Today was one of the fullest days I’ve had. I had an absolutely wonderful tour guide, Bruno Guerra from Let’s Talk Lisbon, who took me to the historic city of Sintra, just outside of Lisbon, then to the most western point in Europe, and along the coast line to the region’s prestigious town of Cascais. We enjoyed an early morning coffee with a pastry called Travesseiro da Piriquita or “Pillow of the Parakeet” made from pastry dough, almonds, apples, sugar and eggs. It was absolutely delicious. And it is unique to Sintra.
Sintra is located in a microclimate area among a small chain of mountains, called Sierra de Sintra, with higher rainfall and a damp mist that often covers the mountainsides, making it an ideal climate for those who want to escape the dryer, oppressive summer heat in Lisbon. One mountaintop became the Moors fortress that overlooked the Atlantic Ocean, another became the Franciscan Monk’s monastery, and the third hilltop was dominated by the fairytale castle that looked like it came straight from Bavarian and built by a German prince. Sintra is scattered with palaces of princes and kings and fairytale castles by the rich and famous beginning in the 8th/9th Centuries. From every advantage point, there are postcard pictures of castles and palaces dotting the hillsides. We only toured two of them. One of them was the Village Palace, the grand Palace of Sintra which was first built in 1147 when King Alfonso I Henriques conquered the area over the Moslems. Over the centuries, each successive king has added on to the original structure. And you’ll notice it in the changes over time of the castle itself.
I always thought that Walter’s family came from Spain since he is Puerto Rican; however, he told me that his family actually comes from Portugal. In the Palace of Sintra in the late 1400’s King Manuel 1 created the most impressive hall in the Palace called the Heraldic Hall. He placed himself and his family’s coat of arms at the top of the ceiling, surrounded by his eight children, and then just below them he honored the 72 noble families of Portugal loyal to the throne and in whom he owed a great deal of debt for their loyalty. Walter’s family is among them - with the spelling of Azevedos.
Rarely is there an inside, intact kitchen from this long ago. It is impressive.
An odd painting in one of the rooms:
Looks like Jesus in a negligee. Bruno thought it is supposed to be John the Baptist, which makes even less sense.
We then went to Quinta da Regaleira, a castle built for Antonio Augustus Carvalho Monteiro by architect Luigi Manini in the late 19th Century.
We stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the water, with an appetizer of a delicious cheese, anchovies paste and wheat bread. I had sea bream (a wonderful fish) for my main meal, Bruno had stuffed squid. I was so glad to see that Portuguese chefs aren’t afraid of vegetables!
We drove along the coast to reach the farthest west point in Europe.
We then headed to Cascais.
We stopped for a short time at various places, such as, the beaches in Cascais.
My favorite meal so far! It was a stuffed mushroom, and sea bass with a Heifeweisen. Delicious!
I had some great discussions with people I met throughout the day; Eddington from Columbia who wanted to practice his English with me while I was waiting for Bruno to bring the car from the parking area to where he could drive again in Sintra. And a father, Joa, who was out having dinner with his daughter who is headed to Washington DC for a couple of months.
No comments:
Post a Comment