Carol-IvanTravels travel blog

We came to see this miniature "Versailles" palace

It didn't seem so miniature to us!

There were lots of chances to take photos

Hard to tell which is the front and the back entrance

The grounds were lovely

With lots of statuary

I'm pretty sure this was a 'side door'

Just a few samples of the interior - Music room

Didn't keep count of how many rooms we saw

The furnishings were fabulous

This bedroom was a bit much with all that red

Beautiful floor

The ceiling of the ballroom was spectacular, of course

As was the throne roome

Then on to see one of Portugal's oldest villages

Stunning manors and homes

Once the summer retreat area for Portugal's royalty

Moorish architectural influences were quite evident

The 14th century Moorish-Manueline palace

A porcelain tile with the palace's iconic towers

Once again it was fn to explore side streets and alleys

This place didn't even look real!

I went to a very fine shop to see the local arts...

This beautiful handwoven silk shawl was priced at 90 Euros ($130?)

We had a photo stop in the seaside resort town of Cascais

An exiled Italian king lived in this mansion for many year

Other ornate buildings near our stop

A fortress

We've learned that almost every old city has at least one fort

This beautiful mansion was along the drive back to Lisbon

Huge cathedral in Lisbon


April 13 - 3 sights near Lisbon

On our 2nd day in the port of Lisbon our morning shore excursion took us outside the city once again. We rode about an hour to visit the 15th century palace of Queluz [quay-loos]. It is said to be a miniature copy of Versailles with many ornate rooms and lovely gardens. Our tour guide led us through it for 1 hour leaving us only 15 min. to scramble around the impressive grounds. (This palace was built in 1747 for Queen Mary; it was full of beautiful antiques and rich imported furnishings.)

Twenty minutes later we were in Sintra, one of Portugal's oldest villages and a long-time summer retreat for Portugal's kings. It's a small town of stunning manors and a Moorish 14th century palace surrounded by green countryside. We didn't pay admission to see the palace with only 30 min. to see the entire town and take in its Moorish-Manueline architecture and very old tiles. As it was we split up and headed in different directions to see and photograph as much as we could. I walked to see the streets and shops with embroidery and tiles as well as the architecture. Ivan climbed to higher levels and got some great overall photos of the town.

Our last stop was a 15-min. photo stop in the popular seaside resort town of Cascais [Cas-kays]. It has elegant manors, small palaces, hotels and several fortresses. Europe's largest casino, Casino Estriol, is located here.

Rather than go into Lisbon after lunch on the ship we decided to get online while the ship's WiFi seems more dependable in port. I updated more entries with photos we had ready to enter. As I worked we head the Captain announce that we would have to skip our last Portuguese port, Portamao, because the weather forecast of strong winds and 6 ft. swells would make it impossible for the tenders to get us ashore. That meant we would get an extra day in Cadiz, Spain and a complimentary glass of champagne with dessert tonight! (and the cost of our Portamao shore excursion would be refunded)


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