Ericeira to Sintra

I enjoyed a nice stay at the Fisherman’s House hostel with the hospitality and conviviality of Anna, the owner. The young folks there were much fun to be around. Last night we sat around the big table and had drinks and played the card game “Bullshit!”, a simple game and one that regardless of what language one speaks the word is familiar. Last night I met Nabil from Toronto and we had a wonderful dinner together of seafood at a restaurant next to the sea wall. Nabil is in his 50s and is an avid paraglider. He is here to find places to fly, which usually are off of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. I learned a lot from him about the sport, the winds and the landing, the most dangerous part. He carries a parachute, a good backup plan.

I loaded up and was out by 11. Today there were two big hills for a total of 1700 feet climbing. The first was down to a beach and back up again. The second was coming into Sintra, which is built on a mountain. There is a trolley that was next to the road coming up, so at least the grade was not too bad. There were many cyclists out on the road today whizzing by me, out on a Saturday. I stopped for lunch at a small cafe in Fachada and for $6 had two delicious pork chops, French fries and salad. Everything comes with French fries, but catchup is nowhere to be found.

There are several historic sites here, the Sintra National Palace, the Park and National Palace of Pena, the Castela de Moros… all of which are closed! Yes, seems that today the government closed all national historic sites due to the virus. Bummer. I am reading about all the cancellations and craziness back home, so I get it. I even had a little girl today wearing a mask ask me why I was not wearing one. She turned and resumed playing before I could answer, so just something to say to strangers for her.

Antonio here at the Casa Azul hostel is a wonderful host. After showering and getting a little nap in, I walked thru town along a winding promenade past a lush green park on the side of the mountain up to the National Palace. It was a clear sunny day and there are many more tourists here than any other town I’ve been in with the exception of Porto. Truly, this town is very quaint with many small alleys lined with shops winding upward, some quite steep. I plan on staying here another night so I can explore some. Then, I will head towards Lisbon. AirBnBs along the coast above Lisbon are pretty reasonably priced, so looking at renting one for a week to start waiting things out some. Dia a dia, day by day.