Sintra - two Castles. a Palace and a park all in one day. And what a day! Sun shining amid the tourist chaos in Sintra. One of a very few 'mountains' in this part of Portugal it is topped by the Moorish Castle which snakes it's way around the rocky apex and the Palace of Pena with it's colourful past and presence.
The Moorish castle was built around the 10th Century by Muslim forces who used it as a control tower for the Atlantic coast and the land to the north. Archeologists have found evidence of civilization in this spot from 5000BC. Walking along the castle walls is no easy feat with narrow passageways and little or no protection from falling over the side. There were only a few steep steps that had a railing. Darn good thing it wasn't as windy here as it was when were at the coast.  
The Castle was actually our third stop on this steep hill. We got to our amazing B&B early (if you ever go to Sintra stay at the Guest House Villa dos Poetas - great location, secure parking & delightful hosts!). With only one day we took the bus up to the top of the hill and began our exploration at the Palace of Pena. The pamphlet calls it "one of the finest examples of nineteenth century Portuguese Romanticism & the integragion of natural and built heritage". I call it a huge statement to the wealth of the Portuguese royalty set in a lovely park. This colourful yellow and orange summer home commands your attention from far across the valley. Inside the rooms seemed small compared to other palaces I've seen with the ceilings quite low. That being said the architecture is a playful mix of moorish influence and renaissance style and the views are to die for. I especially liked the carved coral at the main entrance.
After our wander through we headed down in to the park of Pena. Again a playful mix of separate gardens, waterfalls, rock bridges and sitting areas.  "85 hectares of exceptional geological and cliatic conditions" Here I especially liked the mystical Queens fern garden where we sat for a rest and a snack.
Back in to the chaos at the bottom of the hill we headed a bit out of town to see what Quinta da Regaleira was all about. This is the quirky summer residence of the Carvalho Monteiro family with the usual small rooms and oddly painted walls. A hunting room, Renaissance Hall, Kings room, interesting kitchen and, oh, a gateway to hell.  
Yep.... this fellow apparently had a fixation with heaven and hell to the point of building a subterranean town that sinks some 27 meters into the earth which we reached by climbing downthe spiral stairway. Shane likes to say he climbed to hell and back just to get me to climb to hell. I wasn't going down there at first so he came back to tell me that there was a very cool way out at the bottom. In fact I thought I'd lost him to the devil when I looked over the side and he wasn't there. They do call this area the Portal of the Guardians which has a hidden tunnel to the Initiatic Well.  
Whew.... when we were out of there and trying to decide where to go next I looked at the map and said "Maybe Fatima would be a good idea". Here is yet another site where the Virgin Mary has appeared to small children. After seeing Lourdes and more recently Medjugorje (in Bosnia) we thought it would be interesting to visit Fatima and perhaps shake off the gateway to hell that we visited in Sintra.
Again I can trust Shane to come up with the obvious.  "There are more people going to hell than there are visiting Fatima!" Compared to the masses of people we saw in Medjugorje, Fatima is a ghost town. The city has built a huge square with tunnels and even added a meeting room in 2007 that can seat 3000 people. When we were (Saturday night) a small mass was being held in the Chapel of the Apparitions.  
As a child I learned so much about Fatima & Lourdes wondering why Mary would visit little children and not adults. The places she is said to have visited are very poor and/or in crisis. Here in Fatima Mary is said to have visited on the 13th of the month so each month on that day it the faithful come. Today is the 13th, a sunday and it is quiet. I hope tourism picks up here because the economy depends on it. It is not yet summer but I thought we just might have had a problem finding a room.... perhaps Fatima is again in a crisis.
Today we head north towards Porto. Looking forward to tasting the local liquid.