Steph's Travelogue: Day 13: Simple Sintra and Captivating Cascais

Hard to believe it’s our last tour day…where has the time gone?!? It feels like we just got here…but at other times, it feels like we’ve been gone forever.

Our first stop, nestled in the hills and woods of Portugal, was Sintra, where we toured a lovely Royal Palace. Unlike all the other palaces we’ve seen prior, this Palace is quite simple. Tile work on the walls, lots of steps up and down in to the different rooms, beautifully decorated ceilings, and a huge kitchen with some great big chimneys. A little drive through the woods, and we arrived on the Atlantic coastline. Gorgeous blue waters and sand dunes for miles. We stop for a photo stop, and then drive a bit farther to stop at Boco da Inferno (Hell’s mouth), a rock formation on the coast that is just lovely.

Our last stop of the day was the beautiful beach town of Cascais. Originally this was going to be a drive-by, but we got the driver to let us off so we could grab lunch, and hit the beach. So, that’s what we did…and it was heavenly! We rented some chairs, piled up all the bags, and off they went. It was a great way to unwind after a VERY busy 13 days. They built a sandcastle, played with their soccer ball, ran around, and even went out on the floating jungle gym. All in all, it was a successful day!

We took the tram back into Lisbon, then the Metro to get to our hotel. Had our last supper with the other groups, and the night would not have been complete without a last ‘digestive walk’ for ice cream!

We sadly said good-bye to the other 3 groups as we have a 5 am flight, with a 2:30 shuttle. Quite a few of the kids pulled an all-nighter, so we’ll see how that goes tomorrow.

~steph :)