One of my true loves…

This place will always hold a piece of me. Oh man, where to start… Well we were originally only going to stay a couple nights and then carry on to see more of Spain. Well those few days turned into over a week. They have this running notion that no one ever leaves Lagos. We made so many incredible friends and had the time of our lives! Even Pikachu got to come out, after a time out in Lisbon, and he fell in love with Hello Kitty at The Jam. We stayed at the best hostel ever, The Stumble Inn… Many thanks to Jamie, Ally and Ringy Dingy, these people are super rad, and our trip wouldn’t have been the same without them all! We were also fortunate enough to make friends with some locals who we met on the beach singing and playing guitar… Alex, Fabi, Tiego, “Vern” and Benji. They were extremely kind and invited us over for dinner: traditional Portuguese Piri Piri chicken with chips, salad and “pickles”. And of course wine! It was happily ever after once indulging in Piri Piri, and now I can’t stop craving hot stuff! Did you know that it is a natural aphrodisiac? I went to the beach everyday, hiking a little bit further each time discovering something magical. Soaking up the sun, swimming in caves, exploring through grottos, eating fresh seafood… It was a dream! Haha… as well as a party!

You can’t miss the Forte do Pau da Bandeira, dedicated to Santa Virgem Senhora da Penha de França in 1679. The Algarve’s coastline was extremely vulnerable as many attacks were often attempted yet rarely successful as this fort had one of the most resilient defences! They even forced Sir Francis Drake to back down in the late 1580s! Not to mention the ever so regular pirate attacks! It’s even complete with a small drawbridge and an azulejo covered chapel.

It was one of the most memorable experiences of my life!

We took a day adventure out of Lisbon into the surrounding Estremadura region. As we drove out of the city we passed by a monument dedicated to Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo (Marquês de Pombal). On November 1, 1755 a devastating 9.0 earthquake hit Lisbon and a rampant tsunami and fires roared throughout the entire city, even down the coast into the Algarve. It’s estimated that nearly 100,000 people were killed and the Kingdom of Portugal was completely wiped out. This day was a national holiday, All Saints Day, therefore in honour of this annual celebration all churches had thousands of candles lit in memoriam. Coincidentally after sunrise mass, King Joseph I and his court escaped the catastrophe. Among the rubble one lone man stood with a calm optimism and immediately began rebuilding the city. This was the people of Lisbon’s hero. This monument is by far the most important one to the local’s today and it was really special having one share it with us.

As we were driving on the highway we also got to see the two stadiums of Lisbon’s rival football teams: Benefica and Sporting.

Our first stop was the lovely UNESCO world heritage site, Sintra. It was a lovely drive winding through the lush hills up to the base of the Palácio Nacional da Pena. OMG by far the most beautiful and breathtaking Palace I’ve ever seen! The construction of the original chapel is said to have been initiated by an apparition of the Virgin Mary, dating back to the 15th century. The sanctuary was commonly visited by members of the royal family as well as meditating monks to the monastery. They say that the air up top is magical and that immediately upon visiting you feel a calming sense of renewal. Unfortunately the place crumbled to ruins after being struck by lightening and shortly after the Great Earthquake, although the chapel miraculously seemed to stay untouched. It wasn’t until 1838 when Prince Ferdinand hired amateur architect Baron Wilhelm Ludwig von Eschwege to rebuild the place which took about 12 years. There are beautiful panoramic views of metropolitan Lisbon, the 8th century Castle of the Moors and the enchanting 200 hectares of botanical forest where thousands of different species from all over the world have been planted and continue to thrive. The Palace is an absolutely exquisite example of exceptional architecture. It is quite eclectic as it combines styles of neo-Gothic, neo-Manueline, neo-Islamic, neo-Renaissance, among others. Romantic yet exotic, each turn you take leads you into another realm of this royal dream come true. The palace lies majorly on huge rocks and these natural elements help create the foundation. There are several multi-level terraces, neo-Hispanic-Arabian azulejo on the walls, an adaptation of the window of the Convento de Cristo in Tomar, trompe-l’oeil murals and a remarkable figure of the Titan, symbolizing the allegory of the Creation of the World. There are several elements of symbolism throughout the palace combining inspiration from alchemy, temple masonry and Portuguese mythology.

During our drive back down the winding labyrinth, we enjoyed listening to some beautiful Fado and we passed by Tivoli Palácio de Seteais, where Lord Byron the famous British poet and traveler, worked on his poem Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, in which he refers to Sintra as a “glorious Eden” and “perhaps in every respect the most delightful in Europe”. Following his stay was Robert Southey who claimed Sintra as “the most blessed spot on the whole inhabitable globe”.

Once out of the park we continued driving down a windy path and eventually hit Cabo da Roca, 38°47′N 9°30′W, the westernmost point in Europe! After that we continued on to Guincho Beach, notorious for some of the best surfing in Portugal. We then made our way into Cascais, a quaint little beach town now but was once a great fishing village. It was here at Praia dos Pescadores where I took my very first dip into the Atlantic Ocean! After we enjoyed a yummy cone of gelato from the cutest little fuchsia building in town! On our way back home (well back into Lisbon), we passed by the famous Estoril Casino which is one of the largest in Europe. It is also famous for being the inspiration for Casino Royale, the original James Bond novel written by Ian Flemming, after his visit during World War II as a Navy Admiral.