On this day I woke up at 6am. Ventured out to Palace of…read morePena. It was quite a trek up to the Palace. Lots of steep hills, in fact it's all hills (wear sneakers only). We only got to eat a little pastry and drink some water and OJ at the Cafeteria that opens at 11am. By the time I got to the Moorish Castle, I ran out of fuel. I couldn't chug along anymore. I was dying in the relenting 94 degree heat. It's about another 10 minute walk from the entrance just to get into the Moorish Castle. It is quite a sight, reminds me of The Great Wall of China. So is the Moorish Castle worth it? My son loved it. As for me, all I saw were rocks everywhere I turned. Lol. And the rocks all looked the same. Note: It's about an hour and a half to walk all the way back down into town. Sintra is like a Fairytale Land, choose wisely which sites you want to visit. Plan for an entire day here.

King me baby! This 8th-12th century Moorish castle is somethin' else…read more What an amazing site to see! Standing on the wall of the castle, looking out over Portugal, was just brilliant. Be very careful though as there are plenty of opportunities to slip and fall. I highly recommend good shoes and strong legs only. For what was about $10-15, we purchased tickets to see the castle. You could buy tickets ahead of time on the website, or you can purchase them at the front of the castle at the self service kiosk. Unlike Peña Palace, you can actually see quite a bit of artifacts and such, without purchasing a ticket. Sintra is a journey though so be prepared. If you're doing a day trip here, start EARLY, like as early as possible. There's so much to see in Sintra, you maybe opt to spend a night or two here. When you do come, I recommend taking the bus, or rideshare to the top near Peña palace, and then work your way down to the other castles/attractions etc. Although we didn't stay long, walking around, what seemed like the Great Wall of China, was worth the price of admission. Not only did I get some great pics, I took some absolutely stunning videos. Again, just be very careful as there are numerous opportunities to fall without any guide rails or stabilizers. We stashed one of our love locks here so let me know if you find it. Having secured our lock, we now have shared ownership of the castle, so please be kind to it. Bring waters and snacks. Enjoy.

From 2/21 to 2/26, the whole town is celebrating before the Ash Wednesday. We were here for one of…read moretheme parade. This time is clown parade theme. The location is Rua da Fortaleza e Largo da Marinha. They don't start on time. If the program call for 2:30 pm. Probably 2 hour late starts. They will gather all people at the street and block party first then two hour later move the float. When you get close to the Sesimbra town, you will see a lot of clown dress up. Including baby. Basically if you have clown dress up, you can joint the parade. We also join in the parade for moments. It was nice to see many different clown. They even have the street side clown face painting if you want to get one. Sesimbra is a coastal city. The parade is along the coastal drive. It is make it unique.