Nacional, tinta roriz and alfrochairo.

I like this blend.

Next was a QdoE quinta do Encantro 2007.  Really nice colour. It is from Bairrada and is made from the Bagra grape. This is the grape that is like Nebbiolo. I like this one a lot.

 

Angelo picked another tourga nacional from Alentejano. 2005 vintage. Dark red colour, red berries raspberry. bit of a barnyard aroma. will be even better in a few more years. I was getting hungry so I had herbed blood sausage with very thinly sliced apple with a glass of Quinta de Baixo 2004- Tasty.

 

Portugal were playing Spain so the crowd in the street outside were noisy but fun. I was sitting at a table sipping wine and they were quaffing beer. Good time.

 

I was still a bit peckish so I had a cheese plate with grapes and bread. The cheese was a little salty. My last glass of wine was a four grape blend. Aragones, trincaderia syrah and cabernet. Tasted a bit like Chateauneuf du Pape and was a little sweet after the baga.

 

They certainly serve a generous glass. If you are ever in Lisbon you MUST look them up.

I plan on going back two or three times more. Next time is definitely white and they have some lined up for me.

 

I´m getting hungry so that´s all for now.

 

Terry