Noah, Emmie, Cassy, and I had a lot of fun hiking around the ruins of the thousand-year-old Moorish castle ruins, so it was great to return and introduce the site to Amanda, Eilidh, and Gee Gee. With Eilidh secured in the Tula, we all made the hike to one of the two castle towers, capturing photos along the way and taking in impressive views of the previously-visited Pena Palace, the community of Sintra, and the Atlantic Ocean.
Amanda, Eilidh, and Gee Gee retreated to the base of the ruins while Noah, Emmie, and I hiked up the other tower. While we were exploring, Amanda fed Eilidh at the base of the castle and Gee Gee captured a few photos of Eilidh in front of the site’s gardens.
Emmie was super-excited to see a cat while visiting the Moorish castle.
We shared a small bag of chips and some extremely refreshing juice before retreating to the castle site entrance to wait for the next 434 bus to take us to Sintra’s city center. We weren’t able to break through the late-arriving mob to get on the first bus that stopped but stood precisely in front of the bus stop sign and managed to secure good seats on the next bus, which came a few minutes later.
Lemon, apple, and mint hit the spot after a long day of hiking.
I’d highlighted Casa Piriquita for our late lunch pastry stop but while double-checking my plan along the ride into the city, I found the store was closed Wednesdays. Fortunately, the sister restaurant Piriqita II was open, just a block away, and served the same menu.
The host moved a table and chairs to ensure we could sit together as a group. I placed our order of more than a dozen pastries so we could sample their most famous offerings. We ordered three of the larger travesseiros, a pastry stuffed with egg cream and almond, along with ten queijadas, made from cheese, sugar, eggs, flour, and cinnamon, and one pastéis da cruz alta, a dessert featuring egg, almond, and beans.
Noah loved the travesseiros, so much we had to order two more.
Emmie later would say the queijadas were her favorite dessert from the entire trip.
I finally tried the popular Sumol laranja soda, a slightly bubbly drink with a pleasantly mild orange flavor.
We had fallen significantly behind schedule, but after some discussion, I insisted we visit the Quinta da Regaleira, which was on our itinerary for both last year and this year. The seemingly short walk became much longer when we found Google’s directions got us only to the site’s exit; we had to hike several hundred meters uphill to get to the entrance.
Emmie and Gee Gee posed for photos in front of some of the property’s flowers.
The most famous site in the sprawling and unique complex is the initiation well. Despite being labeled wells, these structures were never used as water sources but instead were used for ceremonial purposes that included Tarot initiation rites. Amanda, Eilidh, Emmie, and I made the first hike down to the bottom of the well but retreated quickly following another Eilidh fall and shared assessment that she was done with the day’s adventures.
Inside the initiation well, the first time, before Gee Gee and Noah returned outside.
View from the bottom of the initiation well.
I insisted Amanda take the older kids back down the well and explore further, as Emmie and I had discovered a tunnel at the bottom of the well which led to other intriguing sites. After a few texts and phone calls, Eilidh, Gee Gee, and I reunited with Amanda and the older kids, who took in a few more sites on the property. We finished with a short walk-through of the first floor of the palace.
The Pena Palace and Moorish Castle can be seen in the distant background.
Noah and Emmie posed inside another initiation well, this one considered to be unfinished.
Looking to avoid more walking or longer bus rides, we sought out the handful of tuk tuk drivers sitting outside the property’s exit. Eilidh and Emmie were both technically too young for the ride, but after some consideration from the driver, she was willing to take us back to the station. I feared us all spending a night in a Portuguese jail, but the tuk tuk experience was positive (other than occasional spurts of super-bumpy riding.)
Eilidh sat between us, covered partially by a blanket which served dual purposes: keeping her warm and ensuring she was hidden from potential police looking into the tuk tuk.
We made it to the train station with only a few minutes to spare before the train departed toward Lisbon. We arrived at the station and made the reverse train trip from this morning, walking followed by two stops on the subway to get back to our neighborhood.
We returned to A Graça Cozinha Portuguesa for another dinner. Noah ordered his familiar omelet, while Emmie ate about a third of her bowl of the colorful soup of the day. Amanda and Gee Gee each enjoyed the turkey entree they’d sampled during our last visit, while I ended up with a large hanging skewer of veal and vegetables.
Emmie and Gee Gee purchased a kilo of cherries from a street vendor; they enjoyed them once we got back to our Lisbon apartment.