Almocageme / Sintra

Sintra was where we were initially going to stay but thank god we didn’t. It’s the main attraction here just north of Lisbon and it’s a very busy place. We are actually in Almocageme, pronounced (Al-mu-sa-jè-mê), and we have been here for the past week and I must say, absolutely delightful. The small village of Almocageme is in the middle of the Sintra National Forest and where we are, up on the hillside, one can see the Atlantic ocean as well as the lush valleys and surrounding forest. More on this in another post. It’s a 20 minute bus ride into the heavily touristed town of Sintra, which we visited for a day.

The Moorish castle on the hilltop as well as the Pena Palace next to it are quite a sight and generally the main reason why everyone comes here.  The Moorish castle is yet another ‘Alhambra-like’ sprawling citadel that covers many acres on the hill side.

We didn’t spend a lot of time in downtown Sintra since we elected to walk up to the Moorish castle and Pena palace. It’s a long hike up and down but far nicer than the crowded buses and by the time we got down, we were too tired to walk through town. The Pena Palace looks a little kitsch actually. it’s not old per se but did have it’s beginnings in the middle ages, starting off as a chapel and then turning into a full blown monastery. It was heavily damaged in the great Lisbon earthquake of 1755 and left in ruins until the mid 1800’s when King consort Ferdinand II bought everything in sight and asked a amateur German architect to build ‘Disney goes to the Rhineland’. It’s cool and well worth the visit.