A DAY IN SINTRA, PORTUGAL (PENA PALACE, MOORISH CASTLE)

A DAY IN SINTRA, PORTUGAL (OCTOBER 2014)
A visit to the Pena Palace and the Moorish Castle and seeing the colorful architecture in Sintra, Portugal. You guys. A Moorish Castle in ruins. It’s the coolest.

Enjoy!

This is a day trip we took from Lisbon, I believe the train ride was about an hour. You can take a taxi directly up to the top of the hill where Pena Palace, this city’s gem of an architecture and walk down past the Moorish Castle ruins and into the city center. Or you can walk up if you want to save money!

Pena Palace is a crazy awesome sea-themed colorful palace that is built on a rock on the top of a hill. The site was a Medieval monastery that was heavily damaged by an 18th century earthquake. In 1838, the area on top of the hill was purchased by King consort Ferdinand II and it was transformed into this crazy mix of styles. I believe it was meant as a Summer palace, and includes Neo-Gothic, Neo-Manueline, Neo-Islamic, and Neo-Renaissance styles with a oceanic twist.

Enjoy!

You arrive and first see these bright yellow walls. Ticket booths are just beyond the walls, and there’s a shuttle you can take to get up to the entrance of the Palace. It’s very hilly.

Great shrubbery

So intriguing on the walk up, more and more of the Palace begins to be revealed

Shitty pano

Get out of my face

Amazing stonework right off the bat

Snake faces (or are they eels)

The dramatic walk up to the main courtyard

What chu pointing at Zeen

The only simple hallway

Eeek it’s getting closer!

Stone basket

Look at these gorgeous buildings! It’s like stepping into the Little Mermaid (if their Castle was above ground)

Big face

They were doing a bit of restorative work. I guess up until the 20th century the palace had faded to a grey color and only in the last 100 years has been repainted to it’s original glory

I spy Waldo. Trying to get a photo taken in one of these awesome little look out things

A man having a very intense phonecall

He did not notice me for a long time.

There we go!

Weee

I love the look of the rocks worked into the building

We are the worst tourists I think

Or maybe just Zach is the worst

Look at all the styles of windows

Doing tile restorative work

Zach learning to work with my film camera

Where did that door come from…

Tentacle railings

Center courtyard in the area that you can tour some of the rooms and see royal collection furniture in context.

Stone and tile

Look at this crazy dining room. The furniture is nuts, and those scary vaulted ceilings…aha

Sick boat

Love the wall paper and patterns throughout the living spaces

You want to shower in the middle of the room next to a mirror. Also, showers, were a relatively new thing when the Palace was built.

Intricate wall and ceiling carvings, probably the Islamic influence

Gorgeous

Look at this ceiling! A mix of trompe l’oeil and actual stone work

White sculptures against the green wallpaper, ace ace

Similar style as this Getty plate, right?

If you weren’t impressed by the stone carving, are you impressed with this wood carving?

Amazing “nature” chandelier

Hello cutie parents

Not chocolate, but cake pans!

The rocks!!!! *Swoon*

Goodbye, Pena Palace! Headed back down the hill

As we walked down, it seemed suddenly so far away

Sweet kitty

Entering the Moorish Castle ruins

Gorgeous views as we walked along the stone walkway up to the Castle. It was built during the 8th and 9th centuries. Yeah. I KNOW. Amazing!!!!

Human hands constructed these walls over a thousand years ago, and repaired like 800 years ago. And re-re-repaired like 400 years ago.

I felt like I was 8 years old again, climbing over rocks, exploring all the nooks and crannies of the castle. Pretending like it was a war, and I had to duck behind the walls to scurry to a tower.