Thursday, October 14, 2010

Carlos and the pink palaces

Yesterday the taxi driver who took us to our hotel offered to take us on a tour of Sintra with a stop at the royal palace on the way and the coast on the way back. We took him up on the offer and at 9.30 am Carlos and his taxi are waiting for us.


Carlos is an excellent tour guide. He plays fado music in the taxi to create the right ambience and is very attentive with Sue, Rose and I. He tells us he used to work in the Algarve as a waiter, barman and 'lover' and this is how he learnt his English.


First stop is an amazing pink palace, Queluz National Palace, that looked a bit scrappy from the outside but is gorgeous inside. Huge high ceilings, lots of ornate gilt edged walls and decorations, fabulous furnishings, tiled surfaces, mirrors and walls - although all looking a bit faded and jaded. The over-the-top glitz and ornateness of it reminds me of the kind of decorations on the old musical carousel in the Hobart Botanical Gardens. The garden around the palace is vast and also very grand and we wander around it in the rain.


Upward and onwards to Sintra and Pena, the national palace which embodies the essence of the 19th century Romanitic artistic movement. The palace was built on the site of a monastery and is like a fantasy castle. Poets, including Bryon, have waxed lyrical over it. It looks like a castle that has been designed by someone on acid. Psychadelic colours, small unusually shaped rooms - all highly decorated. We are all pretty amazed. The surroundings around and below the castle are also quite magical. Beautiful natural forests all around. It is easy to see why it is World Heritage listed.


After a little shop in Sintra, Carlos drives us to the coast. He is very taken with wealth and points out every big house along the way. He even stops and shows us through a very expensive hotel on the coast where it costs three or four hundred euro a night for a room. We drive on to the western most point of mainland Europe where there is a lighthouse and pounding surf.


Next stop the fish restaurant right on the coast with views sweeping of the Atlantic Ocean that Carlos has decided we will be eating at. It is much more upmarket than our usual fare and we have to wait half an hour to get a table, by which time it is 4 pm.


Sue:


"Some fish is bought over in a basket for us to choose what we would like. It is sold by the kilo. We choose a bream and a sea bass which is whisked off to be grilled. Meanwhile we settle into a bottle of Tavedo 2009, another great Duoro white. Our cooked fish is ceremoniously served at our table with potatoes and green beans. It is rather nice and the wine so good we order another bottle. We finish up with the only dessert available on the menu due to the lateness of the day. A nougat icecream with a sticky sauce. We are all a bit shocked by the 196 euro bill for lunch!"


Back in the car (with Carlos' selection of music now much more uptempo to reflect our slightly inebriated state) we drive along the coast to Cascais, which looks very much like the French Riveria (ha - now that I have been there I can say that!). The surf splashes over the road as we travel on and back to Lisbon. A memorable day and worth every bit of the 160 euros we pay Carlos for our personal tour.

Pena Palace, Sintra

Queluz National Palace




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