Away we go on our next adventure. 9 nights in Portugal. \240PHL to LIS

Arrived safely into Portugal after a very easy 6-1/2 hour flight from Philly. Nice rental car upgrade to a small Volvo SUV. Super comfy and drives great. Avis was great to work with this time. \240They agreed to come pick up the car at our final hotel in Lisbon. No “Rental in the City” or return hassles on this trip!

An easy drive over to Sintra. Hotel was busy with checkouts so we dropped our bags and car for a walk down into the town. \240Great lunch recommendation from the hotel. \240Local wines and tapas. \240A wonderful treat.

https://www.romariadebaco.pt/?lang=en

A quick visit to what is sure to be the first of many castles visited durning this trip. \240Lovely gardens and interesting architecture. \240The skies are starting to get quite grey and as predicted it is looking like we are going to have another rainy trip for the remainder of the week.

https://www.biester.pt/

Well, the day of travel is finally catching up with us. \240Back at the hotel and our fantastic upgraded room. \240Chocolates, treats and port. \240Rainfall shower felt fantastic and refreshed us. \240Headed around the grounds and gardens. \240The hotel is a renovated castle on the hill above town. \240Just beautiful. \240Grabbed some drinks, played \240backgammon (Leslye won handily) and some snacks. \240Early to bed tonight. \240Big day of hiking scheduled for tomorrow.

https://www.tivolihotels.com/en/tivoli-palacio-de-seteais

Today was such a great adventure. \240The forecast was for continuous rain with occasional heavy downpours. \240Sticking with our philosophy of “experience here, while we have the chance, no matter the conditions” we chose to not cancel todays hike. \240While the weather was not ideal, the rain mostly stayed away and we were able to enjoy our 4 hour hike throughout the Sintra-Cascais Natural Park.

The tour was called “Trail of the 3 Forests” and it was a perfect description. \240The ecosystem of this particular Portuguese forest is one that was heavily impacted by outside influences. \240During our nearly 10k walk, led by Francisco our amazing guide, we passed through 3 very distinctive environments. \240The first section of the hike was dominated by native cork. \240Beautiful trees, many of which were over 300 years old. The second forest, imports from Australia, Acacia & Eucalyptus. It also featured may fern. The third was entirely Portuguese cedar trees with a few American red cedar. \240The hybrid species that existed between these two was fascinating. \240The bark was soft and spongy.

As a bonus, Francisco took us to one of his favorite places for some wine and snacks. \240A cute little restaurant right next to the sea and WOW was the seafood fresh! \240Leslye enjoyed warming up with some fish soup. \240We enjoyed some wonderful sautéed shrimp and experienced a Portuguese delicacy called “Lucifer’s Fingers.” \240Barnacles that grow on the rocky shores of the sea. \240This along with some excellent wine was a perfect cap to a fun day.

https://www.portugalwalkhike.com

A beautiful dining experience here at the Seteais Palace Restaurant.

Our second full day in Sintra, we were accompanied by Teresa, wife of Francisco and founder of https://www.portugalwalkhike.com. We made a quick stop out to the sea at Apple Beach. Then it was onto Colares Winery for a tour and tasting. The wines we tasted today were interesting and unique in that they are made from low growing vines that live in sandy soil. They develop much of their sugar content form the sun reflected off of the sand and are clearly affected by the sea salt component of the environment. We tasted both white and red varieties. The red was clearly our preference. It had very rich aromatic complexity but was light on the palate. They say the wine ages well in bottle, so we grabed one and have set an alarm for October 20, 2032 to enjoy, wherever we may be by then…

https://arcolares.com/en/

The afternoon was spent touring the Quinta da Regaleira and learning all about the Knights Templar, the Masons and the Romantic Period. \240All in the heaviest downpour one could imagine.

The property consists of a Romantic palace and chapel, and a luxurious park that features lakes, grottoes, wells, benches, fountains, and a vast array of exquisite constructions. The palace is also known as "The Palace of Monteiro the Millionaire", which is based on the nickname of its best known former owner, António Augusto Carvalho Monteiro. The palace was designed by the Italian architect Luigi Manini.

Our last day in Sintra was spent touring palaces and castles on our own before the drive south to Vilamoura. \240We got late checkout at the hotel so the we could do an early ticketing at the Peña Palace. We made the long drive around the mountain, back into town and up to the palace where we were able to park just beyond the entrance in the “secret lot” Teresa told us about. \240It was a very overcast and foggy so the views from the site were limited. The palace was beautiful, both inside and out. \240We were a bit discouraged by the crowds. \240It made the tour a bit less enjoyable but this just happens with the more popular sites. \240the gardens were very natural but lovely to walk about after the palace.

Castle

Arrived into Vilamoura last night after dark. Interesting driving in because we really had no clue where we were. \240It felt very industrial and we were a bit concerned what we might wake up to this morning regarding our immediate surroundings. The resort is lovely and the surrounding Algrave Region is beautiful. The facilities are super modern and completely opposite the accommodations in Sintra. Fun to see the resort preparing for next week’s, Portuguese Masters golf tournament.

Took the shuttle over to the Vilamoura Harbor. Cute area by the boat docks with lots of shops, restaurants and nightlife. Live music everywhere. Grabbed a casual dinner of shrimp, salads and pizza. \240Walked around the harbor people watching and taking in the environment.

A relaxing day trip to discover the walled city of Lagos. \240A cute ocean front location with lots of great shops and restaurants. \240We tried to book a boat tour to visit the cliffs and rock formations at Ponta da Piedade but the surf had gotten too rough again and it was canceled. \240Both of us are feeling a bit under the weather so a little relaxation has been a good thing today.

WOW! \240An incredible evening and dining experience tonight at Willie’s Restaurante. Chef Willie Wurger is the first chef to receive a Michelin Star in the Algarve region (1989). He and his staff did an amazing job with both the food and service. Top to bottom the finest meal we have had on this trip and ranks right up there with one of the best ever.

https://willies-restaurante.com/

Lisbon

100 foot wave.

Amazing dinner find.