York

So this is out of chronological order, because I just went to York last weekend!  (And I still need to post about my trips from November and December, but never mind that.)  My first day back in London after the holidays in the US a friend invited me on a short girls weekend in York.  York is about a two hour train ride north of London, halfway to Edinburgh.  

We were only there from Saturday noon until Sunday evening but I think we got a good feel for the city!  They have a famous cathedral, or minster as we call them!  (Really, what city in England doesn't?)  

They have medieval walls that surround the old city center.  They are quite impressive, wide and you can walk around them...

Which of course, we did!

York boasts a chocolate factory!!  We visited the shop but more importantly, York had TONS of cake and tea shops.  Maybe more than any other place I've been in England!  We sampled several, especially on Sunday when it was cold and raining part of the day.  Sorry I don't have any pictures of the cakes - we ate them too fast! 

And of course we had dinner and drinks in a local pub - as you do!  A nice little welcome back to the UK.  

Sintra - Palacio Nacional de Pena

Our second castle visit in Sintra was the Palacio Nacional de Pena, or the Pena Palace.  It couldn't have been more different from the Moorish Castle!  The Moorish Castle was medieval, ruins with thick stone walls and not much else.  The Pena Palace was just that - a palace!  It was originally a monastery.  But was used in the 1800s as a retreat for the Portugese royal family when they wanted to escape the heat in the city of Lisbon.  Nice country vacation home!  

This is our first view of Pena Palace, as seen from the top of the Moorish Castle.

The main entrance gate - you can already see the difference in style.  

View back down into Sintra from a patio on the back side of the Palace. 

Because of the way the Palace was perched right at the top of a mountain, it was difficult to get an all-encompassing picture.  So I had to settle for ones looking up from inside the walls.  It was yellow and pink!

 Again, with the tiling detail - here are just a few pictures of some of the intricate tiles that covered large surface areas on the walls of the Palace. 

 I'm particularly amused with this one where one little ceramic knight is slaying another one!

Sintra - the Moorish Castle

My favorite day of our trip in Portugal was visiting Sintra. Sintra is a small village about 20 miles inland from where we stayed.  This area in Portugal is actually quite hilly and even mountainous.  We took a bus from Estoril that followed a very winding road to get to Sintra.  It is an enchanting little town!

The best sight-seeing in Sintra is a series of castles that sit in the hills all around the town.  Our first stop was at the Moorish Castle (also where they finished the Portugal episode of the Amazing Race last fall!). It was built over 1000 years ago by the Moors who came into Spain and Portugal from Northern Africa.  It was truly medieval. And quite a climb up the walls of the Castle, but the views were worth it! This is looking across a section of the Castle and down into Sintra below.

At the back edge of this photo you can see the Atlantic Ocean!

Look!  I made the climb to the top!

And Bruce, Beth and Scott came too!