Pena Palace

This Disney-like concoction has long been on my list of places to visit, and it was just as gaudy as I'd heard. A little in need of a lick of paint in places, and full full full to the brim with queueing crowds. 

We planned not to visit the interior on this visit, and strolled past the hundreds of people lining up for entry, online tickets in hand. We had no tickets, and simply walked up to the gate and bought park entry. This allowed us to walk all around the exterior of the castle, which was fabulous, as well as the extensive grounds. In truth, I took hundreds of shots here but the place is too big to capture up close. 

This shot was from the hill on which the high cross, or Cruz Alta, stands. I had to climb it a bit - ok, a lot, all the way up - to get above the trees, but this shot is the one I like best of the castle. If you go large you via see the tiny people for scale.

The gardens are worth a visit on their own, with wonderful ferneries and trees of all sorts making a verdant woodland with kilometres of paths, most of which we explored. On this day, 23,000 steps, eighteen kilometres walked, 380 metres climbed.