We had a guided tour of the Sintra area, which is filled with castles and rich people. We didn’t get to go into the most beautiful castle (Pena Castle), which was a disappointment, but that will give us something to look forward to for next time. Make sure you carefully read the descriptors for the tours!
We did learn a little history of the area, and got to visit a pretty unique spot built by a very rich guy from Venezuela. This place is called Quinta da Regaleira, and is definitely worth the visit. Construction started in 1904, when the rich Venezuelan guy hired an Italian guy who was an architect and build sets for stages. Basically, they wanted to build their version of Disneyland. Six years later they pretty much got Tom Sawyers Island down, although there are seemingly no safety standards in Portugal, and ADA is non-existent.
The place is filled with lakes, grottos, caves and odd buildings. Beneath a pile of rocks is this Initiation Well, that was supposed to be for welcoming new free masons, who start out in heaven and have to descend to hell and then escape out one of three paths. An early version of an escape room? Keep in mind, this is not a building. This goes straight underground.
Not sure how they managed back in 1910, without the rope lights. There were sections where we needed the flashlight app to find our way.
The house iteself was interesting, but the rest of the grounds were the show!
We then headed toward the coast, with a few minutes to look at the incredible Pena Castle.
About a half hour later, we were at the western most point of Continental Europe. That’s what the sign says, take my word for it! The waves were HUGE!
It was just north of here that the world record was set for surfing the biggest wave last November.