Peniche, Sintra and Lisbon

We headed out of Nazare Monday morning. The sea has calmed down, the winds slowed, but it was still very overcast.  We headed to the town of Peniche , which is a coastal Peninsula where many Portuguese families visit in the summer for surfing and water sports because of its long beaches. It’s known for its powerful surf tubes and among the best in Europe. 

By the time we arrived in the town of Peniche, it was raining very steadily. We never really got out of the car, but we checked out a few different surf spots and the main town.

During the 20th-century period of authoritarian rule known as the Estado Novo, or Second Republic, it was used as a prison for communists and other opponents of the regime.  We checked out the prison on our way out. 

Our next stop was to be Sintra. Its was the worst driving rain of the trip so far. Stephanie wanted to have lamb chops in Sintra so we found a restaurant called Moinho Iberica which had amazing reviews for all grilled meats. We had a detour through old towns and farms and realized we were not in Sintra. However we had the most fabulous lunch in a very small town.  

Next we tried to head to the royal castle but were turned away by police since only tour buses are allowed up the road or we could have walked. The rain continued so we opted to see Sintra the next time. On to Lisboa. 

We arrived early enough to check in, drop our bags and head to the metro to get a 24 hour pass. We wanted to go on tram 28 however the line was probably 2 hours to wait so we opted to take the tour in a small golf cart like vehicle. 

Jonathus drove us around the old town Alfama before dropping us off at our restaurant, Taberna Moderna, a fabulous dinner including cuddle fish ink rice and baby eel salad.  

We woke up yesterday and left our bags and headed to a tram that goes straight up to the top of many hills. Next we made our way to an elevator down (very cool). 

We walked to Sao Vincente, the beautiful Cathedral named for the patron saint of Lisbon. We toured the monestery and church before walking many steps to the roof to get a 360 view of the city. 

The parish of Graça was created in 1569, after the Santo Estêvao de Alfama de-annexation. The parish name was intended to honor the catholic martyr Santa Engracia of Zaragoza, later on the King Manuel Idaughter, Infanta Maria built a church in the parish to receive a reliquary of the said martyr. After being almost destroyed by a severe storm, the church was rebuilt and eventually received the National Pantheon classification.[3]

For reasons unrelated to its founding, namely the residence of Baron Monte Pedral, the parish’s name was changed to Monte Pedral on May 1, 1913, only to revert to its original designation on March 24, 1952.

Much of the church had to be restored after the earthquake in the 1700s. 

Now we walked, underground trained, electric tram bus to get to Belem for for the famous pastel de Nata.  

The origin of Pastel de Nata dates back to before the 18th century, where they were created by monks at the Jerónimos Monastery in the parish of Santa Maria de Belém in Lisbon.  At that time, convents and monasteries used large quantities of egg-whites for starching clothes. It was quite common for monasteries and convents to use the leftover, egg yolks, to make cakes and pastries, resulting in the proliferation of sweet pastry recipes throughout the country.

In the aftermath of the Liberal Revolution of 1820, following the dissolution of religious orders and in the face of the impending closure of many convents and monasteries, the monks started selling pastéis de nataat a nearby sugar refinery to bring in revenue. In 1834, the monastery was closed and the recipe sold to the sugar refinery.

We visited the monument of Portuguese discoverers before heading back to our hotel to grab our bags and head to Stephanie and Marcel’s home in Algarve. 

Stephanie has a whirlwind next few days planned here starting with Padel. I’ll let you know if I get hit in the face with the ball…