Oeiras Gardens of the Marquis of Pombal Palace & Queluz Jardim do Palacio Nacional

Wed 21 May- after breakfast, we headed for Queluz. On the way, we stopped by Oeiras to see the Gardens of the Marquis of Pombal Palace. They were beautiful, well worth the visit, and we took lots of photos. We then continued through curvy, narrow cobblestone streets to our Pousada Donna Marie in Queluz. It is right across from the famous National Palace and Garden, the 'Jardim do Palacio Nacional de Queluz' that was on our agenda. We checked in, then crossed the street to the Palace, where we saw many interesting displays of life in the 18th Century: china, furniture, art, statues, items of everyday life, etc. Many of the ceilings were painted, reminding us of the Sistine Chapel, and one room was almost completely tiled from floor to ceiling. The garden was nice, but under restoration, so the tiled canal was not available for viewing, a major disappointment to us. The gardens have not been well maintained - weeds are sprouting everywhere, and many of the shrubs need trimming. Also, there were not so many flowers blooming as we had expected from how they were blooming everywhere else
We had a 'splurge' dinner at the pousada: 'fillet mignon' (bife pimenta on the bill, which would be pepper steak, not filet) E23; 'lombinhos porco' (Iberian pork with asparagus and truffle puree) E22, 1/2 bottle Serras do Azeitanao red wine E6. It was quite delicious, and a very pleasant ambience, beautiful china, good service.