Portugal and Galicia Trip - Day 3 (cont.)

December 30th, 2015 - Sintra & Lisbon

We were able to pack a lot of stuff into one day.  After visiting the Palácio Nacional de Pena, we headed over to the Quinta da Regaleira, also in Sintra.  It was still raining lightly, but every once in a while the sun would make an appearance.  When we arrived at the palace, there was no where to park.  We were fortunate enough to find enough space down a very narrow street nearby, but I think at any other time of the year, it would be almost pointless to come to Sintra by car, because you would never be able to find parking near any of the main attractions.

The palace, gardens and chapel of the Quinta da Regaleira were commissioned by António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro, an entomologist who inherited a large family fortune.  Apparently he had very eccentric tastes and there is hidden symbolism all over the buildings and gardens of the estate.  

Again, even on a rainy December day the Quinta da Regaleira was quite busy.  We visited the gardens first and actually had to wait in line before we could enter some of the narrow pathways.  The gardens are spectacular and the kids could have spent the entire day exploring the towers, caves and tunnels.  The tunnels are like secret underground passageways that take you to different areas of the garden.  The kids loved it, because the tunnels are low, completely dark and you have no idea where they will take you.  I had to use my cell phone as a light in order to find our way through.  One of the coolest elements of the garden is an old well shaft with a spiral staircase going from the bottom to the surface.

The gardens of Quinta da Regaleira

Looking down from the top of the well

Looking up from the bottom of the well

The palace

One of the many ponds with subterranean caves

kind of blurry family shot

One of the towers in the garden

You can see Cole and Nathan crossing the pond

Here we are in a cave at the other side of the pond about to enter one of the tunnels

Going through a tunnel 

another tower in the garden

part of the wall that surrounds the estate

The unfinished well

little chapel on the estate

We left Sintra in the early afternoon and headed back to Lisbon.  We decided see the Torre de Belém on the way back into town.  The Torre de Belém is one of the most famous monuments in Lisbon, but I'm not sure it's worth the wait and the entrance fee to go up the tower.  It was raining and getting dark, we didn't have to wait too long to get into the tower, but then once you are inside, there is only one staircase to go up and down.  When you are on the first level you have to wait until enough people come down before you can go to the second level and then wait again to go from the second level to the third.  Once you are at the top of the tower you have to wait for people to come up before you can go down the stairs.   A lot of waiting, but there is not much to see inside the tower.

On the first level

View from the top level

Nice family shot in front of the tower

Since we were close, we also saw the Padrão dos Descobrimentos