We had another amazing brunch at Vista and then walked along the strip with an eye out to pick up a few souvenirs. We came back empty-handed except for a few bottles of water for the road trip back to Lisbon. We checked out of the hotel and packed up the car with our backpacks. I set the GPS towards Lisbon and we were off.

We had taken the backroads on the way down to Sagres, but for sake of speed, decided to take the toll roads back to Lisbon. It costs about 20 euros in road tolls to get from the beach into the city. We even drove across the bridge that looks uncannily like the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Once we were back in the city, we dropped the car off at Budget car rental and caught a cab to the Rossio train station.

There was quite a bit of hustle and bustle at the station and we stopped to ask a woman who worked there where we could purchase tickets to Sintra. She motioned towards the ticket window on the second floor and told us that their was a strike, so the trains weren’t running very often. Once she was satisfied that we weren’t trying to get to Sintra and back in one afternoon, we walked towards the ticket window. 

We only needed to wait about 30 minutes for the next train to Sintra. Apparently, the train we caught is also the train that all the school kids catch out of town and home to the suburbs on the outskirts of the city. We sat next to two girls who looked like they were in seventh grade – both studiously working on homework and pausing to chat every now and then. Five rows behind us were some kids who would lean out the doors and windows to get a few puffs of a cigarette before the train conductor walked by. They were rowdy and boisterous. At one point an eighteen year old boy sat across from me with his art portfolio in hand. It was interesting to see how the city changed from the old buildings and cobblestone streets, to huge apartment complexes, to the charming village and parks of Sintra just 30 minutes from where we stayed the week before.

We got off the train and started walking in the same direction as everyone else, unsure of where to go. We hailed a cab to give us a sense of direction in the new city and so we didn’t have to carry our backpacks while we got lost. Apparently, the cab driver wasn’t too sure either and we rang the bell of someone’s home before realizing that our bed and breakfast, Casa Miroduoro, was just up the street. The house looked like a giant cake with yellow and pink stripes – should be easy enough to find later.

We put our bags in our room, changed our clothes, and were off to see the Palacio Nacional de Sintra. We walked through the Palace snapping photos and admiring the architecture and furniture. Several of the rooms almost had a theme – there was Sala dos Cisnes (the swan room) with 27 golden swans and the Sala das Pegas (MagPie Room). Lore has it that the Queen caught Sao Joao I kissing one of her ladies in waiting. The king claimed all kisses were innocent and all “por bem” (for the good), then commissioned one magpie for every lady-in-waiting. One of the most iconic features of the palacio are the conical shaped twin chimney towers. 

After touring the palacio we headed across the street for a bite to eat and a glass of wine before wandering back to our hotel as the streets were getting dark.