Sintra, Portugal - the Royal Retreat

Even the most pragmatic guidebooks describe Sintra, Portugal as an enchanted place. For five centuries the village was a summer refuge for the royalty of Portugal, eager to escape the oppressive heat and noise of the city. Power loves power, so other nobility followed the King's example, building palatial homes around Sintra, in the mountains lush with fragrant bougainvillea, gardenias and eucalyptus.

Lord Byron called Sintra, "perhaps the most delightful in Europe." Other notables were equally impressed. Hans Christian Anderson visited in 1866 and said, "The most beautiful and most lauded part of Portugal, is without doubt, Sintra." Even now, the village is reminiscent of the Black Forest, spiced with a heaping cup of Arabia. Blended with a pint of fantasyland, the mix makes for a delectable feast.

We arrived by train from Lisbon at mid-morning, in time to see three school buses of Portuguese children happy to be out of the classroom and on a field trip to the National Palace. Their youthful enthusiasm brought back memories of my first field trip. This group, in their T-shirts, blue jeans and all manner of tennis shoes could have come from any city across the U.S. Only their language gave them away. Luckily, we made it into the palace just ahead of the horde.

The National Palace of Sintra is above all a tangible symbol of the Avis dynasty which spanned two centuries from 1385 to 1580, considered the golden age of Portugal. The Palace is the best example of a medieval royal palace in the entire country, thus popular with natives as well as tourists. It was inhabited until the end of the monarchy in 1910.

Rising like two champagne bottles side by side, the most striking feature of the palace are the conical chimneys. Not unlike King Ludwig's castle or the Eiffel Tower, these chimneys are depicted on all kinds of tourist mementos from plastic key chains to hand towels. They dominate the village skyline and have become an easily recognizable Sintra landmark.