Good morning and excuse me if I'm a
little breathless as I walk up one of
Lisbon's many hills.
Even the going down part can be quite
tricky and you have to watch your feet
anyway good morning how are you doing
today we had a great day yesterday
exploring Lisbon the air the Sun came in
and out we got rain we got sun shining
sunburn cold I got breathless but it is a
beautiful city now right at the end of
the day just when I was parking the car
I got a puncture now I've got a spare
wheel that's one of these spare was not
spare wheel like a pretend spare wheel
so now I have to find a garage and
change it this morning which is a pain
because I was hoping to got to Sintra which you'll still
do afterwards but to break in there
between so I had to change it in the dark
after finding a relatively flat spot to
change the tire which wasn't easy right
the only person who helped was a drunk person anyway
let's go find a garage
get that tire changed and then head out
to see Sintra. Now where'd I leave the car?
So getting my tire I fixed put it back on
the car nice and easy but dick cost me
60 euros so that ate into my budget
anyway that done off we go to Sintra now
to get to Sintra from Lisbon there's
actually a couple of ways I've got the
car so I'm gonna drive so that's what
I'm gonna show you but I will also note
that you can actually take a train bus
combination very easy the Train takes
about 40 minutes from the main station
in Lisbon to the town of Sintra you then
catch a bus which takes another 20
minutes which takes you from the town of
sintra up to the area where you can then
walk to the Moorish castle which we're
gonna see today and you can also go to
the Sintra Palace which is also very
beautiful so that's the two ways of
getting there now I picked a wonderful
day I I went twice to try and get nice
weather and it rained both times so I
can't show you such good views of the
surrounding scenery because it was
raining but it did make a fantastic
visit to the castle it really gave it a
great atmosphere and even the walk up
and through the forest with the rain
dripping through and me getting a bit
wet of course but it oh it gave it a
beautiful atmosphere so I did really
enjoy my day so even if it's raining go
and visit
and here we are at last so it's been
about an hour's drive road gets smaller
and smaller and twisty and twistier and
narrower as you make your way up to the
fort but we got here
parked the car now let's go and have a
look through at the fort I'm gonna have
to first of all wend my way through this
beautiful forest it's although it's
foggy it is a beautiful day a bit nice
and cool for walking and these forests
are really lovely huge trees the area is
quite wet because this is the first
mountain or hill that the the cool air
of the Atlantic meets
as it comes onto the mainland after
crossing the Atlantic so it is
characterized with being quite a damp
area but of course the gardens and the
trees grow beautifully so let's just
quickly wander through those and let's
get to the fort
now ticket options you've got the choice
of getting a ticket just for the castle
just for the gardens just for the palace
or you can buy a ticket that's slightly
discounted and less cues for all three
now I am time to visit them all so I'm
just getting the one for the castle
which is 8 euros for adults sixheroes
50 for children and for a family of two
adults and two children
26 euros now let's head and have a look around
oh and we're in the big castle in Sintra
whose name I'll put on here and I
haven't had great weather but it's
really atmospheric it's an amazing
Moorish castle built on the highest
point of the hill overlooking the palace
summer palace which you can't see
because of the mist rolling in this is
the first big obstacle between the
Atlantic Ocean and the mainland so the
cold air comes if damp air comes in from
the Atlantic hits these hills and give
this amazing moist and on this day cold
and slightly damp feel but it's amazing
that the fort rambles all over the what
rambles all over these hills and
although it's not beautiful sunny
weather there's amazing views and you
really do get an atmosphere and try
imagine what it was like to be living
here few hundred years ago let alone
building the place
now this area that
they found remains back from 7,000 years
when people used to hide amongst the
rocks in this area but the history of
the fort itself only start when the
Moors came across from North Africa and
took over the southern peninsula of
Europe where they built the fort in the
10th century it's perfect location for a
lookout fort because it looks over the
plains all around you can see Lisbon in
the distance you can see right out to
ocean so it's a perfect area for putting
a fort now it was taken over in the
re-conquesition and the Crusaders came
down took over the fort they were then
granted by the monarchy of that time the
the right to have and rule that the the
sintra and the fort and they used it as a
staging post for a lot of the knight that
were coming through Europe on the way to
Jerusalem by sea would come around the
peninsula stop there
resupply rest a bit before joining the
fight in Jerusalem during this time
much of the original Moorish fort was
knocked down rebuilt over and the fort
was expanded into pretty much the shape
that we see it today now the Crusaders
fade time went on and the significance
and importance and need for defense in
this area waned the Moors weren't coming
across from North Africa Europe had
entered a more settled phase and
eventually after an earthquake in 1755
the fort was abandoned and left to ruins
now the whole area was inherited by king
ferdinand ii in 1839 he built the palace
which you can visit but the fort
remained abandoned and neglected and
fell by the way so through the years now
fortunately in the last 20 or so years
they've been restoring it building some
of the ramparts of the walls making it
safe to walk around so you can go now
and enjoy the fantastic views both of
the palace in one direction and those
views that the early settlers or the
early settlers that the early soldiers
would have looked at while they were
waiting for the enemy to arrive so let's
go and have a wander round
it is foggy as well that was the fort
if it really is quite amazing it's
lovely to Ambler had even it's actually
maybe especially in this weather because
I sort of magical feel for and it kept a
lot of people away so it wasn't that
busy which is I prefer and they could
really feel the historic the history
that must have taken place there from
the different people and forces that
have occupied it fought over it and
standard guard I stood on the ramparts
looking out thinking wow it would have
been quite a miserable life being a
guard stationed at night trying to keep
your eyes open looking for people coming
through the forest toward you I need to
end up with an arrow in the head not a
good option anyway
enough of that still haven't been able to
fly the drone it is still as you can
probably see foggy very foggy infact I
think I'm in a cloud
so I'm gonna take a snack in the car
I brought snacks with me which is my way ?
oh I'm going this way I think and sit in the
car for a little bit I think my hopes
of getting a sunset clear skies of any
kind to fly the drone to show you some aerial shots
I've seen some aerial shots it's beautiful
maybe tomorrow if I get up early but I'm
leaving Lisbon tomorrow actually I'm
leaving Portugal tomorrow ah shock on a
short visit and it's giving me a taste I
have no idea what Portugal was like
about a lot of people raved about Lisbon
said Portugal it was very nice
now I've been here really is an
eye-opener it's like sleeping hidden
secret of West Western Europe but our
journey continues I'm heading back to
Spain to drop off the rental car so
tomorrow is my travel day then I
fly from Spain Seville to hopefully sunny Malta