 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
| A few minutes away, on Lisbon’s other downtown hill, sits Bairro Alto, a nocturnal playground for clubbers, shakers and groovers. This is the place to wine, dine, dance, and hear live fado. Nearby, at the Port Wine Institute, you can research Portugal’s biggest export. Choose from a range of humble rubys and velvet vintages. Elvadors — another of Lisbon’s curiosities —provide elevator access to Bairro Alto. There are also two funicular railways with little yellow carriages that grind up steep gradients on tracks nestled between buildings. Framed and detailed regulations of 1927 prohibit passengers with ulcers and similar nasties likely to contaminate others. A real indulgence is the Elvador Santa Justa, a lift encased in an Eiffel-like tower that takes passengers onto a dizzying walkway leading to the street. At the Baixa, we followed the long parallel streets through an immense arch to the waterfront Praça do Comércio. At dusk it’s full of promenading locals or groups playing cards at wooden tables, skateboarders and weary hustlers. Ferries cross the Tagus and it seems a carefree happy place. Lisbon’s finest monument is at Belém, six kilometres west of the city. The Mosteiro dos Jerónimos, a 16th century monastery, commemorates Vasco da Gama’s spice--laden return from India. Its magnificent two-storey cloisters are worth visiting. If Lisbon starts to pale, head for Sintra, 30km from the city. The Palácio Nacional is striking as it rises from a cluster of buildings to loom over one of Sintra’s many ravines: soaring above tiled roofs and arched windows, a spectacular pair of tapering chimneys make the palace, now a museum, seem taller than it is. Sintra is no stranger to tourists and the quaint huddle of lanes around a central square instantly give the game away. But walk in any direction, preferably up, and within minutes, Sintra becomes a sleepy world of narrow streets and mansions. The Palácio da Pena, a Disney-like castle-palace high in the forested hills, has stunning views to the coast and Lisbon. Built in the 1840s, but abandoned in 1910, the Palácio da Pena colourfully flirts with turrets, domes, mock drawbridge and a wonderfully eccentric interior — porcelain furniture, kitsch decoration and statues bearing lamps in the ballroom. There is a good walk back to town via the Castelo dos Mouros, an ancient Moorish castle with ramparts that still undulate across the hillside above Sintra. A local man was playing his flute as I entered its mossy gateway and found a perch on the craggy heights to view Sintra, its those freshly-painted chimneys glowing brilliant-white, then gold in the setting sun. Passing the Fonte da Sabuga, an 18th century fountain, I saw people filling bottles with spring water: a story says the water has medicinal properties and that, after one drink, you’ll never forget Sintra. Its thirst-quenching qualities were quite enough for me. |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
 |
||||||||||
|
||||||||||
