First stop, the hop on and off bus that will wind its way up the one-way road to the Palacio de Pena - the royal palace of Sintra. Sweeping views out to the ocean, decadent furnishings, intricate carvings and colour everywhere. Some beautiful design inspiration that wouldn’t fit my style at home but I’d love to have anyway.
After admiring the view and exploring the ramparts we made our first error of the day by catching what we thought was a bus to the next stop, but was in fact a bus back to the bottom, which we then stayed on and rode to the Moorish Castle. Have I mentioned the steps involved in these fortifications? Again a great history lesson and views for days as we climbed up and down the flights of stairs that made up the castle walls.
Now I’m not going to call our next move an error so much as a mis-step - we decided to take the hiking trail down to our final stop for the day at the Quinta Da Regeleira. Only about 20 mins to walk with an elevation loss of 250m - and so many stairs. Some sections were quite easy, others very challenging, with mismatched stair heights, zero railings and narrow passing for those walking up. Felt absolute pity for one dad who had a baby strapped to his chest and a three year old on his hip, followed by his wife carrying the folded stroller. I did not envy him making the climb.
We rewarded ourselves with lunch at the Quinta’s Cafe before exploring the grounds. A rest and a glass of red wine has never been so welcome I think and we took our time recovering.
The palace and grounds are beautiful and perhaps the most captivating features are the Initiation Wells, thought to have been used to initiate the Knights Templar. They wind nine levels down to the ground, and initiates were thought to have descended the steps blindfolded with their sword in hand to find their way through the labyrinth of caverns below into the light and to the chapel for knighting.
After a long day of walking and climbing (14k) we Ubers back to the convention centre so my buddy could attend the closing ceremony of the conference and I made my way to the equivalent of Eat Street to spend a relaxing hour or so sipping iced caramel lattes and indulging in Pastel de Nata (Portuguese custard tart) at a cafe.
Now I know we have them in Australia but nothing like an authentic one in Lisbon. Light, fluffy pastry that melts in your mouth and rich, creamy custard perfectly sweetened. My 2026 bucket list included a Pastel de Nata in Portugal so I can tick that one off quite happily.
After the conference ended, the Metro South team met me for dinner and drinks - my first pulpo (octopus) of the trip, with a deliciously sweet red sangria to complement the flavours.
And on my final night, Google Maps finally gave me a break and got me on a tram that took me to the top of the hill I live on, so there was only a short walk down to my apartment. Lord knows why it couldn’t give me that break sooner, but I’ll take what I can!
Tomorrow we head to Porto for a couple of days - apparently hilly but not as much as Lisbon - but that waits to be seen.
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