Thu 29 May- after the included buffet breakfast, we found yet another cool, cloudy showery day. We bought a E10/each tour ticket for transport and admission to the Monserrate Park, 33 hectares of park, with plants from all over the world. However, it wasn't as impressive or as well laid out as the Quinta da Regaleira. It was a nice hour-long outing, but the palace was undergoing restoration, as well as part of the park, so we couldn't see everything. The palace wasn't our idea of a "palace", the colors and architecture were a little off. We returned to Sintra, and then took the bus #434 for E4/each to the Pena Palace, an XVIII century palace that really did look likd a palace or castle. The architecture and features are quite impressive, and its location at the top of a hill gives a great view of the countryside, but the gardens were not so interesting, and a lot were blocked off for renovation. It seems half of Portugal is undergoing renovation, and the other half is in dire need of it.
For dinner, we went to a recommended 'Restaurante Tulhas', named after the hole in the floor that is an archeological curiosity remaining from when the site was a granary ('tulhas'), maybe 800 or 700 years ago. We had the recommended veal cooked with Madeira wine E8.90; grilled swordfish E8.75, 1/2 bottle of Beira Mar house white wine E2.75. It was an excellent dinner, fresh tasty swordfish and the veal in Madeira wine was quite tasty. For dessert we had carmel custard E2.25, for a total of 22.65, and they gave us a complimentary shot of tawny port in addition.
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