Day 8 Sunday 14th April


 We were going to take it easy today however in the end we did a lot of things and a lot of hiking.

After breakfast, first of all, we walked to Quinta Da Reguleira which is this amazing building and surrounds. The most famous part of it is the Initiation Well. Round and round we go to the bottom of the well and it starts to get very wet as we near the bottom. It's pretty amazing. Then there are tunnels going every which way including under a waterfall. We stroll around the grounds and it's quite a special place. The main palace looks glorious. Almost unreal. There is a Chapel with the Eye of God on the roof. A great place to visit. Just as we are about to leave we see something else to look at but eventually we leave.



Liz wants to take a Tuc Tuc for fun. We meet this German girl who turns out to be a fantastic tour guide. It's another rattle of a ride made even more so by the cobblestones and she takes us around the monuments. Monseratte. A dying tree an artist has created a sculpture of an eagle surrounded by animals. We check out lots of sights and end up at the Pena Palace. A building of mixed styles. We avoid the large queue by going round the back entrance and just buying a ticket to walk around the grounds. A killer hill to walk up to the palace though. The building is pretty much a toy town. A mixture of many styles and colours. We don't go in but after a look around we walk to the Castle of the Moors.

There are lots more ups and downs and it's exhausting but we manage to get there and this time we go in. Mainly to walk the battlements rather than see the museum. So we keep climbing higher and higher and reach the top which is a magnificent view of the Portuguese landscape. But a hell of a climb.

No museum and we start walking towards town. We want to go to a market that is open here every second Sunday so when we reach a road we hire a BOLT to take us there. It's near closing so much of it is closing down but there are a few stalls still there to look at and Liz finds a large bottle. Too big to take home so Liz disappointingly puts it back down.

We start to walk back to the hotel looking for a mini-mart to grab some wine for the hotel room. But it's Sunday and everything closes early. So after we got to the hotel room I continued to the new part of town and walked for ages until I found a large supermarket. At last. But it's a good distance away so I take a BOLT back to the hotel.

After a few wines, we head off to dinner. The Raj Palace. The food is great and we have a great time. Another walk and an early night.








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