Sintra

I. Love. Sintra.
I wish I had more time there. I could have spent a few days there even (people say it is just a day trip town). I went to Quinta da Regaleira which is this huge park in this pretty dense forest area. They had caves everywhere and tunnels. There is also this well that goes pretty far down:

 

You can go down it, and I went down a few levels then FREAKED out because I saw a huge spider web. Yeah, I am 23 and not above climbing down farther into a hole because of a huge spider. I also felt a water droplet hit my head and I RAN back up the stairs. I'm sure anyone watching me would have laughed. I spent some time walking up the steep cobblestone walkways. It was kind of calming and there were some great viewpoints to it. Same thing with the caves, I would "hear" and "feel" things so I would RUN out (possibly yelling some sort of obscenity.)

I was a little pressed for time, so I left the park sooner that I wanted, and headed to the next thing. I had to skip the Moor castle because I wanted to see the Pena Palace ( and I went to the castle in Lisboa). It is beautiful, and is painted a lot of colors.

 

I headed there to take some pictures, and go inside. I saved so much money with my Carnet Joven!  I spent some time there and got lost in the Pena Park on my way out. I was a little freaked because there was NOTHING around, and NO ONE could be seen, I felt so alone. Lots of green, lots of trees, and no people. I looked at the map, which was NO use when you are surrounded by trees and no signs to tell you where to go. I knew I needed to go DOWN (because the climb up was a bitch) only cobblestone roads at an almost 90 degree angle. Almost to the point where if you didn't run you would tumble backwards. 

I finally made it out of the woods (haha) and made my way to the bus to take me back to the bottom of the mountain. 

I wanted to go to Cabo da Roca which is the farthest western point on the European continent. By the time I got there, it was pretty dark, but it was neat to just BE there. It was super windy and cold, but I managed a few pictures before the last bus came for the night. I made it back to Lisboa by 8pm (and boy was I TIRED). When I got back to the hostel I made some yummy pasta and watched a movie.

I would definitely go back to Sintra if I had more time and money at the end of the year. Portugal was amazing!