Lisbon, Take 2

We returned! Closed the loop! Ran through our travel itinerary! Made our way back to Lisbon for our final week before flying home! (And reminded ourselves to make the most of it; it’s easy to look forward to being back home, with comforts and friends and ease. But first — a last hurrah!)

For some of us (I’m raising my hand), the highlight of our return was a day trip to Sintra, the Enlightenment’s suburb for castles. There are lots of posh home tours to choose from here, but we opted for the highest and most colorful: the Pena Palace. We also chose the most luxurious and least populated approach: a hike through the grounds of Villa Sasseti. We climbed up brick-paved switchbacks (or found secret stone stairs) through a lush spring-fed garden, around water features and sculpted caves, to rock faces littered with harnessed climbers, higher and higher through an enchanted ferny forest, to the mustard-yellow–stuccoed gates of the palace.

The palace was very busy, but somehow we didn’t mind so much. They did a really great job making the interior tour engaging, with lots of original decorations and furniture and historical tidbits. From the king’s desk that looked exactly like a huge ornate advent calendar, to the life-sized bronze torch holders (literally guys holding lamps), to the colorfully upholstered divans with hidden zinc-lined arm rest drawers (for ashtrays), and the kitchen’s copper soup tureen big enough to be a bathtub, it did not disappoint!

We spent an entire afternoon there (it’s recommended you set aside an hour — what?!!), and still left a lot unseen (the Countess of Edla’s Chalet, Valley of the Lakes with its castellated duck houses, the Garden of Azaleas, the stables — so much!). Guess I’ll have to come back! Anyone want to come with me?

As we often do, we also spent a lovely (blissfully cloudy 80-degree) day at the zoo. We lucked out: all the animals were super engaged and active. And there is a fun (and free!) bucket ride, which takes you over many of the exhibits. Never seen a zoo from above before! And they have dolphins and an impressive (and free) dolphin show, which we saw twice, because why not?!

And we did that other thing we do: wander. Because Lisbon is a beautiful city. Lots of intricate tiles and swirly cobbles and bright limestone edifices.

We’ve been going at it, guys! It’s been solid, these last two (plus) months. No one can say we didn’t do stuff; in fact, right now we feel like we did aaaaaall the stuff! We are lucky; we are grateful; we are full and heading home!