THE AMAZING SINTRA IS THE PLACE WHERE ROMANTICISM STOPPED LOOKING FOR A PLACE TO LIVE. TOPPED BY A CASTLE AND BRIMFUL OF PALACES, NOT EVEN THIS LANDSCAPE SEEMS TO SATISFY: SINTRA STILL SETS OUT TO THE ATLANTIC SEA BETWEEN BEACHES WITH EXTRAORDINARY VIEWS AND CABO DA ROCA.
If you go to Sintra you don’t want to leave. You may go only in search of the famous ‘queijadas’ cheesecakes, or just to visit the Moors Castle or lose yourself in the raving imaginary of Pena palace. But when you start descending you will start looking for a house to live. It is a place that seems to have been born to raise jealousy in those who don’t live there yet, mostly during Fall and Winter, when the mountain and the center of town are wrapped in the mist that deepens the mystery. Starting with the one about the History that has made Sintra, since the 14th century, a key character in the Portuguese saga.
Sintra is full of magical names: Regaleira, Seteais, Monserrate, places of gardens and palaces, manor houses and parks, all framed by steep roads, dangerous curbs, symbols and myths lost in time but that don’t hide from the curious fascinated eye of the visitors. And from the old Palácio da Vila to the brand new News Museum, Sintra insists on being a land of baits, as if every corner called your name.
Further inland, Queluz national palace shines like a reverie of kings and gardens. But if you come from Cascais, along the coast you will find the pleasure of beaches such as Grande and das Maçãs, and what seems a Greek island on shore called Azenhas do Mar, where houses climb the slope as if with fear of getting their feet wet. At the end of this route, Cabo da Roca is the cape that marks the moment when the land ends and the sea begins, as the poet Camões wrote. From there, Portugal is only water until it reaches the islands of Madeira and Azores, promises of oceans to explore.
There is unique transportation, such as the tram cars that in Colares, by the ocean, stop for a glass of the best wines, or the horse-drawn carriages that cross the huge Pena National Park tirelessly. Around us, even without the mist that steals views but offers charm, an air you breathe in and breathe out in the shape of a sigh.
