Welcome back to Lisbon. I awoke at 7.30am, blurry eyed and sadly still rather ill. Though I had not slept terribly well due to my illness it seemed I missed some drama during the night that Costa Rica informed me of later in the evening, regarding our resident Snore-a-saurus, so stick around for that at the end! I decided to power through my illness and continue with my plan as I set off at 8am for the train station popping into the pharmacy once again for some paracetamol.
Today I planned to head to Sintra, a town just outside Lisbon that my cousin has kindly suggested for a day out if I had time. https://www.sintraportugaltourism.com/ For those of you who are interested, the link will give you some more information on Sintra. Soon I was on the train hurtling through the Iberian Peninsula to my majestic destination. Being so very eager and slightly out of it due to my illness I got off one stop too early! Luckily for me it was only a 10 minute walk to the station I should have hopped off at and we were soon back on track. A quick pastry later (not the best so I’ll pass on the description) I sat in the town looking up the hill to the Moorish Castle, my destination. Whilst looking I decided on my options, bus up or walk up. I had planned to walk up with my new GoPro’esque camera for my new YouTube channel but it would not be easy considering how I was feeling so the bus seemed like the logical option. Therefore, I began the rather long walk up with camera in hand.
It was a lovely sunny day and the views walking up the hill through the Parques de Sintra were fantastic. I resolved to see more of the town on my return down the hill and focused on pushing myself up at this point. I shall describe the walk now. Step, step, step, sniffle, cough, wheeze, step, step, breath, wipe face, step, step, step, admire view, make sure camera is still working, step, cough, sniffle. For a more accurate representation I can tell you from my fitness app on my phone, I walked 11.2 miles, 22,223 steps over day 3, the majority of which was up and down the hill which was 500m of elevation gain. Now under normal circumstances I’d be out of breath a little and probably take a little break half way up maybe. I am not ashamed to say due to my illness it was one of the hardest walks I have ever done, but it was worth every second.
I arrived at the top, mentally I pictured Andy Dufresne upon his successful escape from Shawshank, physically my legs trembled their way to the ticket office. I purchased a cheaper ticket, once again thanks to my trusty Lisboa Card, and I entered the site, looking slightly worse for wear. https://www.parquesdesintra.pt/en/parks-monuments/the-moorish-castle/ Once in the castle I decided to do a circuit of the walls turning right, I climbed to the top and began the walk around. Looping round there were fantastic views in all directions, back down to Sintra, across to the Atlantic, to the Palácio da Pena and back to Lisbon. Lisbon itself was shrouded in a cloud of mist once again though I could just see the tops of Ponte 25 de Abril poking out.
I finished my loop and had a sit down taking in a view of the Palácio da Pena. https://www.parquesdesintra.pt/en/parks-monuments/park-and-national-palace-of-pena/ A beautiful palace sat across from the Moorish Castle, I had decided to visit the castle as it was more interesting to me and look at the palace from afar, which I felt oddly gave me a better view of the palace. Feeling how I did, I was happy I had not planned to visit both as it was at this point my ear began to ache! As I have said in previous posts, I don’t get ill often but when I do, I get ill! Sadly it seemed I was going to get worse before I got better and with memories of a very painful ear infection last time I was ill, my dejected self decided to head down the hill into Sintra in the hope that 500m of elevation was the reason. It was not.
My descent was swift in comparison to the ascent, not least because I had filmed my way up, but the urgency to get some food and water had crept into my brain. Once down the hill I bought a ham, cheese and lettuce pastry along with a coffee and sat outside the Sintra National Palace, resting and trying to enjoy myself. I then went for a short wander around the town, seeing all the Valentine’s Day celebrations taking place, before heading back to the train station. I certainly missed things that I would have loved in the town, but my main objective of the Moorish Castle was complete and I decided back to Lisbon was the best plan at this point as I still had plans to head back to the Jerónimos Monastery to have the famous Pastel de Nata or rather Pastel de Belém I had totally forgotten the day before!
Once back in Lisbon I headed back to the Hostel to drop off some things, quickly charge my phone and then back out to my most frequented destination of the trip, the pharmacy! I managed to explain my ear situation and was sold, and I quote, ‘Mouldable, geriatric ear plugs’ for my flight home as sadly I do suffer with the pressure changes on the best of days, in fact I have passed out on a plane during take off from the pain, but that’s a story for another time. I headed out from the pharmacy on a mission, to get a Pastel de Belém from the its birth place. Jumping on the 728 bus, which both ways was without doubt the busiest and most cramped bus ride imaginable. I arrived and headed in. Pastel de Belém in hand I walked to the park opposite, sat down and proceeded to enjoy my reward. By this time it was around 4pm and I decided to stay in the area to have my meal for the day.
Lisbon is famed for its seafood, so naturally I wanted to try something I have never had before, so I went with the obvious: octopus. I was later asked by my father what octopus tastes like, apparently the answer, ‘well it tastes like octopus’ wasn’t what he was looking for. However, it was delicious and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Full of Pastel de Belém, (Primarily made of Egg) and Octopus (A seafood) I headed back to the city center giggling to myself that I had consumed, in total, poor mans caviar.
With some unexpected time on my hands I decided instead of relaxing and resting up, I would run back to São Jorge Castle to get pictures of the views as the previous day had been somewhat misty if you remember. I was rewarded with some great views over the city and decided the trip was over. I would head back to the hostel, have a beer, go to bed and have a relaxed last day before my flight home.
I returned to the hostel and caught up with Costa Rica. The conversation descended into hilarity as I found out what had happened in the night. Having warned Costa Rica about Snore-a-saurus he told me not only is the snoring horrific but he also sleep walks. Now I was on the top of one bunk-bed which if I’m honest, was the hardest bunk-bed I have ever had to climb up and down from. Snore-a-saurus was in the other, with Costa Rica below. Snore-a-saurus managed to climb out of his bunk and head out, presumably to use the loo. Upon his return, he simply stood next to the bed ladder. Costa Rica, awake from all of the movement, asked if he was ok. Snore did not answer he just stared blankly into the room, like some sort of horror film villain. Not only that, HE BEGAN TO SNORE!! It was then that Costa Rica realised Snore was in fact, asleep, sleepwalking and now standing menacingly at the end of his bed snoring, presumably trying to figure out how to get back into his bunk. Eventually, Snore began to move and climbed up into the bunk with ease. I couldn’t believe what Costa Rica was telling me, but more that I somehow managed to miss it all! We had a beer each laughing at the situation and called it a day, saying goodbye as I intended to leave early.
The next morning I awoke at 6am unable to get anymore sleep, left the hostel and met up with my cousin who lives in Portugal. After a lovely time together, mostly hunting for an authentic cafe and popping into a burnt church, we parted ways. My adventure was almost over, I just had to survive the flight home with my geriatric ear plugs! I am pleased to inform you I did survive, however, the pain on the decent was horrific, and I was asked by many if I was alright. Crying my eyes out I nodded and explained, kindly once on the ground the airhostess made sure I was ok and allowed me to leave the plane first! The Lisbon trip had come to an end, but the ear infection had truly begun!
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