Make That Two Palaces and One Castle In A Day

 After we climbed back down from the Castle of the Moors, bemoaning how sore our legs would be on Tuesday, we caught the bus back down the large hill and back into town.  We hopped off in the center of town, and wandered over to a pub-like restaurant recommended by Rick Steves, named Cafe da Villa.  The food was good.  The beer was cold.  We enjoyed the atmosphere there quite a bit.

But we can only relax for so long.  So we went across the street to the National Palace (also called "the Town Palace") to hit our third major Sintra sight for the day.  Nowhere near as amazing-looking as either Pena Palace or the Castle of the Moors, the National Palace was still pretty interesting inside.

The National Palace is considered the best preserved palace in Portugal, and had royals living there on and off for over 400 years, from the early 1400s to the late 1800s.  The Moors started building it in the 8th and 9th centuries, down at the bottom from their palace on top of the hills.  Most of the current palace dates from 1415, when the king started a major building program.

Self-guided tours in Portugal are great too, because most signs are in both Portuguese and English (but not Spanish, a people with whom the Portuguese either appear to simply tolerate or actively dislike).

The palace is impressive, but by the end of the tour, we were done with the tour.  The ending came at the right time.

See if you can guess why

this is called Swan Hall?

See if you can guess why

this is called Magpie Room?

Strong proof mermaids exist.

Okay, so it's a little corny.

Ornate ceiling.  Did royals just fall over every

so often from looking up at the ceilings?

The guy on the right is trying to explain Bitcoin

to the other three.  They have no idea what he

is talking about or how this isn't a scam.

Cherubs to brighten your day.

Lion smoking a dwindling cigar.