Sintra and Cascais

Sintra = Portugal's fairytale town right outside of Lisbon.  Sintra is full of royal retreats, estates, castles and buildings from the 8th-9th century, in addition to many buildings completed between the 15th and 19th century.  The most famous building in Sintra is Pena Palace. Built in the 1840s, it is one of Europe's most fantastic palaces.  I had wanted to visit Sintra for a while, but when I realized that Kyle was wanting to see more landscapes and countrysides I thought we would get great views from the palace.  We bought the day pass that Paula had recommended doing so we could visit Sintra and Cascais all in one day. 
 


So..here it is! Pena Palace...or at least what I had dreamed of it being...

 


Womp womp....it was raining :( I still insisted on us going to it though in hopes of the rain going away but it didn't.  You win some and you lose some right? Oh well. We still got to see the insides and beautiful furnishings from the old times.




At least he looks good but that rain and wind combo was pretty harsh




One of the bedrooms in the palace

We weren't in the palace for very long because of the rain.  However, on a positive note...the famous pastries in Sintra, queijadas, were worth the 40 minute train ride.  I also saw these pastries on a foodie show and I wanted to try them once I heard they were cinnamon and cheese filled pastries. 


Queijadas...Kyle says they taste like pecan pies without the actual nuts..all I know is that I loved them



This is apparently the "original" bakery where these yummies come from

Travesseiros, are famous all over Portugal, and it's too bad that I wasn't hungry when we went to this bakery or else I would have tried this one too (I'm regretting it now). These long, sugar coded 'pillows' are best still warm, and they are freshly made all through the day. The outside is a flaky shell, inside filling is with egg yolk and sugar and almond....


Travesseiros

Also worth mentioning are the Pasteis de Belém, or Pasteis de Nata.  They are originally from Belem near Lisbon but they can be found all over Portugal.  These little cups of flakey pastry are filled with an egg and cream custard, often powdered with cinnamon or powdered sugar.  I prefer them warm but they're usually served cold. They are not attractive and sometimes look burnt but they are good.




Nata pastries.. http://casadovalle.blogspot.com.es/2011/03/as-i-have-mentioned-before-i-frequently.html#!/2011/03/as-i-have-mentioned-before-i-frequently.html

Next stop: Cascais, an old fisherman village. Although we had bad luck in Sintra with the rain, Cascais had better weather and we were able to walk around. We didn't pick up a tourist map or ask anyone for directions, which was nice for a change.  As we walked around we stumbled upon the marina and a nice area to sit down for lunch and watch the giant waves and fisherman fishing.


We made this triangle leaving Lisbon-to Sintra-to Cascais-and back to Lisbon




Cascais

 


Cascais

Throughout the trip I kept telling Kyle what was the "popular" thing to eat as we looked at the menus.  I'd say he tried nearly everything you're supposed to eat when you visit Portugal, minus the sardines.  First, they are the kings of ham and cheese sandwiches (Mistos).  One of the best ham and cheese sandwiches we had was at the bus station.  It was on "God Bread" which is another sweet pastry I love.  It's a soft, sweet bread with coconut....with the ham and cheese it was the perfect combo of sweet and salty.

 Pão de Deus can be translated into “God's Bread

 

Then there was the "Bifana" which is so popular in Portugal that McDonalds has it on it's menu. Basically a slice of pork steak in a roll of bread, the pork having been lightly sautéed, sometimes with garlic and/or other spices, so that the meat is warm and juicy. 


McDonald's adapts to every culture!

Next is Bacalhau, THE dish of the Portuguese. It's salted, dried cod that is said to be cooked a different way for every day of the year.  We ate two variations of Bacalhau.  The first was "Bacalhau à Brás", made with shreds of salted cod, onions, fried potatoes and scrambled eggs and usually is garnished with parsley and black olives.


Bacalhau à Brás. Warning, DON'T add salt to this! It's already very salty

Portuguese also have a lot of meat pies and pastries.  Pastries of Bacalhau are also very delicious.  They are full of mashed potatoes, cod, and parsley.


Codfish pastries

After Cascais we went back to Lisbon for the night and relaxed. On Saturday we went to the thieves market, fish market, and walked around a bit before dinner.  We also went to visit the street art, which was a few metro stops away from the city center.

This one is my favorite.  All the buildings seem to be abandoned but the art is cool.

   The next day we were off to Badajoz to stay in my apartment for a couple of nights.  I asked Kyle to cook for Tara and I, so we went to get ingredients for étouffée.  Tara, being from Montreal, speaks French so we asked what étouffée means, or where it comes from. It turns out to literally mean "smothered" or "suffocated", from the verb "étouffer". I'm pretty sure she will be down to visit us sooner than later after listening to us talk about how good the food is in Louisiana.




Cooking shrimp étouffée and fried cod

On Tuesday, Kyle went to my elementary school to have class with my 5th grade students.  The first class was an ask and tell session where they got to know Kyle.  They had some issues pronouncing his name which was cute, "Kai-lay- Lan-ay".  He made sure to mention Alabama and football during his visit :) After class we went to get ready for the second half of the trip, Albufeira.


We went from Badajoz-to Lisbon by bus and-to Albufeira by train