Next Stop East coast America

I slept for over 8 hours and woke up feeling like my normal self thankfully. We billed this as a chill out week away to enjoy some sunshine, buttttt….. I can’t really sit around.

So we headed to our local cafe for breakfast of coffee and croissants and then jumped on the service bus to Cabo do Roca, the most westerly point in mainland Europe. The bus hugged the coastline passing through little villages. Buses run every half hour and cost 2€ each for a 30 min journey. Wait, public transport for the people???? Yes! And cheaper if you are a local.

The coastline is rugged and maJestic with big breakers crashing against huge rocks.. I sat and imagined waaay back how the explorers thought this was the end of the world. Till they set off and found it wasn’t ;).

There is the lighthouse, a little museum selling stuff and a cAfe and restaurant, and nice toilets!

We had a walk around the paths and mesmerised by the waves and the ever changing colours of the ocean. Then, time to move on and Jumped on a bus to Sintra. Sintra old town is a UNESCO world heritage site and we’ve been a couple of times before. This time we walked uphill to the Pena Palace (no royalty there, they were flung out in the revolution in 1910 fleeing to their Sax Coburg pals in England! One of the most visited sites in Portugal, yes tourism to palaces still exist without the spongers in residence!

It’s quite high up in a stunning spot overlooking the countryside but my knees don’t like sharp downward hills so got the bus down which was rammed and hot!!
Back into the old town in Sintra and had a refreshment before getting the bus back to Cascais.

We have some excellent restaurants nearby and tonight I had prawns and patatas bravas- best I’ve had!!