Woke up at 7:45am to get to our van pickup location for our scheduled day tour. We met out guide and headed to a county called Sintra, a summer designation for the richest people in Lisbon as the higher elevation makes it cooler in the heat. The town has three huge castles built in the 1800s when the nobles came to the city. We walked around the main square for a bit before taking a break in a really cute cafe.
After the cafe break, we headed to the Quinta da Regaleira Gardens and then a quick stop at the land that marks the most western part of Europe. With amazing view and incredibly blue water, it reminds me of Sunset Cliffs in San Diego but twice the size. .
We then headed towards Cascais, a really cute beach town and summer destination. I remember googling Portugal and seeing the distinctive floor tile pattens. We had two hours to get lunch and wander around the town.
We then got back into the van to head towards the Pena Palace, the palace located on top of the highest hill in the Sintra area. The colorful castle was massive in size. We toured the impressive inside of the castle and then walked around the terraces that circled all the way around the palace.
Our (older) guide for the day was interesting. He was very against two young women traveling alone but we know better - we've got this! He's a bit dated in his views. And we really aren't alone. Throughout the day, we stayed with the same small tour group, including the cutest young couple traveling on their break. He was finishing his last year in law school and she works as a pharmacist. We hung out with them pretty much all day and, after the tour, they invited us to get drinks later that night. So naturally, Anna and I said, "absolutely." We had such a fun time in a Lisbon market just casually eating and drinking. Near the end, we met also some people from the UK where one of the guys works for Tiktok. His entire job is to red flag inappropriate content. We were the last people inside when the market closed. We decided to just head home and call it a night - one night of clubbing was enough.
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