June 6, Sintra, Cascais, Queluz; Day 2

Dear Friends and Relatives,

Sylvia beaming in with another travel report this evening, after a full day of lecture, sightseeing, and sampling the sights, food and sounds of Portugal.  This morning, after an excellent breakfast buffet at our hotel, we enjoyed a 2-hour lecture on the history of Portugal by a professor at the University of Portugal at Lisbon.  The chronology of his talk began with Roman domination, proceeded through the Arabs conquering Iberia, the independence of Portugal and the establishment of the first Portuguese university in 1288; the Age of Exploration, the expulsion of the Arabs and the Jews; the Inquisition; the earthquake of Lisbon, and eventually worked its way to the current state of Portugal.  I even got to read some excerpts of Portuguese poets Camoes, Pessoa, and Torga in translation to the whole group, and it was like being in a fascinating class once again--I took notes and was reveling in being a student and following the thought processes of a fascinating lecturer.  Nothing better!

After breakfast, we departed for a morning guided field trip revealing the architectural beauty and history of the Palace of Pena in the forest of Sintra.  We took the bus, and from the ticket office below we took a smaller shuttle to reach the top.  Resembling something from a Shrek film, with its ornate collection of domes,  statues and towers, the palace was built in the late 1840s by the German Baron von Eshwege on the site of a former monastery, whose chapel remains inside the palace today.  Ferdinand of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha , the husband of Queen Maria II, requested some of the embellishments, which embrace various architectural styles from Moorish to Manueline.  The palace was used as a summer residence for the royals.  The interior of the palace is also highly interesting, packed with paintings, furnishings, and imposing statues.  The ballroom and royal dining room are particularly lavish.  

Once we had toured the palace, we were taken back into the center of Sintra to look around the town and have lunch on our own.  We had about 1 1/2 hours to work with, so therefore had to hoof it.  On the way down with the bus, the choke started acting up, so we all had to get out, as the bus was blocking the street and the police had to handle traffic.  We were right at a school when this happened, and since there were no sidewalks, we stepped inside the gate of that school.  The woman in the school came up to us and was furious with us, even berating one of our guides, who wasn't very pleased with her and told her she was rude.  The woman was all over the policeman and demanded an apology for being called rude.  It was a little vignette which was quickly squashed when the new bus came by and deposited us downtown.  

By the time we got out, I was ready for some lunch.  We quickly entered one of those little alleyways crowded with shops and cafes and selected the Casa da Piriquita, where I had another great cabbage soup with bread and then a lovely phyllo dough pastry filled with almond paste and sporting sugar grains on the top.  Still warm, it was undeniably fine. 

After lunch, we strolled around the town, taking a lot of pictures of enclaves of interesting structures, gardens, and sweeping forests and hills.  Over the years the town has attracted the rich and famous, and inspired countless writers like Lord Byron, who spoke of "Cintra's golden Eden" in his epic poem, "Childe Harold."  

From Sintra, we took the Cascais Beaches road 19 miles from Lisbon along the Atlantic, admiring the waves breaking along the shore, the westernmost tip of land in Europe, the stunning architecture of some of the former residences of ex-pat royalty, the lighthouses, and the emptying of the Tagus River into the Atlantic.  By the way, if you were to proceed due west from these beaches, you would eventually reach Baltimore, Maryland!

At 7:00 we convened for dinner, and this was by far the most delectable meal yet!  We had the following:  1st course, croquettes filled with beef and potatoes or cod and potatoes; bread and an olive tapenade and a tuna spread; 2nd course: salmon in an olive/garlic/peppercorn sauce, with new potatoes, and a wonderful salad of radishes, lettuce, olives, tomatoes, and carrots; and, to end with, one of the best desserts I have ever had--a small round of cheesecake topped with currants, which with a strong coffee at the end of the meal was memorably delicious.  

In a gathering dusk we walked back to our hotel, and now I am writing this epistle.  Tomorrow we are off again, and I can't wait to learn more about the great Portuguese tile making process at the azulejos factory museum in Lisbon tomorrow.  What a great trip so far!  Take care, Sylvia

Sylvia M. Venable, PhD

Instructor, German

St. John's Episcopal School

Dallas, Texas