A full day-trip from Lisbon started with our hotel breakfast (along with traditional snagging of some items for lunch later on) and a brief train ride to nearby Sintra, a well-preserved former royal vacation spot that is a major tourist stop and a bit too Disney for our tastes. Still, the colors of the town were beautiful (Art Necco palette) and the steps of the royal palace provided a sunny corner for this photo, but we were more eager to sample the local quejadas (cheese tarts) and move on to Cascais. A coastal cliff-hugging, hairpin-turn-filled bus ride got us to the seaside resort just in time to visit a local supermarket and enjoy the resulting picnic lunch on a secluded patio overlooking bathers on a small beach below. (Three stoned guys soon joined us and started goofily painting each others’ faces. Just saying.) A lazy afternoon on the palm-shaded promenade, a coffee, a quiet train back to our beloved Lisbon. A nice opportunity to leave the city for a day, and so good to be at the sea, though we wished we’d brought along our bathing suits. Next time.
