All Palaced Out

My last full day in Sintra and I had quite a bit of work to do. The forecast suggested morning rain, drying up with sun breaking through in the afternoon, so I got the jobs done first, through a pleasant morning, going out later - into a series of heavy showers. There was another palace just a few hundred yards down the road from where I was staying - Quinta da Regaleira - so I felt almost duty bound to take a look. A few days ago, we'd spotted the building from the castle and I suggested it was a folly. I was pretty much right. It includes a crazy deep hole dug into the hillside that's been lined with a spiral staircase that takes you down to the bottom, from which an exit is made through a tunnel. It serves no purpose whatsoever. It was rather wonderful.

I was all palaced out after that and, to be honest, it was much more fun walking the back streets of Sintra and exploring its myriad staired ginnels and cobbled lanes. I felt much more at home off the beaten track and away from the hordes of visitors.