Bon Voyage & Bon Appétit

  What a wonderful day, full of many views and many, many, steps. Today we visited the famous Pena Palace and its grounds in Sintra. This stunning palace was built by King Ferdinand the II of Portugal as a vacation house for the Royal family. The wonderful thing about this palace is that it was built to look magical and beautiful, not to serve a specific protective purpose. It was built on the ruins of an old monastery, which was badly damaged after the 1755 earthquake. We got there early at 9:30am to visit the interior palace, and it was good that we did! Afterwards the lines were huge. Beautiful palace views Exploring the palace early before the crowds The yellow portion of the palace Happy exploring the castle  The exterior is painted partly gorgeous yellow and partly a bright red, the interior rooms are eccentrically decorated, and the grounds are ridiculously immense. The romantic structure of the building draws from moorish, renaissance, and gothic styles. Inner courtyar...

We had an absolutely stunning day today! Although we spent about 3 hours driving from Lagos to Sintra on Portuguese tolled highways, our time in both those cities was incredible. We had a fantastic breakfast spread in our hotel today, and we we spent about 45 minutes tasting Portuguese delicacies, including tomato and pumpkin jams, honey fresh from the comb, and many breads and baked goods. Delicious breakfast We were now fueled to take a walk on the beautiful boardwalk in Lagos. We walked along the Atlantic towards the Ponta da Piedade, a rocky outcrop where a small lighthouse stands. The water was a gorgeous blue, the sandstone cliffs a calm beige, and the weather was on our side gracing us with a nice cool breeze.  Gorgeous cliffside Made it to the end of the boardwalk! This is definitely a place we’ll have to return to…I would love to do a kayak trip along the coastline and explore the beautiful rock formations from below. Steps down to the water Going down the stairs Turquoise...