Portugal. A Very Neat Place. Beyond Lisbon. Part One (Queluz). (September 2019)
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Sintra is one of Portugal's top, must-see attractions. Its fantastic and ornamental buildings, historic center, and striking coastline are not to be missed. Unless, unaccountably, you miss them, ostensibly because a wasps' nest blocked entry. (Although you might justifiably wonder how that is even possible.) An easy day trip to the north west from Lisbon, the whole Sintra area is dramatic and attractive and deserves several days of exploration. But even though the iconic Sintra palaces were closed to tours, an interesting substitute was the Palácio Nacional E Jardins De Queluz. It is in the city of Queluz, east of Sintra, but in the same municipality.
The palace was the summer retreat of Dom Pedro of Braganza, King Consort to Queen Maria I. The rich interiors feature fancy gilded stuccowork (cheaper than other gold treatments), ceiling frescos, and tile work. But it is the Baroque exterior and grounds that set it apart.
The village center of Sintra is lively and interesting. And crowded.
Looming over the village are the crenellated walls of the Castle of the Moors. We didn't get in there, either.
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After a lifetime of mainly expressing myself with words, my postings here will mainly rely on images. They will speak for themselves to some extent, but I'll usually add a few comments of explanation. I've taken photographs for decades, since the 1950's, inspired in part by my father's photographic skill. Four years of photo assignments and quality darkroom time eventually gave way to decades of casual and family picture-taking. I re-immersed myself when I left film and turned to digital.