MAVERICK ROVER WORLD
 Blog Post #79
LISBON, Portugal

(photo above is a stock photo captured from the website)

Pena Palace, 

SINTRA, Portugal

Sintra lies just a 45 minute train ride to the west of Lisbon. 

A safe train with just a bit of graffiti. 



Pena Palace was originally built as a monastery.

The monastery at Pena was damaged by severe lightning in the 18th Century, followed by the Great Lisbon Earthquake in 1755 that turned the monastery into shambles. In 1838, King consort Ferdinand II, bought the chapel, nearby land, the Castle of the Moors, and a few other estates as deemed apt. He then enlisted German engineer, Baron Wilhelm von Eschwege, to begin transforming the ruins into the most romantic and artistic summer stay for the royal Portuguese family. Eventually the Portuguese Park system acquired the palace, which is now a UNESCO World Site, and open to the public for tours,



Inside photos of Pena Palace




View to the Atlantic Ocean from the Palace



Dining Room





Ron & Roger at Pena Palace




Our digs in Sintra 
at a lovely boutique hotel, 
not so grand as Pena Palace, 
but very sweet and located in a rural setting 
with parrots and wild songbirds 
located on the edge of town. 
Morning buffet breakfast was served in a quaint dining room overlooking the gardens. 
Here again, voices of French, German, Portuguese, 
Spanish, etc. surrounded us, along with our English. 

The Five Myrtles

Reception


Fountain outside our room



Back in Lisbon 
we happened upon Las Dos Manos Restaurant, owned by Chef Kiko Martins. 
The photo below, where we ate, shows the interior space of
 the Las Dos Manos 
with Mexican/Japaniese fusion.
This restaurant was stunningly appointed and the blend of the Mexican Japanese fusion was very apparent, unique and absolutely fabulous.

He owns several other restaurants in Lisbon with varying fares.  
Two examples of the five he owns are a Cerveceria and an Argentine beef fusion restaurant. 





As we enter into our last few days here, 
we are grateful to have finally visited Portugal. 
The weather has mostly been in our favor, 
albeit with a bit of rain in the beginning and now some 80 degree weather.

Our AirBnb has been a bit of a conundrum 
from the start and continues even to the finish line. 
Just keeping' it real here!
I'll probably send a totally separate post about this particular stay in Lisbon, just so you can understand that all travel is 'not for the faint of heart'. 
That said, we will venture on and are already looking at travel possibilities for 2025 and yes, 2026. 
So, there you have it, 

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do."

                                                                                                            Mark Twain


We could not agree more, even when the tide is wavey, we carry on, which takes me to my sign-off black and white photo of yet another sidewalk design. 


More proof that the world is NOT flat, 

but this sidewalk IS flat. 



Till next time, 
Cheers, Roger and Ron

 

























Comments

  1. MickeazApril 16, 2024 at 8:45 AM

    Fascinating adventure you are both having. I'm excited for you two! Travel safe.

    ReplyDelete

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