SINTRA

Bom Dia,
We are staying a couple of bus rides from the town of Sintra which was for hundreds of years the Monarchs had their summer residences. And what palaces they are!

Inside and out. The grounds are extensive and all was well until a dual assassination in 1910 leaving the last king Manuel 11 in power for a couple of years, then revolution, various military dictatorships finally leading to that nice Mr Salazar holding power till 1974. Be careful what you wish for. Enough of the bor

ing bits. And some more pictures of the 2 visits we made and still only saw half the palaces. My only criticism as usual is that this is a UNESCO world heritage site. Thus too many people in areas not meant for mass tourism and the opportunity for tradesmen to charge treble the going rate. Actually, here it has only been double.

We always feel compelled to reach the top of anywhere we go and again we've succeeded.

Too many lupin beans methinks!

Wide range of tourists here. Particularly many more Americans and Japanese than usual. Talking of which, I know Japanese love their photos but this particular lady took 3 shots of the side of our bus with just the number showing; then took out a wrapped gift and took 3 photos of the packaging. You couldn't make it up!

Next up a few days on the Algarve. Thanks for reading.

Adeu

J&P