Day 26 – Adventures in Sintra

What a day we had! Began like a normal Lisbon day (for us). Lateish breakfast and then off on our adventure. We had heard about the long lines, so Donna bought online tickets to the Pena Palace prior to leaving the hotel. ‘ Good one!’ we said, ‘That will save time and progress us in the queues.’

Walked 10 minutes to a different train station than the day before. Mr Portugal (Mark) who seems to have adopted the language and get us anywhere, lined up and bought the tickets. We thought the ticket guy was laughing and joking with Mark but apparently he was joking (not in a nice way) with his colleague about the tall Australian in front of him.

Caught the train and arrived at Sintra without incident except I couldn’t understand how we were at the front of the train when we got on at the back of the train – lucky I had a couple of train experts (albeit exasperated) to explain it to me.

Being at the front of the train, you would think that we would have beaten the crowds. We encountered the worst system in the world for moving people efficiently. One big line that didn’t move. Several buses with open doors parked beside the line but not letting people on! Suddenly the line seem to break and people began squeezing onto the bus from all directions – who needs to line up? Finally, the bus driver having to individually negotiate and explain the ticketing system before taking money (cash only) and issuing a tickets. He also jam-packed the bus so it took half an hour to get going.

The bus then followed this winding road up to the Pena Palace and by the time we got there, Donna and I were both feeling a little ill.

As Donna had pre-bought the tickets, we jumped the queue and got scanned straight in or should I’d say ‘up’. A walk uphill and steps left me puffing (I have some work to do when I get home). We rounded the corner and encountered another line, this one snaking about 100 metres from the palace. We joined the queue and moved about 1 metre every few minutes.

At least an hour and we finally got to the entry point…to be turned away at the last hurdle. Our tickets were for the National Palace not the Pena Palace. Wayne wanted to screw the guy’s nose off but the guy wouldn’t relent.

Again you have to question the system. Scanned in incorrectly at the bottom and one guy checking everyone on at the top.

We did the walk of shame back past the line, walked quickly around outside of the castle where Wayne had to console a distraught Donna – she was actually laughing about it – what more could go wrong on our day in Sintra?

Mark lined up (surprise surprise – another line) for water and then we left – to be squashed into another crowded bus for the return trip.

We returned to the township of Sintra had lunch and then did the panoramic walk up to the palace that we did have tickets for. We did the whole tour because we could (although we had been told it was just another palace). Photobombed by our random photographer’s friend, Dueg.

Got to the railway station as our train pulled out so waited 30 minutes for the next one.

You may think we were scarred by this day’s experience but look at the positives. Donna’s resourcefulness got us into two palaces for the price of one. Google shows us the interior of the Pena Palace (you weren’t allowed to take photos inside anyway). We got to spend more time together. What more could you ask for?

No rest in the afternoon – gift hunting to say thank you to Patricia, a few drinks, a shower, a goodbye to Patricio and we were out to fulfill our list of ‘things to do’ while in Lisbon.

1. A tuk tuk ride – OK, the girl had finished but she still promised to take us up to Graça, the hill with the tree. She drove 50 metres and exclaimed, ‘Oh no. My battery is flat.’ We clambered out and she drove off. Flat battery, my foot!

2. Drink of cherry wine from the hole in the wall – Wayne made a new friend who had photos of him with a number of racing and motorbike riders on his phone.

3. See the sunset from the top of a hill – we actually found another tuk tuk rider who took us up to Graca (the hill with the tree).

4. Enjoy tapas – we didn’t find tapas but we did accidentally find this exquisite and upmarket restaurant just down from the tree that had views over the city. Although we didn’t have a booking and possibly were a little louder than the normal clientele, we were given a table and boy was it special. No crowds,great food and spectacular views.