3. 23 March 24 March 2019 Lisbon and Sintra

24 March 2019

We took a train to the town of Sintra yesterday - Sintra being the “must see” stop in all of Portugal. The train ride took us through miles of suburban neighborhood apartment complexes which I can forgive since few train rides out of town in the US are inspiring either.

Once in the beautiful country town of Sintra, the must see sight in is the Palais de Pena, situated on a mountain looking out over southwestern Portugal. But first stop was the Palacio National in downtown Sintra which was remarkable mostly for the huge chimneys over the kitchen. Two towers that could be seen from miles away. The most captivating piece of art in Palacio National was a painting of Jesus in which he appeared to be a cross dresser. No kidding, check out the photo down below. We were not able to find anyone to inquire about this piece.

The walk up to the Palais de Pena was, for an old fart like me, long and arduous. Most people got up by bus or Tuk-Tuk, but the four of us plowed upward and finally made it later in the day. A tiring but lovely hump though forest and mountainside gardens tended by the palace staff. First view of the palace left me speechless. The immense assembly of structures was beyond excessive and I wish I could just have taken it in for what it is, but I kept wondering about the probably underpaid artists and craftsmen that worked for the kings and queens of Portugal before the royalty got their asses kicked out in 1910. The palace lorded high above the great unwashed so there were spectacular views across western Portugal to the Atlantic. Inside, one room after another was decorated with detailed wall coverings, floor tiles, finely carved furniture, gold plated this and that. The various architectural styles of castle wings had no relation to other parts and I was reminded of my daughter’s dog Bindi who seems to be a combination of parts of a Pit Bull, a Daschund and a Basset Hound. I call Bindi “The Glue Dog.” Like Bindi, this castle seemed to be various palace styles from various time periods glued together.

Back in Lisbon later that evening, we dined at a restaurant near the hotel with an uninspiring menu but enjoyable anyway. We were all too tired to go restaurant hunting. The place must have sat thousands since there was an unending stream of twenty somethings coming in during our meal. Mostly guys. We couldn’t figure it out.

Woke up this morning and took a cab to Belem, a suburb of Lisbon, to enjoy the pastries at “Antigua Confeitaria de Belem”. Maria had researched Lisbon and this place came up as the best pastry shop in Portugal. It must be so because when we were at Logan Airport in Boston a few days ago we struck up a conversation with a couple next to us who were taking their two kids to DC and they emphatically told us that while we were in Lisbon we absolutely had to go to this very same pastry shop. A fine endorsement of Maria’s travel planning.

At Antigua Confeitaria de Belem we were able to find a table for four easily, but within ten minutes hundreds of people from all over the world were pouring in for take-outs or seating. Turns out the place seats 400! A fine breakfast of wonderful caloric pastries which makes me wonder why everyone here in Portugal seems so fit.

After pastries, we walked along the shoreline of the River Tagus which flows past Belem to the nearby Atlantic Ocean. Then made our way to Jeronimos Monastery and Cathedral - one of the biggest Catholic church complexes I’ve ever seen and reminds me of the power the church wielded in its day. Inside the cathedral we saw the tomb of Vasco de Gama who was the first one of our western guys to sail to India. A dramatic tomb in an imposing church. On one hand, the design and detail of these great castles, cathedrals and palaces are inspiring when I think of the artistic effort that was put into them to “get it right”. On the other hand, they reminded me of the ridiculous excesses of the Raj’s in India. Still, very interesting to see.

While walking around Lisbon, Jason and I spent a good amount of time comparing notes on our families. Both of us came from families of five boys and one girl. Upon further comparison of our backgrounds, we found out that both of us were known to be the smartest and best looking of the lot. Not surprising.

Back in Lisbon in the later afternoon so we took in the energy of the large Sunday crowds that roamed downtown. Almost everyone was under 35 years old, fit and good looking which doesn’t explain the number of smokers here.

Beautiful weather. All three days here in the 70’s with tons of sunshine. Everyone enjoying the beauty of Lisbon’s wonderful old town. Jason pointed out that in our travels through Lisbon and Belem we saw very few children. What’s going on with children in Portugal? Maybe its just Belem and downtown Lisbon or maybe the birthrate is that low. Two years ago Maria and I were in downtown Manhattan where moms and dads where pushing strollers everywhere.

Two interesting features of Lisbon. First one was the neighborhoods-under-neighborhoods. We’d be walking around in the middle of the city and every now and then we’d cross a small bridge, look down and there was an entire neighborhood deep under the one were walking through. Roads, houses, restaurants, parks, etc., right under us. We soon found elevators here and there for those who wanted an easy access up and down. Nothing like this in any US city. Its like the Big Dig in Boston times a thousand.

The other feature to wonder about was the large number of boarded up vacant apartment buildings in the heart of downtown Lisbon. I would guess that almost 10% of the buildings were ready for demolition and some neighborhoods looked to be completely ready for the wrecking crane. Other nearby areas were pulsating like a city should but even here and there one could find a number of empty buildings boarded up. I’d like to talk to someone about the economy of this town.

Talked to the concierge at the hotel just before we checked out and asked him why Portugal was so under the radar. He claims Portugal has not had a convulsion from immigration and survived the financial crisis of 2008 much better than Spain, Ireland or Greece. Health care is free, but slow. Pretty nice to live some place that has nothing to report.

Tomorrow we head north to Porto.